japan running news

The caption's a year out of date but the song remains the same.  Thanks to all JRN readers, regular and otherwise, and especially to everyone who got in touch in March.  Here's hoping that we all have a better year than this one. Brett Larner Mika Tokairin Japan Running News

by Brett Larner Every year I come on and talk about how great the Hakone Ekiden , Japan's oldest and most important road race relay, is.  Apart from the Olympic medalists I didn't know much about Japanese distance running when I first came here, but Hakone was a big part of what turned me on to it.  The scale of it, twenty university teams running 217.9 km split into ten stages over two days, the production values of Nihon TV's broadcast that pulls in 30% nationwide viewership ratings for the entire Jan. 2-3 event, the huge crowds along the course, the quality of the athletes, and the sheer drama of the racing.  If you haven't been here to see it then honestly you don't know what you are missing.  There are lessons here for the World Marathon Majors and others seeking more mass popularity for the sport.   Keyhole TV is better than nothing and for the last two years I've done what I could to cover it live via Twitter, but you really have to be here to get...

Today I did my annual Hakone Ekiden Fifth Stage run, 23.4 km with almost 900 m of climb in the middle section of the course followed by ~150 m downhill from 19.5 km to around 21.5 km.  This year was more relaxed that usual as I ran with some friends and stopped to take pictures along the way. The start of the Fifth Stage at 9 m elevation is in front of the tall building on the left. The sign warns that the road will be closed Jan. 2 and 3 for the Hakone Ekiden. This tunnel just after 6 km into the course marks the start of the real uphill. After Ohiradai curve, 9.5 km, the climb starts to get steep. 9.1 km to go at this sharp left curve in Kowakien, with about 5 km until the summit.  I always feel fine until this point and then suddenly start to get nauseous. The highest point on the course, 865 m above the start point at around 19.5 km in.  The steep downhill begins just after this. About 1.5 km to go, running next to Lake Ashi in Motohakone. ...

by Brett Larner Japan wastes no time getting the 2012 racing season off to a start, with the New Year Ekiden national corporate men's championships kicking off this Sunday, Jan. 1 at 8:30 a.m.  With 100 km split into seven stages broadcast live to a nationwide TV audience the New Year Ekiden is one of Japan's biggest and most popular races, featuring the best Japanese pro runners and Japan-resident Africans, including 10000 m world champion Ibrahim Jeilan  (Team Honda), World XC silver medalist Paul Tanui  (Team Kyudenko) and Fukuoka International Marathon winner Josphat Ndambiri  (Team Komori Corp.).  Overseas viewers up for the task should be able to catch TBS' broadcast live via Keyhole TV , with English-language splits and commentary coming to you live @JRNLive starting at 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 31 on the west coast of North America, 6:30 p.m. on the east coast, or 11:30 p.m. in London.  If JRNLive maxes out commentary will continue @JRNHeadlines . 201...

by Brett Larner Video courtesy of Julie Setagaya . Ugachi's domestic record run begins at 1:23:25 with the bell lap at 1:50:10. 1. Tsuyoshi Ugachi  (Team Konica Minolta) - 387 pts. 5000 m: 13:30.20 - 7th, Nobeoka, 5/28/11 - #5 Japanese, 2011 10000 m: 27:40.69 - 2nd, Hachioji, 11/26/11 - #1 Japanese, 2011; #4 Japanese all-time half-marathon: 1:00:58 - 2nd, Marugame, 2/6/11 - #1 Japanese, 2011; #3 Japanese all-time Other major performances: New Year Ekiden Fourth Stage, 22.0 km (Maebashi, 1/1/11): 1:04:19 - 4th National Men's Ekiden Seventh Stage, 13.0 km (Hiroshima, 1/23/11): 37:39 - 5th Kanaguri Memorial 5000 m (Kumamoto, 4/9/11): 13:43.10 - 8th Oregon Relays 5000 m (Oregon, 4/22/11): 13:47.29 - 6th Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational 10000 m (Stanford, 5/1/11): 27:41.97 - 14th National Track & Field Championships 10000 m (Kumagaya, 6/10/11): 28:20.40 - 3rd Asian Athletics Championships 10000 m (Kobe, 7/7/11): 28:48.53 - 4th Savo Games 3000 m (Lapinlahti,...

by Brett Larner Kinukawa wins the 5000 m national title. 1. Megumi Kinukawa (Mizuno) - 535.5 pts. 5000 m: 15:09.96 - 1st, National Championships, 6/12/11 - #1 Japanese, 2011; #6 Japanese all-time 10000 m: 31:10.02 - 1st, Abashiri, 6/22/11 - #2 Japanese, 2011; #4 Japanese all-time half-marathon: 1:10:22 - 1st, Shanghai, 12/4/11 - #5 Japanese, 2011 Other major performances: Hyogo Relay Carnival Grand Prix 10000 m (Hyogo, 4/23/11): DNF East Japan Corporate T&F Championships 5000 m (Kumagaya, 5/22/11): 15:37.50 - 1st Sapporo International Half Marathon (Sapporo, 7/3/11): 1:12:22 - 3rd - debut World Championships 10000 m final (Daegu, 8/27/11): 34:08.37 - 17th World Championships 5000 m Heat 2 (Daegu, 8/30/11): 15:38.23 - 8th Amsterdam Half-Marathon (Amsterdam, 10/16/11): 1:17:08 - 1st The sudden return of 10000 m junior national record holder Kinukawa from years of injury and illness this spring was the biggest surprise of the year among Japanese women.  Coa...

by Brett Larner This is part one of JRN's year in review.  Check back for our profiles of the top ten Japanese men and women of the year and for our readers' picks and editors' picks for performances of the year.   Click here for JRN's 2011 top ten rankings for men's and women's 5000 m, 10000 m, half-marathon and marathon .  For our review of the top ten overall men of 2011, click here .  For the top ten women, click here . Despite the setback March's disasters represented for Japan, by many standards 2011 ended up being the best year since before the Beijing Olympics for its distance runners. In the marathon, although the Japanese women's streak of World Championships medals ended and the fastest women's time of the year, Yoshimi Ozaki 's 2:23:56 CR at February's Yokohama International Women's Marathon, for the first time would not have made the top ten among either Kenyan or Ethiopian women, overall depth was at its best since 200...

JRN's most-read articles of 2011 by month: January Waseda over Toyo as both break Hakone Ekiden course record. -  Jan. 3 Blood testing for better performance - learning from Hakone and pro baseball.   - Jan. 8 February Study finds to become world-class, don't work too hard in junior high.   - Feb. 5 World's first two-legged robot-only marathon set for Feb. 24.   - Feb. 16 Jason Lehmkuhle wins Ome 30 km road race - first American win since 1983.   - Feb. 20 World Championships silver medalist Yoshimi Ozaki 2:23:56 Yokohama win. -  Feb. 20 Mekonnen wins Tokyo Marathon, amateur Kawauchi 3rd in 2:08:37. - Feb. 27 Japanese Federation and corporate league feel stinging impact of Kawauchi's run. - Feb. 28 "The Rocky of the marathon world" - Saitama Governor praises Kawauchi.  - Feb. 28 March What to do when the dream comes true?  Federation officials push management role as Kawauchi Fever sweeps Japan.   - Mar. 3 Wilson Kipsang ...

The biggest three days of racing of the year are also most here, the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden national men's corporate championships and the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden university men's race.  Look for full previews for both events later this week along with JRN's year-end reviews. Overseas viewers should be able to watch both the New Year Ekiden and Hakone Ekiden via Keyhole TV , the New Year Ekiden broadcast beginning Jan. 1 at 8:50 a.m. on TBS and Hakone's broadcast on Nihon TV beginning at 7:00 a.m. on both the 2nd and the 3rd.  Once again, JRN will do live English commentary via Twitter @JRNLive .