National Corporate Women's Championships, A Potential National Record and More

National Corporate Women's Championships, A Potential National Record and More - Weekend Preview

It's always a busy weekend of racing in Japan, this weekend as much as any. Saturday's main event is the Hachioji Long Distance meet at Tokyo's Hosei University. In the last few years Hachioji has become one of the world's premier track 10,000 m, the site of the current Japanese national record two years ago. The big question mark this year is half marathon national record holder Yuta Shitara (Honda) in the A-heat. After running the 1:00:17 national record and a 2:09:03 PB on back-to-back weekends at the end of September is he ready to tackle the 27:29.69 national record? It'll take a big improvement on his 27:42.71 best, but not as much as what he did in breaking the half marathon record.

Also up Saturday night is the Kanto Region University 10,000 m Time Trials meet at Kanagawa's Keio University. While the very top university men will turn up at Hachioji, most looking to sharpen their times ahead of their coaches' final team selections for the Hakone Ekiden will run at Keio. Defending Hakone champ Aoyama Gakuin University will be a heavy presence in the A-heat which is scheduled to chase the 28:20 qualifying standard for next year's National Championships 10,000 m. Smaller time trial meets will also be going on in Kyoto and Saga.

A few university men will run Sunday's Koedo Kawagoe Half Marathon, the last significant half before Hakone, but for the most part Sunday is all about women's running. First and foremost is the National Corporate Women's Ekiden Championships in Sendai. Now in its second year being held in November instead of December, the Queen's Ekiden as it is known will be a race to beat defending national champions Japan Post, whose top trio of Olympians and World Championships team members Rina Nabeshima, Hanami Sekine and Ayuko Suzuki is without a doubt the best in Japan. Japan Post beat Daiichi Seimei by just 13 seconds over 42.195 km last year, but Daiichi Seimei looks to be down somewhat in strength this year and sets up others to step up. Last year Daihatsu finished only 16th, but with the return of talented young marathoner Sairi Maeda from a long injury cycle they should be in position to challenge for the eight-deep podium. The race will be broadcast live on TBS starting at 11:50 a.m. local time. Follow @JRNLive for more coverage throughout the race.

Further south in Tochigi, top university women's teams will be facing off at the second of the season's big three ekidens, the all-uphill Nikko Irohazaka Women's Ekiden. After just missing the national title at October's Morinomiyako Ekiden, two-time Nikko champ Daito Bunka University will be giving Nikko a miss this year, leaving the door open for last year's 2nd and 3rd-placers Osaka Geidai and Tokyo Nogyo to land 1st. For Osaka it would be its first Nikko win, while for Tokyo it would be a return to the top after winning the inaugural edition three years ago.

Sunday's main marathon action comes at the Osaka Marathon, one of the world's ten biggest marathons with 29,431 finishers last year. As the number of mass participation marathons in Japan continues to grow and races struggle to differentiate themselves from the competition Osaka has become a sort of unofficial amateur women's championship race. Led by mother of three Yoshiko Sakamoto (F.O.R.) who last year became the first-ever Japanese winner in Osaka, all six of Japan's current sub-2:40 amateur women are set to run, with the most interesting duel being between Sakamoto and last year's 3rd-placer Hisae Yoshimatsu (Shunan City Hall), who beat Sakamoto and exactly tied her Osaka winning time of 2:36:02 at September's Volksbank Muenster Marathon in Germany. Newcomer Marie Imada (Iwatani Sangyo) could be their biggest threat.

Also Sunday is the Asian Marathon Championship at China's Dongguan Marathon. 2:28:19 runner Keiko Nogami (Juhachi Ginko) will represent Japan on the women's side after runner-up finishes at the 2015 Gold Coast Airport Marathon and this year's Hokkaido Marathon. Shogo Kanezane (Chugoku Denryoku) will be the men's representative with a 2:14:15 best.

© 2017 Brett Larner,, all rights reserved

Federation Tells World Championships Marathoner Horibata To Go On Diet

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20110307-OHT1T00258.htm translated by Brett Larner Having made the 2011 World Championships marathon team by running a PB of 2:09:25 to come in 3rd overall and as the top Japanese finisher at the Mar. 6 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Hiroyuki Horibata (24, Team Asahi Kasei), talked to the media at Osaka Airport on Mar. 7. Following Sunday's race Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki , 67, told Horibata, "Let's cut things down a bit until the World Championships," directing him to go on a diet. The 189 cm Horibata weighs 72 kg [~6'3", 160 lbs]. When he joined Team Asahi Kasei in 2005 at age 18 he weighed 65 kg, and this weight is still generally listed on his profile at races and in the media. "For some reason it never changes," he said with a grin. His coach Takeshi Soh , 58, commented, "If he was hungrier for glory his world would change completely," slapping the 'heavyweight division runner...

Nagoya Asian Games Test Event Canceled After Insulation Falls From Venue Ceiling

A section of insulation material fell from the ceiling of Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, the official venue for squash competition at September's Nagoya Asian Games. There were no injuries, but the city suspended use of the arena until its safety could be guaranteed, resulting in the cancelation of the Asian Games squash test event which was scheduled to have begun on May 14. It is not yet clear whether the arena will be usable for the Asian Games as planned. According to city officials, arena staff found that the insulation material had fallen onto a work walkway 13 m above the ground on the night of May 11. The fallen material was 3.6 m long, 50 cm wide and 2.5 km thick, and was found to be waterlogged. The cause of the accident is unknown, but it is possible that it was caused by rainwater leaking in from the roof. The same insulation material is installed across the entire ceiling, and the city plans to check for the extent of the possible flooding. Asked whether the arena will be re...

Everything You Need to Know About the 2026 Hakone Ekiden

The Hakone Ekiden is the world's biggest road race, 2 days of road relay action with Japan's 20 best university teams racing 10 half marathon-scale legs from central Tokyo to the mountains east of Mount Fuji and back. The level just keeps going higher and higher , hitting the point this year where there are teams with 10-runner averages of 13:33.10 for 5000 m, 27:55.98 for 10000 m, and 1:01:20 for the half marathon. It's never been better, and with great weather in the forecast it's safe to say this could be one of the best races in Hakone's 102-year history, especially on Day One. If you've seen it then you know NTV's live broadcast is the best sports broadcast in the world, with the pre-race show kicking off at 7:00 a.m. Japan time on the 2nd and 3rd and the race starting at 8:00 a.m. sharp. If you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it on TVer starting at 7:50 a.m. on the 2nd , and again at 7:50 a.m. on the 3rd . There's even a 2-hour high...

japan running news

Search This Blog