Osaka Geijutsu University Takes Nikko Irohazaka Women's Ekiden

13 teams from 12 universities raced the 4th edition of the all-uphill Nikko Irohazaka Women's Ekiden Nov. 26 in Nikko, Tochigi. Osaka Geijutsu University took the top spot for the first time in 1:32:53, with Hakuoh University the top-finishing Tochigi school at 5th.

The first runners in the ekiden started in Nikko's Daiyagawa Park. Running around the Nikkonoshaji UNESCO World Heritage Site, the women in the race handed off the tasuki on the sharp curves leading up the mountain to the finish at Nikko Futarasan Shrine on the shores of Lake Chuzenji. All together the six women on each teach covered 23.4 km with 875 m of net climb, local residents and each school's supporters cheering them on from the roadside the entire way.

Starting the Fourth Stage in 3rd, Osaka Geijutsu fourth-year Riri Shiraishi moved up to 1st, and on the Fifth and Sixth Stages the team increased its lead over the rest of the field. First-year anchor Yumika Nagahama smiled and raised both arms in the air as she broke the finishing tape. Shiraishi looked back on the race with satisfaction at achieving the win, saying, "We were here to win. The uphill was harder than I expected, but we'd done the hard training for it and I was confident that we wouldn't loose on the climb."

Hakuoh's result was an improvement on its 7th-place finish last year. Running the Fifth Stage for the third year in a row, fourth-year Rumi Sakata smiled as she said, "Going around the curves one by one I focused on improving our position, and that helped me stay on the attack. I hope that next year's team can take strength from the local support and target the win."

Translator's note: Osaka Geijutsu anchor Yumika Nagahama may be better remembered as the snow-covered leader at January's National Women's Ekiden, a race criticized in Chinese media for being too cruel due to the conditions. Needless to say, she evidently survived that race to go on to bigger things.

4th Nikko Irohazaka Women's Ekiden

Nikko, Tochigi, 11/26/17
13 teams, 6 stages, 23.4 km, 875 m net climb
click here for complete results

Top Team Results
1. Osaka Geijutsu University - 1:32:53
2. Tokyo Nogyo University A - 1:34:24
3. Kansai Gaikokugo University - 1:36:49
4. Tokyo Nogyo University B - 1:39:01
5. Hakuoh University - 1:39:10

Top Individual Stage Performances
First Stage (4.7 km, ~100 m climb) - Kanoko Otsu (Osaka Geijutsu Univ.) - 17:05
Second Stage (5.2 km, ~200 m climb) - Rino Kojima (Chuo Univ.) - 18:12
Third Stage (3.5 km, ~100 m climb) - Sae Harada (Tokyo Nogyo Univ. A) - 15:26
Fourth Stage (3.0 km, ~100 m climb) - Riri Shiraishi (Osaka Geijutsu Univ.) - 13:54
Fifth Stage (3.5 km, ~100 m climb) - Chisato Nagai (Osaka Geijutsu Univ.) - 14:22
Sixth Stage (3.5 km, ~25 m descent) - Yumika Nagahama (Osaka Geijutsu Univ.) - 12:10

source article:
http://www.sankei.com/region/news/171127/rgn1711270031-n1.html
translated by Brett Larner

19-Yr-Old Munakata Breaks Miura's U20 NR to Win Ageo City Half Marathon

The Ageo City Half Marathon is always big, the main race that the coaches of Hakone Ekiden-bound university men's teams use for firming up their entry rosters for the big show. That makes what's basically an idyllic small town race into one of the world's great road races, with depth unmatched anywhere. One of the top-tier people on the start list at 1:02:07, Kodai Miyaoka (Hosei Univ.) took the race out fast, but the entire pack was keying off the fastest man in the race, Reishi Yoshida (Chuo Gakuin Univ.), 1:00:31. Yoshida reeled Miyaoka in before 5 km and kept things steady in the low-1:01 range, wearing down the lead group to around 10 including his CGU teammate Taisei Ichikawa , a quartet from Izumo and National University Ekiden runner-up Komazawa University , 2 runners from local Daito Bunka University , 2:07:54 marathoner Atsumi Ashiwa (Honda), and Australian Ed Goddard . Right after 15 km Komazawa went into action, Yudai Kiyama , Hibiki Murakami and Haru Tanin

Ageo City Half Marathon Preview and Streaming

This weekend's big race is the Ageo City Half Marathon , the next stop on the collegiate men's circuit. Most of the universities bound for the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden use Ageo to thin down the list of contenders for their final Hakone rosters, and with JRN's development program that sends the first two Japanese collegiate finishers in Ageo to the United Airlines NYC Half every year a lot of coaches put in some of their A-listers too. That gives Ageo legendary depth and fast front-end speed, with a 1:00:47 course record last year from Kenyan corporate leaguer Paul Kuira (JR Higashi Nihon) and the top 26 all clearing 63 minutes. Since a lot of programs just enter everybody on their rosters you never really know who on the entry list is actually going to show up, but if even a quarter of the people at the top end of this year's list run it'll be a great race, even if conditions are looking likely to be a bit warmer than ideal. Chuo Gakuin University 's Reishi Yoshi

10000 m NR Attempt In the Works Saturday at Hachioji Long Distance - Streaming and Preview

There are a bunch of other time trial meets this weekend and next, but Saturday's Hachioji Long Distance is the last big meet for Japanese men, 8 heats of Wavelight-paced 10000 m finely graded from target times of 28:50 down to 26:59 for the fastest heat. Heat 6 at 17:55 local time is effectively the B-race, with 35 Japan-based Kenyans targeting 27:10 at the front end, and in a lot of cases a spot on their teams at the New Year Ekiden national championship on Jan. 1. Corporate teams are only allowed to field one non-Japanese athlete in the New Year Ekiden, and only on its shortest stage, and getting to that has a big impact on African athletes' contracts and renewal prospects. Toyota Boshoku , Yasukawa Denki , Chugoku Denryoku , Aisan Kogyo , JR Higashi Nihon , Subaru and 2024 national champion Toyota are all fielding two Kenyans, and Aichi Seiko three. For people like Toyota's Felix Korir and Samuel Kibathi , getting as close to the 27:10 target time as they can and

japan running news

Search This Blog