Shitara Returns to Ageo - Weekend Preview

It's yet another busy mid-ekiden season weekend, but there's no question what its biggest race is. In a country packed with all of the world's deepest half marathons the Ageo City Half Marathon is the deepest of them all, universities targeting the legendary Hakone Ekiden transforming what would otherwise be an ordinary country town road race into something really special as each team's runner try to convince their coaches they belong on the Hakone A-squad.

Since 2011 the New York Road Runners have thrown fuel on the fire by inviting the top two Japanese collegiate finishers to March's United Airlines NYC Half in a program conceived and coordinated by JRN. The first runner to earn an invite was Toyo University second-year Yuta Shitara, who went over and ran what was then the fastest time ever by a Japanese man on U.S. soil, 1:01:48, in his international road racing debut. Now the half marathon national record holder and a corporate leaguer for the Honda team, Shitara returns to Ageo this year for the first time since then to tune up for next month's Fukuoka International Marathon.

It goes without saying he's the favorite, his main competition being former Hakone Ekiden uphill darling Daichi Kamino (New Balance) and whichever of the university men decide they want to really go for it. Last year's runner-up Patrick Mathenge Wambui (Nihon Univ.), two of Tokai University's top men in Hayato Seki and Shota Onizuka, super-frosh Yuhi Nakaya (Waseda Univ.) and Shogo Ise (Komazawa Univ.), one of the two runners to earn the invite to the last NYC Half, highlight the university field entries.

Also in the field are the recently-struggling 2018 Boston Marathon champ Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) and 2017 London World Championships marathoner David Nilsson of Sweden. JRN will be on-site to cover the race live and present the two NYC trip winners with their invitations.

The other main road race action is the Kobe Marathon, now an IAAF bronze label race featuring a decently competitive international field detailed here. Corporate men's qualification for the New Year Ekiden national championships also wraps up with the combined Chubu and Hokuriku Region Corporate Ekiden in Aichi. Notable names there include Taku Fujimoto (Toyota), 2:07:57 last month at the Chicago Marathon, and Ageo-NYC alum Yusuke Nishiyama (Toyota).

Kansai Region university men will be racing their season-ending championship ekiden Saturday at the Tango University Ekiden with live coverage on the official website. A number of university men and women will be spending the weekend abroad at the Seven Hills Loop in the Netherlands. With never a moment to rest, many corporate runners from regions other than the two above will be in Hiroshima for the Chugoku Corporate Time Trials track meet Saturday.

© 2018 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Federation Tells World Championships Marathoner Horibata To Go On Diet

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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...

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