Skip to main content

Hakone Ekiden Hopeful Kanto Gakuin University Appoints Female Coach

On Mar. 26 it was learned that Kanto Gakuin University, which last qualified for the Hakone Ekiden in 2004, has hired female IAAF-certified coach Akari Kishikawa, 33, to join its coaching staff beginning Apr. 1. The Daiichi Seimei women's corporate team is led by head coach Sachiko Yamashita, 54, and the Ritsumeikan University and Josai University women's ekiden teams by assistant coaches Miyuki Tokura, 45, and Yukiko Akaba, 39, but it is virtually unheard of for a woman to be appointed to a university men's ekiden program staff.

Kishikawa, who is qualified as a senior psychology counselor among other things, has a proven track record with two national titles to her name in the 800 m in 2010 and 2011. She will support Kanto Gakuin head coach Yoshitaka Nakagawa, 43, and is expected to play a key role in shaping a stronger team.

At last October's Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai qualifying race Kanto Gakuin University finished only 23rd. Missing a qualifying spot by a wide margin, it finished 21 minutes behind the final qualifier, 11th-place Jobu University. It's no easy task to bridge that gap and make it back to Hakone after a 15-year absence, but the appointment of Kishikawa as assistant coach will mark Kanto Gakuin as a program to watch in coming seasons.

Akari Kishikawa - born Sept. 13, 1985 in Yokohama. 33 years old.  Graduated from Shinei H.S. and joined Nittai University in 2004. Starting that year she qualified for the National Championships 800 m for 10 years in a row. After graduating from Nittai in 2008 she ran for the Noritz and Hasegawa Taiikushisetsu teams, winning the 800 m national title in 2010 and 2011 and representing Japan at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games where she was 4th in the 800 m. Her PB of 2:03.34 ranks her at all-time Japanese #9. Retiring in 2016, Kishikawa earned certification as an IAAF CECS Level 1 coach and as a senior psychology counselor.

source article:
https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20190226-00000162-sph-spo
translated by Brett Larner

Buy Me A Coffee

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Andrew Armiger said…
Cool news, great to see doors opened like this!
February 27, 2019 at 9:05 AM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Chepkirui Wins Nagoya Women's Marathon

Heavy-duty favorite Sheila Chepkirui took the win at Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon , pulling away after 30 km to cruise in for 1st in 2:20:40. Erratic pacing early saw the first and second groups only seconds apart for much of the first half of the race, the top group slower than planned and the 2nd group a bit ahead of schedule. At halfway in 1:10:37 the front group included Chepkirui, #2-ranked Ruti Aga and last year's runner-up Eunice Chumba , and Japanese contingent Sayaka Sato , Rika Kaseda , Natsuki Omori and Mao Uesugi . Omori was the first to drop, then Uesugi, then Aga, who ultimately dropped out before 30 km. When the pacers stopped at 30 km Chepkirui made a move that dropped Kaseda and strung out Chumba and Sato behind her, but all four came back together once before another surge put Kaseda away for good. As Chepkirui inched away Sato and Chumba passed each other repeatedly, and Chumba could only watch as the top Japanese runner got away from her again thi...
1 comment
Read more

Who's Running Tokyo Worlds?

The Japanese marathon teams will be the most prestigious ones to be on for September's Tokyo World Championships, and with Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon the window for Japanese athletes to get onto the JAAF's shortlist closed. Who's on it? The final decision won't be made until Mar. 26, but let's look through the selection criteria and see who's guaranteed, who's pretty likely, and who has a chance. 1. Marathon medalists at the Paris Olympics - There weren't any, so nobody makes the team this way. Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) and Yuka Suzuki (Daiichi Seimei) were the top placers, both of them running PBs in the Olympics to finish 6th. You'd think that would count for something a year later, but you'd think wrong. 2. JMC Series IV Champions - The top point scorers in the Japan Marathon Championship Series IV, which ran from April, 2023 to March, 2025, earn places on the marathon teams along with cash prizes. For women that's Yuka ...
1 comment
Read more

Tokyo Marathon Top Japanese Man Tsubasa Ichiyama Works 4 Days a Week, Walked On in College

38,000 people ran the 2025 Tokyo Marathon . Every runner had their own story, but one of the most special was Tsubasa Ichiyama (Sunbelx). Despite being on almost nobody's radar, he outran some of the best in the country to finish as the top Japanese man. Ichiyama ran most of the race in the 3rd pace group, going through halfway in 1:02:44 and 30 km in 1:29:13. When the pacers stopped, he showed what he could really do. "I'm not good at downhills, so in the first part it was hard to run smoothly," he said at the post-race press conference. "But after the downhill part ended I got into my rhythm, and I think that helped me over the 2nd half." After dropping Asian Games gold medalist Hiroto Inoue (Mitsubishi Juko) and others, he quickly bore down on the Japanese athletes who had gone out faster in the 2nd pace group. Overtaking Paris Olympics 6th placer Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) and Yuhei Urano (Fujitsu), at 39.8 km he caught all-time Japanese #2 man Yohei I...
Post a Comment
Read more