Aizawa Goes Sub-28, Suzuki Returns - Weekend Track Review

Elite road racing returned to Japan this weekend with Saturday's Hakone Ekiden qualifier and Sunday's National Corporate Women's Ekiden qualifier, but there was still a load of track action at every level.

Saturday in Miyazaki, one of the stars of this year's Hakone Ekiden, Akira Aizawa made his corporate debut for New Year Ekiden national champ team Asahi Kasei with a 27:55.78 win in the Miyazaki Time Trials 10000 m, his first time going sub-28. His former Toyo University teammate Kazuya Nishiyama was 2nd in 28:03.94, the best time by a Japanese collegiate student so far this year. Asahi Kasei had eleven men in the race under 29 minutes including Rio Olympics marathoner Satoru Sasaki, putting them in good position for another national title defense come Jan. 1. Kyoto's Ritsumeikan University had three men under 29, setting them up as a threat to the Kanto Region's monopoly on the podium at the Nov. 1 National University Men's Ekiden.

Defending corporate women's national champ Japan Post fielded most of its team at the Tokai University Time Trials meet in Kanagawa. Tokyo Olympics marathon team member Ayuko Suzuki returned from a long injury to win Saturday's 5000 m in heavy rain in 15:57.16 before doubling in Sunday's 3000 m with a 9:19.07 for 2nd behind teammate Hikari Onishi, winner in 9:18.43. Onishi was 2nd in the 5000 m in 15:57.96, with club runner Shiho Kaneshige (GRLab) the only other woman to break 16 at 15:59.52. Junior teammate Ririka Hironaka came back from her sub-15 5000 m last month to win Sunday's 1500 m in a PB of 4:16.48. Steepler Philemon Kiplagat (Aisan Kogyo) won Saturday's men's 5000 m A-heat in 13:33.92, with Alexander Mutiso (ND Software) taking Sunday's 10000 m A-heat in 28:06.21.

National High School Ekiden boys' course record holder Sera H.S. likewise tuned up for championship ekiden season at Sunday's East Hiroshima Nighter meet. The Sera girls took the top four spots and seven of the top ten in the 3000 m A-heat, Kenyan Theresa Muthoni winning in 9:18.25. In the men's 5000 m A-heat Sera had four boys under 14 minutes, Kenyan Cosmas Mwangi winning in 13:38.14, 2nd-years Shota Morishita and Shota Shiode 4th and 5th in 13:57.16 and 13:57.88, and 3rd-year Konosuke Shintani 8th in 13:59.32.

The Sera boys weren't the only high schoolers under 14 minutes over the weekend. At Saturday's Sayagatani Time Trials meet in Fukuoka, Jiyugaoka H.S. 3rd-year Ayumu Yamamoto ran 13:56.31 for 7th, beating Rio Olympics marathoner Hisanori Kitajima (Yasukawa Denki) among others. Kitajima's teammate Kiyoshi Koga returned from a 1:00:49 runner-up finish at this year's National Corporate Half Marathon to take the top spot in 13:39.70.

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

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