Kamimura Gakuen Girls Break Own CR by 28 Seconds - National High School Ekiden Qualification Weekend Roundup

With the National High School Ekiden Championships looking like a go for Dec. 20 at this point, the main action across Japan this weekend came in prefectural high school ekiden championships. In each of Japan's 47 prefectures boys typically raced 42.195 km in seven stages and girls 21.0975 km in five stages, with the top-placing boys' team and top girls' team in the prefectural race set to go on to represent their prefecture at Nationals. Not every prefecture held its qualifying race this weekend or just before, but among those that did here's a quick rundown on the winners.

In Hiroshima, the video above, due to the coronavirus crisis the race was held on a 400 m track instead of its regular road course. The Sera H.S. boys and girls both won, the boys winning the prefectural title for the 17th year in a row and the girls for the 15th. Both teams last won the national title in 2015, when the boys set the still-standing Nationals course record of 2:01:18, but at last year's Nationals both finished off the eight-deep podium.

2nd at Nationals last year after winning in 2018, Kamimura Gakuen H.S. took 28 seconds off its own course record to win the girls' race in Kagoshima in 1:06:04, with new records for the last three stages including a 15:10 for the 5.0 km anchor stage by Kenyan Cynthia Baire. 2010 national champ Kagoshima Jitsugyo H.S. took the boys' race in 2:06:13.

Likewise 2nd at Nationals in 2019 after winning the 2018 race, Kurashiki H.S. took the Okayama boys' race in 2:06:09, over seven minutes ahead of the next-best team. 4th at Nationals in 2019, Kojokan H.S. held off the Kurashiki girls by 37 seconds to win the prefectural title again.

Nearby in Miyazaki, the Kobayashi H.S. boys ran a solid 2:03:13 to knock last year's winner Miyazaki Nichidai H.S., 7th at Nationals in 2019, out of a return trip to the big race. The Kobayashi girls also beat Miyazaki Nichidai to join the boys at Nationals.

In Hyogo, Suma Gakuen H.S. was another school to pull off a double win, its girls winning for the third year in a row and the boys for the first time in three years. The Suma Gakuen girls last won the national title in 2006, finishing 6th last year.

In Kyoto, 2012 national champions Ritsumeikan Uji H.S., 7th at Nationals last year, won the girls' race for the 32nd year in a row in 1:10:27. The Rakunan H.S. boys won for the sixth year in a row in a solid 2:05:45.

8th at Nationals last year, Isahaya H.S. won the girls' race again in Nagasaki. Chinzei Gakuin H.S. took the boys' race, which was marred by an accident when an athlete from Keiho H.S. was struck from behind by a car that had entered the course.

In Mie, the Yokkaichi Kogyo H.S. boys won for the second year in a row. 3rd-year Shogo Sakamoto, son of 2016 Osaka Marathon winner Yoshiko Sakamoto, helped lead the team to the win with a stage best on the sixth leg. 2018 winner Tsu Shogyo H.S. returned to the top in the girls' race, beating Uji Yamada Shogyo H.S. by just five seconds.

The list goes on and on, and there's still more to come. Look for another round of prefectural qualifying races this coming weekend before the final buildup to the Dec. 20 national race. Hopefully.

World Marathon Majors Japanese Entries

We're back from a short summer break. A week and a half out from the first race of the season's four World Marathon Majors races, here's a look at Japanese athletes scheduled to run. Everything right now is about qualifying for the MGC Race, the official trials race for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics to be held in the fall of 2027 in Nagoya. The JAAF makes no mistake about wanting to keep its top people racing domestically where it can get a share of revenue from the TV broadcast and race operations, so anyone who decides to race overseas has to do it in a WA platinum label race and hit either 2:06:30 or 2:23:30, regardless of place, course or weather if they want to make the trials. At the same time concessions are make for domestic races, like for example the late-August Hokkaido Marathon where up to 3 men and 3 women can qualify if they go 2:12:00 or 2:32:00. As a result, you get things like last year where amateur runner Yudai Fukuda made the trials by finishing 3rd Jap...

Nakajima Breaks 100 mH NR Twice, Kitaguchi Returns - August Track Roundup

Catching up on what's been happening in track and field this month during our summer break: Men's 3000 m NR holder Nagiya Mori was just off his 5000 m PB at the IFAM Oordegem meet in Belgium on Aug. 1, taking 16th in 13:15.01. Shota Nakano was 26th of 28 in 13:35.02. This year's national champion Ryoma Aoki ran the 3000 mSC but didn't finish. Naoto Hasegawa was the only Japanese athlete at Mutaz Essa Barshim 's What Gravity Tour stop at the Monaco Athletics Festival meet on Aug. 5. Having cleared 2.30 m for the first time earlier this year Hasegawa only managed 2.18 m in Monaco, taking 7th of 10. There were a lot of good performances at the Fuji Hokuriku World Trial meet in Fujiyoshida on Aug. 9, but the one that got the headlines was a 12.62 (-0.2) NR in the women's 100 mH by Hitomi Nakajima . Nakajima actually did it twice, running 12.62 (+2.0) in the heats before repeating in the final. Masumi Aoki also ran big in the heats, with a 12.68 (+2.0) for al...

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...

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