We've been busy the last couple of weeks with finishing the Inside the Outside - When the World Came to Fukuoka documentary and some time off to recharge and run a trail ultra in Shizuoka. Before the main part of championship ekiden season gets rolling, let's catch up on the non-Fukuoka action from the last two weekends.
text and photo © 2021 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
Following the news that the Yachiyo Kogyo men's corporate would be disbanded after it failed to qualify for the 2022 New Year Ekiden national championships, Raffine Group, another men's team in the East Japan region that didn't make the New Year Ekiden, announced that after just 7 seasons it will be disbanded at the end of January. Raffine's Akira Tomiyasu ran last month's New York City Marathon, with its other top marathon Ryo Osaki having just run Fukuoka.
On the roads, the Okutama Keikoku Ekiden in the mountains west of Tokyo held its 83rd running last weekend. One of the few mass-participation ekidens to go ahead in 2020, this year's race saw a total of 246 teams across divisions. Course record holder Comodi Iida won the hilly 6-stage, 44.8 km open men's race in 2:13:04, Yamanashi Gakuin University winning the university men's division in 2:15:55 and Tokyo Jitsugyo H.S. B the high school boys' division in 2:22:18.
Women are limited to 3 stages of 3.7 km, 3.6 km and 3.8 km in Okutama, of which what's there to be said? Shoin University AC took 1st in 37:35 by just 3 seconds over Hachioji Project A. Tokyo Jitsugyo H.S.'s Ayaka Mori set a new record of 12:05 on the first leg, while last year's third leg record breaker Haruka Yamaguchi ran a new record of 10:43 on the second leg, impressively cracking the 3:00/km barrier.
Yamaguchi was back yesterday to defend her title at the Nara Marathon, winning in 2:34:36 a minute off her own course record. Local Yoshihiro Yamamoto took the men's race in 2:21:55. A total of 6,789 people finished the race, which at one point was interrupted by a charging herd of deer that knocked over roadside barriers and crashed into runners.
奈良マラソンに鹿乱入😱
— Shop TABI-JI (@TABI_JI) December 12, 2021
🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌 pic.twitter.com/PEuP1TwLDE
The same day as Nara, over 9,000 people ran the Aoshima Taiheyo Marathon in Miyazaki. Takashi Kono won the men's race in 2:20:05, with Haruna Takano winning the women's race in 2:48:27. But despite these and other mid-sized and bigger marathons that have restarted this fall in Japan, it's not all good news. April's Kakegawa Shincha Marathon, 3,781 finishers in its last edition in 2019, announced that it has canceled its 2022 race out of fear that Japan's exceptionally low COVID numbers might turn around. March's Niigata Half Marathon also announced that next year's race has been canceled, citing construction work at the stadium that serves as its start and finish point.
On the track, last weekend's Nittai University Time Trials saw four men go under the 10000 m qualifying standard for next year's Oregon World Championships. Antipas Kibet (SGH) got the win in 27:22.93 over Jonathan Ndiku (Hitachi Butsuryu), 2nd in 27:23.06, but the biggest news was 3rd placer Ren Tazawa (Komazawa University) improbably beating 2021 Hakone Ekiden MVP Vincent Yegon (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) 27:23.44 to 27:24.42. Tazawa's time was the 2nd-fastest ever by a Japanese man and just missed the collegiate record, a major breakthrough that makes the prospect of a duel between Yegon and Tazawa on Hakone's 2nd stage next month very exciting.
Kenyan women dominated the 5000 m, Naomi Muthoni Kariuki (Universal Entertainment) breaking the Nittai series record in 14:49.94 and Agnes Mukari (Kyocera) and Tabitha Njeri Kamau (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) both going under 15 minutes. Nanaka Yonezawa (Sendai Ikuei H.S.) impressed with a 15:31.33 to move up to all-time #6 on the Japanese high school charts, her teammate Kokone Sugimori running 15:37.13 for 13th. 19 high school girls broke 9:30 in the 3000 m A-heat, Moeka Okawara (Gakuho Ishikawa H.S.) taking the win in 9:17.16.
High school boys also impressed. Patrick Kinyanjui (Sapporo Yamanote H.S.) ran 28:06.05 for 11th in the 10000 m A-heat behind Kibet and the others, while Tomoki Aramaki (Omuta H.S.) ran 28:37.51 in the B-heat to come in at all-time H.S. #10. 11 high school boys ran sub-14 between four heats of 5000 m, Anthony Maina (Kokoku H.S.) the fastest out of them with a 13:27.34 to win the A-heat and Sonata Nagashima (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.), Joseph Muigai (Aomori Yamada H.S.) and Hisaya Hanaoka (Ueda Nishi H.S.) all getting under 13:50.
Friday's Edion Distance Challenge brought fast time across its three events. Njeri Kamau was back from Nittai to win the women's 5000 m in 15:00.68, with Tomoka Kimura (Shiseido) running an all-time Japanese #6 PB of 15:02.48 for 2nd. Kimura's teammate Rino Goshima (Shiseido), who broke the course record on her 10.0 km stage at last month's National Corporate Women's Ekiden, tied the all-time Japanese #6 mark of 31:10.02 for the win, joining Tazawa on the list of qualifiers for next summer's World Championships. Samwel Masai (Kanebo) won the men's 5000 m in 13:11.72, and behind him Hyuga Endo (Sumitomo Denko) and Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu) ran 13:16.40 and 13:16.53 to come in at all-time Japanese #6 and #7.
But the biggest news came Saturday at the Kansai Jitsugyodan Time Trials meet. Having exploded onto the scene in her collegiate ekiden debut this fall, 18-year-old Takushoku University first-year Seira Fuwa showed that her road performances weren't flukes. In her track 10000 m debut Fuwa won in 30:45.21, the 2nd-fastest time ever by a Japanese woman, an U20 national record, and an U20 world leading time by over 3 minutes. Fuwa now stands clearly as a major talent, the most exciting thing happening in Japanese women's distance running and, with the possible exception of 19-yr-old Juntendo University steepler Ryuji Miura, in Japanese distance running as a whole. If they can just keep her in one piece.
Back to that trail ultra, the Izu Trail Journey near Mount Fuji, 2019 Skyrunner World Series men's champion Ruy Ueda took 1st in the 69.1 km long course in 5:46:34, with national team member Yuri Yoshizumi winning the women's long course race in 6:59:12. Marathoner Cyrus Njui won the 28.9 km short course in 2:26:20 in a training run effort, the women's race going to Erika Fukuda in 2:59:58. The long course included 3243 m of ascent and 3162 m of descent, with the short course climbing 1139 m and descending 1803 m. JRN's Brett Larner was 26th in the short course race, Mika Tokairin finishing 164th in the long race.
Comments
I watched both the Edion Challenge and the Nittai time trials.
The 5000 metres with Endo and Shiojiri was a very good and fast race. Several PBs done there, most guys in top form.
The 10.000 time trials at Nittai was fantastic.
Tazawa was impressive as he actually managed to answer the attack from Vincent Yegon on the last lap and almost caught back to the top kenyan who gave the early sprint.
Impressive running by all of those and impressive time for Tazawa.
Is there any way to know if team announce a bit early which runners may be running which section at the Hakone Ekiden?
Like you said, Tazawa vs Yegon on the second section could be awesome (unless one of them gets to run the 9th section).
Do you think there's a chance that if those 2 run the second section Ryuji Miura could running the same section this year?
Last year he seemingly underperformed on the first stage, though he was coming off injury in december.
Do you think that we could be in for a Yegon-Tazawa-Miura and perhaps some other big name in the second stage? (I doubt Kosuke Ishida will run that stage as he's a first year).
Could be in for a fantastic second stage if that happens.
TBH I'd really like to see Yegon do the First Stage this year and Fifth Stage next year. Nobody's ever won four different stages in four years, so like his MVP it'd be great to see him break more new ground.
Yegon doing the first stage would be a great scenario: who would dare going with him?
We would probably see a first stage way less balanced than usual and no way the situation would remain still till the bridge.
Yoshii is the runner i am struggling to figure out the most: the last 10.000 meters he ran he showed improvement After a tough period. I wonder if he can reach the potenzial he was showing.
Mulwa also had a great 10.000 the other week and kosuke ishida had very good promising performances at the izumo or the All Japan ekidens.
Lots of interesting plotlines ahead!