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JRN's 10 Most-Read Stories of 2022

Like you'd expect, marathons and ekidens were the main stories of 2022 on JRN. But 2 of the 3 most-read this year were about track 10000 m, one that speaks to another area of the incredible depth here, and another that organizers would probably like to forget about. This was 2022 as JRN readers saw it. Thanks for reading, and please consider subscribing in 2023.

After opening a lead of almost a kilometer on the first day of Japan's biggest race, Aoyama Gakuin University turned that into a margin of over 3 km to win the 98th Hakone Ekiden in course record time. 3 of the 10 stages saw new course records, with incredible depth on almost every one of them. Preview.

After an oblivious camera crew walked onto the track as the race was still happening, clotheslining Shinji Mita of the Sunbelx corporate team with a power cable and interfering with four other athletes, the JAAF and broadcaster NHK apologized for disrupting the men's 10000 m National Championships.

Emmanuel Kiplagat of the Mitsubishi Juko corporate team ran a meet record to lead the deepest-ever men's 10000 m, with 24 men going sub-28 in the fast heat at the Hachioji Long Distance meet in Kanagawa. Including two other meets in Kanagawa the same weekend, a total of 199 men ran sub-29 track 10000 m in about 48 hours.

2019 world champion Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya ran solo almost the entire way to win the biggest women-only marathon in the world and biggest 1st-place prize money in the sport. Further back in the field, a week after running 3:04:16 at the Tokyo Marathon, the fastest-ever by a 63-year-old, 60+ world record holder Mariko Yugeta bettered that with a 2:58:40 to push the age range for a sub-3 even further. Preview.

It seems like a long time ago now, but when news broke that world record holder Eliud Kipchoge was scheduled to run the Tokyo Marathon the omicron variant was in full swing and Japan was still closed to almost all inbound non-resident travel. Kipchoge did run, of course, running the fastest time ever on Japanese soil, as did women's winner Brigid Kosgei. Preview.

Japan had the 3rd-largest number of qualifiers for the 2022 Oregon World Championships marathon after Kenya and Ethiopia, but its ratio of female to male qualifiers was one of the lowest in the world. We looked at how this might be related to gender equality as a whole in Japanese society and what it means for equal opportunity for Japanese women in the sport.

7. Fukuoka to Return - Mar. 14
Three months after the final edition of Japan's most famous marathon, the Fukuoka prefectural government and others announced that the Fukuoka International Marathon would return in 2022 with new sponsors. When the race happened not much else about it seemed new except for its logo, but it still produced new Israeli and Australian national records from winner Maru Teferi and 4th-place Brett Robinson.

With a young team all aged from 20 to 25 but including two Olympians and a 2:06:26 marathoner, the Honda corporate men's team won its first-ever New Year Ekiden national title Jan. 1 in Gunma. Preview.

A profile on one of the good guys of the sport, 2019 Fukuoka International Marathon winner and single father Taku Fujimoto, on his struggle to balance raising two young girls by himself with keeping a career in athletics going. JRN's favorite story of 2022. Glad to see enough people felt the same way for it to make the top 10.
Panasonic corporate women's team anchor Sora Shinozakura pulled off a brilliant last-second come-from-behind win to take 1st at the qualifying race for November's National Corporate Women's Ekiden, making up a 24-second deficit to leader Kyudenko in just over 6 km and turning it into a 6-second margin of victory.

© 2022 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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Most-Read This Week

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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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...
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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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