National University Men's Ekiden Kanto Region Qualifier Preview and Streaming

November's National University Men's Ekiden is the second of the Big Three University Ekidens that make up the peak of the year for Japanese collegiate men. The top eight teams auto-qualify for the following year, and every year it's a given that they're all going to be from the Tokyo-centric Kanto Region. Another 17 schools have to run regional qualifiers to make it back, and of those another seven come from Kanto. The Kanto Region Qualifier happens Saturday at 17:15 Japan time, four heats of 10000 m on the track with two runners from each of the twenty schools in each heat. Teams are scored on the combined times of all eight runners, with the seven fastest total teams going on to Nationals in November.

On paper Chuo Gakuin University and Kanagawa University are the favorites with seven entrants each with bests under 29 minutes, in CGU's case led by sub-28 3rd-year Reishi Yoshida. Tokai University, Daito Bunka University and Josai University are next with six sub-29 men apiece, and with five each Meiji University and Rikkyo University make up the rest of the top tier. But Teikyo University and Nittai University are close behind at four each, and Tokyo Kokusai University's sub-13:20 1st-year Amos Bett adds enough to its lineup of three runners sub-29 to put it into contention too.

Top individual entrants this year include:

Amos Bett (1st yr., Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) - 13:16.85 (5000 m)

David Shun'qeya (2nd yr., Reitaku Univ.) - 27:46.08

James Mutok (2nd yr., Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 27:50.54

Reishi Yoshida (3rd yr., Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 27:58.60

Shotaro Ishihara (4th yr., Tokai Univ.) - 28:05.91

Duncan Kisaisa (2nd yr., Senshu Univ.) - 28:11.79

Yoshiteru Takatsuki (4th yr., Tokyo Nogyo Univ.) - 28:11.99

Johnson Mogeni (1st yr., Asia Univ.) - 28:12.55

Shadrack Kipkemoi (1st yr., Nihon Univ.) - 28:13.10

Hisaya Hanaoka (2nd yr., Tokai Univ.) - 28:15.65

Neo Namiki (4th yr., Tokyo Nogyo Univ.) - 28:16.30

Atsuki Kobayashi (4th yr., Kanagawa Univ.) - 28:21.10

Peter Kamau (3rd yr., Kokushikan Univ.) - 28:21.49

Masaki Kodama (4th yr., Meiji Univ.) - 28:22.27

Tasuku Yamazaki (2nd yr., Nittai Univ.) - 28:23.69

Victor Kimutai (2nd yr., Josai Univ.) - 28:24.57

Shota Morishita (2nd yr., Meiji Univ.) - 28:24.84

Peter Wanjiru (3rd yr., Daito Bunka Univ.) - 28:25.20

Yuito Yamamoto (4th yr., Josai Univ.) - 28:25.21

Yusuke Shirai (3rd yr., Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) - 28:27.45

Yudai Katakawa (3rd yr., Asia Univ.) - 28:27.51

Koki Matsuo (4th yr., Tokai Univ.) - 28:27.77

Godfrey Musanga (2nd yr., Surugadai Univ.) - 28:28.36

Safumi Sugi (4th yr., Meiji Univ.) - 28:28.94

Kenta Sekiguchi (4th yr., Rikkyo Univ.) - 28:29.24

Toru Kubota (4th yr., Daito Bunka Univ.) - 28:29.75

Complete entry lists are here. Heat One starts at 17:15 Saturday local time, with the other heats starting every 40 minutes.

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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