The bar was raised again for the Hakone Ekiden's 100th running on Jan. 1-2. Wednesday night at the Meiji-Aoyama Gakuin-Rikkyo-Chuo-Hosei pentangular MARCH Taikosen 10000 m meet in Machida, Tokyo, hosts Aoyama Gakuin University dominated with 10 of its members running new sub-29 PBs, 6 of them going sub-28:30. AGU 4th-year Issei Sato led the way with a meet record 28:11.00 to win the fastest heat, 2nd-year Asahi Kuroda following up great runs at both the Izumo and National University ekidens with a 28:15.82 PB for 3rd and 4th-year Genta Kuramoto just getting under 28:20 with a 28:19.31 PB for 4th.
2023 Hakone runner-up Chuo University and some of the other teams that just ran the Ageo City Half Marathon on Sunday had a lighter presence, but 2 Chuo runners did go sub-28:30, 4th-year Jin Yuasa taking 2nd behind Sato in a PB 28:12.17, and 3rd-year Haruki Abe running a 28:26.58 PB for 6th. The fastest finishers from Rikkyo University and Hosei University both clocked PBs, Rikkyo 3rd-year Kotaro Hayashi running 28:49.09 for 12th and Hosei 2nd-year Koei Yahara 28:54.60 for 5th in the B-heat. Meiji's fastest man was 2nd-year Sosuke Hori, 28:48.86 for 2nd in the B-heat.
Slickly produced by the AGU head coach Susumu Hara-affiliated Kizuna AC and GMO Internet Group, the MARCH Taikosen had what it described as scholarship money on offer for all 5 teams based on aggregated time of its 10 fastest finishers, with AGU totaling 4:44:31.87, a 10-man average of 28:27.19, to take the ¥300,000 prize for 1st, worth roughly $2000 USD. Sato earned ¥30,000 for 1st overall, with a ¥10,000 bonus for breaking the National Championships qualifying standard of 28:16.00, bringing his individual earnings to around $275 USD. Individual scholarship money went 8-deep, and Chuo's Yuasa also earned the ¥10,000 bonus for sub-28:16.00.
MARCH Taikosen 10000 m Meet
Machida, Tokyo, 22 Nov. 2023
Heat 4
1. Issei Sato (Aoyama Gakuin) - 28:11.00 - MR, PB
2. Jin Yuasa (Chuo) - 28:12.17 - PB
3. Asahi Kuroda (Aoyama Gakuin) - 28:15.82 - PB
4. Genta Kuramoto (Aoyama Gakuin) - 28:19.31 - PB
5. Aoi Ota (Aoyama Gakuin) - 28:20.63 - PB
6. Haruki Abe (Chuo) - 28:26.58 - PB
7. Kosei Shiraishi (Aoyama Gakuin) - 28:27.96 - PB
8. Kento Yamauchi (Aoyama Gakuin) - 28:28.75 - PB
9. Tomoki Aramaki (Aoyama Gakuin) - 28:32.48 - PB
10. Kenta Torii (Aoyama Gakuin) - 28:33.64 - PB
11. Yuto Tanaka (Aoyama Gakuin) - 28:38.58
12. Kotaro Hayashi (Rikkyo) - 28:49.09 - PB
13. Kento Ozaki (Meiji) - 28:50.89 - PB
14. Hiroto Kuniyasu (Rikkyo) - 28:53.80 - PB
15. Kazuki Aya (Meiji) - 28:56.53 - PB
Heat 3
1. Shunya Udagawa (Aoyama Gakuin) - 28:43.70 - PB
2. Sosuke Hori (Meiji) - 28:48.86
3. Sena Minawatari (Aoyama Gakuin) - 28:49.30 - PB
4. Daisuke Inazuka (Rikkyo) - 28:49.55 - PB
5. Koei Yahara (Hosei) - 28:54.60 - PB
Heat 2
1. Yuji Tadauchi (Rikkyo) - 29:17.35 - PB
Heat 1
1. Yuichiro Baba (Meiji) - 29:53.31
Team Scores
1. Aoyama Gakuin University - 4:44:31.87 - 28:27.19 avg.
2. Chuo University - 4:54:28.35 - 29:26.83 avg.
3. Rikkyo University - 4:54:32.60 - 29:27.26 avg.
4. Meiji University - 4:55:32.90 - 29:33.29 avg.
5. Hosei University - 4:57:33.37 - 29:45.34 avg.
© 2023 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
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