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 Yoshida is the big boy in the field, with the 2nd-fastest 5000 m best, 13:30.30, and the fastest 10000 m and half marathon times, 27:47.01 and 1:00:31. Never having made it to NYC, CGU is coming in hot with two of its other best half marathoners on the list, Hiro Konda at 1:02:08 and Seia Hotta at 1:02:14.

2nd at the Izumo and National University Ekiden this season, Komazawa University has sent more people to New York than any other school, and its chances this time pretty much lie with 3rd-year Aoi Ito, 1:01:16 for the half marathon. The team that beat Komazawa at both ekidens, Koku Gakuin University has also never had a runner score one of the NYC Half tickets, but this time around it has A-lister Goki Takayama 1:01:42, and top-tier members Genta Tsuru, 1:02:15 and Kuranosuke Yoshida, 1:02:29, on its list.

Other top collegiate names include Sho Fukuda (Teikyo Univ.), 1:02:03, Kodai Miyaoka (Hosei Univ.), 1:02:07, Kyohei Oda (Daito Bunka Univ.), 1:02:09, and Kazusa Nakanuma (Chuo Univ.), 1:02:19. Sub-28:30 10000 m runners Fumiya Oshima (Hosei Univ.), Kihiro Iriyama (Daito Bunka Univ.) and Ryota Shibako (Teikyo Univ.) will be looking to run half marathon times that match their track credentials. There's a noticeable shortage of Kenyan talent up front, but Duncan Kisaisa (Senshu Univ.), Evans Kiprop (Daito Bunka Univ.), Solomon Mutuku (Soka Univ.) and even visiting Australian Edward Goddard are all good enough to factor into the front pack.

Live streaming of the Ageo City Half Marathon will be posted on the race website shortly before the race. JRN will be on-site in the lead car to cover the race live.

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...

Hakone Ekiden Qualifying Race Entry Roster Sizes Increased from 14 to 16

Hakone Ekiden organizers KGRR have announced details for the qualifying half marathon for next year's 103rd Hakone Ekiden. The Yosenkai qualifying race will be held Oct. 17 in Tachikawa, Tokyo. The combined times of the 10 fastest finishers from each participating team will be used for team scoring, with the 10 fastest teams going on the the main event next January and top-placing individuals from teams that do not qualify being names to the Kanto Region Student Alliance select team. One change from previous years is that the number of runners each school can enter has been increased from 14 to 16. Teams will still only be allowed to have from 10 to 12 athletes on the starting line, but the move gives coaches greater flexibility in making the final decision on their starting rosters. No changes have been made to the qualifying times of 34:00 for 10000 m or 1:13:00 for the half marathon, and the new earlier starting time of 8:30 a.m. introduced last year in an effort to mitigate ...

Nomura and Odagiri Go 3-4 at Zevenheuvelenloop 15 km

2010 Zevenheuvelenloop 15 km Nijmegen, Netherlands, 11/21/10 Women click here for complete women's results 1. Genet Getaneh (Ethiopia) - 47:53 2. Florence Kiplagat (Kenya) - 48:07 3. Sayo Nomura (Meijo Univ.) - 49:43 4. Aki Odagiri (Meijo Univ.) - 51:37 5. Benita Willis (Australia) - 51:51 Men click here for complete men's results 1. Leonard Patrick Komon (Kenya) - 41:13 - WR 2. Abera Kuma (Ethiopia) - 42:01 3. Ayele Abshiro (Ethiopia) - 42:01 4. Abraham Kiplimo (Uganda) - 43:03 5. Berhanu Delale (Ethiopia) - 43:08 ----- 14. Kazuya Watanabe (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) - 45:31

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