In our post-Hakone Ekiden analysis of this year's record-breaking race we wrote that winner Aoyama Gakuin University head coach Susumu Hara excels at developing depth of quality and can usually fill gaps caused by graduation. It's a sign of how much depth he has that his B- and C-squad runners occupied podium places at two fast half marathons just a week after Hakone.
The Takanezawa Genki-Up Half Marathon in Tochigi is the usual destination for AGU benchwarmers and has seen some breakthrough performances from future A-squad stars. Local independent Ryuichi Yoshioka got the win in 1:03:00, but AGU runners took the next 6 spots, all under 1:03:40, led by Riku Anjima and Daiki Sasaki in 1:03:04 and 1:03:06. And they weren't even the fastest AGU people in action.
At the rebranded Tokyo New Year Half Marathon, previously the Hi-Tech Half, Kaito Nakamura and Kyosuke Hiramatsu went head-to-head with former 10000 m NR holder Kota Murayama from the GMO corporate team. Murayama, who announced that he will retire after running next month's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, got the win in a photo finish with Nakamura, both clocking 1:02:46. Hiramatsu was close behind in 1:02:49 for 3rd, with Toyo University's Koha Kuramoto 4th in 1:02:57 and independent Yudai Fukuda 5th in 1:02:58.
AGU is losing 6 of the 10 members of its Hakone-winning squad including 3 of its very best, but as the results here show there's plenty more coming down the pipeline, including Zen Kuroda, younger brother of Second Stage CR-breaker Asahi Kuroda, 6th in Takezawa in 1:03:16. It still won't be easy for Komazawa University and the other top-end competition to take AGU down come Jan. 2-3 next year.
Takanezawa Genki-Up Half Marathon
Takanezawa, Tochigi, 12 Jan. 2024
1. Ryuichi Yoshioka (Honda Tochigi) - 1:03:00
2. Riku Anjima (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:03:04
3. Daiki Sasaki (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:03:06
4. Aito Sato (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:03:09
5. Taisei Endo (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:03:13
6. Zen Kuroda (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:03:16
7. Kaito Iida (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:03:38
8. Shumon Rohomon (Tokai Univ.) - 1:04:02
9. Junpei Nakano (Tokai Univ.) - 1:04:12
10. Shunto Hamakawa (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:04:23
Tokyo New Year Half Marathon
Kita-ku, Tokyo, 12 Jan. 2024
1. Kota Murayama (GMO) - 1:02:46
2. Kaito Nakamura (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:46
3. Kyosuke Hiramatsu (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:49
4. Koha Kuramoto (Toyo Univ.) - 1:02:57
5. Yudai Fukuda (Ishikawa T&F Assoc.) - 1:02:58
6. Chihiro Ono (GMO) - 1:03:09
7. Shuto Sugiura (Tokai Univ.) - 1:03:12
8. Shusei Ohashi (Kodaira T&F Assoc.) - 1:03:16
9. Kotaro Ito (Waseda Univ.) - 1:03:18
10. Hibiki Sawanaka (Hosei Univ.) - 1:03:19
© 2025 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
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