japan running news

http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2011011000281 translated by Brett Larner In the 62nd and final edition of the seven-stage, 99.9 km Asahi Ekiden from Fukuoka to Kita-Kyushu, Team Kyudenko took its third win and first in five years, clocking 4:50:58. New Year Ekiden 4th placers Team Yasukawa Denki were 2nd, while Team Asahi Kasei finished 3rd. Defending champion Team Honda was only 4th. Kyudenko's Paul Tanui put the team ahead on the First Stage, and all the way to anchor Mao Fukuyama Kyudenko's runners finished in the top three on stage time, keeping the team in 1st by a margin of 50 seconds over Yasukawa Denki. Translator's note: The majority of Team Yasukawa Denki actually outperformed Team Kyudenko, with more Yasukawa Denki runners taking 1st or 2nd on their stage than Kyudenko runners. Yasukawa Denki was within four seconds of Kyudenko at the end of the Third Stage, but, reinforcing that you are only as strong as your weakest link, a poor performance on the F...

http://www.asahi.com/sports/spo/SEB201101080004.html translated by Brett Larner The ekiden that decides who is #1 in Japan. Once known by that phrase, the curtain is set to fall on the 60+ year history of the Asahi Ekiden . Many famous athletes' careers were born on the winding, hilly roads joining Fukuoka and Kita-Kyushu, but the sound of their footsteps on the seven-stage, 99.9 km course will be heard for the last time on Jan. 10. Team Yawata Iron & Steel won the first running of the Asahi Ekiden in 1950. At the fourth running, Hakone Ekiden champion Chuo University took the win in its first appearance. It was the only time a university team ever won, but following Chuo's victory Hakone-winning teams were invited to do battle against professional teams to decide who was the best in Japan. A Japanese creation, the 'ekiden' began in 1917 with the Tokaido Ekiden as a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Tokyo becoming the national capital. The name of the race, c...

http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/general/news/20100112k0000m050027000c.html translated by Brett Larner 17 teams competed in the 61st Asahi Ekiden on Jan. 11, a seven-stage, 99.9 km elite competition stretching from Fukuoka to Kita-Kyushu. Team Honda ran 4:47:33 to take its first-ever Asahi Ekiden win. Honda's Sixth Stage runner Yacob Jarso of Ethiopia started the stage in 3rd place 1:40 behind the leader but broke the existing stage record on his way to taking the lead. Honda anchor Suehiro Ishikawa managed to hold on to the lead to bring the team home on top. Trying for a fourth-straight win, Team Asahi Kasei anchor Tomoya Onishi ran the stage's best time but could not catch Ishikawa and had to settle for 2nd. Team Kyudenko finished 3rd, while last year's Kyushu Jitsugyodan Ekiden winner Team Yasukawa Denki was 4th. Alongside Jarso's mark, Kenyan student runner Kiragu Njuguna (Daiichi Kogyo Univ.) also set a new record on the first stage. 2010 Asahi Ekiden - 7 Stages, 9...

by Brett Larner Yuki Iwai reaches the finish of the 2009 Asahi Ekiden in world record time. Click photo for video highlights. The clip of Iwai's run begins at time index 8:16. Still smarting from landing 3rd in the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden's sprint finish, Team Asahi Kasei came up from 3rd place to win the 60th Asahi Ekiden on Jan. 12 thanks to a stage-record run by anchor Yuki Iwai . Iwai covered the 16.7 km 7th stage in an astonishing 45:35, with the next fastest runner clocking 47:27. Iwai's pace was just under 2:44 / km, equivalent to 40:57 for 15km. The 15 km world record of 41:29 is held by Kenyan great Felix Limo. It was Team's Asahi Kasei's 3rd-straight Asahi Ekiden win and its 27th in the event's 60 runnings. Team Asahi Kasei rival Team Honda was highly focused on the win after a dismal showing at the New Year Ekiden, taking two stage best titles. After leading the second half of the race on the strength of a stage-best run by Ethiopian ace Hailu Mekonn...