japan running news

http://www.kyoto-np.co.jp/sports/article/20130422000135 translated and edited by Brett Larner On Apr. 22 the organizers of the Biwako University Ekiden , held each November between Nagahama and Otsu along the west coast of Lake Biwa, announced that the event has been suspended.  With Biwako to have served as the 75th anniversary edition of the Kansai Region University Ekiden Championships this year, a move to an alternate course in the Tango peninsula north of Kyoto is being examined. With various locations having staged the Kansai championships over the years, the Biwako University Ekiden became the host event in 2005, expanding the championships' scale by bringing together invited schools from the Tokai, Chugoku, Shikoku and Kyushu regions along with the best of Kansai to battle for the title of #1 in Western Japan. With an eight-year history, last year 21 schools competed over Biwako's eight-stage, 83.6 km course. Following difficulties in achieving the event's or...

by Brett Larner Along with weekend's major domestic races, the Ageo City Half Marathon and Yokohama International Women's Marathon, no less than five major ekidens took place across the country. At Saturday's cold and rainy 74th Biwako University Ekiden , the eight stage, 83.6 km year-end championship for men's university teams from western Japan, Kyoto Sangyo University pulled off a third-straight win after a disappointing 2012 season. Never far from the front, Kyoto Sangyo took the lead on the 7.3 km Second Stage, losing it momentarily on the 11.0 km Third Stage to rival Daiichi Kogyo University 's Kenyan ringer John Kariuki but returning on the next leg thanks to a stage win by Naoto Nakai . Kyoto Sangyo's next two runners built the team's lead up to 2:18, but a weak run by seventh man Makoto Kan cut the margin by a minute and left anchor Naoya Yoshioka with 1:16 to try to hold off Ritsumeikan University 's 1500 m specialist Toshiki Imazeki o...

by Brett Larner Thanks in part to a big run from 2010 national university 5000 m champion Hiroki Mitsuoka on the 15.1 km Seventh Stage, Kyoto Sangyo University took its first-ever win Nov. 20 in the Biwako University Ekiden , western Japan's counterpart to January's Hakone Ekiden. Kyoto Sangyo defeated perpetual winner Ritsumeikan University by over 2 1/2 minutes, joining Bukkyo University's women's team in ending the Ritsumeikan stranglehold on western Japan men's and women's distance running. 2010 Biwako University Ekiden - Top Results click here for complete results Stage Best Performances First Stage (11.1 km) - Tetsuya Kimura (Osaka Keizai Univ.) - 33:12 Second Stage (7.3 km) - Kenji Nakamura (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 21:48 Third Stage (11.0 km) - Jackson Kwarai (Tanzania/Nara Sangyo Univ.) - 33:11 Fourth Stage (9.6 km) - Kiragu Njuguna (Kenya/Daiichi Kogyo Univ.) - 27:50 Fifth Stage (9.0 km) - Daiki Maruno (Daiichi Kogyo Univ.) - 27:50 Sixth Stage (12.8 k...

by Brett Larner Picking up the pieces from its women's team's loss to crosstown rivals Bukkyo University at last month's Morinomiyako Ekiden, Ritsumeikan University's men followed through on their strong showing at the Izumo and National University Ekidens with a win at the 71st Biwako University Ekiden on Nov. 21. Western Japan's answer to the mighty Hakone Ekiden, Biwako is the season-ending championship event for university men outside the Kanto region. 19 times raced the eight-stage, 84.3 km event, one of Japan's oldest ekidens. Ritsumeikan, Kyoto Sangyo University and Daiichi Kogyo University were the heavy favorites going in to this year's Biwako, and the three followed expectations. Kyoto Sangyo's Kazuki Hayashi (3rd yr.) took the race out hard, clocking 32:55 for the 11.1 km First Stage. Ritsumeikan and Daiichi Kogyo sat in 4th and 5th behind Nara Sangyo University's Tadaharu Amano (2nd yr.) and Masashi Nakatsu (3rd yr.). Ritsumeikan's ...

by Brett Larner Buoyed by its finishes as the top-placing western Japan university at October's Izumo Ekiden and the National University Ekiden Championships earlier this month, #3-ranked Daiichi Kogyo University upset defending champion Ritsumeikan University at the Nov. 15 Biwako University Ekiden (alternate site here ), western Japan's equivalent to eastern Japan's Hakone Ekiden. 22 teams competed in the 8-stage, 84.3 km championship. Ritsumeikan, which has not finished out of the top 2 since 2001, when it was 3rd, could never close the gap on Daiichi Kogyo's runners after trailing its rival by 6 seconds on the 11.1 km 1st stage. Nara Sangyo University Tanzanian Jackson Kwarai scored the stage best of 33:07 on the opening leg, with Daiichi Kogyo's Shoto Atsuchi 3 seconds behind and Ritsumeikan's Takuya Kawakami another 6 seconds back. Despite running only 1 of its 2 Kenyans and missing ace Ryohei Nakano, Daiichi Kogyo took stage best titles on 4 of the rem...