japan running news

by Brett Larner Toyo University's Yuta Shitara  has had a busy last month.  After a 1:01:48 PB at the March 18 New York City Half Marathon he beat marathoner Yuki Kawauchi  (Saitama Pref.) over ten miles on April 1 and set a meet record for 3000 m on April 8 before travelling to Lodz, Poland for the 18th World University Cross-Country Championships on April 15.  Leading the first part of the race and working together with Tokai University's Daichi Motomura to control the pace, Shitara ended up going head-to-head against Algerian Abdelmajed Touil  for the win but falling four seconds short as Touil outkicked him for the win, 29:11 to 29:15.  Leading at halfway, Motomura hung on to 3rd in 29:22.  Komazawa University's Kazuhiro Kuga  placed 7th and Daito Bunka University's Hiroshi Ichida , like Shitara an identical twin, 24th to give the Japanese men the team gold medal alongside Shitara and Motomura's individual silver and bronze.  T...

by Brett Larner Along with Saturday's Kanaguri Memorial Meet where four men cleared 13:30 in the 5000 m , the weekend saw a number of small meets between Kanto-region university teams with the odd pro popping up in a few races.  Among the highlights: 2012 Hakone Ekiden champion Toyo University 's twin juniors Keita Shitara  and Yuta Shitara  dominated the Five-University Meet at Daito Bunka University on Sunday.  Both brothers surged away from the field mid-race to take their events in new meet records, Keita with a 14:04.40 in the 5000 m to win by 8.62 seconds and Yuta with an 8:04.87 in the 3000 m to win by 8.00 seconds. With a strong international debut in New York three weeks ago and a 10-mile win over marathoner Yuki Kawauchi  (Saitama Pref.) last weekend, next weekend Yuta will run on the Japanese national team at the World University XC Championships in Poland. Nihon University's Kenyan senior Benjamin Gandu  made easy work of the rest ...

by Brett Larner Tokai University took the top spot at the 2010 National University Ekiden Kanto Region Qualifier track meet June 26 at Tokyo's National Stadium. With the top six schools at last year's Nationals seeded for this year's championships on Nov. 7, other schools across the country must compete in regional qualifier meets this month to requalify. Consisting of four 10000 m heats of forty runners, each made up of two runners from twenty schools, the combined times of the eight runners from each school are used to determine the team scores at the Kanto Region Qualifier. The five fastest overall schools go on to Nationals. Tokai came out first on a windy but rain-free evening thanks to strong showings from Heat Four sophomore aces Akinobu Murasawa and Tsubasa Hayakawa along with a Heat Three win from star frosh Daichi Motomura . Joining Tokai at Nationals will be Josai Univ., Kokushikan Univ., Teikyo Univ. and Nittai Univ . Takushoku Univ. missed out on making th...

by Brett Larner Picking up where the recently-graduated Daniel Gitau left off, Kenyan Benjamin Gando (Nihon Univ.) stepped up to take the win in the men's 10000 m A-heat at the 2010 Kanto Regional University Track and Field Championships , May 16 at Tokyo's National Stadium. With a 3rd-place finish as a frosh and a 2nd-place finish last year, star junior Ryuji Kashiwabara (Toyo Univ.) took the race out hard with a 2:42 first km in search of his first Kanto win but was unable to keep with up with Gando's surge over the final three kilometers. Gando fell just short of a new PB but took his first major win in 28:27.16. Behind him, Kashiwabara battled with two Japanese runners over the last lap for the runner-up spot. 18 year old Saku Chosei H.S. grad Suguru Osako (Waseda Univ.), one of four frosh on the entry list with PBs under 29 minutes, tried to drop Kashiwabara and solid junior Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Meiji Univ.) but was unable to match their closing speed. Edging Kashiwa...