japan running news

by Brett Larner Following the rebranding of the Chiba International Cross-Country Meet earlier this month as the trendier-sounding X-Run Chiba, Japan's mini XC season saw most of its action over the weekend.  The other big domestic meet alongside Chiba, the Fukuoka International Cross-Country Meet was likewise rebranded this year as the National Cross-Country Championships .  Yukari Abe (Team Shimamura) was crowned the first senior women's national champion, winning the 8 km race in 27:13 by a second over Tomoka Kimura (Team Univ. Ent.).  With Ethiopian Kassa Mekashaw (Team Yachiyo Kogyo) running up front to keep the pace hot, first-year pro Takashi Ichida (Team Asahi Kasei) had a surprise win over Hakone Ekiden Fifth Stage star Daichi Kamino (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) and, fresh from breaking 1:01 at the Marugame Half, the ascendant Keijiro Mogi (Asahi Kasei) to pick up the inaugural senior men's 12 km title in 35:59.  Fukiko Ando (Ritsumeikan Uji H.S.) and Sot...

by Brett Larner A week after the National Women's Ekiden marked the end of the main women's championship ekiden season, 9 pro and university teams and 15 high school teams lined up for the 26th edition of the Kita-Kyushu Women's Ekiden , a 5-stage, 32.8 km race that features an 11.7 km anchor stage split into two for the high school runners.  Last year's winning anchor Misaki Kato got defending open division champion Kyudenko off to a good start with an 18-second lead on the 4.2 km First Stage, and after Kenyan Sally Chepyego was through with the 5.9 km Second Stage Kyudenko's lead was up to well over a minute, a margin they held for the rest of the race to take a second-straight win in 1:45:23. With a long streak of Kita-Kyushu wins behind it, defending H.S. division champion Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. got off to a slow start, 2nd among H.S. teams on the First Stage and more than 30 seconds behind Kato.  2014 National H.S. Ekiden champion Osaka Kunei Joshi Gaku...

by Brett Larner Ekiden season never really ends, but championship season hits its peak this weekend and next with the Jan. 11 National Women's Ekiden in Kyoto and Jan. 18 National Men's Ekiden in Hiroshima.  Both races feature teams from each of Japan's 47 prefectures, made up of the best pro, collegiate, high school and junior high school runners from each region, and both are broadcast live and commercial-free nationwide by NHK.  Follow @JRNLive for live coverage of both starting at 12:30 each day. At the 33rd running of the National Women's Ekiden defending champion Kyoto comes in with seven wins in the last ten years and home ground advantage on the nine-stage, 42.195 km course .  Its team is missing its magic ingredient, last year's Fourth Stage course record setter Ryoko Kizaki (Team Daihatsu), but features veteran Mari Ozaki (Team Noritz) and 2011 Tokyo Marathon winner Noriko Higuchi (Team Wacoal) along with 2014 National University Ekiden winner ...

by Brett Larner video highlights courtesy of race broadcaster NHK A back-and-forth race between four of the top five ranked schools in the country saw Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. emerge to take its first national title Dec. 21 at the 26th National High School Girls Ekiden Championships in Kyoto, covering the five-stage, 21.0975 km course in 1:07:26. Defending champion Toyokawa H.S. was never a factor, 26th of 47 teams at the end of the 6.0 km First Stage and working its way back up through the field to 6th thanks in large part to a 15:42 stage win for the 5.0 km anchor leg by star Azusa Sumi .  In its absence, #3-ranked Tokiwa H.S. took an early lead with its top runner Harumi Okamoto winning the First Stage in 19:12.  #2-ranked Osaka Kunei moved up on the 4.0975 km Second Stage as its 2014 Youth Olympics 3000 m gold medalist Nozomi Musembi Takamatsu quickly took the lead, but while Takamatsu looked strong a surprise came from Fukiko Ando of #5-ranked 2012 nat...

http://www.kyoto-np.co.jp/top/article/20141217000034 translated by Brett Larner Broadcast live nationwide and commercial-free on NHK, the 65th National High School Boys Ekiden Championships and 26th National High School Girls Ekiden Championships take place this Sunday, Dec. 21 in Kyoto with the boys running a seven-stage, 42.195 km course and the girls a five-stage, 21.0975 km course, both starting and finishing at Nishi Kyogoku Field.  Having represented Kyoto every time since the first National Championships, the Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. girls are set to run again. Four members of last year's 4th-place Ritsumeikan Uji girls squad return, forming the core of this year's team.  Looking to return to the top after winning its 3rd National title in 2012, head coach Yoshinobu Ogino showed confidence int he team's chances as he commented, "Our athletes have become strong." The top five girls on the team have an average 3000 m PB of 9:20, ranking them fifth in ...

http://www.kyoto-np.co.jp/sports/article/20121216000045 translated by Brett Larner The 20th National Junior High School Ekiden Championships took place Dec. 16 on the Yamaguchi Prefectural Seminar Cross-Country Course in Yamaguchi. Hyogo's Kakogawa Yamate J.H.S. won the six-stage, 18.0 km boys' division in 56:51, while Fujimi J.H.S. of Gunma took the five-stage, 12.0 km girls' race in 40:20. In its sixth appearance at Nationals Kakogawa Yamate's victory was decided in an exciting photo finish with rival Eishin J.H.S.  of Saitama, both schools being given the same time after Eishin anchor Daiki Ito  ran down a 41-second margin to Kakogawa Yamate's Yuki Sakamoto . Tochigi's Shioya J.H.S. took 3rd, while last year's champion Kushigata J.H.S. of Yamanashi could do no better than 18th. In its second time running Nationals Fujimi broke the existing course record. Okubo J.H.S. of Hyogo was 25 seconds back in 2nd, while defending champion Niihama Hi...