japan running news

Two and a half years after scoring invitations to the United Airlines NYC Half by taking the top two Japanese collegiate places at the 2019 Ageo City Half Marathon , Akira Akasaki and Haruka Onodera finally got the chance to run. Going with the hot early pace set by heavy favorite Rhonex Kipruto of Kenya, neither was able to stay with past 5 km. Onodera dropped off first, with Akasaki lasting longer but not able to handle sub-61 pace on the tough, hilly course either. Akasaki ended up 17th in 1:03:31 and Onodera 23rd in 1:05:00. Post-race, Akasaki, now with the Kyudenko corporate team, said, "I was really happy to get the chance to run this race after two years. Along the way there were a lot of hard times with the corona pandemic, but I'm really glad to come out on the other side of that and be able to run a hard race." Onodera, now running for the Toyota Boshoku team, said, "This was my first international race, and even though my time was terrible I really en...

Back in pre-pandemic days Akira Akasaki and Haruka Onodera  were still in college, Akasaki at Takushoku University and Onodera at Teikyo University . At the 2019 Ageo City Half Marathon they frontran most of the race together, dead set on finishing in the top two Japanese collegiate spots to win invitations to the 2020 United Airlines NYC Half. For Akasaki it had already been a year and a half wait. Inspired by Kenta Murayama 's 1:00:57 5th place in finish in New York in 2017 and Kei Katanishi 's 7th-place in 2018, Akasaki went for it his junior year in his debut at the 2018 Ageo Half . "Coming up to 10 km I was in the lead pack and feeling good, so I knew I had a shot at going to New York and got pretty excited," he said. But right after the 10 km turnaround point he tripped and fell, and by the time he was back up the lead group was out of range. He finished 20th in 1:03:07, over a minute and a half behind top Japanese university man Ken Nakayama . "I was f...

Akira Akasaki , left, and Haruka Onodera , right, earned invitations to the 2020 United Airlines NYC Half by placing as t he top two Japanese university men at the 2019  Ageo City Half Marathon  in the 9th year of a partnership between the two races set up and maintained by JRN. Just as they were leaving school for Narita Airport that race was canceled. Now, two years later, they're set to run the 2022 edition of the United Airlines NYC Half as corporate league athletes, Akasaki having run a 2:09:17 marathon debut at the Feb. 6 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon and Onodera off a 1:02:21 at the Feb. 13 National Corporate Half Marathon, his best since Ageo 2019. Below is a NYRR press release on this year's elite field. A complete field listing is here . New York, February 22, 2022 – The 2022 United Airlines NYC Half on Sunday, March 20 will feature the best professional athlete field in event history, with 24 Olympians, eight Paralympians, and six open division athletes who hold ...

The top two Japanese university men at last November's Ageo City Half Marathon , Akira Akasaki (Takushoku University), left, 2nd in 1:01:46, and Haruka Onodera (Teikyo University), right, 4th in 1:02:03, will run the Mar. 15 United Airlines NYC Half in the 9th year of a partnership between the two races set up and maintained by JRN. Below is a NYRR press release on this year's elite field. New York, February 18, 2020 – All four defending champions – Joyciline Jepkosgei , Tatyana McFadden , Belay Tilahun , and Daniel Romanchuk – will return for the 2020 United Airlines NYC Half , which will feature a world-class professional athlete field that includes 14 Olympians and eight Paralympians leading 25,000 runners from Prospect Park in Brooklyn to Central Park in Manhattan. The 15th running of the event will take place on Sunday, March 15, leading the athletes on a 13.1-mile tour through neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Manhattan and past iconic New York City landmarks, inc...

Takushoku University teammates Joseph Razini Lemeteki and Akira Akasaki dominated the 2019 Ageo City Half Marathon , alternating the lead throughout almost the entire race to go 1-2 in school record times. With invitations to the 2019 United Airlines NYC Half up for grabs to the top two Japanese collegiate finishers in the unofficial intramural tryout for Japan's most prestigious race, the 2020 Hakone Ekiden, things went out very conservatively by Ageo standards at just 3:00/km for the first 2 km. Not content with that, Akasaki, 3rd on his stage at both the Izumo Ekiden in October and the National University Ekiden earlier this month, picked up the race and carried it until 15 km. From 3 km to 8 km Akasaki split 14:33, pace for 1:01:24, condensing the pack behind him down to eight. After the 10 km turnaround Akasaki's teammate Lemeteki made a bold move to gain contact with the lead group, and when he did it shaved things down to seven serious contenders. The front...

In the modern era of systematic mass-production of quality by dominant teams like Tokai University and Aoyama Gakuin University it has been years since an underdog came through with a surprise win on Japan's university men's ekiden circuit, but that's just what happened at today's Izumo Ekiden to kick off the 2019-20 Big Three University Ekiden season. The race was expected to be between defending champ Tokai and Buddhist powerhouse Komazawa University , with threats from AGU and fan favorites Toyo University . Like last year Tokai struggled a bit to get on its feet, lagging as a core leading quartet coalesced over the first half of the race's six stages. Running better than expected, #5-ranked Koku Gakuin University was right up in it along with AGU, Komazawa and Toyo, its second and third men Taiga Nakanishi and Yuhei Urano taking 3rd on their stages and Urano one of six men on the Third Stage to break its course record. The leading quartet broke up i...

by Brett Larner click photo for video highlights courtesy of NHK Five-time national champion Nagano  made history at the 19th edition of the National Men's Ekiden Jan. 19 in Hiroshima, anchor Keigo Yano  (Nittai Univ.) breaking away to make his team the first in event history to win a sixth national title as he broke the tape in 2:19:20, the third-fastest ever in National Championships history. Never a clear leader in a pack race throughout the day, Nagano made its first move to the front on the 8.5 km Third Stage when past 1500 m and 5000 m national champion Yuichiro Ueno  (DeNA RC) dropped a pack of Hakone Ekiden stars to take the lead.  With the mixed team of junior high, high school, university and pro athletes that makes the National Ekiden format one of the most interesting in national championship ekiden season, Nagano lost ground after Ueno and remained roughly even with a pack of four rivals. Not until halfway through the 13.0 km anchor stage did it ...