japan running news

They say in Hakone Ekiden circles that the team that wins the summer wins Hakone. Aiming to break a three-year streak of finishing off the podium at the main event, 2019 Hakone winner Tokai University is aiming to take the top position at the Oct. 19 Yosenkai Hakone qualifier half marathon. Led by 4th-year captain Yuto Kajitani , the Tokai team is putting in more mileage this summer than usual. The Shonan-based Tokai's 2019 Hakone title was its first-ever win at Japan's biggest race. Since then it has finished as high as 2nd and 5th, but in the last three years it was 11th, 15th and 11th and missed out on top 10 and a guaranteed place at the following year's Hakone. To try to get back to its winning ways the team is training this summer in Nagano at Lake Shirakaba and at altitude in Sugadaira. "This season our goal is to make top 5 at both the National University Ekiden and the Hakone Ekiden," said Kajitani. Everyone on the team is working actively to make that g...

This was probably the busiest track weekend of the year so far, with almost too much action across the country to keep track of. The biggest news came last, with 5000 m high school national record holder Kosuke Ishida (Tokyo Nogyo Daini H.S.) going step for step with national record holder Suguru Osako (Nike) and all-time #2 Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Asahi Kasei) in the final race of the day at Sunday's Tokai University Time Trials. Yoroizaka got the win in 13:33.53 with Osako next in 13:33.83. Ishida was right there behind them in 13:34.74 for 3rd, taking 2 seconds off the record set this past summer, and doing it in legal shoes. With the Japanese academic year running April through March Ishida still has other chances to take the record even further. Ishida wasn't the only high schooler under 14 minutes. In the heat before him , Haruta Koshi (Saku Chosei H.S.) won in a PB 13:53.77. Up north at t he Ichinoseki Time Trials , Sendai Ikuei H.S. teammates Boniface Mutechi and Y...