japan running news

by Brett Larner Members of Japan's top two university teams, 2011 Hakone Ekiden winner Waseda University  and 2009-2010 winner Toyo University , held a midsummer face-off July 23 in Isesaki Gunma at the Trial in Isesaki meet hosted by locally-based Jobu University .  With early pacing provided by Jobu graduate Yusuke Hasegawa  (Team S&B), Waseda second-year Suguru Osako , the Asian junior area record holder in the half marathon, won the men's 3000 m A-heat with a gap of nearly six seconds over Toyo's Takanori Ichikawa  and Hiroyuki Uno , running 8:05.70.  2009 Ageo City Half Marathon winner Shota Hiraga  (Waseda Univ.) was off his game as he finished only 7th in 8:18.29. For Osako the meet was a tuneup for next month's World University Games in Shenzhen, China.  Although he set the Asian junior record at the half marathon last fall as a first-year, Osako has since backed off the distance and focused on the track.  At the World Univers...

by Brett Larner 2010 Hakone Ekiden runner-up Komazawa University's Shota Inoue took the top spot at the 2010 Tachikawa Akishima Half Marathon in Tokyo on Mar. 14, winning in 1:03:11 by two seconds over Ryohei Kawakami of 2010 Hakone winner Toyo University. Doubling as the National University Men's Half Marathon Championships, in 2009 Tachikawa Akishima was the deepest half marathon in the world. This year the top seven men broke 1:03:30, with Kawakami's teammate Hiroyuki Uno 8th in 1:03:31. Altogether 106 men broke 1:06. 2010 Tachikawa Akishima Half Marathon - Top Finishers 1. Shota Inoue (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:03:11 - PB 2. Ryohei Kawakami (Toyo Univ.) - 1:03:13 3. Yuta Igarashi (Senshu Univ.) - 1:03:15 4. Ryota Nakamura (Teikyo Univ.) - 1:03:16 5. Akinori Iida (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:03:17 - PB 6. Koji Kobayashi (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:03:17 7. Hideki Inomata (Waseda Univ.) - 1:03:24 8. Hiroyuki Uno (Toyo Univ.) - 1:03:31 (c) 2010 Brett Larner all rights reserved

by Brett Larner It's the best time of year for distance running fans in Japan: time for the Hakone Ekiden . Hakone is the championship event for Kanto region-based university men's teams, essentially those in the Tokyo area. The race covers 217.9 km in ten stages spread over two days on Jan. 2 and 3 every year. But it is much more than a regional university race. The race is broadcast live nationwide, fifteen hours of coverage between the two days, with nationwide viewership ratings of 30%. Hakone runners are respected more than any others but Japan's Olympic marathon medalists and have a degree of fame pros in other countries can only imagine. Now in its 86th year, more than any other race the Hakone Ekiden is engrossing, dramatic, and symbolizes what is good about distance running. So much so that it has become a problem for Japanese men's marathoning, where performances have waned over the last few years just as performances at Hakone and related races have waxed to ...

by Brett Larner Nominally running as pacemakers, Kenyans Josephat Ndambiri (Team Komori Corp.) and Gideon Ngatuny (Team Nissin Shokuhin) outdistanced the ten Japanese runners in The Premium Race 3000 m at the Kanto Private Schools Five-University Track Meet at Daito Bunka University on Apr. 12. Along the way they were challenged only by university star Ryuji Kashiwabara (Toyo Univ.), who surprisingly bridged the gap to the two Kenyans one km into the race, but in the end it was a two-man show with Ndambiri coming out ahead on the last lap after losing to Ngatuny over 5000 m at last week's Kanaguri Memorial. Ngatuny led Ndambiri and Kashiwabara through the first km in 2:34:19, with Ndambiri taking over for the second km, clocking 5:16:13 and dropping Kashiwabara. Ngatuny resumed the lead for the final km, but Ndambiri sped away with 300 m to go to win in 7:50.66. Ngatuny was just a step behind in 2nd. Managing to stay on his feet after suffering falls at last year's Cardinal In...

by Brett Larner The 2008-2009 university ekiden season officially got underway on Oct. 13 with the 20th anniversary edition of the Izumo Ekiden . Twenty-two teams competed over the six stage, 44 km course, including the top teams from the Kanto regional championship Hakone Ekiden, strong schools from other regions of Japan, and a select team of ace runners from the American Ivy League. Tokai Unversity had won the previous three years at Izumo on the strength of its two stars Hideaki Date and Yuki Sato, but with the loss of Date to graduation Tokai faced a tough challenge in its quest for a first-ever fourth straight title from 2008 Hakone Ekiden winners Komazawa University. Komazawa’s runners have traditionally relied on sheer strength over speed to make it the top running school in Japan, but this year Komazawa comes to ekiden season with six runners under 14 minutes for 5000 m for the first time in its history. Waseda University, with 5000 and 10000 m Olympian Kensuke Takezawa and a ...