japan running news

by Brett Larner The women's ekiden season kicked off with a matchup between the two top university teams in the country, Kyoto's dynamic pair  Bukkyo University  and Ritsumeikan University.   Ritsumeikan, missing aces Michi Numata  and  Hanae Tanaka , dominated the first half by winning the first three stages, including new records on the First and Third Stages by members Mutsumi Ikeda  and Risa Takenaka .  Down 50 seconds at the start of the Fourth Stage, 2010 national champion Bukkyo's fortunes turned around thanks to a stage record run by ace Hikari Yoshimoto , and thanks to stage win by anchor Shiho Takechi and the absence of Ritsumeikan's Numata and Tanaka Bukkyo pulled away to a comfortable win nearly a minute and a half up on their rivals. Bukkyo and Ritsumeikan are both so far ahead of any other school that their B-teams beat the next-strongest school, Kyoto Sangyo University .  Ritsumeikan's B-squad Fifth Stage runner Ikumi Natsuhara...

by Brett Larner Click picture for video highlights. Identical twin sisters Moe and Haruka Kyuma were the surprise stars of the 2009 National Interprefectural Women’s Ekiden on Jan. 11, the two junior high school students making up most of Kyoto Prefecture’s 1 minute 24 second margin of victory in its 5th-straight national title and putting anchor Kazue Kojima in position for a comfortable anchor run. 47 teams, one from each of Japan’s prefectures, competed in the 27th running of the nine-stage 42.195 km national competition in Kyoto which teams up professional runners with university, high school and junior high school runners. Two stages were reserved for junior high school runners and two for high school athletes, the other five stages being a mix of runners from all four categories. Slightly windy conditions hampered defending champion Kyoto’s chances of breaking its course record of 2:14:58 from last year’s running but did not prevent two new stage records. 1st Stage – 6.0 km Yurik...

by Brett Larner Click photo for video highlights courtesy of NHK. The All-Japan High School Ekiden Championships took place Dec. 21 in Kyoto, broadcast nationwide and commercial-free on government-sponsored NHK Television. A widespread heatwave brought warm, sunny conditions for the first race of the day, the five-stage, 21.0975 km High School Girls Ekiden . In only its third appearance in the championship ekiden, Toyokawa High School of Aichi Prefecture overcame a new rule intended partly to limit the effectiveness of its Kenyan ace Wysela Wylim to take its first national title. Defending champion Ritsumeikan Uji High School finished 3rd, a fantastic performance by anchor Ikumi Natsuhara not quite enough for her to catch rival Ai Kuboki of Kojokan High School, who finished in 2nd just 4 seconds back from Toyokawa's Wylim. 1st Stage - 6.0 km A new rule this year in both the girls' and boys' races followed a nationwide trend in championship ekidens by banning non-Japanese ru...