japan running news

by Dai Yamazaki The "foreign student problem" is always a hot topic in the ekiden world, and this season will see big changes to the rules in high school ekidens. There has always been a lot of trial and error when it comes to international students in the ekidens, but what do the coaches on the front lines of competition think about these changes? We talked to Masaru Takamizawa , head coach of last year's National High School Boys Ekiden champion Saku Chosei H.S. which ran the fastest time in the race's 74-year history while using an all-Japanese lineup. The major rule changes regarding the use of non-Japanese athletes in high school ekidens were announced at the end of last year. Non-Japanese runners first appeared on the scene in high school running in the early 1990s and have been the source of constant debate since then. Restrictions have gradually tightened. In 1995 a rule limiting teams to one non-citizen in their starting lineup was announced. In 2008 non-Ja...

At the same time as Suguru Osako 's breakthrough 3rd-place finish at Sunday's Fukuoka International Marathon , his Saku Chosei H.S. teammate Kenta Chiba (Fujitsu) ran the Macao International Marathon . A specialist on the same Hakone Ekiden downhill stage that produced marathon greats Hiromi Taniguchi and Yuki Kawauchi , Chiba took 6th in 2:16:33 in a race won by Kenyan Felix Kiptoo Kirwa in a Macao all-comers record 2:10:01. Chiba's time was the fastest ever by a Japanese man in Macao, taking three minutes off the previous record. A week earlier at the Asian Marathon Championships held in conjunction with China's Dongguan Marathon, Keiko Nogami (Juhachi Ginko), runner up at the 2015 Gold Coast Marathon and 2017 Hokkaido Marathon, added another 2nd-place finish to her resume as she took the silver medal 30 seconds behind North Korean Hye Gyong Kim . Surprisingly, Nogami's time of 2:29:05 was the fastest ever by a Japanese woman on Chinese soil, bettering th...

by Brett Larner The Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon organizers have announced the field for their 53rd running on Feb. 8.  Run on the home ground of the Takeshi Soh -led Asahi Kasei corporate team, Nobeoka is primarily a developmental race focusing on first-timers and young athletes trying to get the marathon right and typically sees winning times in the 2:12~2:13 range.  It's noteworthy outside Japan mainly in that every year the people who run around that level in Nobeoka make up a major part of the runners included on their coaches' annual junket to the Chicago Marathon, where some go on to take a step toward bigger things. Recently things have been getting a little faster in Nobeoka, with 2:11 winning times in two of the last three years .  This year the organizers have taken a slightly different tack, invited three experienced men who should be able to work together to take down the 2:11:05 course record.  Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) is the stronges...

by Brett Larner For years the worldwide fall elite marathon season has gotten underway with Sapporo's Hokkaido Marathon on the last Sunday of August.  Two years organizers did away with their elite fields, leaving top amateurs Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) and Yuri Yoshizumi (Osaka Nagai AC) to win in two of the slowest winning times in event history.  Last year the elite fields returned with a small international contingent that proved mostly superfluous.  With the release of this year's elite fields today it's clear that organizers have trimmed the fat to focus on a good domestic field that on paper any other country outside Africa would have a tough time matching. Leading the men's field is the 4th-fastest Japanese man of the year, Masanori Sakai (Team Kyudenko), who ran 2:09:10 in Tokyo in February.  Named to the federation's new marathon National Team program on the strength of that performance, with Hokkaido's always-hot conditions Sakai...

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2014/07/29/kiji/K20140729008649490.html http://www.hochi.co.jp/sports/etc/20140728-OHT1T50194.html translated and edited by Brett Larner The Inter-University Athletic Union of Kanto (KGRR) announced on July 28 that changes to the Hakone Ekiden's 23.4 km Fifth Stage and 20.8 km Sixth Stage mean that the existing records for those two stages along with the current Day One, Day Two and overall course records will be replaced at the 91st running of Japan's biggest sporting event on Jan. 2-3, 2015.  The entire course will also be remeasured, meaning additional changes to other stages are possible. The uphill Fifth Stage was lengthened in 2006 at the 82nd running to become the longest of the race at 23.4 km with 864 m of climb.  Since then, every university that has won the Fifth Stage has also taken the Hakone Day One title, earning it the reputation of being the most dramatic and exciting part of the Hakone Ekiden.  From 2009 to ...

by Brett Larner With heavy snow scheduled to hit most of the country on Saturday four races fill Sunday's calendar.   Chief among them is the 52nd edition of the Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon , a developmental race that has seen the debuts of the likes of Moscow World Championships marathon 5th-placer Kentaro Nakamoto  (Team Yasukawa Denki) and Hiroaki Sano  (Team Honda), the top Japanese man at last year's Chicago Marathon.   Sho Matsumoto  (Nikkei Business) leads the way with a 2:13:38 best from last year's Nobeoka, but look for challenges from debuting Hakone Ekiden Sixth Stage course record holder Kenta Chiba (Team Fujitsu) and Team Otsuka Seiyaku's ace rookie Yudai Yamakawa . Click here for a field listing and more info . The 54th Karatsu 10-miler sees Yuki Kawauchi  (Saitama Pref. Gov't) taking on sub-60 minute half marathoner Mekubo Mogusu  (Kenya/Team Nissin Shokuhin), Hiroyuki Uno  formerly of Hakone Ekiden course record sette...

by Brett Larner With just over a week to go the organizers of the Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon have seen fit to release the elite field for the 52nd edition of their event on Feb. 9.  A developmental race with a focus on first-timers and men at the 2:12 to 2:16 level, Nobeoka has seen the debuts of the likes of Moscow World Championships marathon 5th-placer Kentaro Nakamoto  (Team Yasukawa Denki) and serves as a selection race for the annual corporate league junket to the Chicago Marathon.  Last year's winner Hiroaki Sano (Team Honda) debuted in Nobeoka in 2:12:14 before going on to dip under gold label status with a 2:10:29 in Chicago, showing that Nobeoka success can lead to bigger things. Kohei Ogino  (Team Fujitsu) is the fastest man in the field with a 2:13:12 best seven weeks ago at the Hofu Yomiuri Marathon.  If his recovery has gone smoothly he is the favorite, but look for possible challenges from Tadashi Suzuki  (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) and Ya...

by Brett Larner click here for a collection of 2013 Hakone Ekiden photos courtesy of jiji.com click here for video highlights courtesy of NTV Riding the momentum of its Day One win , Nittai University ran unchallenged throughout the second day of the 2013 Hakone Ekiden to take its first overall Hakone title in 30 years, crossing the line in 11:13:26 with a lead of nearly five minutes over defending champion Toyo University . Nittai, winners of October’s Yosenkai qualifier after finishing a miserable 19th at Hakone last year, became the first team in Hakone’s 89-year history to go from the qualifier to the overall win. With its last winning team in 1983 having included future marathon world champion Hiromi Taniguchi in its lineup, Nittai’s return to the top took on special symbolic significance. Nittai’s Yusuke Suzuki made a crucial contribution to the team’s success as he started the day off on the net 750 m downhill Sixth Stage, running well in his Hakone debut to prevent...

by Brett Larner Just three weeks after winning the Sapporo International Half Marathon, 2012 World Half Marathon Championships team member Mai Ito  (Team Otsuka) returned to add another half marathon title to her collection, winning the 26th running of Hokkaido's Shibetsu Half Marathon in 1:11:20 over the Miyauchi  twins Yoko  and Hiroko  of Team Kyocera.  Although her time was 28 seconds slower than her Sapporo time it was still the third-best in Shibetsu history.  Independent men's World Half Marathon team member Yuki Kawauchi  (Saitama Pref.) likewise took the win, prevailing over a tight pack of corporate and collegiate runners in 1:05:00 in another of the fourteen half marathons he plans to race this year. In the women's 10 km, Ai Igarashi  (Team Sysmex), one of the year's leading Japanese women, had an an easy win in 33:38.   Click here for a collection of photos of the race via the Shibetsu city government site. 26th Shibet...

by Brett Larner Earlier this week JRN reported that based on Waseda University posting that one of its athletes had finished 211th at the Mar. 4 National University Men's Half-Marathon Championships in 1:06:11 it appeared that over 200 athletes may have broken 66 minutes for the first time ever.  With complete results available it is now evident that only 193 athletes, led by Teikyo University sophomore Toshikatsu Ebina  in 1:02:23, broke 1:06.  This surpasses the previous world record of 188 set at the 2005 Ageo City Half Marathon but falls short of clearing the 200 mark. JRN regrets the error. 2012 National University Men's Half-Marathon Championships Tachikawa, Tokyo, 3/4/12 click here for complete results 1. Toshikatsu Ebina (Teikyo Univ.) - 1:02:23 - PB 2. Yudai Yamakawa (Teikyo Univ.) - 1:02:36 - PB 3. Takumi Honda (Nittai Univ.) - 1:02:37 - PB 4. Duncan Muthee (Kenya/Takushoku Univ.) - 1:02:40 - PB 5. Kenta Kitazawa (Takushoku Univ.) - 1:02:40 - PB...

http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/other/athletic/text/201109280009-spnavi.html translated and edited by Brett Larner Translator's note:  Hayashi Morozumi   (left; click photo to enlarge) had tremendous success as head coach of Nagano's Saku Chosei H.S. , building an innovative cross-country course at moderate altitude to serve as the team's primary training ground.  Under his leadership Saku Chosei won the 2008 National H.S. Ekiden in the fastest time ever by an all-Japanese team and produced four of Japan's biggest current young talents, Akinobu Murasawa  (Tokai University, 13:34.85 / 28:00.78), Suguru Osako  (Waseda University, 13:31.27 / 1:01:47), Yuki Sato  (Team Nissin Shokuhin, 13:23.57 / 27:38.25) and Yuichiro Ueno  (Team S&B, 13:21.49).  All four runners are in this year's Japanese 5000 m top ten.  In April Morozumi left Saku Chosei to become head coach of his alma mater, Tokai University , once again taking over Murasawa's deve...

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/e-japan/nagano/news/20110117-OYT8T01097.htm http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2011/01/17/kiji/K20110117000067200.html translated and edited by Brett Larner Saku Chosei H.S. head coach Hayashi Morozumi , 44, announced Jan. 17 that in April he will take over as head coach of his alma mater, 2011 Hakone Ekiden 4th-place Tokai University. Morozumi will replace current Tokai coach Toshihiro Arai , 58, who coached Morozumi during Morozumi's student days and asked him to be his replacement. Morozumi told reporters, "My goal is not just to do well at the Hakone Ekiden but to produce Olympians." Morozumi graduated from Tokai Dai-San Prep H.S. before running for Tokai University where he competed in the Hakone Ekiden all four years. He later ran professionally for the Nissan and Daiei teams. Morozumi has been head coach at Saku Chosei since 1995 and brought the school its first National High School Ekiden Championships title in 2008 along with twelve t...

by Brett Larner Records set at this year's outstanding Hakone Ekiden along with associated stats and commentary: Average 5000 m, 10000 m and half marathon PBs of the ten starters from each of the 1st through 5th place teams overall: While the average 5000 m and 10000 m PBs have little relationship to the final finishing order, there is, unsurprisingly, a direct correlation with average half marathon PB. The average stage length in Hakone is 21.8 km. Overall Course Record - 217.9 km, 10 Stages (average stage length 21.8 km) Waseda Univ. - 10:59:50 - 3:27 under old CR av. pace: 3:01.7 / km; equiv. 10-man half marathon av.: 1:03:53 Toyo Univ. - 11:00:12 - also under previous CR av. pace: 3:01.8 / km; equiv. 10-man half marathon av.: 1:03:55 First time all ten men on one team have averaged under 1:04 for equivalent half marathon performance. Previous record of 11:03:17 set by Komazawa Univ. in 2000. Waseda became the first school to win and set course records at all three major univ...

by Brett Larner click here for Day One report Kenji Nakashima anchors Waseda to Hakone Ekiden CR win. Click photo to enlarge. They were the two best university teams ever assembled and they ran like it. After two-time defending Hakone Ekiden champion Toyo University and 2010 National University Ekiden champion Waseda University both broke the Day One Hakone course record, Waseda hammered Toyo on the first two stages of Day Two to retake the lead and then held on to take the overall win in a course-record 10:59:50, the first school to ever break 11 hours on the celebrated 10-stage, 217.9 km course. Toyo nearly ran Waseda down on the final stage, finishing 22 seconds back in the closest margin of victory in Hakone's 87 year history and likewise breaking the course record by over 3 minutes. It was a classic duel between the elite Waseda, symbolic of the privilege, connections and money at the top of Japanese society, and the underdog Toyo, a minor school with a young coach wi...