japan running news

Just a 3-minute walk away from the east exit of Ageo Station in a narrow side street is a new coffee shop, GOAT Coffee, that roasts its own beans. Its stylish interior feels like a British tailor's shop, and jazz plays over the speakers. Its owner is Kohei Arai , 28, an Ageo native and former long-distance athlete who ran in both the Hakone Ekiden and New Year Ekiden. Serial injuries forced him to retire 4 years ago, but in April he achieved another of his dreams with the opening of the cafe. Arai graduated from Urawa Jitsugyo Gakuen H.S. in 2015 and entered Daito Bunka University . His coach and teammates found him to be an important part of the team, and he ran the Hakone Ekiden as a 1st-year. All 3 times he ran Hakone during college he was put on the 21.3 km First Stage, but when he looks back on it now all he remembers is "causing problems for everyone else." During his 2nd year he had a stress fracture in his left leg that took almost a year to work through. As a 4t...

On Jan. 2 Kohei Arai ran the Hakone Ekiden's 21.3 km First Stage for the final time before his graduation from Daito Bunka University . Right after the start he sprained his left ankle and fell , but somehow still managed to complete the stage and hand off his team's tasuki. Now recovered from the injury, Arai is running again. Exactly five months on from that nightmare moment, he returned to racing in the 5000 m at the June 2 Nittai University Time Trials meet. In an interview with Sports Hochi he talked about that day and his desire to make a full comeback. It was the final Hakone Ekiden of the Heisei Era. As Daito Bunka's star runner Arai was taking on the First Stage for the third time. "I was in good shape and feeling like I'd be able to do something in the race," he said. "I was a senior and had run that stage twice before, so I wanted to put the team into good position by placing near the top on the stage." But.  Disaster struck just 29...

Daito Bunka University head coach Osamu Nara , 47, spoke with reporters about the condition of 4th-year Kohei Arai . A week ago on Jan. 2 just 200 m into the 21.3 km First Stage of the 2019 Hakone Ekiden Arai twisted his left ankle badly while falling. Arai got up to run the remaining distance of over 21 km on the injured ankle, finishing the stage 8:40 behind the leaders. Nara told reporters that while there were no broken bones, it is expected to take half a year for Arai to return to competition. Arai is scheduled to join the Sunbelx corporate team in April following his graduation. "In consultation with the team he is joining we have to work to make sure his injury fully heals," said Nara. "We expect that to take around half a year." At the Hakone Ekiden coaches' pursuit cars do not enter the course until around 10 km into the First Stage. As a result Nara did not see Arai's accident himself and had difficulty judging its severity as the race we...