japan running news

The Kansai Region qualifying race for November's 58th National University Men's Ekiden was held June 7 at Yanmar Field Nagai in Osaka. Kyoto Sangyo University won overall, with Osaka Keizai University , Kwansei Gakuin University and Ritsumeikan University taking the other 3 qualifying spots. 1st the last 2 years, Kansai University placed 5th and missed out on making the main event. 12 teams ran in the qualifying race, each fielding teams of 8 split evenly across 4 heats of 10000 m. Their cumulative times determined the team score, with the 4 fastest teams earning spots. The National University Men's Ekiden happens Nov. 1 on an 8-stage, 106.8 km course from Atsuta Jingu in Aichi to Ise Jingu in Mie. Winner Kyoto Sangyo missed out on qualifying last year, but its win this year had special significance as it earned the team its 50th appearance at Nationals. 2nd-year Tsukito Minami brought momentum to the team's performance in the 2nd 10000 m heat. Osaka Keizai 3rd-ye...

On Mar. 19 it was learned that 2008 Beijing Olympian Kensuke Takezawa , 32, has been named head coach of the Osaka Keizai University track and field team. Previous head coach Kunihiro Tsurutani had led Hotoku Gakuen H.S. to six National High School Ekiden titles before taking over at Osaka Keizai. He passed away last year. Takezawa was coached by Tsurutani at Hotoku Gakuen H.S. A native of Hyogo prefecture, Takezawa went on to Waseda University where he ran the Hakone Ekiden all four years. As a student athlete he ran the 10000 m at the 2007 Osaka World Championships. A year later he ran the 5000 m and 10000 m at the Beijing Olympics. He retired from competition in 2017. source article: https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20190320-00050148-yom-spo translated by Brett Larner