japan running news

After making a post-corona return last year it time for its 75th anniversary year, the Towada Hachimantai Ekiden returned this year for its 76th. Without enough teams entered the women's race was canceled, but 15 teams of 5 men each raced the 5-stage, 71.4 km race in Akita on Aug. 7. Daichi Kimoto got the Hokuriku Corporate Select Team off to a good start with a 36-second lead on the 13.0 km First Stage, but the Komori Corporation B team's Benard Langat cut that down easily with a 36:33 CR for the the 13.0 km Second Stage, putting KCB 2:07 ahead. That didn't last, though, as the Komori Corporation A team's Antipas Kibet dropped a 46:20 CR for the 15.7 km Third Stage to put his team into the lead by 2:03. KCA's fourth runner Takuma Shibata turned that into an unbreakable 3:37 lead with a stage win, leaving anchor Yusuke Baba to bring them home for the win in 3:51:14. The winner on the uphill Fifth Stage last year, Comodi Iida 's Akihiro Kaneko did it ag...

After two straight years of cancelation, 5155 people ran the 42nd Yamanakako Road Race in Sunday in Yamanashi, covering one 13.6 km lap around Lake Yamanaka. Paul Onyiego , 22, won the men's race, setting a new course record of 40:52. A graduate of Yamanashi Gakuin University , Onyiego now runs for local corporate team Fujino Meisui . The Kenyan commented, "It was hot out there, so it was a tough race. I sped up over the last 5 km." The Fujino Meisui team is aiming to qualify for next year's New Year Ekiden for the first time. "As the team's top runner I want to help take things to the next level," he said. 2019 winner Eri Oda , 38, won the women's race again in 50:22. All on her own after 2 km, Oda said, "The view of Mt. Fuji over the lake was really beautiful, so I took some pictures of it while I was running. It was hot and sunny, but even though the conditions were tough Mt. Fuji helped me get through it feeling good." Hiroyasu Yamaz...

It was a strange sight to see the biggest race of them all run through empty streets mostly stripped of the millions of fans who always line them. But as Japan's coronavirus bill comes due, it was a relief just to see the Hakone Ekiden 's 97th running happen at all. The first km of the 21.3 km First Stage was possibly the slowest in Hakone history, with the entire field practically walking its way through the first 800 m before Kiseki Shiozawa  (Tokai Univ.) got it moving enough to clock a 3:35 opening split. Things quickly picked up to more normal between 2:50 and 2:55/km, but the slow start meant that 18 out of the field of 21 were still together when the pack hit the climb onto the bridge just before 20 km. There and on its downhill end some of the bigger names made moves that broke the pack down, with Shiozawa and Koki Kamata  (Hosei Univ.) pulling away to make it a head-to-head race for the stage title.  Surprisingly Kamata was the one who got away, giving Hosei its...