japan running news

  On Feb. 21 the Toyota Kyushu corporate team announced that its longtime member Masato Imai , 39, known throughout Japan as the original God of the Mountain for his spectacular runs on the Hakone Ekiden's uphill Fifth Stage in college, will retire from competition. His final race will be Sunday's National Cross Country Championships in Fukuoka. After retirement Imai will remain with Toyota Kyushu and become part of its coaching staff. At Juntendo University , Imai won the Fifth Stage at the Hakone Ekiden in new course records in 2005, 2006 and 2007, taking the top spot in both 2006 and 2007. When he did it during his final Hakone his senior year in 2007, the late Nippon TV announcer Ryo Kawamura shouted the now-legendary words, "Right now, right here, the god of the mountain has descended! His name is Masato Imai!" Imai has been known by that moniker ever since, and the title has become a part of Hakone lore. Since his time it has been given to two other runners w...

We're less than a week out from the 100th running of the Hakone Ekiden , the two-day university men's road relay from central Tokyo to the foothills of Mt. Fuji and back that has become the biggest sports event in Japan. Tens of millions of people watch the live TV broadcast, millions more line the 217.1 km course, it has its own museum, and its own identity and place as a cultural icon. Over the next few days I'll be posting four excerpts from my upcoming book on the history of the race, May the Circle Be Unbroken: Hakone at 100 . The Hakone Ekiden came out of the same era that produced the world's other premier endurance races, specifically the Boston Marathon, Tour de France and Comrades Marathon. Comrades didn't come until a bit later in 1921, but Boston was first held in 1897, and six years later in 1903 the Tour de France got off the ground. In Japan Meiji University founded the Meiji University Race Club, the country's first collegiate track and field te...

Pro runner Daichi Kamino (Cell Source) has an opinion on today's generation of thick-soled shoes that is getting attention. On Nov. 19 Kamino ran a 13.5 km uphill race on the Hakone turnpike as part of his training, finishing 7th in 54:18. Now 29, Kamino is famous for winning the Hakone Ekiden's legendary uphill Fifth Stage in 2015, earning him the nickname "God of the Mountain III." He has run professionally since 2018. After the Nov. 19 race Kamino tweeted, "I knew I was going to be running up a steep hill, and for that kind of uphill running thin shoes are better than thick ones." In recent years the long distance running world has been caught up in a whirlwind by the new style of thick shoes containing a carbon plate. Since the technology's introduction the Japanese men's marathon national record has been broken four times, and all ten individual stage records at the Hakone Ekiden have been broken at least once. Everyone knows the thick shoes p...

by Mika Tokairin Held every Jan. 2 and 3, the Hakone Ekiden has become a bona fide New Year's tradition. The town of Miyanoshita on the steepest part of the winding mountain roads that make up the legendary Fifth and Sixth Stages has become famous for its massive crowds cheering "Miyanoshita style," chanting individual athletes' names in call-and-response form instead of their university's name. With organizers asking the public to help combat the coronavirus crisis by staying home and watching Hakone on TV, how are the people of Miyanoshita looking at this year's race? We talked to Koji Shima , owner of the Shima Photo Shop, a fixture on Miyanoshita's main street for four generations, and head of the Miyanoshita business association's Hakone Ekiden celebration event committee. What's the history of "Miyanoshita Style" cheering? Shima:  I think it's been going on for about 25 years. There was a movement to try to reinvigorate the to...

Part four in a four-part series of half marathon national record holder Hitomi Niiya and coach Masato Yokota answering questions about her training . Part one here .  Part two here . Part three here . Coach:  Sorry, can I ask an amateurish question? Is this "locking into a rhythm" thing you're talking about something like a "runner's high?" Niiya:  No, totally different. Coach:  I don't get it at all. Niiya:  If it starts to feel like you could go forever then you're there. The times when you're like, "This is a good rhythm. I can keep rolling in this rhythm." Coach:  I've never had a time like that. Q.  They say marathons go the best if you get into your rhythm in the first 5 km. Coach:  I can't run further than 5 km. Niiya:  If you trained some you'd be able to go up to 30 km. But, there are too many times when I can't find my rhythm, and sometimes when someone is pacing me our rhythms don't ...

Hospitalized since Mar. 30 after contracting the novel coronavirus, 2008 Beijing Olympics men's 4x100 m silver medalist Naoki Tsukahara , 34, has been released from the hospital. According to a spokesperson for Fujitsu, where Tsukahara is employed as an advisor to its track and field field, following the completion of his treatment Tsukahara was discharged on Apr. 12. He is now resting at home. Tsukahara appeared at as a special guest instructor at a track and field workshop event in Mie on Mar. 28. He began to feel sick a few hours after the event and went to a local hospital to be examined. When his fever did not go down the next day a PCR was conducted, and on the 30th he was found to have contracted the virus. Despite Fujitsu policy not to reveal the names of infected employees, Tsukahara insisted that his name be disclosed in order to help prevent further spread. Fujitsu team members include Tokyo Olympics men's marathon trials winner Shogo Nakamura and 2019 Doha W...

Around 200 athletes who had been recruited by Toyo University 's famed scout Hisashi Sato , 65, gathered at a hotel in Kawagoe, Saitama on Mar. 23 to celebrate Sato's retirement from his position as assistant coach at Toyo at the end of this month. Of the 30 men to have qualified for the Sept. 15 MGC Race 2020 Tokyo Olympics marathon trials, 4 are Toyo alumni, more than any other university.   Hiroyuki Yamamoto (32, Konica Minolta), who qualified for the MGC race at the Mar. 10 Lake Biwa Marathon, and former marathon national record holder Yuta Shitara (27, Honda), were among the attendees. Since it first won the Hakone Ekiden in 2009 to this year's 3rd-place finish Toyo has shown extraordinary consistency, finishing in the top 3 at Hakone all 11 years. Sato worked alongside head coach Toshiyuki Sakai , 42, to help develop that kind of stability. Where he showed exceptional ability in his 25 years with the team was in scouting. Sato famously discovered future Hakone ...

http://f-trackfield.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/2017/04/post-6808.html translated by Brett Larner Future 2:07 marathoner Masato Imai was the first modern star of Japan's biggest sporting event, the two-day Hakone Ekiden university men's road relay, the first to earn the moniker "God of the Mountain" for annihilating preconceptions of what was possible on Hakone's brutal uphill Fifth Stage. But nobody catalyzed and symbolized the birth of the modern university ekiden and everything associated with it, the transformation of college kids into national celebrities, more than the man who replaced him, Ryuji Kashiwabara . As a first-year at Toyo University Kashiwabara caught national attention when, pre-debut at the 2009 Hakone Ekiden, he said with calm but brash self-assurance that he was going to break Imai's Fifth Stage record.  And the entire country watched open-mouthed as he did it, the sight of him crying as he ran the last kilometer still etched in th...

http://www.daily.co.jp/general/2016/11/28/0009704327.shtml translated and edited by Brett Larner 11/27 熊本甲佐10マイル 国際・一般男子10マイル(通過順) カレミ ズク選手(トヨタ自動車九州) 神野大地選手(コニカミノルタ) エドワード ワウエル選手(NTN) pic.twitter.com/WFUYrgjIFy — manamin (@kinokonoko0916) November 29, 2016 The 41st running of the Kumamoto Kosa 10 Mile Road Race took place Nov. 27 on a course starting and finishing in front of Kosa Town Hall.  Two-time winner Jeremiah Karemi Thuku (Team Toyota Kyushu) made it three-straight wins as he braved cold and rainy conditions to break the tape in 46:19. All three of the Hakone Ekiden uphill Fifth Stage's superstar "Gods of the Mountain" raced, with the most recent of the troika, 2016 Aoyama Gakuin University graduate Daichi Kamino (Team Konica Minolta) outrunning the first runner to bear that title, Masato Imai (Team Toyota Kyushu), by 8 seconds for 2nd.  Toyo University graduate Ryuji Kashiwabara (Team Fujitsu) dropped out partway. The showdown went to the younge...

http://www.hochi.co.jp/sports/etc/20151130-OHT1T50148.html translated and edited by Brett Larner Hakone Ekiden organizers KGRR announced on Nov. 30 that they are examining changing the lengths of the 18.5 km Fourth Stage and 23.2 km uphill Fifth Stage.  The race's 92nd edition on Jan. 2 and 3, 2016 will go ahead with the existing stage lengths, with the possibility of changes as early as the 93rd running in 2017.  Changes under discussion would likely involve lengthening the Fourth stage, Hakone's shortest, and reducing the Fifth Stage. Beginning with the 2006 race the Odawara exchange point between the Fourth and Fifth Stages was moved 2.5 km toward Tokyo due to construction at its former location at Suzuhiro.  As a result the Fourth Stage became shorter and the Fifth Stage longer.  With the challenging uphill Fifth Stage now the longest, the success of its star runners Masato Imai (Juntendo Univ., now Toyota Kyushu), Ryuji Kashiwabara (Toyo Univ., now Fuj...

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/local/fukushima/news/20140804-OYTNT50390.html translated by Brett Larner With goal of deepening the bonds between the disaster-hit northeast and the rest of the country before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the "Road to Tomorrow 1000 km Relay 2014" passed through Fukushima on Aug. 4.  The day started at Misaki Park in Iwaki and featured Fukushima native Ryuji Kashiwabara (25, Team Fujitsu), famed for his blazing course records on the Hakone Ekiden's Fifth Stage.  Kashiwabara ran a 2.6 km leg to Aquamarine Park and took part in a 1 km friendship run, smiling as he said, "The sea breeze was cool.  I'm glad I did it.  I hope that my running helps inspire someone to do something." Last year Kashiwabara injured his right Achilles tendon and could not run for four months.  "I wanted to do something to say thank you to everyone who supported me back home," he said.  With regard to his plans for preparing for his marathon debut he...

http://www.minyu-net.com/sport/running/news/140804/news1.html translated by Brett Larner With the goal of boosting reconstruction efforts in the northeast, runners taking part in the "Road to Tomorrow 1000 km Relay" from Aomori to Tokyo passed through Fukushima on Aug. 3, starting the day in Koriyama Sports Park in Koriyama and heading to Iwaki's Misaki Park.  At the morning's departure ceremony, Koriyama mayor Masato Shinagawa gave his support to participants, telling them, "Let your hearts be touched by the nature and people of Fukushima as you move on toward your goal."  Guest runner and Mexico Olympics marathon silver medalist Kenji Kimihara , 73, told the assembled runners, "Let us pray for the recovery of the northeast, for a successful Tokyo Olympics, and to hand off our tasuki without giving in to the midsummer heat."  When Major Shinagawa fired the starter's pistol, around sixty amateur runners from Fukushima and elsewhere set o...

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 ...

http://www.kahoku.co.jp/tohokunews/201404/20140415_14014.html translated by Brett Larner On Apr. 14 the Sendai International Half Marathon released the names of the invited athletes for the event's 24th running on May 11.  Civil servant runner Yuki Kawauchi (27, Saitama Pref. Gov't) leads the field, with former Hakone Ekiden uphill star Ryuji Kashiwabara  (24, Team Fujitsu), a native of Iwaki, Fukushima and graduate of Toyo University, representing the corporate leagues in his Sendai debut. Kawauchi is targeting a medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and at the start of this month was selected as an inaugural member of the National Marathon Team.  In March, 2013 he ran his PB of 2:08:14 for 4th at the Seoul International Marathon. His achievements this year include a 2:10:14 course record win at the Kumamoto-jo Marathon in February. Other invited athletes include London Olympian Arata Fujiwara  (32, Miki House) and mama runner Mari Ozaki  (38, Tea...

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/feature/sports/hakone/news/20130328-OHT1T00091.htm translated and edited by Brett Larner click here for a photo of the new running-dedicated Toyo University Kawagoe Training Center Hakone Ekiden course record holder Toyo University  is celebrating the opening of its new running program building at the school's Kawagoe campus.  The four-story reinforced concrete building takes up a spacious 2540 square meters and features dorm rooms for 100 team members, a weight room, training facilities and study rooms.  Until now the running team shared quarters with Toyo's rugby team, but with a 400 m track right outside their new building the school's runners are now in a perfect environment. This year rival Nittai University  made off with the Hakone title, but from its state-of-the-art new home Toyo is poised to reclaim its position as Japan's #1 running university. The new building contains 28 dorm rooms for either 2 or 4 students each. ...

interview by Brett Larner race photos by Mika Tokairin mattress photo by Brendan Martin Hansons team member Brendan Martin  ran the Ome 30 km on Feb. 17 off his 4th American placing at last year's Boston Marathon as part of a longstanding relationship between Ome and the BAA.  Having been on the U.S. team at October's Izumo Ekiden where he ran the alternates' 5000 m on the track, Ome was Martin's second race in Japan. Starting conservatively and steadily moving up through the field, he finished 8th in 1:36:07 . A day later JRN caught up with him at Cafe Barney in Shibuya to talk about his experience. This was your second time racing over here.  What were your impressions this time? I was honored to compete with some of the best runners in Japan.  I stuck out like a sore thumb.   The course was very, very challenging, very tough.  It has a lot of unique character and I feel like there was a big component of running the course correctly....