Komazawa Kicks Off Double Triple Crown Campaign With Second-Straight Izumo Ekiden Course Record Win (updated)
It's no secret that Japan's university ekiden season is the pinnacle of the road racing year, and with the pinnacle of that pinnacle celebrating its 100th running this season it's now more than ever. Last year Komazawa University became one of the few schools ever to win all three of the big university men's ekidens, October's Izumo Ekiden , November's National University Ekiden and January's Hakone Ekiden. Popular opinion held that the loss of key seniors to graduation, especially fastest-ever Japanese-born collegiate 10000 m runner Ren Tazawa , would hurt its chances this season, but at Izumo today Komazawa came out to lay waste to that opinion. Iconic head coach Hiroaki Oyagi chose Komazawa's Hakone win this January to announce he was stepping back to an advisory role to allow former marathon NR breaker Atsushi Fujita to step forward as head coach, and in his high-pressure college ekiden debut in that role Fujita struck a tone of erudition in sayin...