japan running news

The 32nd Hokkaido University Ekiden took place Aug. 15 on a 3.26 km loop course inside Sapporo's Moerenuma Park. In the six-stage, 35.86 km women's race, which served as the regional qualifier for the Oct. 25 Morinomiyako Ekiden national championships in Sendai, Sapporo Kokusai University swept all six stage bests to win in a new event record of 2:06:13. Overcoming the challenges of the coronavirus era, it was Sapporo Kokusai's fourth-straight win. Captain Reo Aoyama  lit the fuse when she took the lead on the 6.52 km First Stage. At last year's Nationals she was responsible for the First Stage but finished last in 25th, the team only managing to pull itself up to 22nd by the end of the race. "I wanted to get rid of last year's disappointment with this run and get our season off the ground with some momentum," she said. Aoyama succeeded in that goal, handing off with a margin of almost 4 minutes on 2nd place. Head coach since the team was founded, ...

by Brett Larner First-year Charles Ndungu  (Sapporo Yamanote H.S.), the first-ever Kenyan to grace the Hokkaido high school regional circuit, continues to carve a place for himself in the record books.  Running in typhoon conditions June 20 he set a six-second meet record of 14:27.98 in the qualifying heats of the 5000 m at the Hokkaido Regional H.S. Track & Field Championships, winning his heat by well over a minute.  Twenty-two hours later he returned to take another thirty seconds off his own record with a new mark of 13:57.81 in the final.  Second through fifth succeeded in getting within a minute of Ndungu, led by senior Fusanosuke Araya  (Otani Muroran H.S.) in 14:51.08. Next month Ndungu will travel to the National H.S. Championships, where he will face his first real competition since arriving in Japan this spring, including fellow Kenyans  Jeremiah Karemi  (Toyokawa H.S.),  John Gathaiya  (Sera H.S.),  John Maina  (...

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/hokkaido/sports/news/20120524-OHT1T00161.htm translated and edited by Brett Larner In the men's 5000 m first-round heats on the second day of the Hokkaido regional qualifier for the National High School Track and Field Championships, May 23 at Sapporo's Atsubetsu Park Field, the first Kenyan to ever run the meet, Sapporo Yamanote H.S. first-year Charles Ndungu  made history with the meet's first-ever sub-14 clocking as he won his heat in 13:58.83.  Both a personal best and the Hokkaido international student high school record, Ndungu's shocking debut took him to the final as the top seed. His performance marked the beginning of a new era in Hokkaido high school boys' distance running.    In only the first-round heats of the 5000 m Ndungu surged hard over the last lap, battling a strong headwind as he came down the home straight in first place.  When the digital clock showed his time of 13:58.83 a huge roar of cheering and applau...