by Brett Larner Japan's winter road season is winding down, but two of the biggest races are still on for this Sunday. Last year the National University Men's Half Marathon Championships in Tokyo's Showa Kinen Park was like no other race ever seen : 265 men under 1:06:00, 27 under 1:03:00, the top 12 all under 1:02:30. Hakone Ekiden champion Aoyama Gakuin University dominated with the overall win by second-year Tadashi Isshiki and three in the top ten. AGU will again send in a big squad, thin this year on its upper-level men but with such depth and rapid improvement in its ranks that it won't be a surprise to see AGU runners no one has heard of running under 1:03:00. Last year's depth was fueled in part by the chance to score places on the Japanese team for the World University Games and without a Universiade this year the numbers may be down somewhat, but it's safe to say that with the possible exception of the Cardiff World Half Marathon Championships...
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