japan running news

Back in pre-pandemic days Akira Akasaki and Haruka Onodera  were still in college, Akasaki at Takushoku University and Onodera at Teikyo University . At the 2019 Ageo City Half Marathon they frontran most of the race together, dead set on finishing in the top two Japanese collegiate spots to win invitations to the 2020 United Airlines NYC Half. For Akasaki it had already been a year and a half wait. Inspired by Kenta Murayama 's 1:00:57 5th place in finish in New York in 2017 and Kei Katanishi 's 7th-place in 2018, Akasaki went for it his junior year in his debut at the 2018 Ageo Half . "Coming up to 10 km I was in the lead pack and feeling good, so I knew I had a shot at going to New York and got pretty excited," he said. But right after the 10 km turnaround point he tripped and fell, and by the time he was back up the lead group was out of range. He finished 20th in 1:03:07, over a minute and a half behind top Japanese university man Ken Nakayama . "I was f...

2020 Hakone Ekiden 3rd-placer Koku Gakuin University , 4th-place Teikyo University and 15th-place Hosei University held a joint 20 km time trial in Chiba on Nov. 14. Toyo University star fourth-year Kazuya Nishiyama also took part, winning in 58:53. Teikyo fourth-year Sora Masuda was next in 59:35, with Hosei second-year Yuki Kawakami 3rd in 59:37. Before and after the time trial each team operated independently as a team, taking appropriate measures against coronavirus infection. The time trial itself let runners from each school push each other and gave a real sense of actual competition. Afterward Teikyo head coach Takayuki Nakano , 57, commented, "Just because you've done the training it doesn't mean there will be a race. We have to remember to be grateful for the opportunities we have. And that we're all friends." Saitama's Ageo City Half Marathon, one of the most important races in the buildup to the Hakone Ekiden, was originally scheduled for No...

Entry lists are out for the world's biggest running event, the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden university men's championships. Aoyama Gakuin University has built a near monopoly on Hakone, winning the last four years and looking this year to follow Chuo University and Nittai University as the third team in Hakone's 95 years of history to win it five years straight. But with its weakest lineup since 2015, the year AGU first rose to Hakone dominance, that won't be easy. Using the chart above from JRN's January, 2016 article " The Shape of Things to Come " which predicted the breakthrough we've seen this year in Japanese men's marathoning based on the last 20 years of Hakone results, we've ranked the 23 teams in the 2019 Hakone Ekiden based on the combined scores of the 10 best runners on each team's 16-man entry roster. The Win 1. Tokai University - 70 pts. 2. Komazawa University - 69 pts. 3. Teikyo University - 62 pts. 4. Aoyama Gak...

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20130508-OHT1T00165.htm translated by Brett Larner Tohoku High School will hold a welcoming event for incoming students on May 11 in Sendai.  Together with their friend and Tohoku head coach Takehiko Shibuya , 53, a number of coaches from top-finishing teams at this year's Hakone Ekiden will appear to take part in a panel discussion, including Kenji Beppu , 47, who led Nittai University to its first Hakone win in 30 years, runner-up Toyo University 's Nao Sato , 60, and Takayuki Nakano  of Teikyo University , whose 4th-place finish was its best showing since 2000.  Tohoku H.S. alumnus Hatsuo Okubo , 58, who won the Hakone Ekiden's uphill Fifth Stage all four years of his university career, will also appear.  The discussion of Hakone's run up the mountain should be a good one. This year Tohoku's hopes are high with two superb athletes who ran well for Miyagi in last summer's National Junior High School Championsh...