japan running news

by Brett Larner The annual women's and men's National Interprefectural Ekidens are some of Japan's most interesting races. This year's women's race takes place tomorrow, Jan. 17, in Kyoto. Each of Japan's 47 prefectures fields a team of nine women ranging from junior high school students to top professional marathoners, running as one team representing their home ground. With nine legs totalling 42.195 km all but the 6 km First Stage and 10 km Ninth stage are under 5 km, making a faster-paced race than is often the case. Part of what makes the Interprefectural Ekidens interesting is that rather than emphasizing the big names they are often the site of the national coming out of talented young athletes. Toyo University's Ryuji Kashiwabara was an unknown as a high school senior at the 2008 Men's Interprefectural Ekiden but grabbed attention for the first time by frontrunning against national high school champion Yuki Yagi (Waseda Univ.) on the First Stage...

by Brett Larner While the popularity and prestige of the Hakone Ekiden has concentrated Japan's university men's distance talent within the Tokyo-centered Kanto Region, women's university runners are more geographically dispersed. If there is one stronghold it must be the Kansai Region around Kyoto and Osaka, home of the dominant Ritsumeikan University women's team and their cross-town rivals Bukkyo University. The two schools meet again this weekend at the six-stage, 38.6 km Morinomiyako Ekiden , the first of the season's two national university women's ekidens. Ritsumeikan is the three-time defending Morinomiyako champion and has qualified more than any other school in the field, running in the last twenty of Morinomiyako's twenty seven editions. Ritsumeikan's winning streak exactly coincides with the career of its ace runner Kazue Kojima. Kojima is the best university runner of her generation, a multiple national champion who has never lost an ekiden ...

by Brett Larner Daniel Gitau (Nihon Univ.) wins the windy 10000 m at the 2009 Kanto Regional University Track and Field Championships. Click here for complete race video via Flotrack. Kenyan fourth-year Daniel Gitau (Nihon Univ.) followed in the footsteps of the now-graduated Mekubo Mogusu (Team Aidem) with a double win in the men's 1500 m and 10000 m on the first weekend of the 2009 Kanto Regional University Track and Field Championships May 16 and 17 at Tokyo's National Stadium. Harsh, windy conditions prevented fast times, particularly in the 10000 m, but Gitau had an easy win in the 1500 m in 3:44.18. Setting off at 2:45/km pace in the 10000 m with Mogusu watching in the stands, the 2008 national university 10000 m champion Gitau worked together with first-year teammate Benjamin Gando, Mogusu's successor Cosmas Ondiba (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) and Japanese star Ryuji Kashiwabara (Toyo Univ.) to battle the wind. As the pace slowed midway Gitau broke away at around 5000 ...

by Brett Larner On Nov. 10 the International Chiba Ekiden released the entry lists for the 2008 edition of the race, to take place Nov. 24 just east of Tokyo in central Chiba Prefecture. In the second year of the Chiba Ekiden's mixed team format Japan will once again field a team of Olympians and national record holders including Kayoko Fukushi, Yuriko Kobayashi and Takayuki Matsumiya. Other countries competing in this year's Chiba Ekiden include Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Ethiopia, Great Britain, Romania, Russia, Sweden and the United States, along with a team representing hosts Chiba Prefecture and another made up of top Japanese university runners. Notably absent is Kenya, which has in the past typically fielded teams made up of professionals living in Japan. The biggest name in the field is undoubtedly Beijing Olympics women's marathon gold medalist Constantina Tomescu-Dita of Romania. Several others countries are fielding runners with Olympic and world-level c...

translated and edited by Brett Larner The 26th All-Japan University Women's Ekiden, also known as the Morinomiyako Ekiden, takes place Oct. 26 in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. Two-time defending champion Ritsumeikan University is set to win a third-straight title, with four schools presenting potential challenges. Brief profiles of each school follow. Ritsumeikan University Ritsumeikan University, alma mater of professionals including 2008 Sapporo International Half Marathon winner Yuri Kano (Second Wind AC), is the dominant women's running school in Japan, winning the Western Japan Regional Ekiden title every year since 2003 and the National Invitational Ekiden all five years of the event's existence thus far. Ritsumeikan won the 2003 and 2004 National University Women's Ekiden titles but in trying to become the second school in Morinomiyako history to win a third consecutive championship lost out to rivals Meijo University in 2005. Ritsumeikan came back to win in 2006, ...

by Brett Larner click here for race photos The Men`s Race Mekubo Mogusu of Yamanashi Gakuin University successfully defended his title at the 2008 Sapporo International Half Marathon, winning in a time of 1:00:52. Mogusu, in peak shape after a recent 10000 m PB of 27:27 and a half marathon course record at the Kanto University Championships, set out hard and gapped the entire field within the first 100 m. Only Chuo Gakuin University senior Masato Kihara pursued Mogusu, hanging behind the course record holder through the first 4 km. It was a familiar pattern as Kihara had also pursued Mogusu at last year`s Yosenkai 20 km road race and this year`s Hakone Ekiden 2nd stage. Although Mogusu showed signs of maturity in his running during 2007 after two years of spectacular failures, in Sapporo he fell victim to a fatal flaw he has displayed time and again, an inability to cope with competitors running near him. While he claimed afterwards to have been pursuing a world record, Mogusu respond...

by Brett Larner After an earlier preliminary announcement of its invited elites, the Sapporo International Half Marathon has released the complete field for this year`s 51st running on Sunday, June 15. Normally held in July, this year`s competition was moved to June due to the upcoming G-8 summit in Toyako, near Sapporo. Considering the dramatic difference in Japan`s weather between mid-June and mid-July, the date change will probably help to put the course records up for grabs. The Japanese runners in the field have the added motivation that the top domestic man and woman will be selected for the Japanese team at this fall`s World Half Marathon Championships. By far the favorite in the men`s race is defending champion Mekubo Mogusu (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.). Mogusu ran a solo 59:54 to win last year`s race in course record time. This year he comes fresh from setting a sizeable PB in the 10000 m and breaking his own course record in the half marathon at last month`s Kanto Regional Univer...

Partial results from the distance events and some shorter races at the 2008 Kanto Regional University Track and Field Championships, held May 17, 18, 24 and 25 at the National Stadium in Tokyo. Complete results can be found here . Some events listed below include links to race videos. Men`s 1500 m Final - May 17 1. Mekubo Mogusu (senior, Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.): 3:45.66 2. Atsuro Kikuchi (junior, Juntendo Univ.): 3:48.32 3. Atsushi Yamazaki (senior, Juntendo Univ.): 3:48.34 4. Keisuke Tanaka (sophomore, Josai Univ.): 3:49.12 5. Hikaru Miyazaki (senior, Nittai Univ.): 3:49.55 6. Yuichi Tokuchi (senior, Chuo Univ.): 3:49.63 7. Hiroyuki Uno (frosh, Toyo Univ.): 3:49.82 8. Kazuya Takahashi (senior, Waseda Univ.): 3:49.84 9. Takafumi Yanase (junior, Chuo Univ.): 3:50.35 10. Yoshihiro Wakamatsu (senior, Toyo Univ.): 3:50.35 Men`s 3000 m SC Final - May 24 1. Atsuro Kikuchi (junior, Juntendo Univ.): 8:42.06 2. Aoi Matsumoto (junior, Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.): 8:42.66 3. Kyosuke Suda (sophomore, ...

http://www.kyoto-np.co.jp/article.php?mid=P2008030900093&genre=L1&area=K10 translated by Brett Larner Komazawa University's Soji Ikeda won the 15th Kyoto City Half Marathon on Mar. 9, starting in front of Kyoto's Heianjingu and breaking the tape on the 21.0975 km course in 1:02:10. Aki Fujikawa of Team Shiseido won the women's race in a time of 1:10:41. Together with Kazuo Ietani (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko), Ikeda broke away from the lead pack of six runners at the 15 km point but could not drop Ietani until the last km, winning by 8 seconds. Kyoto residents Tsukasa Morita (Team Sanyo Tokusho Seiko, Kyoto Sangyo University) and Takahiko Onishi (Kyoto Sangyo University) were 4th and 8th respectively. Fujikawa had a more commanding win in the women's race, running alone after the halfway point. She was 24 seconds ahead of 2nd place finisher Yui Sakai (Josai University), while last year's winner Ryoko Kisaki (Bukkyo University) was 3rd. Hiroaki Nishihara (Mi...

http://www.kyoto-np.co.jp/article.php?mid=P2008022000192&genre=L1&area=K10 translated by Brett Larner On Feb. 20 the elite field for the 15th Kyoto City Half Marathon on Mar. 9 was announced. Headlining the men's field is former full marathon national record holder Atsushi Fujita (Team Fujitsu), while last year's winner Ryoko Kisaki (Bukkyo University) is back to defend her title in the women's race. Facing Fujita will be Helsinki World Championships men's marathon competitor and Kyoto Sangyo University graduate Michitaka Hosokawa (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) and top Japanese finisher at the 2006 World Road Running Championships Kazuo Ietani (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko). Also entered in the men's race are a number of Hakone Ekiden star runners including Soji Ikeda (Komazawa University, 2008 Hakone winners) who was 2nd on the 1st stage, East Japan Intercollegiate 10,000 m 2nd place finisher Hiroyuki Ono (Juntendo Univesity), Hakone Ekiden 3rd place finisher Chuo Gakui...