japan running news

At the 65th Karatsu 10-Mile Road Race Sunday in Karatsu, Saga, Shota Nakano (Honda) won in 47:30. Nakano graduated from Hiroshima's Sera H.S. before joining Chuo University . He ran the Hakone Ekiden three years in a row beginning his 2nd year at Chuo, winning the Third Stage his 3rd year. After graduating last spring he joined Honda, where he set a 1500 m PB of 3:41.47 at September's National Corporate Track and Field Championships. His other PBs include 13:24.11 for 5000 m, 28:00.86 for 10000 m and 1:02:49 for the half marathon. This was his first time racing the 10-mile distance. Yushin Akatsu (Komori Corp.) was 2 seconds behind Nakano in 47:32, with Daiki Nomimura (NTT Nishi Nihon) 3rd in 47:33 and veteran Keita Shitara (Nishitetsu) 4th in 47:35. Chikako Mori (Sekisui Kagaku) took the women's 10 km in 34:12 and Shiena Kanamori (Chikushi Joshi Gakuen H.S.) the high school girls' 5 km in 16:22. Taiyo Iwasa (Tosu Kogyo H.S.) won the high school boys' 10 km ...

There was just no stopping the best, as three-time defending champion Komazawa University led start-to-finish to win the 8-stage, 106.8 km National University Ekiden for the 4th year in a row. Yushin Akatsu led it off with a great back-and-forth sprint finish battle against Waseda University 's Jumpei Maseda to put Komazawa out front at the first exchange. Keita Sato followed that up with a 31:01 CR on the 11.1 km Second Stage, 27:57 road 10 km pace at age 19, a run that earned him this year's Nationals MVP award. And from there on out Komazawa's lead only grew. Komazawa's remaining six runners all made top 3 on their stages, and despite sunny skies and temperatures that went over 23˚, unheard of for early November, at every exchange its lead was bigger. Anchor Takuma Yamakawa started 2:49 ahead of Aoyama Gakuin University 's Yuto Tanaka and had more than enough room to coast it in for a safety win, but turned in a stage-winning 58:10 for 19.7 km to give Koma...

The Kasumigaura Marathon and 10-Miler took place Apr. 16 in Tsuchiura, Ibaraki. In the most competitive race of the day, Yushin Akatsu kept 2023 Hakone Ekiden winner Komazawa University 's streak of road race domination this season going with a win by 15 seconds in 48:07. Komazawa's Shura Miyagi was the second collegiate finisher at 4th overall in 48:45. Considering that neither Akatsu nor Miyagi made Komazawa's entry roster of ten starters and six alternates for Hakone in January, their success at Kasumigaura showed just how hard other schools are going to have to work this fall to stop Komazawa from becoming the first program ever to sweep all three major university ekidens in a single season two years in a row. In the women's 10-miler, Takushoku University took the top two places, Yuko Umeki getting the win in 58:02 and teammate Mayuko Ii 2nd in 58:57. In the men's marathon, former Nihon University Hakone runner Benjamin Ngandu won by nearly 5 minutes ov...