japan running news

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2013/02/24/kiji/K20130224005268200.html http://dena.jp/press/2013/02/post-125.php translated and edited by Brett Larner With Team S&B 's longstanding sponsorship set to be eliminated at the end of next month due to a streamlining of operations,  Kensuke Takezawa , 26, announced that he will not join the rest of the team in moving to new sponsor DeNA .  His plans remain undecided. A 2008 Beijing Olympics track team member, Takezawa commented, "My path forward is something that I ultimately want to find by myself, under my own strength, and for this reason I've decided not to move with the team.  I need to re-examine myself and carefully consider the best course of action." The new DeNA team will become an official entity on April 1.  Previous announcements had said that all athletes and staff from the S&B team would transfer together. Kensuke Takezawa : Born Oct. 11, 1986 in Hyogo. 3000 m: 7:49.26    ...

by Brett Larner Alongside the Fukuoka International Marathon , Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu hosted another major road race on Sunday, the Kumamoto Kosa 10 Mile Road Race.   The world's most competitive 10-miler by a wide margin , Kosa plays an important role for the coaches of Japan's corporate teams in helping them refine their lineups for the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden national corporate men's championships.  Kosa has long been dominated by Martin Mathathi  (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC), who has won six times since 2003 and holds the course record of 44:51 but opted for a marathon debut in Fukuoka this year.  Despite the advantages of having Africans in the race to keep things fast among the predominantly Japanese field Kosa employs a strange format with any non-Japanese entrants segregated together in an "International Division" and given a one-minute head start.  The winner of the all-Japanese division is typically reported as the winner by the ...

http://kumanichi.com/lsports/kiji/20121128001.shtml translated by Brett Larner The 37th Kumamoto Kosa 10-Miler takes place this Sunday, Dec. 2.  In the main race of the day, the Japanese-only open division, there is no shortage of exciting competition on tap with top corporate and university runners squaring off over 10 miles (16.093 km). 133 Japanese men make up the open division.  Among the major contenders for the victory are 2010 winner Ryuji Watanabe  (Team Toyota Kyushu) fresh from winning three stages at the Grand Tour Kyushu ekiden, and this year's 5000 m national champion Kazuya Deguchi  (Team Asahi Kasei).  Invited athletes  Kazuharu Takai  (Team Kyudenko), Tomohiro Shiiya  (Team Toyota Boshoku) and Yusuke Hasegawa  (Team S&B) are also likely to be caught up in the action. Noteworthy locals include defending champion Yuki Iwai  (Team Asahi Kasei), 2:08:38 marathoner Kazuhiro Maeda  (Team Kyudenko), 2012...

text and Kanto video by Brett Larner Hachioji video by B1853264 Two major time trial meets focusing on the men's 10000 m took place in Tokyo Nov. 24, the pro-oriented Hachioji Long Distance Time Trials meet in Tokyo's western suburbs, and the Kanto Region University Long Distance Time Trials meet at the National Stadium. The focus in the A-heat in Hachioji was on the 2013 World Championships A and B qualifying times of 27:40.00 and 28:05.00.  With impeccable pacing from Bitan Karoki (Kenya/Team S&B) in 14:00 through 5000 m, former Jobu University ace Yusuke Hasegawa (Team S&B), 2011 year-leader Tsuyoshi Ugachi  (Team Konica Minolta) and Kenyans Patrick Mwaka  (Team Aisan Kogyo) and  Alex Mwangi  (Team YKK) cleared the B-standard, Hasegawa going sub-60 on his final lap to deliver a 15-second PB of 27:50.64.  With outstanding conditions four other men in the top ten ran PBs of 20 to 45 seconds, led by 2012 Waseda University graduate Yusuke Mi...

                                   Seko with the announcement. Click photo to enlarge. http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2012/09/01/kiji/K20120901004017610.html http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/athletics/news/f-sp-tp0-20120831-1009359.html http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/athletics/news/f-sp-tp0-20120831-1009418.html http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/athletics/news/f-sp-tp0-20120831-1009427.html http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/athletics/news/f-sp-tp0-20120831-1009421.html http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/athletics/news/f-sp-tp0-20120831-1009429.html http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/athletics/news/f-sp-tp0-20120831-1009436.html translated and edited by Brett Larner S&B greats group photo (c) 2012 Tim Chamberlain, all rights reserved S&B Foods announced Aug. 31 that its men's running team, long the home of Japan's best distance runners, will be disbanded...

by Brett Larner A week out from the National University Ekiden Championships, the Kanto region men's scene became even more complicated as Izumo Ekiden runner-up Komazawa University, already holding ten men with sub-14 PBs for 5000 m, six of them with 10000 m bests under 29 minutes, added another name to its top ranks.  Junior Toshiaki Nishizawa  took nearly a minute off his 10000 m PB as he finished 13th in the Nittai Univ. Time Trials 10000 m A-heat in 28:51.05 to give Komazawa crucial depth beyond the ten men necessary for January's Hakone Ekiden.  Nishizawa's step up puts further pressure on defending national and Hakone champ Waseda University  and on this year's Izumo winner Toyo University . The injury-plagued Waseda's chances did take a turn for the better as sub-29 senior Takuya Nakayama , son of former 10000 m and marathon national record holder Takeyuki Nakayama , returned to competition after sitting out most of his sophomore and junior years.  N...

by Brett Larner Along with the men's 10000 m on the first day of competition, Japan-resident Kenyans swept the men's and women's 5000 m and 1500 m at the 2011 National Jitsugyodan Track & Field Championships, Sept. 24-25 in Tokushima.   Daniel Gitau  (Team Fujitsu), best known for his quadruple win in the 800 m, 1500 m, 5000 m and 10000 m at the 2009 Kanto Regional Track & Field Championships, doubled here with wins in the 1500 m and 5000 m, outkicking two-time world junior 3000 mSC champion Jonathan Ndiku  (Team Hitachi Cable) in both races.  The top collegiate 10000 m runner of 2010, Yusuke Hasegawa  (Team S&B) had the best run of his pro career as he finished 4th in the 5000 m in 13:34.70.  Along with  Yuichiro Ueno  and Kensuke Takezawa , S&B runners now hold three of the ten fastest 5000 m times of the year by Japanese men. Sally Chepyego  (Team Kyudenko), a teammate of men's 10000 m winner Paul Tanui  (Team Kyud...

by Brett Larner Members of Japan's top two university teams, 2011 Hakone Ekiden winner Waseda University  and 2009-2010 winner Toyo University , held a midsummer face-off July 23 in Isesaki Gunma at the Trial in Isesaki meet hosted by locally-based Jobu University .  With early pacing provided by Jobu graduate Yusuke Hasegawa  (Team S&B), Waseda second-year Suguru Osako , the Asian junior area record holder in the half marathon, won the men's 3000 m A-heat with a gap of nearly six seconds over Toyo's Takanori Ichikawa  and Hiroyuki Uno , running 8:05.70.  2009 Ageo City Half Marathon winner Shota Hiraga  (Waseda Univ.) was off his game as he finished only 7th in 8:18.29. For Osako the meet was a tuneup for next month's World University Games in Shenzhen, China.  Although he set the Asian junior record at the half marathon last fall as a first-year, Osako has since backed off the distance and focused on the track.  At the World Univers...

Apr. 22, Hayward Field, Oregon click here for complete results click event header for complete video Bill McChesney Jr. Men's 5000 m 1. Bitan Karoki (Kenya/Team S&B) - 13:38.57 2. Dylan Wykes (Canada/P.I.H.) - 13:43.43 3. Yusuke Hasegawa (Team S&B) - 13:45.97 4. Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 13:46.76 5. Tsuyoshi Ugachi (Team Konica Minolta) - 13:47.29 6. Tomoyuki Morita (Team Kanebo) - 13:53.75 7. Yusuke Takabayashi (Team Toyota) - 13:54.52 8. Daisuke Shimizu (Team Kanebo) - 13:55.54 9. Seth Summerside (U.S.A./OTC Elite) - 13:57.59 10. Takayuki Matsumiya (Team Konica Minolta) - 14:01.21 11. Ryohei Kawakami (Team Kanebo) - 14:06.27 12. Ryo Matsumoto (Team Shikoku Denryoku) - 14:08.37 13. Takaya Iwasaki (Team Shikoku Denryoku) - 14:22.49 14. Takayuki Hamaguchi (Team Shikoku Denryoku) - 14:30.88 Women's 5000 m 1. Brie Felnagle (U.S.A./Adidas) - 15:43.87 2. Bridget Franek (U.S.A./OTC Elite) - 15:52.81 3. Miho Ihara (Team Shikoku Denryoku) - 16:06.86 4. Kumi Ogura (Team...

by Brett Larner Four significant men's track meets took place around Tokyo over the weekend. At the Apr. 9 Setagaya Time Trials meet, Team Kanebo's new Ethiopian ringer Asefa Fekele had a good debut with an 8:05.37 win in the 3000 m just steps ahead of Komazawa University's Wataru Ueno who clocked 8:05.96. 3rd placer Daisuke Shimizu (Team Kanebo) was far back of the pair in 8:09.67. Nihon University's Shuto Kojima likewise had a narrow win over distance specialist Takehiro Deki (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) in the Setagaya Time Trials 5000 m, 14:05.28 to Deki's 14:05.56. At the largest of the four meets, the Five University Meet held Apr. 10 at Heisei Kokusai University, the performance of the day came in the open Premium 3000 m, where Kenyan Bitan Karoki (Team S&B) ran 7:49.43 for the win over teammate Yusuke Hasegawa (Team S&B), who ran 8:05.36 in his pro debut. Senior Takamitsu Hashimoto (Josai Univ.) was the top university runner, 3rd in 8:09.62. Raci...

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/event/sports/news/20101213-OHT1T00247.htm translated by Brett Larner On Dec. 13 Jobu University's ekiden team held a workout session at the school's track in Isesaki, Gunma prefecture as it prepares for the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden. Speaking to the media at the workout, the team's captain and senior ace Yusuke Hasegawa , holder of the fastest 10000 m time of the year by a Japanese university student, revealed that he has signed to join the elite Team S&B following his graduation in March. Hasegawa, the national university 1500 m champion as a sophomore, is a top-class speed runner among university athletes. At November's Nittai University Time Trials meet he ran a 10000 m PB of 28:07.47, the best of the year by a Japanese student and all-time #8 on the collegiate 10000 m rankings. Having led Jobu from scratch to Hakone in a remarkably short time, head coach Katsuhiko Hanada , a former S&B star himself, will continue to serve as Hasegawa...

by Brett Larner As the year is winding down Japan's distance runners, all the way from junior high school to the jitsugyodan corporate world, are gearing up for the national championship ekidens. It's a quirk of the system that the biggest of them all, the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden , is a regional university men's event for the Kanto area around Tokyo. Twenty teams, ten men per school, each man running one of ten stages roughly a half marathon in distance over the course of two days all with a live national broadcast with 30% viewership ratings and millions more lining the course. It's hard to overstate how important and popular it is and how captivating to watch. The 2011 Hakone Ekiden entry lists were released today and overall the field shows unparalleled quality. 45 men hold 10000 m PBs under 29 minutes, 2 of them under 28, with a raft of others holding noteworthy marks at 5000 m, 20 km and the half marathon. Takushoku University 's Kenyan first-years John Maina a...

by Brett Larner Alongside the Ageo City Half Marathon it was a big weekend at the 212th Nittai University Time Trials, Nov. 20-21 in Yokohama. Among the highlights: While 19 year-old Kenyan Bitan Karoki (Team S&B) added another sub-28 time in the 10000 m to his name with a 27:46.19 win, Jobu University senior Yusuke Hasegawa ran the fastest mark of the year by a Japanese university student, 28:07.47, to take 2nd in the A-heat. In the B-heat, Sendai Ikuei High School junior Yuma Hattori set the fastest time of the year by a Japanese high school student, 28:58.08. Three Josai University men broke 29 minutes for the first time; Josai head coach Seiji Kushibe , Jobu head coach Katsuhiko Hanada and Ageo winner Suguru Osako 's coach at Waseda University, Yasuyuki Watanabe , were all teammates at Waseda during their student days. Former 2:08 marathoner and national champion Team Nissin Shokuhin assistant coach Kenjiro Jitsui , 41, set a masters' 10000 m national record of 29:16...

by Brett Larner photos by Daniel Seite Takushoku University frosh John Maina , one of two Kenyans joining the team this season, led Takushoku to a surprise team win at the 87th Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai 20 km qualifier Oct. 16 in Tokyo's Showa Kinen Park. Despite hotter than usual temperatures and a course change which added challenging hills and several sharp corners in the final two km, Maina won overall in 58:23 to become only the third man to ever break 58:30 at the Yosenkai. John Maina and Benjamin Gando at 6 km. After a slow first km in 3:03, Maina effortlessly pressed the pace as Nihon University's Benjamin Gando struggled to maintain contact. Gando attacked just past 10 km but faded in the final quarter to a 58:43 runner-up spot. In Maina Takushoku may have found a deep talent. With him, fellow Kenyan recruit Duncan Mozay and new head coach Toru Okada , who previously coached Asia Univ. to the 2006 Hakone Ekiden win, Takushoku could be one of the surprises of January...

by Brett Larner Little-known Kokushikan University junior Taku Fujimoto 's win at last month's Kanto Regional University T&F Championships 5000 m was one of the meet's highlights. Sitting patiently behind the leaders throughout the race, Fujimoto rocketed away from favorite Akinobu Murasawa (Tokai Univ.) with one lap to go to win in a sizeable PB of 13:38.68, exactly tying Murasawa's PB. After the race Murasawa challenged Fujimoto to repeat the feat this season over 10000 m. His chance comes this Saturday at the 2010 National University Ekiden Kanto Regional Qualifiers at Tokyo's National Stadium. November's National University Ekiden is one of the peaks of the fall season. For schools which miss the top-scoring seeded bracket, late June means once more through the regional qualifiers. What makes the Kanto qualifiers one of the most entertaining events on the Japanese calendar is the format: four heats of 10000 m in one evening, each heat containing tw...

by Brett Larner This weekend is one of the biggest of the year for Japanese distance runners, with no less than eight major track meets across the country. Six of the meets are regional championships for Japan's corporate teams and will feature many of the best Japanese and African athletes including Josephat Ndambiri (Kenya/Team Komori Corp.), Gideon Ngatuny (Kenya/Team Nissin Shokuhin), Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren), Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal), Mari Ozaki (Team Noritz), Atsushi Sato (Team Chugoku Denryoku) and Yuichiro Ueno (Team S&B). Check the sidebar to the right for more information on these meets. The Kansai Regional University Track and Field Championships offer an early-season look at the schools in Western central Japan, the site of the best university women's teams. The women's 5000 m in particular has a great matchup between 10000 m university national record holder Hikari Yoshimoto and 2009 World University Games 10000 m gold medalist Kasumi Nishiha...

by Brett Larner Always a staple on the Japanese spring track calendar, this year's Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational saw several strong performances from Japanese men. With early pacing by former Nihon University ace Simon Ndirangu (Kenya), the historic men's Kim McDonald 10000 m saw the first-ever sub-27 minute clocking by a white runner. American Chris Solinsky (Nike) unexpectedly beat star Galen Rupp (Nike) to set a new American national record of 26:59.60. Unknown Daniel Salel (Kenya) finished runner-up in a sizzling 27:07.85 PB and 3rd place finisher Samuel Chelanga (Kenya/Liberty Univ.) set a new American university record of 27:08.39. Rupp was 4th overall but also broke the former national record, while 5th place finisher Simon Bairu (Canada/Nike) set a new Canadian national record of 27:23.63. The top eight men all clocked PBs, leaving 9th place finisher Kensuke Takezawa (Team S&B) to be the top-placing man not to run a PB. As expected in his first 10000 m...

by Brett Larner The Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational at California's Stanford University has always been a big meet for top Japanese runners. It was the site of both the current men's and women's national records, and although in the last two years Japan's focus has shifted more to Berkeley's Brutus Hamilton Invitational a solid group of athletes will again line up at this year's Cardinal Invitational on May 1. Leading the way is #1-ranked Japanese man Kensuke Takezawa (Team S&B). He's the one who ran 13:19.00 and 27:45.59 as a 20 year old. Injured for a year after that, he spent most of last year working his way back up and hopes to knock down both his 5000 m and 10000 m PBs this season. A 13:33.61 opener at the Kanaguri Memorial Meet two weeks ago was promising, but at last week's Brutus Hamilton Invitational 5000 m Takezawa ran only 13:47.30. That's exactly the pace he would need to run to have a shot at Toshinari Takaoka 's national ...

by Brett Larner Quick results from the distance events at the 2010 Brutus Hamilton Invitational in Berkeley, CA. 2010 Brutus Hamilton Invitational - Top Finishers click here for complete results or event header for individual events Men's 10000 m 1. Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 28:27.93 2. Yuta Takahashi (Team S&B) - 28:36.86 - PB 3. Takeshi Makabe (Team Kanebo) - 28:40.23 ----- 6. Yusuke Hasegawa (Jobu Univ.) - 28:58.63 Men's 5000 m 1. Galen Rupp (Unattached) - 13:32.53 2. Juan Carlos Romero (Nike German Silva) - 13:34.27 3. Kensuke Takezawa (Team S&B) - 13:47.30 ----- 5. Ikuto Yufu (Komazawa Univ.) - 13:54.15 9. Yasunori Murakami (Team Fujitsu) - 14:07.59 11. Masato Kihara (Team Kanebo) - 14:15.99 Women's 3000 m 1. Amy Begley (Nike Oregon) - 8:53.73 2. Malindi Elmore (Unattached ) - 8:57.97 3. Yuriko Kobayashi (Team Toyota Jidoshoki) - 9:01.39 ----- 9. Kazue Kojima (Team Toyota Jidoshoki) - 9:17.08 Men's 3000 mSC 1. Steve Strickland (Utah State) - 8:4...

by Brett Larner It's the best time of year for distance running fans in Japan: time for the Hakone Ekiden . Hakone is the championship event for Kanto region-based university men's teams, essentially those in the Tokyo area. The race covers 217.9 km in ten stages spread over two days on Jan. 2 and 3 every year. But it is much more than a regional university race. The race is broadcast live nationwide, fifteen hours of coverage between the two days, with nationwide viewership ratings of 30%. Hakone runners are respected more than any others but Japan's Olympic marathon medalists and have a degree of fame pros in other countries can only imagine. Now in its 86th year, more than any other race the Hakone Ekiden is engrossing, dramatic, and symbolizes what is good about distance running. So much so that it has become a problem for Japanese men's marathoning, where performances have waned over the last few years just as performances at Hakone and related races have waxed to ...