japan running news

With the best half marathon credentials in the field of 42 Kanto Region university teams, 11 runners with half marathon bests under 64 minutes, Chuo Gakuin University took the top spot at the Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai half marathon, the official qualifying race for January's 102nd Hakone Ekiden. With a 1:00:45 best Hiro Konda let the way for CGU as the top Japanese finisher in the race, running 1:02:04 for 7th overall. Taisei Ichikawa was next at 18th in 1:02:16 and Kotaro Osabe next in 1:02:57 for 38th, and CGU's other 7 scoring members all came through with a good run to give CGU the win in a combined time of 10:32:23, a 10-man average of 1:03:14.30. That was a bit on the slow side given the excellent conditions which were thanks in part to the race starting an hour earlier this year. An all-African lead group took it out hard, splitting 14:25 and 28:43 at 5 km and 10 km. The projected finish time was 1:00:35 at that point, in range of the best Japanese athletes in the filed...

January's Hakone Ekiden has a big impact on the shape of the fall season for Japanese collegiate men. The top 10 teams at Hakone run this past Monday's Izumo Ekiden , where 6 runners per team run an average of 7.5 km. 11th-place and lower run Saturday's Yosenkai, the half marathon used to fill the 10 remaining slots in the Hakone field and the lineup of the select team made up of top-placing individuals from universities that don't qualify as a team. The 42 teams at the Yosenkai can run up to 12 people, with the times of their first 10 finishers adding up to a team score and the 10 fastest teams going on to the big show. At Izumo a lot of the top teams were down on track times this season . At the Yosenkai it's really noticeable how much the level has come up. In 2023 only 2 teams, Daito Bunka University and Tokyo Kokusai University , had a 10-runner 10000 m average under 29 minutes. Last year there were 3, Chuo University , Tokai University and TKU again. This ...

On Mar. 25 the KGRR , organizers of the Hakone Ekiden, announced the start time for mid-October's 102nd Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai qualifying half marathon in Tachikawa, Tokyo will be changed from its traditional starting time of 9:35 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. as a measure against rising temperatures. The KGRR explained, "We have explored what options we have to maximize the safety of our athletes from the effects of global warming. With that in mind we have decided to move the start time earlier to reduce the risk from heat." At the Yosenkai half marathon schools may run up to 12 team members, with their first 10 finishers scoring based on their combined finish times. With places at the world's biggest road race on the line competition is fierce and the young student athletes push their bodies and minds to their absolute limits. Last year's race on Oct. 19 had unseasonably hot weather that turned into a battle of attrition. At the 9:35 a.m. start it was 23.2˚, rising to summ...

With high humidity, mostly sunny skies and temps reported as high as 30˚ it was just too hot for fast times at the Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai, the half marathon qualifying race for January's 101st Hakone Ekiden. Individual winner and last year's 1:00:16 CR setter Shadrack Kipkemei from Nihon University and runner-up Brian Kipyegon of Yamanashi Gakuin University lasting the whole way on sub-1:01 pace and going 1:00:59 and 1:01:02 was really exceptional given the weather, but you could see how tough it was given that only five people went under 1:02 and seven under 1:03 compared to 11 and 38 last year. Top Japanese finisher and 1:00:31 half marathoner Reishi Yoshida of Chuo Gakuin University was only 10th in 1:03:29 and collegiate record holder Richard Etir of Tokyo Kokusai University 11th in 1:03:35. But ultimately the Yosenkai is about team scoring based on the total times of each school's first ten finishers, so while the unseasonal summertime conditions held times ba...

Ekiden season rolls on, and for everyone who didn't make the top 10 at the Hakone Ekiden's 100th running this past January that means a trip to western Tokyo's Showa Linen Park this Saturday to line up on the runway of the air defense base next door to try to qualify for the 101st Hakone Ekiden . The 43 Tokyo-area universities at the Hakone Ekiden Qualifier Half Marathon , the Yosenkai, each run 10-12 athletes and are scored on the total times of their first 10 finishers. The 10 fastest teams go to Hakone, and the rest go home except for the 10 fastest individuals from non-qualifying universities, who get the privilege of running as part of a select team. NTV will broadcast the Yosenkai and its dramatic announcement ceremony live starting at 9:25 a.m. local time Saturday. If you've got a VPN you should be all set. If not, try mov3.co/ntv . JRN will be on-site at the Yosenkai to cover it live. Chuo University , Tokai University and Tokyo Kokusai University look sure ...

With the Kanto Region being the heavy draw for top high school talent thanks to the Hakone Ekiden, it's not a surprise that its schools dominate the national-level university ekidens. Out of 25 universities and two select teams from across the country at last November's National University Ekiden, Kanto Region teams took the top 14 spots, with only Kokushikan University beaten by the National University Select Team which included some Kanto Region runners. The top eight there, Komazawa University , Aoyama Gakuin University , Koku Gakuin University , Chuo University , Josai University , Soka University , Daito Bunka University and Tokyo Kokusai University , auto-qualified for the 2024 Nationals race, with the rest having to run today's qualifying race to make it back. The qualifying race was made up of four heats of 10000 m on the track at Kanagawa's Sagamihara Gion Stadium, each heat with two runners from each of the 20 schools competing, each team scored on the to...

  Fired by Rikkyo University as head coach of its track and field program four days before October's Hakone Ekiden qualifier half marathon after evidence emerged of an inappropriate relationship with a female team member , Yuichiro Ueno , 38, is set to join the Saga-based Hiramatsu Byoin corporate team in a return to a career as an athlete. Multiple corporate teams are said to have made offers for a "second chance" to Ueno, who was known as "the fastest coach in Japan," due to his ability and extensive knowledge and experience. Ueno appears to have selected the rapidly-growing Hiramatsu Byoin team from among the offers. A former star runner at Saku Chosei H.S. , Chuo University and S&B , Ueno was named head coach at Rikkyo in 2018 to lead the program back to the Hakone Ekiden in time for its 100th running in January, 2024. As part of his idiosyncratic coaching style he was known for running with the Rikkyo athletes. At last year's Hakone Ekiden qualif...

  Entry lists are out for what's going to be the biggest road race in history, the 100th edition of the Hakone Ekiden . Over the next few weeks we'll be writing on the history, present, and future of Hakone, and more detailed previews of the 2024 race. But as a quick preview, below are the complete 16-runner entry lists for the 23 Tokyo-area university men's teams in the race. Of these, ten from each school will actually run, five roughly a half marathon distance each on Jan. 2 from central Tokyo to the shores of Lake Ashi near Mt. Fuji, and five doing the reverse on the 3rd. On first look, the overall level is through the roof, even by Hakone standards. 13 of the 23 teams have a ten-man average under 14 minutes for 5000 m. Three of those have an average under 13:45. 20 of the 23 teams have a ten-man average under 29 minutes for 10000 m, and again three of those average under 28:30. Eight of the 23 teams average under 1:03 for the half marathon, with two under 1:02:30. Sev...

The bar was raised again for the Hakone Ekiden's 100th running on Jan. 1-2. Wednesday night at the Meiji-Aoyama Gakuin-Rikkyo-Chuo-Hosei pentangular MARCH Taikosen 10000 m meet in Machida, Tokyo, hosts Aoyama Gakuin University dominated with 10 of its members running new sub-29 PBs, 6 of them going sub-28:30. AGU 4th-year Issei Sato led the way with a meet record 28:11.00 to win the fastest heat, 2nd-year Asahi Kuroda following up great runs at both the Izumo and National University ekidens with a 28:15.82 PB for 3rd and 4th-year Genta Kuramoto just getting under 28:20 with a 28:19.31 PB for 4th. 2023 Hakone runner-up Chuo University and some of the other teams that just ran the Ageo City Half Marathon on Sunday had a lighter presence, but 2 Chuo runners did go sub-28:30, 4th-year Jin Yuasa taking 2nd behind Sato in a PB 28:12.17, and 3rd-year Haruki Abe running a 28:26.58 PB for 6th. The fastest finishers from Rikkyo University and Hosei University both clocked PBs, R...

Streaming of the MARCH Taikosen 2023 track meet, a 10000 m time trial meet in Machida, Tokyo between Hakone Ekiden-bound Meiji University , Aoyama Gakuin University , Rikkyo University , Chuo University and Hosei University . The meet features "scholarship" money for top-placing individuals and teams, and for fast times. Streaming starts at 15:20 local time Wednesday local time, with the first of the meet's four heats going off at 16:00. Entry lists are here . © 2023 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

  Saturday's Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai half marathon was the official qualifying race for January's 100th edition of t he world's biggest and best road race , and with it the 23-team field is set. Led by defending champion Komazawa University , the top 10 at the 2023 Hakone Ekiden auto-qualified for the 100th on Jan. 2-3, 2024. The other 13 teams came from the Yosenkai, led by Daito Bunka University , 3 more than usual in honor of the 100th running but absent the usual select team made up of top-placing individuals at the Yosenkai from schools that didn't make the cut as a team. The complete field: Komazawa University 58th appearance, 58th-straight appearance, 8 wins most recent win: 2023 Chuo University 97th appearance, 7th-straight appearance, 14 wins most recent win: 1996 Aoyama Gakuin University 29th appearance, 16th-straight appearance, 6 wins most recent win: 2022 Koku Gakuin University 17th appearance, 8th-straight appearance, best placing: 3rd (2020) Juntendo Univ...

Despite losing Kenyan Peter Wanjiru late in the race, favorite Daito Bunka University repeated as winner to lead the qualifiers for January's 100th Hakone Ekiden at Saturday's Yosenkai Half Marathon in western Tokyo's Showa Kinen Park. Collegiate 5000 m and 10000 m record holder Richard Etir of Tokyo Kokusai University led the first 8.5 km in his debut at the distance with a pack of around including lone Japanese man Reishi Yoshida of Chuo Gakuin University right behind. Just before 8.5 km Etir was clipped from behind by Nihon Yakka University 's Dennis Kipruto and turned around to tell him off. A few steps later Kipruto clipped him again hard enough that Etir went airborne horizontal before crashing to the pavement. The favorite for the individual win, Etir never regained contact with the front of the race. And that ended up having profound consequences for Tokyo Kokusai. In Etir's absence Nihon University 's took over at 10 km, quickly getting rid of e...

In January the Hakone Ekiden celebrates its 100th running, and it’s going to be the biggest road race in history. The university men’s ekiden season kicked off Monday with the season-opening Izumo Ekiden, where course record holder Komazawa University followed up last year’s triple crown of wins at all three major university ekidens with a CR-breaking title defense . Saturday is the next important race, the Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai qualifying half marathon at Tokyo’s Showa Kinen Park, and being the top 13 there is everything. The top 10 teams at the 2023 Hakone Ekiden, Komazawa, Chuo University , Aoyama Gakuin University , Koku Gakuin University , Juntendo University , Waseda University , Hosei University , Soka University , Josai University and Toyo University , secured their places at the 100th. On Saturday 57 other universities will compete for the remaining 13 places at Hakone. It’s an extremely big deal to be in the field at the 100th, with schools like Rikkyo University , Keio...

On Oct. 11 Rikkyo University announced that it has suspended Yuichiro Ueno , 38, head coach of its men's ekiden team, as of the 10th. A statement from the university's public relations department stated, "His department has determined that he is unsuitable to serve as a leader." Earlier on the 11th, the gossip magazine site Daily Shincho published an online article including a dozen photos suggesting that Ueno, who has been married since 2009 and has three children, was having an inappropriate relationship with a female member of the team. The PR department's statement said, "The university intends to consider disciplinary action after interviewing the parties involved, including the coach himself." The Rikkyo team is scheduled to compete in Saturday's qualifying race for the prestigious 100th running of the Hakone Ekiden. Ueno will not attend. After hiring the highly popular former national champion at the end of 2018 specifically to rebuild it...

  November's National University Men's Ekiden is the second of the Big Three University Ekidens that make up the peak of the year for Japanese collegiate men. The top eight teams auto-qualify for the following year, and every year it's a given that they're all going to be from the Tokyo-centric Kanto Region. Another 17 schools have to run regional qualifiers to make it back, and of those another seven come from Kanto. The Kanto Region Qualifier happens Saturday at 17:15 Japan time, four heats of 10000 m on the track with two runners from each of the twenty schools in each heat. Teams are scored on the combined times of all eight runners, with the seven fastest total teams going on to Nationals in November. On paper Chuo Gakuin University and Kanagawa University are the favorites with seven entrants each with bests under 29 minutes, in CGU's case led by sub-28 3rd-year Reishi Yoshida . Tokai University , Daito Bunka University and Josai University are next with ...