japan running news

by Brett Larner Just 17 years old, 2016 Bydgoszcz World U20 Championships men's 5000 m bronze medalist Wesley Ledama of Kenya turned up at Akita's Towada Hachimantai Ekiden running for the Subaru corporate team to rock a new record on the 13.6 km First Stage.  Hammering experienced 32-year-old Ethiopian Kassa Mekashaw (Team Yachiyo Kogyo) into the ground, Ledama took almost a minute and a half off the 39:49 stage record set last year by Kenyan Charles Ndungu (Team Komori Corp.) as he handed off in 1st in 38:28.  Mekashaw likewise broke the record, next into the first exchange zone in 38:35, with Yuki Takamiya (Team Yakult A), the top Japanese man at this year's Tokyo Marathon and winner on Towada's First Stage in 2014, 3rd in 40:27. Both Yachiyo Kogyo and Yakult ran down Subaru on the 13.4 km Second Stage, stage record holder Bernard Kimanyi (Team Yakult A) coming just 2 seconds short of Shota Kai (Team Yachiyo Kogyo) for the lead at the second exchange zon...

http://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-label-road-races/news/cheroben-chelimo-ceske-budejovice-half-marath Team Yachiyo Kogyo sub-63 men Shota Kai and Kenta Kitazawa also ran, Kai finishing 8th in 1:07:20 and Kitazawa 9th in 1:10:16, narrowly beating women's winner Rose Chelimo (Kenya).  Click here for complete results .

by Brett Larner In just its second running the Okukuma Road Race continued to develop into Japan's leading January half marathon, with the Koichi Morishita -coached  Yuki Oshikawa (Team Toyota Kyushu) taking nearly a minute off teammate Hayato Ideue 's course record to win a tight pack race in 1:03:36.  In a lead group of nine including Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't), 2013 NYC Marathon 6th-place Masato Imai  (Team Toyota Kyushu), Hakone Ekiden runners Takahiro Gunji  (Komazawa Univ.) and Shota Kai (Nittai Univ.), 2013 Tamana Half Marathon winner Daichi Kato  (Team Toyota Kyushu) and more, Oshikawa pushed hard near the race's end to get away from Kawauchi and Gunji, opening a lead of 4 seconds over Kawauchi for the win. Kawauchi, 2nd at last weekend's Tanigawa Mari Half Marathon, was runner-up again in 1:03:40, taking some consolation from bettering Imai, Kato and 2014 New Year Ekiden anchor stage winner Ryuji Watanabe  (Team Toyota Kyushu), a...

by Brett Larner Following up on last year's record-setting race , the Yaizu Minato Half Marathon returned for the 25th anniversary of its unique pair marathon university championship format with some of Japan's best university teams scoring the top two of their three members in the race.   Meiji University , one of the potential favorites for the 2013-14 ekiden season, took the team title in 2:09:43 as Tomoyasu Matsui  and Shin Kimura  went 1-2 a second apart in 1:04:51 and 1:04:52.  2012 Izumo Ekiden course record-setter Aoyama Gakuin University  was 2nd in 2:10:30 with all three of its runners making the top ten, with 2012 National University Ekiden course record-setter Komazawa University  3rd in 2:10:56 despite not getting anyone into the top five.   Shota Kai  of 2013 Hakone Ekiden winner Nittai University  was 3rd overall, but Nittai did not make the team podium. 28th Yaizu Minato Half Marathon 25th National University Pair Marath...