Course Records at Chunichi Hamanako Ekiden

by Brett Larner

In what was really and truly probably the last noteworthy ekiden of the season, course records fell Feb. 17 in two of the three divisions at the 37th Chunichi Hamanako Isshu Ekiden at Lake Hamana in Shizuoka. Despite the absence of aces Martin Mathathi and Yusei Nakao, the Suzuki Hamamatsu AC team had no trouble winning the 53.5 km men's race, clocking 2:42:49 to runner-up Teikyo University's 2:44:15. Suzuki men took three of the five stages, with 2010-11 steeplechase national champion Tsuyoshi Takeda setting a course record of 29:12 for the 9.6 km Fourth Stage.

In the six-stage, 42.0 km high school boys' race, 2012 National High School Ekiden runner-up Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S. ran 2:07:38 to set a new overall course record thanks to four of its runners scoring stage bests. Fourth man Yuki Hirota, running the same 9.6 km course as Takeda in the men's race, set a new high school division record of 28:44, almost 30 seconds better than Takeda's mark. Toyokawa Kogyo H.S., in the midst of a corporal punishment scandal, managed 2nd overall in 2:09:58.

The Suzuki Hamamatsu AC women took four of five stages in the 20.6 km women's race to set a new overall course record of 1:07:02. Behind them, 2012 National High School Ekiden champion Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. and runner-up Toyokawa H.S. went 2-3 in 1:08:02 and 1:09:46. Ritsumeikan Uji's Nanami Aoki was the only runner to beat one of the Suzuki women, taking the 4.6 km Second Stage in 15:37.

37th Chunichi Hamanako Isshu Ekiden
Lake Hamana, Shizuoka, 2/17/13

Men
10 teams, 5 stages, 53.5 km
click here for complete results

1. Suzuki Hamamatsu AC - 2:42:49
2. Teikyo Univ. A - 2:44:15
3. Teikyo Univ. C - 2:45:07
4. Yamanashi Gakuin Univ. A - 2:48:05
5. Meiji Univ. - 2:48:26

First Stage - 11.5 km - Kazuma Tashiro (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ. A) - 35:18
Second Stage - 8.4 km - Yasuyuki Nakamura (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 26:09
Third Stage - 13.0 km - Taiga Ito (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 38:46
Fourth Stage - 9.6 km - Tsuyoshi Takeda (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 29:12 - CR
Fifth Stage - 11.0 km - Tsukasa Koyama (Teikyo Univ. A) - 33:00

High School Boys
37 teams, 6 stages, 42.0 km
click here for complete results

1. Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S. - 2:07:38 - CR
2. Toyokawa Kogyo H.S. - 2:09:58
3. Aichi H.S. A - 2:10:34
4. Sera H.S. - 2:11:10
5. Tokyo Nogyo Prep #3 H.S. - 2:12:09

First Stage - 8.4 km - Kazuki Takeshita (Tokyo Nogyo Prep #3 H.S.) - 26:39

Second Stage - 3.9 km - Keisuke Nakatani (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) - 11:09

Third Stage - 9.1 km - Seiji Makiura (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) - 27:20

Fourth Stage - 9.6 km - Yuki Hirota (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) - 28:44 - CR

Fifth Stage - 4.0 km - Hiroshi Matsuura (Aichi H.S. A) - 12:13

Sixth Stage - 7.0 km - Tatsuya Taniike (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) - 21:26

Women

28 teams, 5 stages, 20.6 km

click here for complete results

1. Suzuki Hamamatsu AC - 1:07:02 - CR

2. Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. - 1:08:02

3. Toyokawa H.S. - 1:09:46

4. Bukkyo Univ. A - 1:09:57

5. Tokoha Kikugawa H.S. - 1:10:13

First Stage - 5.0 km - Miki Sakakibara (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 15:44

Second Stage - 8.4 km - Nanami Aoki (Ritsumeikan Uji H.S.) - 15:37

Third Stage - 4.0 km - Mao Kiyota (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 13:00

Fourth Stage - 3.0 km - Yuki Sakata (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 9:58

Fifth Stage - 4.0 km - Misaki Sango (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 12:34

Morii Surprises With Second-Ever Japanese Sub-2:10 at Boston

With three sub-2:09 Japanese men in the race and good weather conditions by Boston standards the chances were decent that somebody was going to follow 1981 winner Toshihiko Seko 's 2:09:26 and score a sub-2:10 at the Boston Marathon . But nobody thought it was going to be by a 2:14 amateur. Paris Olympic team member Suguru Osako had taken 3rd in Boston in 2:10:28 in his debut seven years ago, and both he and 2:08 runners Kento Otsu and Ryoma Takeuchi were aiming for spots in the top 10, Otsu after having run a 1:01:43 half marathon PB in February and Takeuchi of a 2:08:40 marathon PB at Hofu last December. A high-level amateur with a 2:14:15 PB who scored a trip to Boston after winning a local race in Japan, Yuma Morii told JRN minutes before the start of the race, "I'm not thinking about time at all. I'm going to make top 10, whatever time it takes." Running Boston for the first time Morii took off with a 4:32 on the downhill opening mile, but after that Sis

Saturday at Kanaguri and Nittai

Two big meets happened Saturday, one in Kumamoto and the other in Yokohama. At Kumamoto's Kanaguri Memorial Meet , Benard Koech (Kyudenko) turned in the performance of the day with a 13:13.52 meet record to win the men's 5000 m A-heat by just 0.11 seconds over Emmanuel Kipchirchir (SGH). The top four were all under 13:20, with 10000 m national record holder Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu) bouncing back from a DNF at last month's The TEN to take the top Japanese spot at 7th overall in 13:24.57. The B-heat was also decently quick, Shadrack Rono (Subaru) winning in 13:21.55 and Shoya Yonei (JR Higashi Nihon) running a 10-second PB to get under 13:30 for the first time in 13:29.29 for 6th. Paris Olympics marathoner Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) was 9th in 13:30.62. South Sudan's Abraham Guem (Ami AC) also set a meet record in the men's 1500 m A-heat in 3:38.94. 3000 mSC national record holder Ryuji Miura made his debut with the Subaru corporate team, running 3:39.78 for 2n

93-Year-Old Masters Track and Field WR Holder Hiroo Tanaka: "Everyone has Unexplored Intrinsic Abilities"

In the midst of a lot of talk about how to keep the aging population young, there are people with long lives who are showing extraordinary physical abilities. One of them is Hiroo Tanaka , 93, a multiple world champion in masters track and field. Tanaka began running when he was 60, before which he'd never competed in his adult life. "He's so fast he's world-class." "His running form is so beautiful. It's like he's flying." Tanaka trains at an indoor track in Aomori five days a week. Asked about him, that's the kind of thing the people there say. Tanaka holds multiple masters track and field world records, where age is divided into five-year groups. Last year at the World Masters Track and Field Championships in Poland he set a new world record of 38.79 for 200 m in the M90 class (men's 90-94 age group). People around the world were amazed at the time, which was almost unbelievable for a 92-year-old. After retiring from his job as an el

japan running news

Search This Blog