18th National University Men's Half Marathon Championships

Two months after his 3rd-place finish on the Hakone Ekiden's most competitive stage helped putin position for the overall win and a month after running a 1:02:09 PB at the Marugame Half, 20-year-old AGU second-yearscored his first national title with a 1:02:11 win at the 18th National University Men's Half Marathon Championships in Tokyo's Showa Kinen Park. After record-setting depth last year when a world record 207 men broke 1:06:00 the National University Half blew minds again this year, the top 12 all breaking 1:02:30 and 27 collegiate men going under 1:03:00. With perfect conditions today the field excelled, completely rewriting the record books as 265 men went under 1:06:00.With places on the Japanese team for this summer's World University Games half marathon for the top three finishers and a bigger dream hovering in the distance 5 1/2 years away the massive pack went out fast and steadily, hitting 5 km in 14:45, 1:02:14 pace, and 10 km in 29:33, 1:02:20 pace, before getting onto the undulating inner loop of the park.2014 National University Men's Ekiden championfirst-year, on a rapid ascent since his out-of-nowhere 1:02:18 debut at November's Ageo City Half Marathon, went to the front on the hills, pushing the pace but not able to get a clear lead over the last 5 km. Side-by-side with Isshiki at 19 km with debutingthird-yearclose behind, Kudo fell victim to Isshiki's better closing speed over the last km, taking 2nd in a PB 1:02:12. Takahashi was another second back in 3rd in 1:02:13,third-yearsealing up the World University Games team lineup as alternate in 4th in a PB 1:02:16.The next 8 finishers all broke 1:02:30 for the first time, including Isshiki's first-year teammatesand, whose 1:02:22 was the fastest-ever by a Japanese 18-year-old, andseniorwhose twin brother Takashi will run the Mar. 15 NYC Half. In 13th, the academically-oriented's self-coachedset a new Kansai Region collegiate record of 1:02:30, a truly sensational time for a university athlete from outside the Hakone Ekiden-centric Kanto Region.14 more runners followed Hirai under 1:03:00, and they continued to come in by the dozen after that even with most of the best Hakone collegiates not running -- out of the top 3 men on each of the 2015 Hakone Ekiden's 10 stages only 7 ran, and likewise only a dozen or so of the roughly 50 current Japanese collegiates to have already broken 1:03:00 before this race were in the field without any of the 4 who have sub-61 or sub-62 PBs. Top general division finisherof the Takigahara SDF Base ran 1:04:06 and barely made the top 70. The depth was in a different league from anything ever seen before , even at last year's Nationals or November's Ageo City Half Marathon.1st: 1:02:1110th: 1:02:2325th: 1:02:5550th: 1:03:50100th: 1:04:28200th: 1:05:21300th: 1:06:17400th: 1:07:14500th: 1:08:16600th: 1:09:24Japanese university men's running is going through an unprecedented surge in quality right now. There's no telling where it's going to end or what the long-term outcome is going to be, especially as they hit the stolid corporate league, but there's never been a more exciting time to be here to see it happening. Look for an in-depth article on the rise of Japanese university men's distance running over the last 20 years later this year on JRN.1. Tadashi Isshiki (2nd yr, Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:112. Naoki Kudo (1st yr, Komazawa Univ.) - 1:02:12 -3. Yuta Takahashi (3rd yr, Teikyo Univ.) - 1:02:13 -4. Ryo Shirayoshi (3rd yr, Tokai Univ.) - 1:02:16 -5. Naoto Uchida (2nd yr, Teikyo Univ.) - 1:02:20 -6. Kenya Sonota (3rd yr, Komazawa Univ.) - 1:02:20 -7. Shota Baba (3rd yr, Komazawa Univ.) - 1:02:21 -8. Kazuki Tamura (1st yr, Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:22 -9. Yuta Shimoda (1st yr, Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:22 -10. Satoshi Kikuchi (2nd yr, Josai Univ.) - 1:02:23 -11. Hiroshi Ichida (4th yr, Daito Bunka Univ.) - 1:02:25 -12. Shoya Okuno (3rd yr, Nittai Univ.) - 1:02:26 -13. Kentaro Hirai (3rd yr, Kyoto Univ.) - 1:02:30 -14. Naoya Takahashi (3rd yr, Toyo Univ.) - 1:02:31 -15. Yusei Tsutsumi (3rd yr, Teikyo Univ.) - 1:02:38 -16. Ryohei Nishiyama (3rd yr, Kanagawa Univ.) - 1:02:38 -17. Yuki Muta (3rd yr, Meiji Univ.) - 1:02:40 -18. Yusuke Nishiyama (2nd yr, Komazawa Univ.) - 1:02:43 -19. Masahiro Miura (3rd yr, Waseda Univ.) - 1:02:45 -20. Jinnosuke Matsumura (2nd yr, Josai Univ.) - 1:02:46 -21. Rei Omori (1st yr, Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:47 -22. Toshio Takaki (3rd yr, Tokai Univ.) - 1:02:51 -23. Sho Tokunaga (3rd yr, Chuo Univ.) - 1:02:52 -24. Taiga Machizawa (2nd yr, Chuo Univ.) - 1:02:52 -25. Yuichi Yasui (1st yr, Waseda Univ.) - 1:02:55 -26. Shinichiro Nakamura (3rd, Waseda Univ.) - 1:02:5727. Kazuki Uemura (3rd yr, Toyo Univ.) - 1:02:58 ------50. Takaya Sato (2nd yr, Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 1:03:50 -57. Ryusei Yoshinaga (1st yr, Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:03:59 -100. Junya Matsuzaki (2nd yr, Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:04:28 -159. Kohei Mukai (1st yr, Koku Gakuin Univ.) - 1:04:59 -200. Takumi Hanazawa (1st yr, Koku Gakuin Univ.) - 1:05:21 -265. Taiga Hosobuchi (2nd yr, Teikyo Univ.) - 1:05:59300. Ryohei Sakamoto (3rd yr, Senshu Univ.) - 1:06:17380. Chikato Shimoguchi (3rd yr, Koku Gakuin Univ.) - 1:06:59 -400. Shizuya Uchimoto (2nd yr, Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:07:14407. Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) - 1:07:19476. Masaki Kimura (3rd yr, Takushoku Univ.) - 1:07:59 -500. Makoto Iwasaki (1st yr, Surugadai Univ.) - 1:08:16568. Yuki Kujirai (4th yr, Kokushikan Univ.) - 1:08:58600. Daichi Ohara (1st yr, Heisei Kokusai Univ.) - 1:09:24643. Hikaru Takano (2nd yr, Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) - 1:09:591. Kyoko Koyama (Juntendo Univ.) - 1:17:212. Miki Kobayashi (Juntendo Univ.) - 1:18:263. Riho Nishino (Juntendo Univ.) - 1:19:36