Osako Quits Nissin Shokuhin Corporate Team For Oregon

http://sports.nissin.com/rikujo/weblog/sp/2015/03/post-52.html

translated by Brett Larner

At this time we would like to announce that Suguru Osako, who has had great success as a member of the Nissin Shokuhin Group corporate team, will resign his position with the team on Mar. 31, 2015.  We extend our thanks to all the fans who have generously given their warmest support.  All of us at Nissin Shokuhin will continue to cheer Osako on as he leaves to take on the world in pursuit of his life's dream.

Osako's comments: "During the last year in which I've been based in the United States while competing I've become confident that I can race the way I see myself racing, and I've decided that it is time to start over based in Oregon, U.S.A. as a professional athlete.  And for everyone at the Nissin Shokuhin Group who supported me this year and who are willingly letting me go, I will give it all to produce the results."

Asian Games Silver Medalist Kitaoka Announces Retirement

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2015/03/01/kiji/K20150301009898830.html

translated by Brett Larner

2010 Guangzhou Asian Games men's marathon silver medalist Yukihiro Kitaoka (32, Team NTN) announced his retirement on Mar. 1 following the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon.  In the future he will join NTN's coaching staff, helping to develop its next generation of athletes.

At Lake Biwa Kitaoka finished 74th in 2:27:03.  "I wanted to run one more good race, but things didn't go very well this last year," he said.  "The decision to retire leaves me feeling free and clear."

Hakone Champion AGU's Isshiki Leads 27 Under 1:03 and 265 Sub-1:06 at National University Half Marathon Championships

by Brett Larner
videos by Ekiden News



Two months after his 3rd-place finish on the Hakone Ekiden's most competitive stage helped put Aoyama Gakuin University in position for the overall win and a month after running a 1:02:09 PB at the Marugame Half, 20-year-old AGU second-year Tadashi Isshiki scored 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 champion Komazawa University first-year Naoki Kudo, 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 debuting Teikyo University third-year Yuta Takahashi close 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, Tokai University third-year Ryo Shirayoshi sealing up the World University Games team lineup as alternate in 4th in a PB 1:02:16.

The next 8 finishers, including Isshiki's first-year teammates Kazuki Tamura and Yuta Shimoda and Daito Bunka University senior Hiroshi Ichida whose twin brother Takashi will run the Mar. 15 NYC Half, all broke 1:02:30 for the first time.  In 13th, the academically-oriented Kyoto University's self-coached Kentaro Hirai set 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 finisher Shinichi Yamashita of the Takigahara SDF Base ran 1:04:06 and barely made the top 70.  Even without complete general division results, which will be added when available, 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: 1:02:11
10th: 1:02:23
25th: 1:02:55
50th: 1:03:50
100th: 1:04:28
200th: 1:05:21
300th: 1:06:18
400th: 1:07:19
500th: 1:08:24
600th: 1:09:42

Japanese 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 month on JRN.



18th National University Men's Half Marathon Championships
Tachikawa City Half Marathon
Tachikawa, Tokyo, 3/1/15
click here for complete university division results
general division result additions coming shortly

Men
1. Tadashi Isshiki (2nd yr, Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:11
2. Naoki Kudo (1st yr, Komazawa Univ.) - 1:02:12 - PB
3. Yuta Takahashi (3rd yr, Teikyo Univ.) - 1:02:13 - debut
4. Ryo Shirayoshi (3rd yr, Tokai Univ.) - 1:02:16 - PB
5. Naoto Uchida (2nd yr, Teikyo Univ.) - 1:02:20 - PB
6. Kenya Sonota (3rd yr, Komazawa Univ.) - 1:02:20 - PB
7. Shota Baba (3rd yr, Komazawa Univ.) - 1:02:21 - PB
8. Kazuki Tamura (1st yr, Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:22 - PB
9. Yuta Shimoda (1st yr, Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:22 - PB
10. Satoshi Kikuchi (2nd yr, Josai Univ.) - 1:02:23 - PB
11. Hiroshi Ichida (4th yr, Daito Bunka Univ.) - 1:02:25 - PB
12. Shoya Okuno (3rd yr, Nittai Univ.) - 1:02:26 - PB
13. Kentaro Hirai (3rd yr, Kyoto Univ.) - 1:02:30 - PB
14. Naoya Takahashi (3rd yr, Toyo Univ.) - 1:02:31 - PB
15. Yusei Tsutsumi (3rd yr, Teikyo Univ.) - 1:02:38 - PB
16. Ryohei Nishiyama (3rd yr, Kanagawa Univ.) - 1:02:38 - PB
17. Yuki Muta (3rd yr, Meiji Univ.) - 1:02:40 - PB
18. Yusuke Nishiyama (2nd yr, Komazawa Univ.) - 1:02:43 - PB
19. Masahiro Miura (3rd yr, Waseda Univ.) - 1:02:45 - PB
20. Jinnosuke Matsumura (2nd yr, Josai Univ.) - 1:02:46 - PB
21. Rei Omori (1st yr, Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:47 - PB
22. Toshio Takaki (3rd yr, Tokai Univ.) - 1:02:51 - PB
23. Sho Tokunaga (3rd yr, Chuo Univ.) - 1:02:52 - PB
24. Taiga Machizawa (2nd yr, Chuo Univ.) - 1:02:52 - PB
25. Yuichi Yasui (1st yr, Waseda Univ.) - 1:02:55 - PB
26. Shinichiro Nakamura (3rd, Waseda Univ.) - 1:02:57
27. Kazuki Uemura (3rd yr, Toyo Univ.) - 1:02:58 - PB
-----
50. Takaya Sato (2nd yr, Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 1:03:50 - PB
57. Ryusei Yoshinaga (1st yr, Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:03:59 - debut 
100. Junya Matsuzaki (2nd yr, Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:04:28 - PB
159. Kohei Mukai (1st yr, Koku Gakuin Univ.) - 1:04:59 - PB
200. Takumi Hanazawa (1st yr, Koku Gakuin Univ.) - 1:05:21 - PB
265. Taiga Hosobuchi (2nd yr, Teikyo Univ.) - 1:05:59
300. Ryo Kuniyoshi (3rd yr, Tokyo Joho Univ.) - 1:06:18 - debut
375. Chikato Shimoguchi (3rd yr, Koku Gakuin Univ.) - 1:06:59 - PB
400. Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) - 1:07:19
463. Masaki Kimura (3rd yr., Takushoku Univ.) - 1:07:59 - PB
500. Takaki Kudo (2nd yr., Heisei Kokusai Univ.) - 1:08:24 - PB
548. Yuki Kujirai (4th yr, Kokushikan Univ.) - 1:08:58
600. Yusaku Hoji (1st yr, Takushoku Univ.) - 1:09:42
616. Hikaru Takano (2nd yr, Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) - 1:09:59

Women
1. Kyoko Koyama (Juntendo Univ.) - 1:17:21
2. Miki Kobayashi (Juntendo Univ.) - 1:18:26
3. Riho Nishino (Juntendo Univ.) - 1:19:36

text and photos (c) 2015 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Ndungu Back for Another Win at 70th Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon

by Brett Larner

Having left Japan's corporate team system, 2012 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon winner Samuel Ndungu (Kenya) was back to take the top spot again in Biwako's cold and rainy 70th edition.  With a target pace of 3:00/km for the front group including last year's winner Bazu Worku (Ethiopia), 2014 European champion Daniele Meucci (Italy), Mongolian national record holder Ser-Od Bat-Ochir (Team NTN) and Japanese World Championships hopefuls Kazuhiro Maeda (Team Kyudenko), Satoru Sasaki (Team Asahi Kasei) and Tsuyoshi Ugachi (Team Konica Minolta), Kenyan pacers Kimutai Kiplimo and Silas Kimutai were not even close, going through 2 km in 6:19 and hitting 5 km in 15:30, well over 2:10 marathon pace.

Collegiate runner Atsuya Hiraiwa (Meijo Univ.) pulled in front of the pacers to try to get the race moving, but although the next 10 km were decent, by 20 km they were back to another 15:30 split.  Halfway came in 1:04:39 with a pack of 40 still together, but a few meters later at the turnaround point pacer Silas Kimutai somehow didn't notice the giant cone marking the turnaround, the road ahead being blocked, or the lead vehicles making a 180' turn as he continued to run straight.  Bazu followed him as the rest of the pack made the turn, Ndungu showing a moment of hesitation before turning.

Impatient with the halfway split, Bat-Ochir took off into the lead, quickly joined by Ndungu as at least a half dozen people went by remaining pacer Kimutai Kiplimo before he reacted.  Silas Kimutai hauled it get back in front, but for most of the rest of the way it was Bat-Ochir and Ndungu doing the pacing, going in front when the pacers repeatedly slowed, gesturing and talking to them.  After another slow 15:21 split from 20 to 25 km Maeda came up and made the hand gesture for three, i.e. the target pace, to Silas Kimutai several times, but Kimutai ignored him until Ndungu again did the job himself.

Over that 5 km the lead pack lost about a third of its members, favorite Ugachi among those unable to keep up.  Silas Kimutai also couldn't keep up, off the back of the lead pack before 29 km with his colleague stepping out at 30 km.  Bat-Ochir immediately turned on, Ndungu and Maeda going with him and shortly joined by Meucci.  Just after the 31 km drink table, at exactly the spot where he made his race-winning move in similar conditions three years ago, Ndungu put a long surge into play that dropped the competition and led him all the way to the win in a slight negative split of 2:09:08.  In his post-race comments Ndungu showed some frustration with the pacers but, in still quite smooth Japanese, shared his happiness at making a successful comeback.

Bat-Ochir, Meucci and Maeda took turns leading in the chase trio, but a rush from Bat-Ochir at 36.5 km was too much for Maeda to handle.  Meucci tailed Bat-Ochir all the way back to the track, dropping him with 400 m to go but misjudging his timing and coming up 2 seconds short of his PB in 2:11:10 for 2nd.  Bat-Ochir kept 3rd in 2:11:18, as in Fukuoka beating the top Japanese man as Maeda came in far back in 4th in 2:11:46.  Last year's top Japanese man Sasaki was 9th in 2:14:27.  The other domestic favorite Ugachi, running his fourth marathon since debuting in January, 2014 in Dubai, staggered around the last lap of the track just outside the top 25.

With five Japanese men having run sub-2:10 times in the selection races in Fukuoka and Tokyo and the top Japanese man in the other selection race in Beppu-Oita, Hiroki Kadota (Team Kanebo), having run 2:10:46 for 2nd overall, Maeda's performance means Maeda has almost no chance of making a third World Championships team.  Kadota and Tokyo's second Japanese man Hiroaki Sano (Team Honda), 9th overall in 2:09:12, look like the two contenders for the last spot alongside Fukuoka's top Japanese man Masakazu Fujiwara (Team Honda), 4th in 2:09:06, and Masato Imai (Team Toyota Kyushu), 7th in Tokyo in a strong 2:07:39.  The team lineup announcement will be due up after next weekend's final women's selection race at the Nagoya Women's Marathon.

70th Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon
Otsu, Shiga, 3/1/15
click here for complete results

1. Samuel Ndungu (Kenya) - 2:09:08
2. Daniele Meucci (Italy) - 2:11:10
3. Ser-Od Bat-Ochir (Mongolia/NTN) - 2:11:18
4. Kazuhiro Maeda (Japan/Kyudenko) - 2:11:46
5. Takuya Noguchi (Japan/Konica Minolta) - 2:12:29 - debut
6. Eric Ndiema (Kenya) - 2:13:28
7. Bazu Worku (Ethiopia) - 2:13:32
8. Rui Yonezawa (Japan/Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:14:13
9. Satoru Sasaki (Japan/Asahi Kasei) - 2:14:27
10. Kenji Higashino (Japan/Asahi Kasei) - 2:14:48
11. Bunta Kuroki (Japan/Sagawa Express) - 2:15:18
12. Ryoichi Matsuo (Japan/Asahi Kasei) - 2:15:20
13. Shingo Igarashi (Japan/Subaru) - 2:15:28
14. Yusuke Sato (Japan/Fujitsu) - 2:15:30 - debut
15. Takumi Kiyotani (Japan/Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:15:31
16. Yuko Matsumiya (Japan/Hitachi Butsuryu) - 2:15:40
17. Takayuki Matsumiya (Japan/Konica Minolta) - 2:15:41
18. Keita Akiba (Japan/Komori Corp.) - 2:16:10
19. Takuji Morimoto (Japan/Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:16:22
20. Takuya Ishikawa (Japan/Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:16:30
21. Koji Matsuoka (Japan/Mazda) - 2:16:50
22. Noriaki Takahashi (Japan/DeNA RC) - 2:16:53
23. Masatoshi Kikuchi (Japan/Fujitsu) - 2:17:14
24. Masaki Matsui (Japan/Tokyo Kogyo Univ.) - 2:17:16
25. Chin Ping Ho (Taiwan) - 2:17:42
-----
DNF - Fikadu Girma (Ethiopia)
DNF - Agato Yashin Hassan (Ethiopia/Chuo Hatsujo)
DNF - Wirimai Juwawo (Zimbabwe)
DNF - Stepan Kiselev (Russia)
DNF - Daisuke Shimizu (Japan/Kanebo)
DNF - Jose Antonio Uribe (Mexico)

(c) 2015 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Star of the North Miho Shimizu Makes Her First World Cross Country Team

http://www.hochi.co.jp/sports/etc/20150225-OHT1T50141.html

translated by Brett Larner

This week the Federation announced the Japanese national team for the Mar. 28 World Cross Country Championships in Guiyang, China.  Making the senior women's 8 km squad for the first time is the Star of the North, Hokkaido's native daughter Miho Shimizu (24, Team Hokuren).  Her first time making a Japanese national team, Shimizu was hopeful as she said, "It's a great honor.  I want to run an aggressive race, experience the level and strength of the world's top athlete and apply what I learn there to track season."

At the first of the two selection races, the Feb. 8 Chiba International Cross Country Meet she ran 29:30 for 8 km to place 5th overall as the 4th Japanese woman.  At the second selection race, the Feb. 21 Fukuoka International Cross Country Meet, she took 3rd overall in the 6th in 20:02, scoring her place on the team by finishing as the 2nd Japanese woman.

After graduating from Ashoro H.S. Shimizu was a star at Hakuoh University, running big at the National University Women's Ekiden.  She joined the Hokuren corporate team in the spring of 2013.  Since the retirement of Hokuren's leader Yukiko Akaba last spring Shimizu has grown to become the team's big hope for its "post-Akaba" era.  At last June's National Track and Field Championships she was 2nd in the 5000 m.  At December's National Corporate Women's Ekiden she ran the most competitive stage, showing her strength by placing 5th on the Third Stage and helping lead Hokuren to a 9th-place team finish, its first time cracking the single digits in five years.

After the New Year Shimizu worked on strengthening her running, doing 30 km a day of mileage on a cross country course on the island of Tokunoshima.  Her main focus for the year is making the 5000 m at August's Beijing World Championships.  Her plan for the season has her first track race being at the April 18-19 Oda Memorial Meet in Hiroshima, and she will also run the May 2 Cardinal Invitational in the United States for the first time.  At the Japanese National Track and Field Championships, June 26-28 in Niigata, she plans to clinch her place on the World Championships team.

"The experience of running World Cross will help me hit the World Championships standard (15:20), and that is going to lead directly on to the Rio Olympics next year," she said.  If successful, she will follow Akaba as only the second Hokuren runner to make a World Championships team.

Miho Shimizu - born May 13, 1990 in Ashoro, Hokkaido.  24 years old.  Began track and field in 4th grade, finishing 3rd in the National Junior High School Championships 1500 m while in 8th grade at Ashoro J.H.S.  While an 11th grader at Sapporo Seishu H.S. she transferred to Ashoro H.S.  At the National High School Championships she won both the 1500 m and 3000 m for two straight years.  Her senior year at Hakuoh University she placed 4th in the 5000 m at the National University Championships.  Her PBs are 15:34.22 for 5000 m and 32:14.44 for 10000 m.  159 cm, 51 kg, blood type A.  Her family includes her parents, a younger brother and an older brother.

Japanese Men's World Championships Qualification Wraps Up at Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon - preview

by Brett Larner

It's a great luxury to get to watch a live marathon broadcast with no commercials, but that's just what you get with the 70th edition of the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon this Sunday.  Japan's first IAAF gold label race, Biwako as it is called here features a live ad-free nationwide broadcast on NHK starting at 12:15 p.m. Japan time with the race kicking off at 12:30.  Overseas viewers can follow @JRNLive for live coverage throughout the race if NHK is not available in your area.

And what does the race hold?  It's the last of the selection races for the Japanese team for the Beijing World Championships.  At Tokyo last week the Federation seemed to have backed off its sub-2:06:30 requirement for auto team selection, with more talk about the top Japanese position in the selection races and deserving praise for the 2:07:39 scored in Tokyo by Masato Imai (Team Toyota Kyushu).  Imai is a clear favorite to make the team, with Fukuoka's top Japanese finisher Masakazu Fujiwara (Team Honda) also having a shot with his 2:09:06 for 4th barring something spectacular at Biwako.  More distantly, after a 2:09:12 PB for 9th in Tokyo Fujiwara's teammate Hiroaki Sano (Team Honda) could make it if the field flops in Biwako.  Unlikely to be named are Asian Games silver medalist Kohei Matsumura (Team Mitsubishi Juko Nagasaki), who bombed out in Tokyo, and Beppu-Oita runner-up Hiroki Kadota (Team Kanebo), whose PB 2:10:46 time didn't reflect the true quality of his race.

On the domestic front in Biwako there are three heavy favorites.  Kazuhiro Maeda (Team Kyudenko) was the fastest Japanese man of 2013 with a 2:08:00 at the Tokyo Marathon.  He has struggled to live up to that since then after injury troubles and comes into Biwako with few recent races behind him.  At the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden he finished 9th on the 22.0 km Fourth Stage, 59 seconds behind Imai but beating his main competitor for the Beijing team, last year's top Japanese finisher Satoru Sasaki (Team Asahi Kasei), by 47 seconds.  Sasaki ran a 2:09:47 PB for 3rd in Biwako last year and comes in this year with a win at the Karatsu 10 Miler earlier this month and talking about 2:08.  Maeda is talking 2:07.

Their main competition is Tsuyoshi Ugachi (Team Konica Minolta), in the Japanese all-time top ten for 10000 m and half marathon and running his fourth marathon since debuting in Dubai 14 months ago.  In Dubai he ran 2:13, following up with a 2:12 in Sydney in September before PBing again in 2:10:50 in Fukuoka.  Another successful race would put him under 2:10 and in range of what Maeda and Sasaki say they're looking to do, but four marathons is a lot for your first year+ at the distance.  Not even Kawauchi tried that.  Other domestic notables in the field include veteran sub-2:10 twins Takayuki Matsumiya (Team Konica Minolta) and Yuko Matsumiya (Team Hitachi Butsuryu), former Hakone Ekiden star and 2015 New Year Ekiden anchor stage winner Tsubasa Hayakawa (Team Toyota), sub-62 half marathoners Daisuke Shimizu (Team Kanebo) and Kenta Murotsuka (DeNA RC), and a raft of men at the 2:10-2:12 level who could make the jump in quality.

Defending champion Bazu Worku (Ethiopia) returns to lead the international field along with 2:06:07 Kenyan Eric Ndiema and 2012 Biwako winner Samuel Ndungu (Kenya).  Japan-based Ser-Od Bat-Ochir (Team NTN) is talking about breaking the 2:08:50 Mongolian national record he set while beating Fujiwara and the rest of the Japanese men in Fukuoka in December, with Jose Antonio Uribe (Mexico), Jackson Kiprop (Uganda) and Fikadu Girma (Ethiopia) adding to the sub-2:10 numbers that will help push the front Japanese pack.  2014 European champion Daniele Meucci (Italy) is an interesting addition to the field and should be looking for a marathon breakthrough that will give him a time to better match his 1:01:05 half marathon best.  Wildcards include Japan-based Africans Agato Yashin Hassan (Ethiopia/Team Chuo Hatsujo) and Johana Maina (Kenya/Team Fujitsu), both with 2:13 marathon debuts last year.

70th Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon Elite Field Highlights
Otsu, Shiga, 3/1/15
click here for complete field listing

Bazu Worku (Ethiopia) - 2:05:25 (Berlin 2010)
Eric Ndiema (Kenya) - 2:06:07 (Amsterdam 2011)
Samuel Ndungu (Kenya) - 2:07:04 (Lake Biwa 2012)
Kazuhiro Maeda (Japan/Kyudenko) - 2:08:00 (Tokyo 2013)
Ser-Od Bat-Ochir (Mongolia/NTN) - 2:08:50 (Fukuoka Int'l 2014)
Jose Antonio Uribe (Mexico) - 2:08:55 (Houston 2014)
Takayuki Matsumiya (Japan/Konica Minolta) - 2:09:14 (Tokyo 2013)
Yuko Matsumiya (Japan/Hitachi Butsuryu) - 2:09:18 (Lake Biwa 2005)
Jackson Kiprop (Uganda) - 2:09:32 (Mumbai 2013)
Fikadu Girma (Ethiopia) - 2:09:34 (Dusseldorf 2014)
Satoru Sasaki (Japan/Asahi Kasei) - 2:09:47 (Lake Biwa 2014)
Bunta Kuroki (Japan/Yasukawa Denki) - 2:10:08 (Fukuoka Int'l 2012)
Tsuyoshi Ugachi (Japan/Konica Minolta) - 2:10:50 (Fukuoka Int'l 2014)
Yukihiro Kitaoka (Japan/NTN) - 2:10:51 (Lake Biwa 2010)
Keita Akiba (Japan/Komori Corp.) - 2:10:53 (Beppu-Oita 2009)
Soji Ikeda (Japan/Yakult) - 2:10:59 (Tokyo 2013)
Daniele Meucci (Italy) - 2:11:08 (European Championships 2014)
Takaaki Koda (Japan/Asahi Kasei) - 2:11:08 (Tokyo 2011)
Stepan Kiselev (Russia) - 2:11:28 (Zurich 2014)
Noritaka Fujiyama (Japan/Sumitomo Denko) - 2:11:34 (Lake Biwa 2013)
Yoshiki Otsuka (Japan/Aichi Seiko) - 2:11:40 (Fukuoka Int'l 2014)
Rui Yonezawa (Japan/Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:11:59 (Lake Biwa 2014)
Noriaki Takahashi (Japan/DeNA) - 2:12:00 (Fukuoka Int'l 2014)
Ryoichi Matsuo (Japan/Asahi Kasei) - 2:12:11 (Nobeoka 2014)
Kenji Higashino (Japan/Asahi Kasei) - 2:12:13 (Beppu-Oita 2013)
Tatsunari Hirayama (Japan/Yasukawa Denki) - 2:12:38 (Nobeoka 2013)
Wirimai Juwawo (Zimbabwe) - 2:12:38 (Danzhou 2010)
Kazuaki Shimizu (Japan/Yakult) - 2:12:49 (Nobeoka 2013)
Agato Yashin Hassan (Ethiopia/Chuo Hatsujo) - 2:13:07 (Lake Biwa 2014)
Johana Maina (Kenya/Fujitsu) - 2:13:46 (Fukuoka Int'l 2014)

Debut/Do-over
Daisuke Shimizu (Japan/Kanebo) - 1:01:44 (Marugame 2012)
Kenta Murotsuka (Japan/DeNA) - 1:01:58 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2014)
Takumi Kiyotani (Japan/Chugoku Denryoku) - 1:02:15 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2014)
Tomohiro Shiiya (Japan/Toyota Boshoku) - 1:02:15 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2013)
Masatoshi Kikuchi (Japan/Fujitsu) - 1:02:28 (Marugame Half 2012)
Naohiro Yamada (Japan/YKK) - 1:02:40 (Marugame 2013)
Shota Inoue (Japan/Toyota) - 1:02:49 (Marugame Half 2015)
Takuya Noguchi (Japan/Konica Minolta) - 1:02:50 (Marugame Half 2014)
Yusuke Sato (Japan/Fujitsu) - 59:28 (Yosenkai 20 km 2011)
Tsubasa Hayakawa (Japan/Toyota) - 1:00:03 (Yosenkai 20 km 2010)
Taiki Yoshimura (Japan/Ryutsu Keizai Univ.) - 1:00:24 (Yosenkai 20 km 2013)

(c) 2015 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Imperial Crown Prince Allowed to Run Outside in Public for First Time in 7 Years

http://www.asahi.com/articles/ASH2T4R9BH2TUTIL01G.html

translated by Brett Larner

Imperial Crown Prince Hironomiya enjoyed jogging a loop of the popular running course around the outside of the Imperial Palace on Feb. 25.  The Prince runs daily inside the grounds of the Crown Prince's Palace in Akasaka, Tokyo, but this was the first time he was allowed to run out in public in 7 years.

Accompanied by Imperial Household Agency officials, the Prince began his run around 3:20 p.m. from Kikyo Gate on the Tokyo Station side of the Palace.  Under cloudy skies he completed the 5 km course in 27:20.  After finishing he smiled as he commented, "It was neither too cold nor too hot.  It was a truly comfortable run."

No announcement about the run was made beforehand, so pedestrians and other runners on the course were caught by surprise.  One woman called out, "Your Majesty!" to which the Crown Prince responded with a wave.  The Prince last ran the loop around the Imperial Palace in February, 2007.  In March, 2008 he was allowed out to run the loop around the outside of the Akasaka Palace grounds.

Japan Names Team of 21 for 2015 World Cross Country Championships

by Brett Larner

Japan will send a team of 21 athletes to next month's World Cross Country Championships in Guiyang, China.  As always, its strongest contingent is its junior women, in this case led by 9:00.89 high schooler Azusa Sumi, undefeated since 2013, and teammate Yuka Sarumida of Toyokawa H.S.  The junior men's team features three athletes with 5000 m bests under 14 minutes including 2014 World Junior Championships team member Shota Onizuka (Omuta H.S.).

2015 Fukuoka International Cross Country Meet winner Mai Shoji (Chukyo Univ.) leads the senior women's squad which also includes her collegiate rival Maki Izumida (Ritsumeikan Univ.).  Once again this year, Japan's senior men are largely giving World Cross a miss, with only three entered versus six on the each of the other three squads.  Corporate runners are completely absent, with 2015 Hakone Ekiden winner Aoyama Gakuin University's Kazuma Kubota the biggest name of the three and Juntendo University teammates Hiroki Matsueda and Kento Hanazawa rounding out the roster.

Senior Women
Miho Shimizu (Team Hokuren) - 15:34.22 / 32:14.44
Mai Shoji (Chukyo Univ.) - 15:34.73 / 32:27.36
Maki Izumida (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 15:38.22 / 33:15.18
Tomoka Kimura (Team Univ. Ent.) - 15:44.02
Yui Fukuda (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) - 15:50.07
Erika Ikeda (Team Higo Ginko) - 15:54.01 / 34:06.75

Senior Men
Hiroki Matsueda (Juntendo Univ.) - 13:49.18 / 29:13.81
Kazuma Kubota (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 13:56.69 / 28:30.78
Kento Hanazawa (Juntendo Univ.) - 13:59.09 / 29:25.76

Junior Women
Azusa Sumi (Toyokawa H.S.) - 9:00.89
Yuka Sarumida (Toyokawa H.S.) - 9:08.72
Yuri Nozoe (Kamimura Gakuen H.S.) - 9:14.72
Miho Shimada (Yamanashi Gakuin Prep H.S.) - 9:15.18
Wakana Kabasawa (Tokiwa H.S.) - 9:19.84
Nana Kuraoka (Kagoshima Joshi H.S.) - 9:23.58

Junior Men
Haruki Minatoya (Akita Kogyo H.S.) - 13:57.29
Hiroyuki Sakaguchi (Isahaya H.S.) - 13:57.41 / 29:12.75
Shota Onizuka (Omuta H.S.) - 13:58.43
Fuminori Shimo (Iga Hakuho H.S.) - 14:01.59
Ryoji Tatezawa (Saitama Sakae H.S.) - 14:07.32
Junnosuke Matsuo (Akita Kogyo H.S.) - 14:11.24

(c) 2015 Brett Larner
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