japan running news

Just two weeks after her 19th birthday, Ririka Hironaka, star rookie for 2019 National Corporate Women's Ekiden champions Japan Post, ended the year in style with a nearly 18-second PB of 15:05.40 to break the great Kayoko Fukushi's U20 national record by 5 seconds and become just the second Japanese woman so far to break the 2020 Olympic standard in the 5000 m.

Running at Yamaguchi's National Corporate Women's Time Trials, after Kenyans Martha Mokaya (Canon AC Kyushu) and Hellen Ekarare (Toyota Jidoshokki) led the pack through opening splits of 3:01, 3:04 and 3:03, Hironaka took off in pursuit of the 15:10.00 Olympic standard, covering the next two 1000 m splits in 2:59 and 2:58. Along with breaking Fukushi's 2001-era junior record and clearing the Olympic standard, Hironaka moved up to all-time Japanese #5, following Nozomi Tanaka's all-time #2 15:00.01 at October's Doha World Championships to make this a pretty good year for the 5000 m by Japanese women…

Multiple officials confirmed on Dec. 6 that the total additional cost of the IOC's decision to move the Tokyo 2020 Olympic marathons and race walks to Sapporo will be under 10 billion yen [~$92 million USD], likely totaling in the 7 to 8 billion yen range [~$65 million to $75 million USD]. The exact amount is still undetermined due to the IOC's rejection of the Organizing Committee's proposed two-lap course earlier this week, but the Organizing Committee intends to go ahead with this budget estimate.

Initially the IOC had decreed that the events should start and finish at Sapporo Dome. But with no access gate capable of handling a marathon, the construction costs necessary to make Sapporo Dome a suitable venue were said to be in the area of several billion yen [tens of millions of USD]. When the IOC made its proclamation that the road events would be relocated to Sapporo, the Citizens First Association group within the Tokyo Metropolitan Government estimated that the cost…

The IOC held an executive board meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland on Dec. 4. With regard to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics marathons and race walks, which the IOC decreed last month must be moved to north as an effort to combat expected high temperatures, the IOC's executive board turned down a plan from the Tokyo organizing committee for the marathon to be held on a two-lap course through the Sapporo city center. The board did accept an out-and-back race walk course along the major street in front of Sapporo Station.

The schedule for the marathons was settled, with the women's marathon to be held Aug. 8 and the men's on Aug. 9. A start and finish point at Odori Park and a first lap consisting of 20 km were also finalized, but an agreement on the rest of the marathon course could not be reached. Tadashi Fukushima, head coach of the Fujitsu corporate team whose runner Shogo Nakamura won September's MGC Race Olympic marathon trials, called for a decision to be made as quickly a…

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20191204/p2a/00m/0na/015000c

With the 2020 Tokyo Olympic marathons and race walks having been moved to Sapporo by the IOC, organizers have settled upon a four-day period for the events to be held and are currently in the final stages of settling the exact schedule. The men's marathon will be held as scheduled on the final day of the Olympic Games, Aug. 9, with the women's marathon moved from its original Aug. 2 date to Aug. 8. The three men's and women's race walk events will be held Aug. 6 and 7. Multiple sources involved in the planning confirmed the information.

The marathons will start and finish at Sapporo's Odori Park. The course will likely be a two-lap course through the city center as preferred by the organizing committee. World Athletics, the governing body of track and field, has insisted on a more compact course of around six laps, but in the interest of the Olympic Games having some sort of lasting legacy a proposal to use the course for a two-lap Olympic marathon as a half marat…

The Fukuoka International Marathon and Osaka Marathon were the two big headline-makers on the Japanese scene this weekend, but they were far from the only action to be had.

Just 13 days after running a four-minute CR of 2:27:39 to win the Kobe Marathon, Haruka Yamaguchi (AC Kita) ran the first nighttime edition of the Singapore Marathon. Starting conservatively, Yamaguchi moved up through the field mid-race to be in four-way contention for 3rd place. In the last dash to the finish she ended up 5th in 2:37:29, the fastest time ever by a Japanese woman on Singaporean soil by almost 10 minutes. Among those she beat was Ethiopian Aberash Feysa, who outkicked Yamaguchi for the win at June's Stockholm Marathon.

In Okinawa, local Tatsunori Hamasaki (Nanji AC) won the 35th edition of the Naha Marathon in 2:22:48. Corporate leaguer Hanae Tanaka (Shiseido) won the women's race in 2:42:40.

In Kumamoto, the Kumamoto Kosa 10-Miler held its 44th running. Locally-based Kenyan Abraham Kapsis…