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2008 As Seen By JRN Readers

JRN's most-read articles of 2008 by month:

January
First-time winner Mara Yamauchi takes Osaka in 2:25:10 PB, Kayoko Fukushi 19th in debut.Jan. 27

February
Last run for Team Toshiba LSI: the Betsudai Marathon. - Feb. 2
Tokyo Marathon 2007 through foreign runners' eyes. - Feb. 4
Arata Fujiwara: an unknown contender for Beijing. - Feb. 19

March
Koide presecient: Yurika Nakamura wins Nagoya in 2:25:51 debut. - Mar. 9

April
30 hospitalized after honeybee attack at Saga Sakura Half-Marathon. - Apr. 8

May
Mekubo Mogusu sets Olympic A-standard 10000 m meet record at Kanto University track and field championships. - May 20

June
Sapporo International Half-Marathon preview. - June 11

July
Chisato Fukushima selected as first women's 100 m Olympian in 56 years. - July 6

August
Mizuki Noguchi considering dropping out of Olympics after hospitalization for fatigue. - Aug. 9
Chunxiu Zhou's Japanese coach Shinya Takeuchi seeks to make personal compensation to China for WWII. - Aug. 14
A 'good enough' mentality can never win. - Aug. 26

September
Nobuharu Asahara bows out to full house at Super Meet in Kawasaki. - Sept. 24

October
Nihon University's Gitau steals Izumo Ekiden victory from Komazawa.Oct. 14

November
Deeper and deeper goes the greatest half-marathon in the world - Ageo 2008. - Nov. 17

December
Tsegaye Kebede breaks Samuel Wanjiru's course record and Gert Thys' Japan soil record with 2:06:10 win in Fukuoka. - Dec. 7
Samuel Wanjiru shares the secret of training to win. - Dec. 24

(c) 2008 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

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Most-Read This Week

Chien Breaks TPE NR, Iwata Betters ID-Class WR - Weekend Track Roundup

The last weekend of the academic and fiscal year saw at least 5 meets with good results domestically and abroad. Kicking things off Friday was the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne, where Tomohiro Shinno and Naoto Hasegawa took 1st and 3rd in the men's high jump, both of them only clearing 2.18 m along with 2nd-placer Roman Anastasios . 12 other Japanese athletes were in action on the second day of the meet on Saturday, where 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura ran 3:42.84 for 6th in the men's 1500 m. Nagiya Mori had a better one in the men's 3000 m with a 7:45.40 for 4th. Both Yota Mashiko and Rui Suzuki cleared 8:00 too, Mashiko's 7:53.84 the 2nd-fastest ever by a Japanese-born high schooler. Abigail Fuka Ido and Nagisa Takahashi both placed 3rd in their events, Ido going 23.85 (-0.9) in the women's 200 m and Takahashi clearing 1.82 m in the women's high jump. 8 Japanese men were at The TEN in California to run 10000 m. In the B-heat won by Edward Marks in ...

JAAF Announces World Road Running Championships Half Marathon Team

The JAAF announced the men's and women's half marathon teams today for this fall's World Road Running Championships in Copenhagen: Women Yumi Yoshikawa (Canon) - 1:09:14 (1st, 2026 Osaka Half) Wakana Kabasawa (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 1:09:20 (1st, 2026 Nat'l Corp. Half) Rina Shimizu (Noritz) - 1:09:22 (2nd, 2026 Osaka Half) Yuna Takahashi (Shimamura) - 1:09:23 (3rd, 2026 Osaka Half) Men Tomoya Ogikubo (Hiramatsu Byoin) - 1:00:22 (4th, 2026 Marugame Half) Yuma Nishizawa (Toyota Boshoku) - 1:00:26 (5th, 2026 Marugame Half) Neo Namiki (Subaru) - 1:00:29 (6th, 2026 Marugame Half) Daisuke Sato (Chuo Univ.) - 1:00:40 (7th, 2026 Marugame Half) Mile and 5 km teams, if any, will be decided after June's National Track and Field Championships. © 2026 Brett Larner , all rights reserved

Updates on Transfers

April 1 is the start of Japan's new academic and fiscal year, and there's always a wave of transfer announcements to go with it. Some notable ones yesterday: 800 m NR holder Rin Kubo skipped university to go straight to 2023 Queens Ekiden national champion Sekisui Kagaku after her graduation from Higashi Osaka Keiai H.S. Multiple NR holder Nozomi Tanaka rejoined the Toyota Jidoshokki women's team after having left it to pursue a solo pro career as a New Balance athlete. Already on the team for this fall's Nagoya Asian Games in the 10000 m, Ririka Hironaka announced a switch from her longtime home at Japan Post to the Uniqlo women's team. Collegiate marathon record holder Asahi Kuroda joined the 2026 national champion GMO corporate team after graduating from 2026 Hakone Ekiden champ Aoyama Gakuin University last week. Hakone Ekdien First Stage CR holder Rui Aoki joins the Sumitomo Denko corporate team after running his final race for 2025 Izumo Ekiden w...