Skip to main content

Shibui To Run Osaka International Women's Marathon (updated)

http://www.asahi.com/sports/spo/TKY200812150157.html
http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/081215/spg0812150503000-n1.htm

translated and edited by Brett Larner

Following the Dec. 14 All-Japan Jitsugyodan Women's Ekiden, Beijing Olympics 10000 m competitor and former marathon national record holder Yoko Shibui (29, Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) announced that she will run the Jan. 25 Osaka International Women's Marathon in a bid to make the national team for next summer's World Championships in Berlin. Osaka will come two months after Shibui ran the Nov. 16 Tokyo International Women's Marathon where she finished 4th, missing a spot on the World Championships team.

"Yeah, I'm gonna do Osaka!" Shibui exclaimed. "I'm in great shape so I think I should just keep going with my training." Shaking his head, team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo head coach Shigeharu Watanabe commented, "I kind of think Nagoya [in March] would be better."

In the All-Japan Jitsugyodan Women's Ekiden, Shibui scored her first stage best title on the 10 km 3rd leg in 8 years, clocking 31:41 against the stage 5th mark of 32:32 set by fellow Beijing Olympian Kayoko Fukushi (26, Team Wacoal) and the 33:10 time run by Beijing Olympic marathoner Yurika Nakamura (22, Team Tenmaya).

Looking forward to Jan. 25 and her next chance for a ticket to Berlin, Shibui said, "I want to run with a little bit of self-control this time."

Translator's note: Immediately following Tokyo, Shibui announced that she would run March's Nagoya International Women's Marathon to try again for the World Championships team. Her switch to Osaka means she will be competing against Team Hokuren's Yukiko Akaba in Akaba's marathon debut. Shibui narrowly outkicked Akaba in the 10000 m at last summer's National Track and Field Championships to take the 2008 national title and a spot on the Beijing Olympic team.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I was in Gifu for the race and I saw Shibui pass by at about 2km in the 3rd stage. She looked extremely fierce, running very aggressively.

However, we all know that there is a huge difference between a 10km and a marathon!

Most-Read This Week

Japan Post Holds Off Sekisui Kagaku to Win Queens Ekiden National Title

  Japan Post  was back on top at the Queens Ekiden corporate women's national championships Sunday in Sendai, holding off last year's winner Sekisui Kagaku  over the second half of a race that came as close as 1 second to take 1st with a final margin of victory of 27 seconds. Sekisui Kagaku was out fast with a win on the 7.0 km opening leg by Erika Tanoura  and a new CR for the 12:56 second leg by Yuma Yamamoto , 17 seconds better than her own CR from last year. Last year's 4th-placer Shiseido  briefly led on the 10.6 km third leg with an excellent 33:17 stage win from Rino Goshima , but behind her Japan Post's Ririka Hironaka  returned from her latest injury problems to pass Sekisui Kagaku's Sayaka Sato  and hand off 6 seconds ahead. New recruit Caroline Kariba  ran Shiseido down on the 3.6 km fourth leg and put Japan Post 22 seconds ahead of Sekisui Kagaku, but a duel of marathoners between JP's  Ayuko Suzuki  and Sekisui's Hitomi Niiy...

2023 Champion Kamimura Gakuen Girls Ready for Sunday's National High School Ekiden

Ahead of the Dec. 22 National High School Ekiden in Kyoto, the 2023 national champion Kamimura Gakuen H.S. girls held an open practice session for the media. 2023 was Kamimura Gakuen's only 2nd national title ever. Can it make it two in a row? The Kamimura Gakuen girls won the Nov. 2 Kagoshima Prefecture High School Ekiden, its 9th-straight win and 31st victory overall in the prefectural qualifying race for Nationals. 3rd on her stage at Nationals last year as part of the winning team, Hina Ogura summed up this year's lineup. "There's no really dominant star runner this year, but each person is aware of their position on the team and working together to share in everyone playing leading roles." Sakine Noguchi ran the Second Stage at Nationals last year. "I think we've improved our stamina," she said, "so I hope that we can get the best possible results and all finish with a smile." Handling the First Stage last year, Rin Setoguchi said,...

Saku Chosei H.S. Makes It 2 In a Row - National High School Ekiden Boys' Race

While the girls' race was a blowout by 2022 champ Nagano Higashi H.S. , the boys' race at Sunday's National High School Ekiden was a tense battle of turnover that saw all of the final top four teams take a stab at leading. 2023 3rd-placer Yachiyo Shoin H.S. handled the first 2 of the 7 stages in the 42.195 km race, with lead runner Rui Suzuki delivering a bold run on the 10.0 km First Stage that produced the fastest-ever time by a Japanese runner on the stage, 28:43, and put Yachiyo Shoin 29 seconds out front. Last year's Fifth Stage CR breaker Tetsu Suzuki ran Yachiyo Shoin down to put 2023 champ Saku Chosei H.S. into 1st on the 8.1075 km Third Stage, but Genta Sugano of last year's 8th-placer Sendai Ikuei H.S. had other plans and took the lead on the 8.0875 km Fourth Stage. Smiling and fist pumping to the crowd almost the entire way, Taketo Tsukada of last year's 6th-placer Omuta H.S. moved up from 3rd to 1st by 2 seconds over Saku Chosei on the 3.0 k...