Skip to main content

Shibui Leaves for Arizona Training Camp

http://sports.nikkei.co.jp/index.aspx?n=SSXKG0108%2030052009
http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/f-sp-tp0-20090530-500774.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner

Shibui in Narita Airport on May 30. Click photo for full-sized version.

Berlin World Championships women's marathon team leader Yoko Shibui (Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) left from Tokyo's Narita Airport on May 30 for the United States. She is first scheduled to attend an event in New York, then on June 2 will travel to a training camp in Flagstaff, Arizona.

At the beginning of April Shibui injured her left thigh while doing high-altitude training in Kunming, China, forcing her to miss the spring track season. "This was the worst injury I've had since I first started running, and even I was surprised," Shibui told reporters at Narita. On May 29 she ran 30 km, her longest run since winning January's Osaka International Women's Marathon. "I'm back to normal now. It doesn't hurt any more and I'm looking forward to this camp," she said, putting a good face on her recovery.

In Flagstaff Shibui will be training at 2100 m elevation, but amid concerns about Shibui's tendency to overwork her coach Shigeharu Watanabe says, "[Reiko] Tosa pulling out of the Beijing Olympics served as a lesson for us. We want to be more careful this time" in planning her workouts.

The training camp is scheduled to last for one month. Shibui intends to return to Japan at the end of June. She then plans to run the July 5 Sapporo International Half Marathon as a rehearsal for August's World Championships.

Comments

dennis said…
Is there any news on Mizhuho Nasukawa? She ran really well in Tokyo beating Shimahara, and OMminami. How come she didn't run any track races?
Brett Larner said…
In her victory interview in Tokyo Nasukawa said she wants to run the 5000 in Berlin, not the marathon, so I expect that's what she's up to right now and we'll see her at Nationals later this month.

But I agree, her run in Tokyo deserved more attention than it got and I can't really believe either that Rikuren didn't consider it either even though it wasn't part of the designated system.
Brett Larner said…
Her PB is 15:23 but her best time within the qualifying window is 15:45, so no, no B-standard.

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...