Skip to main content

Kawauchi to Run 50 km Ultra as Part of World Championships Preparation

by Brett Larner

Along with the announcement and presentation of the women's marathon team for August's World Championships, the previously-announced men's marathon team was presented at the Apr. 21 Rikuren press conference. Each athlete gave a brief statement and answered direct questions.

Yukihiro Kitaoka (Team NTN): I ran the Asian Games Marathon in November to qualify, so I have more recovery time than the others. I think the black athletes will be dominating the race, but it's going to be hot and that will improve my chances. I'm going to running the Gifu Half Marathon on May 15, then in July either the Sapporo International Half Marathon or the Gold Coast Marathon.

Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref.): [visibly nervous] Having made the national team I feel very strongly that I've got to give it my absolute best. I want to show Japan, the world, that even as an amateur, even working full time, you can still be world-class. I'm also running the Gifu Half on May 15 and Sapporo in July, plus some track time trials. I'm also going to do a 50 km ultra in June.

Hiroyuki Horibata (Team Asahi Kasei): I wasn't really that focused or ready for Lake Biwa [where he qualified for the WC team] so I didn't really understand what my run meant afterwards. Only when I started hearing the excitement from other people did I start to get how important it is. I'm running the 10000 m at the Hyogo Relay Carnival on Apr. 24 and some time trials and other track races in May. In June I'll be racing on the track at the National Championships.

Yoshinori Oda (Team Toyota): At the world level the marathon is now basically a speed race, so I want to be ready for that. On May 1 I'm running the 10000 m at the Cardinal Invitational, then the 10000 m at Nationals, then a half marathon in July.

Kentaro Nakamoto (Team Yasukawa Denki): [visibly nervous] I was one second short of the 2:09:30 standard to make the team, so while I'm happy to get picked I know I still have work to do to make up for that. Japanese runners are strong in the heat, so we have some advantage there. I plan to do some track trials before the Kyushu Corporate Track Championships on May 14, then to run the Sapporo half in July.

(c) 2011 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox  for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...
82 comments
Read more

CHN and JPN National Records Go Down - Weekend Track Update

There weren't any Japanese athletes in action at the Rabat Diamond League meet Sunday, but 2 lower-tier domestic meets produced new national records. At the Nittai University Time Trials meet in Yokohama, Samuel Kibathi (Toyota) led the top 5 in the men's 10000 m under 28 minutes in 27:39.97. In 3rd, China's Wenjie Wang took just over a second off his own NR from the same meet last year, setting a new record of 27:47.53. His teammate Haoran Tang was 6th in a 28:27.44 PB, with the top Japanese time in the race being a 28:33.39 for 8th from Jin Yuasa (Toyota). Amazingly, Wang and Tang were back the next day on day 2 of the Nittai meet, Wang running a PB of 13:35.58 for 4th in the A-heat and Tang winning the B-heat in a PB of 13:38.80. Isaac Ndiema took the A-heat in 13:26.49, with the fastest Japanese time going to Yuhei Urano (Fujitsu) with a 13:35.94 for 5th behind Wang. Other Nittai highlights: Deborah Chemutai (Univ. Ent.) won a photo finish against Yua Nagamori ...
1 comment
Read more

Batt-Doyle and Strintzos Break Records at Launceston Half

Australians Isobel Batt-Doyle and Haftu Strintzos turned in record-breaking performances to win the McGrath Launceston Running Festival Peppers Silo Half Marathon in Tasmania. Running with a private male pacer, NR holder Batt-Doyle dusted the field with the fastest half marathon ever by an Australian woman on Australian soil, a 1:08:46 CR that put her 2 and a half minutes ahead of runner-up Genevieve Gregson . Last year's runner-up Yumi Yoshikawa was almost a minute back from Gregson in 3rd in 1:12:03, but was almost run down by club runner Ayaka Shimoyamada . Starting slow in her international debut, Shimoyamada moved up from 7th over the 2nd half of the race to finish 4th in 1:12:06, kicking hard in the home straight to try to catch Yoshikawa and momentarily blacking out after finishing. Kaho Onishi was 7th in 1:12:45 in her own international debut. The men's half had pacing set at 2:53/km to try to deliver the first-ever sub-61 half marathon on Australian soil. CR holde...
Post a Comment
Read more