Skip to main content

World Championships Women's Marathoner Shigetomo: "My Goal is Top Eight"

London World Championships women's marathon team member Risa Shigetomo (Team Tenmaya) held an open training session for members of the media June 27 in Okayama. Of her second-straight World Championships appearance she said, "I want to produce good results. My goal is top eight."

Since the end of May Shigetomo has done two training camps in Shobara, running on a cross country course as she focused on base mileage. With the trouble she experienced with her right heel last year having improved, the training went off without problems. "Before my marathons up to now I haven't been able to do the right mileage [due to injuries] but this time I've been getting in the tough training," she said.

Shigetomo will now begin to focus on speed training. At the open training session she did three 1000 m repeats. "I want to sharpen up," she said. "Right now I'm tired and not moving well, but I'm excited to see where things go from here."

The 29-year-old is running on the Japanese national time for the third time, having run at the 2012 London Olympics and the 2015 Beijing World Championships. This year's World Championships will bring her back to city where she finished near the bottom of the Olympic field. "I'm a lot more experienced now than I was then, " she said. "In terms of how I'm feeling, I'm calm. I'll be ready for whatever kind of race it ends up being."

Shigetomo said that she expects to run a time of 2:25~26. In preparation for London she will run the July 2nd Hakodate Half Marathon to sharpen her racing edge. After that she will head to the U.S.A. for a month of altitude training, going straight from there to the World Championships.

source article: http://www.sanyonews.jp/article/553911
translated by Brett Larner

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Everything You Need to Know About the 2026 Hakone Ekiden

The Hakone Ekiden is the world's biggest road race, 2 days of road relay action with Japan's 20 best university teams racing 10 half marathon-scale legs from central Tokyo to the mountains east of Mount Fuji and back. The level just keeps going higher and higher , hitting the point this year where there are teams with 10-runner averages of 13:33.10 for 5000 m, 27:55.98 for 10000 m, and 1:01:20 for the half marathon. It's never been better, and with great weather in the forecast it's safe to say this could be one of the best races in Hakone's 102-year history, especially on Day One. If you've seen it then you know NTV's live broadcast is the best sports broadcast in the world, with the pre-race show kicking off at 7:00 a.m. Japan time on the 2nd and 3rd and the race starting at 8:00 a.m. sharp. If you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it on TVer starting at 7:50 a.m. on the 2nd , and again at 7:50 a.m. on the 3rd . There's even a 2-hour high...

Nagoya Asian Games Test Event Canceled After Insulation Falls From Venue Ceiling

A section of insulation material fell from the ceiling of Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, the official venue for squash competition at September's Nagoya Asian Games. There were no injuries, but the city suspended use of the arena until its safety could be guaranteed, resulting in the cancelation of the Asian Games squash test event which was scheduled to have begun on May 14. It is not yet clear whether the arena will be usable for the Asian Games as planned. According to city officials, arena staff found that the insulation material had fallen onto a work walkway 13 m above the ground on the night of May 11. The fallen material was 3.6 m long, 50 cm wide and 2.5 km thick, and was found to be waterlogged. The cause of the accident is unknown, but it is possible that it was caused by rainwater leaking in from the roof. The same insulation material is installed across the entire ceiling, and the city plans to check for the extent of the possible flooding. Asked whether the arena will be re...

Federation Tells World Championships Marathoner Horibata To Go On Diet

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20110307-OHT1T00258.htm translated by Brett Larner Having made the 2011 World Championships marathon team by running a PB of 2:09:25 to come in 3rd overall and as the top Japanese finisher at the Mar. 6 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Hiroyuki Horibata (24, Team Asahi Kasei), talked to the media at Osaka Airport on Mar. 7. Following Sunday's race Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki , 67, told Horibata, "Let's cut things down a bit until the World Championships," directing him to go on a diet. The 189 cm Horibata weighs 72 kg [~6'3", 160 lbs]. When he joined Team Asahi Kasei in 2005 at age 18 he weighed 65 kg, and this weight is still generally listed on his profile at races and in the media. "For some reason it never changes," he said with a grin. His coach Takeshi Soh , 58, commented, "If he was hungrier for glory his world would change completely," slapping the 'heavyweight division runner...