Skip to main content

Rio Olympian Fukushi Says "Next Year" to the Marathon

The final meet in the Hokuren Distance Challenge series took place July 13 in Abashiri, Hokkaido. Rio de Janeiro Olympics women's marathon team member Kayoko Fukushi (Wacoal) ran in the 5000 m B-heat. The Japanese national record holder with a best of 14:53.22, Fukushi ran 16:11.39.

Now 35, Fukushi got married in March this year. This year's World Championships were never part of her plans. Asked about her next marathon she answered, "Dunno. Next year somewhere. Probably not this year." After Abashiri Fukushi will do a one-month training camp in Hokkaido. "For now let's see what this body can do in a month [of training]," she said.

Source article: 
translated by Brett Larner

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Komazawa University One Step Away From Perfect Season With Hakone Ekiden Day One Win

Already the course record-breaker at the Izumo Ekiden and National University Ekiden this season, 2021 Hakone Ekiden champion Komazawa University came one step away from its first-ever triple crown of single-season ekiden wins as it won a highly competitive 2023 Hakone Ekiden Day One over defending champ Aoyama Gakuin University and last year's 6th placer Chuo University . Things got off to an unexpected start when Select Team runner Hayate Nitta of non-qualifier Ikuei University decided to take his one and only Hakone shot and run it up to his ability on the 21.3 km 1st leg even though the rest of the field opted to jog. At one point Nitta had a lead of almost a minute and a half, but as beautiful as it would have been for him to pull it off, Meiji University 's Shunpei Tomita and Komazawa's Kensuke Tsubura still managed to run him down in the final kilometer. Tomita took the stage win in 1:02:44, 1:02:08 half marathon pace vs. his 1:02:10 PB despite the slow s...

"Hell Running" - Chinese Site Calls Japanese Women's Distance Running Too Cruel

http://www.yukawanet.com/archives/5166613.html translated by Brett Larner High schooler Yumika Nagahama leading the Jan. 15 National Women's Ekiden for the Kanagawa team. Since the start of the month it's been cold in Japan.  A record-breaking kind of cold that has seen snow piling up even on the Pacific side of the country, and for better or worse that word "snow" has been generating buzz around the world.  Yes, it has been a cold winter, and now that fact has become a hot topic in China.  Particularly in relation to women's distance running. The picture above is from the " National Women's Ekiden " that took place in Kyoto on Jan. 15.  Kyoto experienced a blizzard, even "whiteout" conditions.  Far too harsh to go ahead with staging a running race in conditions like that.  It's natural to wonder why the race wasn't cancelled, but it seems likely that they weren't expecting the snow to escalate to the point that it wo...

Hachioji Long Distance Meet Postponed to March

The organizers of the Hachioji Long Distance meet traditionally held in late November at Hachioji's Kamiyugi Field announced this week that the meet's 2026 edition has been postponed until March 6, 2027. Explaining the move, organizers said, "Various circumstances make it difficult to meet the conditions necessary to stage the meet, making it difficult to organize it at its usual time." Using pacers and Wavelight technology to help deliver reliably fast 10000 m times, the meet is a favorite for collegiate and corporate league runners. It occupies a solid place in Japanese long distance history, capped by Mebuki Suzuki 's 27:05.92 national record there last year. By moving the meet to Mar. 6, organizers said, "We are preparing to make this a high-profile event, a place where our best domestic athletes can aim for strong performances and a stage for record-breaking attempts in the lead-up to the 2027 Beijing World Championships." This year's 10000 m Na...