japan running news

2017 24-hour world champion Yoshihiko Ishikawa (Nichia Kagaku) won the 100 Meilen Berlin Saturday, just short of the course record but beating his nearest competition by over an hour as he finished in 13:17.41. Part of a sizable lead group in the early going, Ishikawa broke free of the competition after two hours and was on his own the rest of the way. Projecting a finish time under 13 hours well into the race, in the later stages he slowed enough to miss the 13:06:52 course record set in 2014 but was still in a different class from the rest of the field, runner-up Stephane Ruel of France coming in in 14:25:24. Women's winner Monika Biegasiewicz of Poland won with the same kind of margin, running 15:29:48 to 2nd-placer Annette Mueller 's 16:37:36. 100 Meilen Berlin Top Results Berlin, Germany, 8/11/18 complete results Men 1. Yoshihiko Ishikawa (Japan) - 13:17.41 2. Stephane Ruel (France) - 14:25:24 3. Uwe Laenger (Germany) - 14:30:53 4. Stefan Wilsdorf (Germa...

by Brett Larner photos by Dr. Helmut Winter In the 25th anniversary year of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Great Britain's Mark Perkins ran the race of his life to take nearly three hours off the 100 Meilen Berlin course record and an hour off his own best, covering the 100 mile course along the former path of the Berlin Wall in 13:06:52. A partially handicapped runner ranked 6th in the world for 100 km in 2013 , Japan's Tsutomu Nagata took the race out hard in his European debut, running mid-11 hour pace, just one second off world record pace through 21 km, and holding near world record level through 30 km before settling into something more sustainable in the low-12 hour range.  Skipping many aid stations while receiving on-the-run assistance from his wife and daughter, Perkins was never far behind him, maxing out at 4 minutes behind as he followed Nagata's lead and ran steadily on low-12 hour pace. Nearing halfway Nagata began to suffer stomach trouble an...

by Brett Larner In the fall of 2010 Tsutomu Nagata was in his mid-20's, a nearly-elite runner who had done 14:16 and 29:44 on the track before leaving the Self-Defense Forces team to join the ranks of the world's countless full-time working amateur runners.  On November 28, 2010, he raced the Tsukuba Marathon, running down four people in the last 5 km to take 3rd in a PB 2:27:36.  Nine days later Nagata's right arm was caught in the conveyor belt of a can-pressing machine at the factory where he worked, causing serious damage that left him hospitalized for almost two months.  Reconstructive surgery was unsuccessful, leaving his right arm permanently in a brace with limited use of his hand and fingers. After months in the hospital he was unsure of the impact on his running, but, he says, "there was never any question of quitting.  Instead, I felt very strongly that 'I can still do it!'"  Once he returned home he started with walking, building up to...