japan running news

When Mongolia's Ser-Od Bat-Ochir  ran his first World Championships marathon in 2003 George Bush Jr. was in his first term and Beyonce's "Crazy in Love" was at the top of the charts. He's run every Olympic and World Championships marathon since then, all 15, and tomorrow does #16 in Budapest. He's an unsung hero of the sport, and the New York Times' Scott Cacciola  tells his story: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/26/sports/ser-od-bat-ochir-mongolia-marathon.html?unlocked_article_code=tCG44J-iVn5bRvTp8Od9VzH33-3gzX2oAaFl7wGlaiZz8oemVisp3K_u2-UBFfIbag_kgKEITYJSJbyJkRfkqUxQZD3nORmRusvuvRY_J-489inBLKKbTFGeVJzcwYCqcJl-ZBz6oOZnUjt4iLpnyIKvSB-LEIwOhiOqHGzpt2dpgdOEmnaRrTYxIwBQMrtDcT_HpRbQ6CEOYDehokPfkOZRBG-DvAljpvOIE94DHlQR7kXsMop7uEGyBGTAMYCwtgs3465VXhu8R5AmwDqxY7L9SJ03o5J-udMfSCin35q6dfpDqplLajZSNCSuW2zMNuIKcm8ntqDEuuYE2QCfSv3UYpfZmWvNwpFz&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare photo © 2023 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

The Route Inn Hotels women's ekiden team has announced that 1996 Atlanta Olympian Masako Chiba has joined its coaching staff as of Apr. 1. Chiba graduated from Kyoto's Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. before joining the Asahi Kasei corporate team. At the Atlanta Olympics she was 5th in the 10000 m, following up a year later at the Athens World Championships with a bronze medal in the 10000 m. After changing focus to the marathon, she won the bronze medal at the 2003 Paris World Championships to become the first woman in history to medal on both the track and road. Since her retirement Chiba has been active as a race commentator and guest runner at races, as well as helping guide amateur running clubs. "I was an athlete for 15 years and a race commentator for 15 years, and now I've found a new dream to pursue! The opportunity to take on coaching is the culmination of a life in athletics, and it feels like an exciting adventure to be heading into my third career like this,...

by Brett Larner Today's retirement press conference marks the end of the road for one of the sport's all-time greats, Mizuki Noguchi .  Noguchi is best remembered, rightfully, for her achievements in the marathon.  Five wins and seven top three finishes in ten marathon starts.  An Olympic gold medal.  A World Championships silver medal.  A Japanese national record of 2:19:12.  That time still a Berlin Marathon course record no one has been able to touch more than ten years later, the only World Marathon Majors course record held by a Japanese runner. Her gold medal win at the 2004 Athens Olympics brilliantly executed, her loss to Catherine Ndereba at the 2003 Paris World Championships showing her exactly what she had to do to beat Ndereba a year later on the bigger stage and then doing it perfectly, almost down to the second, breaking Paula Radcliffe in the process.  Her DNS at the the 2008 Beijing Olympics a national heartbreak.  Her co...

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20160414-00000528-san-spo translated by Brett Larner On April 14 it was learned that Athens Olympics women's marathon gold medalist and national record holder Mizuki Noguchi (37, Team Sysmex) is retiring from competition.  A press conference to formally announce her retirement will take place April 15 in Kobe.  In March Noguchi ran the Nagoya Women's Marathon, saying, "This will be my last shot at the Olympics."  She finished 23rd in 2:33:54. Noguchi graduated from Uji Yamada H.S. in Mie.  She ran her first marathon in 2002, winning the silver medal at the Paris World Championships a year later.  In 2004 she won the gold medal at the Athens Olympics and in 2005 set the Japanese national record of 2:19:12 at the Berlin Marathon, a record that still has not been broken.  She remains the Berlin course record holder.

http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/athletics/news/1614520.html http://www.hochi.co.jp/sports/feature/hakone/20160309-OHT1T50065.html translated and edited by Brett Larner Historical Hakone Ekiden powerhouse Chuo University held a press conference on Mar. 9 to announce the retirement of three-time World Championships marathon team member and Chuo alumnus Masakazu Fujiwara , 35, from competition and his naming as new head coach of its ekiden team.  Chuo holds multiple Hakone records including 6-straight wins, 14 wins overall, 87-straight and 90 total Hakone appearances, but under former head coach Haruo Urata , 54 , for the last four years it failed to make the seeded top ten.  Fujiwara commented, "I want to get us back into the seeded bracket within two or three years," showing his enthusiasm for returning Chuo to its glory days. As a first-year at Chuo Fujiwara won the Hakone Ekiden's famed uphill Fifth Stage, placing 2nd and 3rd on the same stage as a second-year...

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20130515-OHT1T00093.htm translated by Brett Larner Hosei University announced on May 15 that ekiden assistant coach Tomoo Tsubota , 35, has been promoted to the team's head coach position. Previous head coach Michihiko Narita , 56, moved to the assistant director's office in April. Tsubota joined the Konica Minolta team in 2000 after graduating from Hosei, running the 10000 m at the 2003 World Championships.  Since 2010 he has been acting as assistant coach at Hosei on special assignment from the Konica Minolta corporation.

http://www.kahoku.co.jp/news/2013/04/2013042701001673.htm translated by Brett Larner Selected earlier in the week for the Moscow World Championships marathon team, national record holder Mizuki Noguchi  (Team Sysmex) made a guest appearance at a cross-country race in Asogun, Kumamoto, on April 27.  "I'm totally, totally happy," she delightedly told fans.  "Since I am running, my goal is to medal.  At absolute worst top eight." In Noguchi's last appearance at the World Championships in 2003 she won silver.  At the 2008 Beijing Olympics she was a DNS with a serious injury, meaning that her last time competing at the world level on the Japanese national team was her gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics.  Now 34, the veteran Noguchi smiled as she said, "Having been all the way to the bottom it seems like a miracle to me that I'm back on my feet and headed to Worlds, but I know that it's something I was able to do myself, under my own power....

http://www.jiji.com/jc/zc?k=201303/2013032900798&g=spo translated by Brett Larner The Fujitsu track and field team announced on Mar. 29 that men's 3000 m steeplechase national record holder Yoshitaka Iwamizu , 33, will leave the team at the end of March and retire from competition. Beginning April 1 he will take a position as an assistant coach with the Shiseido women's team. Iwamizu ran in both the Athens and Beijing Olympics. Beginning in 2001 he competed in five-straight World Championships, setting the Japanese national record of 8:18.93 at the 2003 Paris World Championships.

http://www.asahi.com/sports/update/0120/SEB201301200008.html?tr=pc translated by Brett Larner Naoko Sakamoto  (32, Team Tenmaya), 7th at the 2004 Athens Olympics, announced her retirement from competition on Jan. 20 after running her final race, the Kita-Kyushu Women's Invitational Ekiden , where she placed 7th on the opening stage.  "I still have the urge to get back to the top, but I just can't do the training I need to get there anymore," she said.  "I decided that it's time to stop.  I'm sad that I couldn't end it with a marathon." Sakamoto graduated from Nishinomiya H.S. in Hyogo and joined the Tenmaya corporate team in 1999.  In 2003 she ran 2:21:51 at the Osaka International Women's Marathon, the Japanese debut marathon record.  Later the same year she was 4th in the Paris World Championships marathon, then won the 2004 Osaka International Women's Marathon to make the Athens Olympics.  Following Athens a series of injuries ke...

http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/general/track/news/20101218k0000m050008000c.html translated by Brett Larner The 30th anniversary National Jitsugyodan Women's Ekiden takes place Dec. 19 in Gifu. In its first-ever appearance in the national championships, Team Sysmex features one prominent member on its entry list: 2004 Athens Olympics marathon gold medalist and marathon national record holder Mizuki Noguchi (32). It has been more than 2 years since Noguchi "fell from grace," an injury causing her to withdraw just before the Beijing Olympics. Not even appearing at the press conference to announce her withdrawal, it has been a long and dark road back, but on the eve of her return to the national stage Noguchi spoke to the Mainichi Newspaper about her joy at overcoming her setbacks and her still-burning drive for the 2012 London Olympics. After the West Japan Jitsugyodan Ekiden you said, "I want to keep running until my legs break down for good." Those were the same...

http://mytown.asahi.com/iwate/news.php?k_id=03000001008260003 translated by Brett Larner One of the greats of Japanese distance running, 1996 Atlanta Olympian Masako Chiba (34), gave a talk before 74 5th graders at Hagiso Elementary School in Ichinoseki, Iwate on Aug. 25. Chiba appeared at the school as part of the "Classroom of Dreams Project" sponsored by the Japan Soccer Federation. As part of the opening session with students in the school's gymnasium, Chiba talked about the techniques behind running faster, the right way to train, speedwork, making use of her experience to set an example for the children. She showed students how changing your arm carriage affects your stride, a demonstration that had many students calling out, "Wow!" Changing venues to a classroom, Chiba talked about her 15 year-long career as one of the world's top distance runners. She told students about finishing 5th in the Atlanta Olympics 10000 m and showed them her two World...

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20090310-OHT1T00211.htm translated and edited by Brett Larner Beijing Olympics marathoner Tsuyoshi Ogata (35, Team Chugoku Denryoku) held a press conference in Hiroshima on Mar. 10 to talk about his plans for the Mar. 22 Tokyo Marathon, where he will try to earn a place on his fourth-straight World Championships team. "I want to make this [World Championships] team clearly and without any ambiguity," he said, revealing that he still has the ambition to think about winning. The Tokyo Marathon will be Ogata's first race since finishing 13th in the Beijing Olympics marathon. Discussing his condition, Ogata showed some uncertainty as he admitted, "Things haven't been going smoothly, but I feel like it's coming together now. I'll be ready just in time, but you never know what's going to happen." Nevertheless, he was determined as he said, "I'm running this because I want to win. I want it to be a ra...

http://www.sanspo.com/tohoku/top/th200711/th2007112805.html translated by Brett Larner A major talent looks set to finally bloom. Having set a new Japanese national half-marathon record of 1:00:25 in October, Atsushi Sato (Team Chugoku Denryoku) of Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima Prefecture, says, "Doing something like that gives me a lot of confidence, but at the same time it puts a lot of expectation on me. If I don`t do well [in Fukuoka] a lot of people are going to criticize me. I have to do well." With this delicate balance of confidence and pressure, Sato heads into the Fukuoka International Marathon on Dec. 2. During his days at Waseda University Sato set the then Japanese student marathon record of 2:09:50 in his debut marathon. Since that time he has made a name as a star corporate ekiden runner but has not lived up to the same potential in the marathon, finishing only 10th in the 2003 Paris World Championships. Sato trained for last year`s Biwako Marathon at a high-altitu...