japan running news

by Brett Larner photo (c) 2009 Mika Tokairin A year after his 60+ world record of 2:36:30 at the 2009 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, Yoshihisa Hosaka did it again with a 2:38:12 world record for the 61 year old bracket at this year's Beppu-Oita on Feb. 7. Hosaka's time breaks the existing world record, set by Wil van der Lee of the Netherlands at the 1991 Amsterdam Marathon, by a slim 20 second margin. Hosaka now holds the world record for three consecutive age brackets. 59 - 2:34:23, Fukuoka 2008 60 - 2:36:30, Beppu-Oita 2009 61 - 2:38:12, Beppu-Oita 2010 In this year's race Hosaka started conservatively compared to his previous two world record runs, clocking consistent mid-37 minute 10 km splits through 30 km and hitting halfway in 1:18:26. By comparison, at this past December's 2009 Fukuoka International Marathon, a few weeks before his 61st birthday, Hosaka went through halfway in 1:15:48. In Beppu-Oita he slowed significantly between 30 and 35 km but managed to ...

by Brett Larner click here for JRNLive's detailed race commentary Click photo for a gallery of images from the 2010 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon. In a tactical race of few surprises, Jonathan Kipkorir (Kenya), the strongest man of '09 in the field, took the 2010 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon on Feb. 7 in a sprint finish over the final 500 m against aging 2:06:16 runner Daniel Njenga (Kenya/Team Yakult), holder of the fastest PB in the field. Japanese debutant Atsushi Ikawa (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) had a good race, 4th overall in 2:11:04 after repeatedly attacking the lead pack of eight over the final 10 km. Track darling Yu Mitsuya (Team Toyota Kyushu) performed below expectations in his own marathon debut, 9th in 2:12:59. However, the biggest news of the race was Australian Jeffrey Hunt . Debuting at the marathon, Hunt spent the early parts of the race far back in the third pack while the leaders ran on track for 2:08. Despite a fast new course and good conditions, the pacema...

Click here for JRN's live English commentary on the 2010 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon.

http://www.nishinippon.co.jp/nsp/item/150060 translated by Brett Larner Sunday's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon will be the final run for one of the country's best, 1999 Seville World Championships marathoner Tadayuki Ojima (33, Team Asahi Kasei). For 15 years he has been a force in the Japanese marathon and ekiden circuit, ranked all-time #3 in the Kyushu Isshu Ekiden with a lifetime total of 38 stage best titles, running in the World Championships and narrowly missing out on the Athens Olympics but always remaining quietly focused on challenging his own limits. Now, his strength spent, he prepares for retirement with a deep feeling of gratitude toward the people of Kyushu. His final 42.195 km will be his way of saying thank you. "I've given it everything I have for 15 years," Ojima says. "Really, I just don't have anything left to give." "He doesn't waste words on excuses," says Team Asahi Kasei head coach Takeshi Soh. "He just doe...

by Brett Larner There's a lot of negativity in Japanese men's marathoning these days. After the dismal Beijing Olympics, 2009 was one of the worst years in the country's history. Sure, Japanese men still took the team bronze at the Berlin World Championships and over the course of the year outperformed every non-African country in the world, but in absolute terms it was their worst since 1996 and relative to world standards their poorest showing ever. The venerable circuit of elite men's marathons has struggled to remain relevant in an era when richer overseas majors draw the best talent, and the rise of the Tokyo Marathon has only worsened their predicament. In this atmosphere comes the 59th running of the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon this Sunday, Feb. 7. Beppu-Oita, or Betsudai as it is usually abbreviated in Japanese, is one of the oldest Japanese marathons but has long occupied a difficult position as the most minor of the four main elite men's races. It has be...

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/flash/KFullFlash20100120153.html http://kyushu.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/spomain/detail/20100121-OYS1T00215.htm http://www.nishinippon.co.jp/nsp/item/147512 translated and edited by Brett Larner Click photo for full-sized image. 2005 and 2007 World Championships track runner Yu Mitsuya (Team Toyota Jidoshoki) held a press conference in Fukuoka on Jan. 20 to formally announce that he will run his debut marathon at the Feb. 7 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon . He was unambigious about his plans for his debut. "Ever since I went pro my goal has been the marathon. I'm running this to win it." Ranked #3 for 5000 m and #4 for 10000 m on the all-time Japanese lists, Mitsuya made a big step toward the marathon a year ago with a 1:29:55 win at the Kumanichi 30 km, his first time racing such a long distance. Now looking toward the example of double 10000 m and marathon national record holder Toshinari Takaoka, Mitusya is attacking with two swords. Since last...

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/flash/KFullFlash20100118119.html http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2010011800601 http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/general/news/20100119k0000m050076000c.html translated and edited by Brett Larner On Jan. 18 the organizing committee for the 59th Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon announced the elite field of 15 for this year's Feb. 7 running. At the top of the list of ten Japan-based athletes is Kenyan Daniel Njenga (Team Yakult), who won last summer's Hokkaido Marathon and holds a PB of 2:06:16. Lining up against Njenga in his marathon debut is 2007 World Championships track runner Yu Mitsuya (Team Toyota Kyushu). Athens Olympics marathon 6th place finisher Toshinari Suwa (Team Nissin Shokuhin) is also in the field, and 2:08 man Tadayuki Ojima (Team Asahi Kasei) will be running as his final race before retirement. The 5 overseas invited athletes are led by Kenyan Jonathan Kipkorir , who set his PB of 2:07:31 last year at the Paris Marathon. Jo...

originally published in the Nikkei Newspaper on 2/2/09 translated by Brett Larner Translator's note: This may be old news by now but I wanted to put it up to give credit where it is due in light of all the negative commentary by Rikuren officials following Beppu-Oita (coming in another article shortly). Kobayashi ran a great race. おつかれさま。 Veteran Seiji Kobayashi (32, Team Mitsubishi Juko Nagasaki) was the top Japanese finisher at Sunday's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, finishing 2nd overall behind winner Adil Annani (Morocco). Less than two months after a disappointing 20th place finish at December's Fukuoka International Marathon, Kobayashi ran 2:10:38 in difficult conditions to break his PB by 24 seconds in his eleventh marathon. "My training went really well, so I wanted to leave a good mark here. Today I'm a happy man," he said proudly. On the way to the 25.5 km turnaround point Kobayashi thought, "The pace felt pretty fast, so I was careful to keep my...

http://mainichi.jp/photo/archive/news/2009/02/01/20090202k0000m050066000c.html translated by Brett Larner Looking for a defense of his title at the Feb. 1 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, local hero Tomoya Adachi (Team Asahi Kasei) was unable to respond when the pace accelerated in the second half and dropped behind the leaders. "It's really disappointing," Adachi said flatly after the race. "It wasn't as hard last year." In his marathon debut last year Adachi won by running his own pace and coming from behind in the later stages, but this time with the added stress of a World Championships berth at stake there was a great push for him to run faster. "Last year I didn't have to worry about anything, but there was a lot of pressure this time, and....." he trailed off. The result was "terrible, but at least I could finish decently." Despite trying his hardest, Adachi finished 6th. Nevertheless, spurred on by the hometown cheers, he showed ...

http://mainichi.jp/select/wadai/news/20090202k0000m040144000c.html translated and edited by Brett Larner At the 58th Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon on Feb. 1, the oldest runner to ever qualify for the elite race, 60 year-old Yoshihisa Hosaka, (Shizuoka Track and Field AC), turned back the years with a run of sparkling brilliance. Finishing 89th overall in 2:36:30, Hosaka broke the existing 60+ world record by 1 minute and 45 seconds. He was smiling broadly at his astounding achievement as he reached the finish line. Hosaka began running at age 36 when he joined a friend's ekiden team. At age 42 he won his first race at a local event in his hometown. For his first marathon he ran the popular Honolulu Marathon, where he ran a superb 2:31:19. Finding a deep joy in running, Hosaka had by the end of 2008 completed 70 marathons. To get ready to attack the world record in his first race as a 60 year-old Hosaka trained 30 km per day. On race day, word of Hosaka's attempt on the world re...

http://iaaf.org/LRR09/news/newsid=49180.html Ken Nakamura's excellent IAAF report on the 2009 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon , linked above, covers much of what I would otherwise say. One small error in his report is that Seiji Kobayashi's PB performance gives him ' little chance ' of being selected for the Berlin World Championships, not 'a little chance.' Kobayashi ran Beppu-Oita, aka Betsudai, after finishing 20th in Fukuoka this past December in 2:20:46. Adil Annani has apparently been coached by the great Moroccan marathoner Abdelkader El Mouaziz since 2007. At the 11 km water station Annani missed his special drink. Looking back over his shoulder he crashed straight on into the next table, falling forward onto the table. It evidently didn't take much out of him. Another detail worth mentioning was the strong marathon debut by Yuki Kawauchi (Gakushuin Univ.), one of the top runners on this year's Hakone Ekiden 6th stage and the 3rd place fin...

The 2009 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon , a selection race for the 2009 World Championships marathon team, will be broadcast live nationwide on TBS beginning at 11:50 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 1. International viewers should be able to watch online for free through one of the sites listed here .

http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/general/news/20090129ddm035050096000c.html http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/general/news/20090128ddm035050005000c.html http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/general/news/20090127ddm035050011000c.html translated and edited by Brett Larner The 58th Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon will be held Feb. 1 on Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu. As a selection race for the 2009 Berlin World Championships marathon team, this year's Betsudai, as the race is abbreviated, has drawn a large number of domestic contenders along with several top foreign competitors. Chief among the runners vying for a spot on the the Berlin team are defending champion and Oita local Tomoya Adachi (23, Team Asahi Kasei), ekiden ace Takashi Ota (32, Team Konica Minolta) and first-time marathoner Keita Akiba (29, Team Komori Corp.). Tomoya Adachi Tomoya Adachi is coming home to win. Taking first last year in his debut marathon, Adachi brought new wind to the sails of Japanese marathonin...

http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/general/track/news/20090115k0000m050021000c.html translated by Brett Larner The organizing committee of the 58th Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon (sponsored in part by the Mainichi Newspapers Group and Rikuren), announced the names of this year's elite field on Jan. 14. Defending champion Tomoya Adachi (Team Asahi Kasei), who won last year's race in his marathon debut, will return to headline the field. Keita Akiba (Team Komori Corp.) will make his highly-anticipated marathon debut after a dazzling run at the New Year Ekiden. Times are expected to be fast as runners will be competing not only for the win but also for a place on the 2009 Berlin World Championships marathon team. The domestic elite field includes 11 invited runners. Since winning last year Adachi has focused on improving his speed, setting a new 10000 m PB later in 2008. He came up a disappointing 3rd in an intense three-way sprint finish on the anchor stage of this year's New Year...

http://www.e-obs.com/obs-news/genko/DD11130007778.html translated by Brett Larner On Nov. 13 the Kyushu Track and Field Association met in Oita for its first meeting of the season. The meeting also served to open proceedings for the 58th Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, to be held on Feb. 1. At the top of the meeting's agenda was confirmation that Beppu-Oita will be used as one of the official selection races for next summer's Berlin World Championships men's marathon team. The Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon will be broadcast live nationwide on JNN. Translator's note: The other selection races for Berlin at the current time are December's Fukuoka International Marathon, March's Biwako Mainichi Marathon, and March's Tokyo Marathon.

http://www.tostv.jp/news/index.php?nno=4751 Oita-born Tomoya Adachi, 22, who won last weekend's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon in a debut time of 2:11:59, was honored in a ceremony at his alma mater high school in Oita on Feb. 8. Translation coming soon.

http://www.nishinippon.co.jp/nsp/local/baseball/20080204/20080204_003.shtml translated by Brett Larner Nothing is sweeter than a hometown win! At the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon on Feb. 3, Tomoya Adachi (22, Team Asahi Kasei) of Oita was the first runner back to the Oita Civic Track, winning his debut marathon in a time of 2:11:59. Moving up from the chase pack as an individual entrant rather than as one of the invited elites, Adachi overtook leader Elijah Mutai (Kenya) just before the 39 km point, maintaining the lead unchallenged all the way to the goal line. Yoichi Watanabe (Team Mitsubishi Juko Nagasaki) was 6th in 2:15:17 and Tomokazu Sakamoto (Team Yasukawa Denki) was 9th in 2:17:00. Running in his team's last event before it is disbanded later this year, Tokio Yamazaki of Team Toshiba LSI finished well in 10th place. Mutai dropped out of the race at the 40 km point. Conditions at the start were 10.5 degrees and 68% humidity, with 1.5 m/s NW winds. After breaking the goal ta...

by Brett Larner While much of the rest of Japan struggled with heavy snow, clear skies, cool temperatures and gentle winds greeted the runners in the 42nd Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon in Oita Prefecture. Beppu-Oita, or Betsudai as the race is usually known, has the reputation of being a development for younger runners to break through into the front ranks of Japanese marathoning. This year's race lived up to the event's reputation. A large pack of 16 runners with 2 pacemakers ran together through the first half of the race, passing 5 km in 15:19. 2003 L.A. Marathon winner Mark Yatich was the first to drop off the pack. Race commentators passed along their condolensces to Yatich, whose older brother was killed last week in the ongoing strife within Kenya. By 10 km the pack was down to 14 runners plus the pacemakers, going through the mark in 30:29. 15 km (45:50) and 20 km (1:01:16) passed mostly without event. Team Mitsubishi Juko Nagasaki's Yoichi Watanabe slipped and fell...

http://kiji.i-bunbun.com/read/read.cgi?1201791600=120182742815502=1 translated by Brett Larner At the 57th Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon [Betsudai] on Feb. 3, runners from Oita Prefecture will compete for the Ikenaka Cup, a trophy awarded each year to the top Oita finisher. Among the competitors will be 6 members of Oita-based Toshiba LSI's jitsugyodan team. For these 6 runners it will be their last run as teammates; Toshiba LSI has withdrawn its financial support and the team will be disbanded in March. In this last run, Team Toshiba LSI entrants include Teppei Tsunesada, Kazuhiko Hirata, Keisuke Kihara, Tokio Miyazaki, Takanori Tagami and Masahiro Tsukamoto. "Once the team is disbanded these guys won't be able to keep practicing the way they have been, so in this last full marathon I want one of them to bring home the Ikenaga Cup," said the team's coach Kazuyuki Sato. Tsunesada, Hirata and Miyazaki are in good shape and aiming to break 2:20. "The first 30 km...

by Brett Larner The first Sunday in February is one of the busiest days in the elite Japanese racing world. Three major events take place across the country, the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, the Ome Marathon 30 km road race, and the Kagawa Marugame Half Marathon. The Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon has historically been one Japan's top marathons, having seen four sub-2:09 performances and one world record, and sometimes serving as a selection race for Olympics and World Championships teams. This year Betsudai, as the race is commonly known, was not chosen as an Olympic selection race; as a result the field is somewhat softer than usual. The top domestic marathoner in the field is Team Kanebo's Michitane Noda with a PB of 2:09:58 from the 2003 Fukuoka International Marathon; Team Fujitsu's Takayuki Ota has been running well of late and looks set to make a mark in his debut marathon. Overseas contenders include four-time Chunchon Marathon winner Elijah Mutai of Kenya, Rugger...