japan running news

by Brett Larner With the start of the Japanese fiscal and academic year this week, outdoor track season gets rolling this Saturday at the Kanaguri Memorial Meet in Kumamoto.  A distance-oriented meet with a focus on 5000 m, Kanaguri is the place where many of the top young talents make their debuts wearing new high school, university and corporate team colors. Competition in the women's races is thin, with Kenyans  Pauline Kamulu  (Team Toto) and  Susan Wairimu  (Team Denso) leading 2014 Marugame Half Marathon winner  Eri Makikawa  (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) and the talented  Yukari Abe  (Team Shimamura) as the top contenders in Heat 2 of the 5000 m.  The high school girls' 3000 m, featuring a long list of top juniors, may supply the more interesting races. The big races on the men's side are heats 4 and 5 of the 5000 m.  Heat 5 features three of the very best Japan-based Kenyans, Moscow World Championships 10000 m bronze medalist...

by Brett Larner photos by Kazuyuki Sugimatsu videos by Ekiden News The 232nd edition of 2013 Hakone Ekiden champion Nittai University 's regular time trial meet series was the biggest on record.  After a Saturday dedicated to distances ranging from 800 m to 10000 m, Sunday dawned early for 45 heats of 5000 m, 42 for men and 3 for women, the first starting at 7:30 a.m. and the last at 9:20 p.m.  Mass-producing quality, the 5000 m heats averaged 42 runners each with the two largest having 48 finishers.  Late in the day the heats were beginning every 15 minutes like clockwork.  Performances were equally deep, with the women's 5000 m A-heat seeing the most women ever under 16:30, 38, and the men's 5000 m A-heat with 30 under 14:05 falling just short of the record of 33. The performance of the weekend went to 20-year-old Meiji University junior Genki Yagisawa , a former high school star who has so far struggled to live up to expectations on the university e...

by Brett Larner Ekiden News is scheduled to live stream the Golden Games in Nobeoka Meet, with the major events beginning at 7:00 p.m. Japan time on May 11. Watch live here. This weekend marks the start of three straight weeks of regional championship track action in the lead-up to the June 7-9 National Championships.  The biggest meet of the weekend is Saturday's Golden Games in Nobeoka , where the focus will be on the men's 10000 m.  2007 Osaka World Championships bronze medalist Martin Mathathi (Kenya/ Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) leads a field of thirteen, many collegiate men, looking to get under 28 and hopefully closer to joining Suguru Osako  (Waseda Univ.) and Yuki Sato  (Team Nissin Shokuhin) under the Moscow World Championships A-standard of 27:40.00.  From Hakone Ekiden course record holder Toyo University  are Keita  and Yuta Shitara , looking to become the first Japanese twins to both go sub-28, and from National University Ekiden cour...

http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-98733/africa-cross-country-champion-wants-world-senior-mens-title Clement Langat  runs for the Subaru distance team .

by Brett Larner Update: Women's 1500 m NR holder Yuriko Kobayashi (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) has switched from the 1500 m to the 5000 m. This weekend marks the official start of track season across Japan.  With many of the Kanto-region Hakone Ekiden university men's teams matching up for dual meets and one five-school meet hosted by Daito Bunka University , the top Olympic hopefuls will be lining up far south in Kumamoto for Saturday's 21st Kanaguri Memorial Middle and Long-Distance Track Meet. The men's 5000 m A-heat looks to be by far the race of the weekend.  The entry list includes 2011 World XC silver medalist Paul Tanui  (Kenya/Team Kyudenko); 2010 World XC junior silver medalist Clement Langat  (Kenya/Team Subaru);  Yuki Sato  (Team Nissin Shokuhin), one of the two Japanese men currently holding an Olympic-qualifying mark;  Chihiro Miyawaki  (Team Toyota) and Tsuyoshi Ugachi  (Team Konica Minolta), two of the three men with Ol...

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by Brett Larner photos by Daniel Seite #2 Kasumi Nishihara, #1 Hikari Yoshimoto and #3 Mai Ishibashi, all of Bukkyo University, with a large lead on the field in women's 5000 m Heat 24. Bukkyo University captain and 2010 National University 5000 m champion Kasumi Nishihara , fresh from a key stage win at last month's International Chiba Ekiden, did it again Dec. 5 at the 213th Nittai University Time Trials meet. Nishihara clocked her second 5000 m PB of the year, 15:25.50, to continue her climb through the ranks of Japanese women's distance running. Her teammate Mai Ishibashi was not far behind, 2nd in 15:35.38, while the team's ace, 10000 m national university record holder Hikari Yoshimoto , finished in 16:04.55 after collapsing while running between Nishihara and Ishibashi in the earlier stages of the race. Ibrahim Jeilan, #30, leads the pack in the men's 5000 m Heat 35. In the men's A-heat, past World XC jr. champion Ibrahim Jeilan (Ethiopia/Team Honda) ou...

by Brett Larner Alongside the Ageo City Half Marathon it was a big weekend at the 212th Nittai University Time Trials, Nov. 20-21 in Yokohama. Among the highlights: While 19 year-old Kenyan Bitan Karoki (Team S&B) added another sub-28 time in the 10000 m to his name with a 27:46.19 win, Jobu University senior Yusuke Hasegawa ran the fastest mark of the year by a Japanese university student, 28:07.47, to take 2nd in the A-heat. In the B-heat, Sendai Ikuei High School junior Yuma Hattori set the fastest time of the year by a Japanese high school student, 28:58.08. Three Josai University men broke 29 minutes for the first time; Josai head coach Seiji Kushibe , Jobu head coach Katsuhiko Hanada and Ageo winner Suguru Osako 's coach at Waseda University, Yasuyuki Watanabe , were all teammates at Waseda during their student days. Former 2:08 marathoner and national champion Team Nissin Shokuhin assistant coach Kenjiro Jitsui , 41, set a masters' 10000 m national record of 29:16...