japan running news

Entry lists are out for the Feb. 4 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon . There's no separate women's entry list, but last year's 2nd and 3rd-placers Rieko Koshi and Hisae Yoshimatsu are both back and will probably go 1-2. The men's race has a small international contingent of Moroccans Mohamed Reda El Aaraby and Ayoub Dardar , Ethiopians Aychew Bantie and Workneh Derese , and Canadian Ben Preisner , with El Aaraby and Bantie setting up a potential 2:07 race for the Japanese crowd. Six Japanese men at the 2:07 to 2:08 level who have a realistic view of their chances of hitting the 2:05:50 standard to steal the 3rd spot on the Paris Olympic team in Osaka or Tokyo are on the list for Beppu-Oita, where a good run will earn them a trip to October's Chicago Marathon. Fumihiro Maruyama (Asahi Kasei) and Yuta Koyama (Toenec) are the fastest at 2:07:55 and 2:07:57 in Osaka the last two years, with Yuta Shimoda (GMO) leading the 2:08 quartet in 2:08:00 from Lake Biwa 2021. Su...

Cut back from being a part of the return to mass-participation racing with less than two weeks to go, the Osaka Marathon celebrated its 10th edition with the domestic elite-only field it picked up from the defunct Lake Biwa Marathon with the addition of two dozen female entrants. 2016 Gold Coast Marathon winner Misato Horie (Sysmex) scored another win in the women's race, running her best time since 2019, 2:32:10, to outrun debuting duo Nami Aoki (Iwatani Sangyo) and Rui Aoyama (Univ. Ent.) by over 4 minutes for the top spot on the new Osaka course. First-timers also played a major role in the men's race, taking 3 of the top 8 places. The pacing team held things relatively steady around low-to-mid 2:07 territory through multiple 180˚ turns and strong winds from the west until just before their departure at 30 km. On the first main climb near 30 km the debuting Yuhei Urano (Fujitsu), CR breaker on the Hakone Ekiden's legendary uphill Fifth Stage, and Kenta Murayama (As...

Due to be held the same day as voting in the upcoming election for the House of Representatives, runners at the Kanazawa Marathon can expect to be stopped at over 20 intersections on the course in order to allow voters on their way to the polls to pass without interference.  Scheduled to be held Oct. 31 after last year's race was canceled, the Kanazawa Marathon will take place while voting polls for the House of Representatives election are open. On race day, road closures for the marathon will be in place for up to 6 hours, but the locations of 14 polling stations on the course mean that voters will need to be able to cross through intersections. 50,000 voters are expected to use these locations, and while city officials are calling for people to utilize early voting or polling stations not affected by road closures then have made the decision to place security personnel at 21 intersections to stop runners when necessary. The Kanazawa Marathon already has this policy in place at...

With special precaution measures having been lifted within the prefecture of Ishikawa, states of emergency having been lifted nationwide including within the major cities, the number of cases of COVID-19 sharply declining both within and without Ishikawa, and the steady rise in vaccinations, the organizers of the Kanazawa Marathon have committed to staging this year's race with adequate precautions on Oct. 31.  The organizers ask all participants to monitor their physical condition for the 14 days prior to the race and to take steps to reduce the risk of contracting the coronavirus in their day-to-day lives. Participants are also encouraged to get vaccinated wherever possible. The general public is asked not to come watch the race in person and instead to show its support by following TV or radio coverage. Please be aware that in the event of situations such as a rapid increase in the number of infections, earthquakes, floods or typhoons in the time shortly before the race, the e...

Coming right after the announcement of elite field for the Mar. 8 Nagoya Women's Marathon is the announcement for its male counterpart, the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon earlier the same day. Like Nagoya it's the last chance for someone to make the 2020 Olympic team. All they have to do is break the 2:05:50 national record, or whatever the fastest Japanese man runs at the Tokyo Marathon a week earlier if someone there goes better than 2:05:50. Basically it's not going to happen. Takuya Noguchi (Konica Minolta) is the only Japanese guy at Lake Biwa under 2:09 in the last three years, and he hasn't been himself since his 2:08:59 win at the 2017 Gold Coast Marathon. There's no shortage of people around the 2:09 to 2:10 level, but out of them the only one who could conceivably have the kind of breakthrough it would take to make the Olympic team is Kengo Suzuki (Fujitsu). At the MGC Race 2020 Olympic marathon trials last September Suzuki was the guy who played do...

Things are buzzing in Japan right now in a way they haven't for a long, long time. Yuta Shitara 's 2:06:11 national record last weekend in Tokyo , Hiroto Inoue joining him under 2:07, and a record-breaking group of seven other Japanese men at the 2:08 to 2:09 level have everyone believing. Believing that they can do it too. The first test of that belief comes Sunday at the last main marathon of the Japanese season, the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon . The hoop that made so many Japanese men jump so high last week was qualification for Japan's new 2020 Olympic trials, the MGC Race . Sub-2:08:30 and you're in. Sub-2:11:00 and in the top three Japanese? You're in. Sub-2:10 and in the top six Japanese? You're in too. As Kohei Ogino and Tadashi Isshiki , 7th and 8th Japanese in Tokyo in 2:09:36 and 2:09:43, found out, people are taking qualification seriously. Lake Biwa has had more editions with five Japanese men sub-2:10 than any other marathon, and with the qua...

Defending champ Ezekiel Chebii (Kenya) returns to lead the field for the Mar. 4 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon . Chebii is one of three men in the field with recent 2:06 times, his 2:06:07 in Amsterdam two years ago leading Tadesse Abraham (Switzerland) and Abera Kuma (Ethiopia) to form a clear trio of favorites. Making up the second pack are four current sub-2:10 Japanese men, 2017 Gold Coast winner  Takuya Noguchi  (Konica Minolta), Rio Olympian Satoru Sasaki (Asahi Kasei), and Sasaki's teammates Takuya Fukatsu and Fumihiro Maruyama . The addition of sub-61 half marathoner Kenta Murayama in his second shot at the marathon after a failed debut in Tokyo two years ago makes for a formidable quartet of men from 2017 and 2018 New Year Ekiden national champion Asahi Kasei all aligned in training and talent. With Japan's depth it's never surprising to see a relatively anonymous runner make a breakthrough and factor into the action. Yoshiki Takenouchi (NTT Nishi Nihon)...

Sunday's Fukuoka International Marathon has enough going on to make it one of the most exciting races in decades of its 71-year history. Olympic and world champ Stephen Kiprotich (Uganda). Heir apparent to the Wanjiru memory Bedan Karoki (Kenya/DeNA). Norwegian wonder Sondre Moen . Legend Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) against three scions of the next generation, Asian junior half marathon record holder Suguru Osako (NOP), former Hakone Ekiden uphill specialist Daichi Kamino (Konica Minolta), and Keita Shitara (Hitachi Butsuryu), twin brother of new half marathon national record holder Yuta Shitara . The withdrawal of three top-tier runners, 1:00:01 half marathoner Jake Robertson (New Zealand), two-time world XC medalist Teklemariam Medhin (Eritrea) and sub-2:10 man Fumihiro Maruyama (Asahi Kasei), hurts the depth a bit, but there are still enough story lines going on keep you guessing as to the ultimate plot. TV Asahi will broadcast the complete race live s...

Akinobu Murasawa (Nissin Shokuhin) and Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) became the first athletes to qualify for the new MGC Race 2020 Olympic trials event , clearing the JAAF's hoops with PB runs in heat to win the 2017 Hokkaido Marathon. One of the most popular runners to come out of the current boom in university men's ekiden running, Murasawa had an unsuccessful marathon debut at Lake Biwa in March, up front until late but fading to 28th in 2:17:51. This time he stayed in the front pack through the slow opening going, ignoring a move by Shingo Igarahi (Josai Univ. Coaching Staff) and Kenichi Jiromaru (Raffine Coaching Staff) around the halfway point that put them over 30 seconds ahead. Part of a group of five who set off in pursuit at 30 km, Murasawa moved into the top spot just before 40 km and held it all the way to the finish to win in 2:14:48. As the first race at which Japanese men could qualify for the JAAF's new single-trial 2020 Olympic selection event Hokkaido...

http://mainichi.jp/articles/20170202/dde/035/050/065000c translated and edited by Brett Larner Tormented by injuries and having been on the brink of retirement, Fumihiro Maruyama (26, Asahi Kasei) has chosen tomorrow's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon for his second marathon.  With Asahi Kasei' s long legacy behind him, including Koichi Morishita 's 1992 Beppu-Oita win that took him to the Barcelona Olympics and a silver medal, Maruyama's desire to succeed and earn a place on the London World Championships team is strong.  "I want to take a big step up and win so that I can compete at the world level," he said. At last March's Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon Maruyama made an aggressive marathon debut, surging away from the all-Japanese chase pack at 30 km. But at 39 km he was run down and finished as the fourth Japanese man, missing the Rio de Janeiro Olympic team.  His time of 2:09:39 meant he had achieved a rare sub-2:10 debut, but, he said with linger...

by Brett Larner Japan's short post-ekiden road season gets up to full speed this weekend.  The second of four selection races for the three spots on the London World Championships men's marathon team happens at the Sunday's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon .   Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) is the leading contender for the team after a 2:09:11 for 3rd at December's Fukuoka International Marathon, a time that puts a bullseye on his back for the best men in Beppu-Oita and the other races to come. It's rare to see someone make a national team from Beppu-Oita, but a win there in a time better than Kawauchi's would probably put someone ahead of him in priority for the team.  With a 2:09:39 debut last year at Lake Biwa the talented but injury-prone Fumihiro Maruyama (Team Asahi Kasei) is the favorite to do just that, but Kentaro Nakamoto (Team Yasukawa Denki), Ryo Kiname (Team MHPS), Kento Otsu (Team Toyota Kyushu) and debuting Toyota teammates Minato O...

by Brett Larner With just over two weeks to go the organizers of the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon have announced their elite field for their 66th running on Feb. 5. Kenyan Felix Keny  fronts the field, a former 2:07 man with a best recent time of 2:09:04 in Hamburg three years ago.  Likewise, #2-ranked international Dereje Debele of Ethiopia has run 2:07 in years past, but in the last three years hasn't broken 2:10 with his 2:10:31 at the 2015 Mumbai Marathon his best recent credential.  American Jeffrey Eggleston completes the front of the overseas contingent with a 2:10:52 runner-up finish at the 2014 Gold Coast Airport Marathon. Beppu-Oita Mainichi factors into the complicated selection process for the 2017 London World Championships men's marathon team with a slot potentially available to a Japanese winner.  The best chance of seeing that happen comes from the talented Fumihiro Maruyama of the 2017 New Year Ekiden national champion Asahi Kasei team, Ma...

by Brett Larner What a wild race. With warmer than usual temps forecast and its fastest two foreign runners out the plan was for the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon , the last chance for Japanese men to make the Rio Olympics marathon team, to go out at a reasonable 3:02/km, 2:08:00 pace.  That went straight out the window as amateur runner Shota Kamioka went ahead of the pacers heading off the track onto the road, pulling Kenyan pacer Samuel Kosgei and the rest of the internationals behind him through 1 km in 2:55.  Japanese pacers Yuta Shitara and Akihiko Tsumurai ignored Kamioka, taking the main part of the field out closer to target pace.  Long after he was gone Kamioka had an impact on the race, Kosgei splitting 14:57 for the first 5 km instead of the target 15:10.  Tsumurai and Shitara hit it in 15:03, still faster than planned but more achievable for a group of mostly 2:08 to 2:11 men. Relatively unknown Ethiopian Shura Kitata , just 19 years old, ran on ...

by Brett Larner The elite field for the Mar. 6 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon , the last selection race for the Japanese men's Rio Olympics team, is finally out, and it is a monster.  Fifteen men with sub-2:10 times in the last three years including nine Japanese men.  Tadese Tola leads the six quality internationals with a 2:04:49 at the 2013 Dubai Marathon, with the other five perfectly positioned from 2:06:43 to 2:08:55 to pull the massive Japanese field along to fast times. 2:08 men Kazuhiro Maeda (Team Kyudenko), Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) and Kentaro Nakamoto (Yasukawa Denki) lead the nine sub-2:10 Japanese men, but there are dozens more one level down from that who could step up including 2015 Sydney Marathon winner Hisanori Kitajima (Team Yasukawa) and 2014 Riga Marathon winner Yu Chiba (Team Honda).  More potential can be found on the list of runners taking a second shot at the marathon after failed debuts.  Former Hakone Ekiden stars Shino...

by Brett Larner The proving ground marathon in Japan's Eugene, Athlete Town Nobeoka's Nishi Nippon Marathon hosts its 54th running on Feb. 14.  Proving among other things that change can come even to the most conservative parts of Japan, for the second year in a row Nobeoka will feature a women's field, small and entry-level but still a sign of positive change.  Like the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon a week earlier, Nobeoka's men's field suffers a bit in the face of the Olympic selection races at Tokyo and Lake Biwa just a few weeks later, but it does feature a large lineup of promising first-timers who should help fulfill Nobeoka's original purpose as the race where future marathoners are made. The local Asahi Kasei team fields the top three entrants.  Its Ryoichi Matsuo and Taiki Yoshimura lead the way with recent bests of 2:12:11 and 2:13:12, but the most exciting on the list is Asahi Kasei's Fumihiro Maruyama , 1:29:34 at the 2013 Kumanichi 30 k...

by Brett Larner additional results coming shortly The 2016 road race reason got started early in Japan with at least four quality half marathons and one of the world's biggest marathons all happening Sunday.  Aritaka Kajiwara , a former teammate of Yuki Kawauchi 's on the Hakone Ekiden's Kanto Region Select Team who quit the Press Kogyo corporate team mid-fall to go independent, ran a 1:02:45 course record to win Tochigi's Takanezawa Half Marathon by a second over Kinari Ikeda , an alternate for last week's Hakone Ekiden champion Aoyama Gakuin University who broke 1:03 for the first time.  Aoyama Gakuin first-year Homare Morita made a quality half marathon debut in 1:03:01 for 3rd, Ikeda and Morita reassuring Aoyama Gakuin that it has the depth to maintain a solid lineup after four of this year's winning members graduate in March. Further south in Oita, former course record holder Fumihiro Maruyama (Asahi Kasei) ran solo to repeat his 2010 Oita City Ha...

by Brett Larner click here for Japanese women's 2013 rankings 2013 continued Japanese men's upward trend, the fifth year in history that the country has produced at least ten sub-2:10 marathon performances and the all-time second-best average of its top ten fastest marathons, all-time top ten performances over 5000 m, 10000 m and half marathon, new world records for depth at several races, just shy of a World Championships marathon medal, incredible growth among its collegiates, and a charismatic and independent star to drive the sport's popularity. One of the most important things to happen this year was the nearing of parity between the collegiate and corporate systems.  In JRN's top ten rankings, scored using a system that takes into account quality, placing and competitiveness relative to other ranked athletes, only five of the overall top ten hailed from the corporate leagues, with four university men and one indy filling out the list.  Collegiates and said in...