japan running news

by Brett Larner

Japan came up empty-handed at the 2015 World Cross Country Championships in Guiyang, China as its perennial best hope for a medal, its junior women's squad, could do no better than 5th.  Junior women's team leader Azusa Sumi took 16th overall, 1:07 behind winner Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia but still the top-placing non-African born athlete in any of the day's races along with China's Changqin Ding in the senior women's race.  Although shy of a medal the junior women still topped the Japanese team results, the junior men and senior women finishing 9th.  With only three runners in the senior men's race Japan did not field a complete team of four scorers in that event.

World Cross Country Championships
Guiyang, China, 3/28/15
click here for complete results

Junior Women's 6 km
1. Letesenbet Gidey (Ethiopia) - 19:48
2. Dera Dida (Ethiopia) - 19:49
3. Etagegn Woldu (Ethiopia) - 19:53
4. Daisy Jepkemei (Kenya) - 19:59
5. Mihret Tefera (Ethiopia) - 20…

by Brett Larner

The Japanese women's team came through at the Mar. 29 World Half Marathon Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark, narrowly outrunning a strong Italian squad for the team bronze medal.  Top-placing Japanese woman Sayo Nomura (Team Daiichi Seimei) started slow, nearly 15 seconds behind the lead pack at 5 km, but ran steadily to move up through the pack and overtake teammates Chieko Kido (Canon AC Kyushu), Reia Iwade (Team Noritz) and Risa Takenaka (Team Shiseido) for 15th place overall. Both Takenaka and Iwade finished within 30 seconds of Nomura to overcome Italian Valeria Straneo's strong 8th-place finish in 1:08:55 and give Japan the team bronze by just 24 seconds.

Further up front, Kyushu-based Sally Chepyego (Kenya/Team Kyudenko) took the individual bronze in a 1:07:52 PB, with Aomori Yamada H.S. graduate and former Suzuki runner Lucy Kabuu 4th in 1:08:37.

In the men's race, Komazawa University's Kenta Murayama and Shogo Nakamura ran up in the front …

by Brett Larner
photos by Dr. Helmut Winter

Behind Wilson Kipsang's brilliantly self-controlled world record run at the 40th Berlin Marathon, 2:09:10 man Suehiro Ishikawa (Team Honda) and last year's fastest Japanese man overseas, 24-year-old Koji Kobayashi (Team Subaru) with a 2:10:40 best from the 2012 Chicago Marathon, spent the race sparring with Brazilian great Marilson dos Santos in the second pack.  Keying off dos Santos through 10 km, Ishikawa fell back three seconds between 10 and 15 km with Kobayashi staying at his side before deciding to stay in the race and regain direct contact.

In a virtual replay of his run against Dathan Ritzenhein (U.S.A.) in Chicago last year, Kobayashi stayed glued to dos Santos on low-2:07 pace until 35 km before starting to lose ground and then fading badly.  As dos Santos went ahead to take 6th in 2:09:24 Ishikawa, who had fallen as much as a minute behind, closed hard to retake Kobayashi in the final 2 km.  Ishikawa crossed the line 7th …