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Showing posts with the label Ghirmay Ghebreslassie

Ten Sub-2:10 Japanese Men Lead Fukuoka International Marathon Field

The best year in Japanese men’s marathon history is drawing to a close, and with it the chances for them to qualify for the new MGC Race 2020 Olympic trials are running out. The Dec. 2nd Fukuoka International Marathon features one of the best Japanese fields ever assembled, with ten Japanese men under 2:10 since 2016 offering it a good chance of its first home-grown winner since 2004. Five have already qualified for the MGC Race and will line up there alongside dozens of hopefuls who have three ways to make the cut:

1. Go under 2:08:30.
2. Be in the top three Japanese men under 2:11:00 not counting those who are already qualified, or in the next three and under 2:10:00.
3. Average under 2:11:00 between Fukuoka and one other marathon since August, 2017.

Places at the 2019 Doha World Championships are also in the mix, but with the MGC Race scheduled to be held just a couple of weeks before Doha it’s safe to say virtually nobody is aiming for that team.

Half marathon national record hol…
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The Lessons of the Past Are Not “Outdated” - Real Talk From Yuki Kawauchi on “Taking on the World” (part 3)

http://sports.yahoo.co.jp/column/detail/201701140003-spnavi

translated by Brett Larner

Part three in a three-part series written by Yuki Kawauchi and published by Sportsnavi. Visit the above link to their original Japanese-language article for more photos. Click here for part one in the series, “The Miracle in Fukuoka,” and here for part two, “Bringing All My Experience Into Play in London.”


During his days at Gakushuin University Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Prefectural Government) ran in the Hakone Ekiden as part of the Kanto Region University Select Team. After graduating he chose to take a job as a Saitama Prefecture employee rather than going into the corporate running leagues, and since then he has run countless marathons as an “amateur runner.” By choosing a different road from the elite runners who join the corporate leagues Kawauchi has worked on the marathon under his own power and has put long and serious thought into it. His path has shown the runners to come the way to a new optio…
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Bringing All My Experience Into Play In London - Real Talk From Yuki Kawauchi on “Taking on the World” (part 2)

http://sports.yahoo.co.jp/column/detail/201701120005-spnavi

translated by Brett Larner

Part two in a three-part series of writings by Yuki Kawauchi on what it took to qualify for the London World Championships, his goals for August’s main event, his views on the future of Japanese marathoning and advice to the runners to come. The original was published by Sportsnavi in Japanese. Visit the link above for more photos.  Click here for the first article in the series, "The Miracle in Fukuoka." Click here for part three, "The Lessons of the Past Are Not 'Outdated.'"



Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov’t) took 3rd overall as the top Japanese finisher at the Dec. 4 Fukuoka International Marathon. That result put him into position as one of the leading contenders for the privilege of running in this summer’s London World Championships. At both the 2011 Daegu World Championships and 2013 Moscow World Championships Kawauchi finished a disappointing 18th, unable to take pa…
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Yamamoto 4th at New York City Marathon, Kawauchi 2nd in Porto

by Brett Larner


Running just his second career marathon, Toyo University graduate Hiroyuki Yamamoto followed up on his 2:11:48 debut at Beppu-Oita last year with a 2:11:49 for 4th at the New York City Marathon.  Always in the lead pack until he wasn't, always looking smooth, confident and relaxed, Yamamoto's placing was the best-ever by a Japanese man in New York, his time also up near the top of the Japanese lists in New York.

2015 World Champion Ghirmay Ghebreslassie (Eritrea) smoked a 2:07:51 for the win, the third-fastsest winning time in NYC history, while this year's Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon winner Lucas Rotich (Kenya) was 2nd.  The perpetual Abdi Abdirahman (U.S.A.) held Yamamoto off for 3rd in 2:11:23.  In an admittedly weaker than usual field, Yamamoto's best-ever Japanese placing was also arguably the best performance by a Japanese man in any of the World Marathon Majors events since Kurao Umeki's 3rd-place finish at the 2006 Berlin Marathon.  In the …
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Eritrean National Record Holder Yared Asmerom Meets Local Kindergartners as Part of New Exchange Program Between Kanagawa and Eritrea

http://www.sankei.com/region/news/160224/rgn1602240057-n1.html

translated by Brett Larner

On Feb. 23 Kanagawa prefecture, slated to host the northeastern African country Eritrea's pre-2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games training camps, announced the launch of the Sky Project exchange program.  As the first event in the program, Beijing and London Olympic marathoner Yared Asmerom, 36, participated in an interactive event with local kindergarteners.  Future activities will include similar events and promotion of Eritrea within Kanagawa.

On the 23rd, Yared visited nursery schools and kindergartens in two different locations in the prefecture.  At one, the Seisa Group Aobadai Nursery School and Kindergarten in Aobadai, Yokohama, children enjoyed running together with Yared, who laughed and smiled as he high-fived each student.  Yared told the children, "If you keep practicing seriously, then in sports or whatever other area you pursue, every one of you can become a champion.&q…
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Beijing World Championships Men's Marathon - Japanese Results

by Brett Larner

For the first time since 1997 no Japanese men made the top 10 in a World Championships marathon.  With the withdrawal of Masato Imai (Team Toyota Kyushu), the favorite to clear the JAAF's top 8 requirement for a place on the Rio de Janeiro Olympic team, and no alternate in place to take his spot, Masakazu Fujiwara (Team Honda) and Kazuhiro Maeda (Team Kyudenko), both 34 and with sub-2:09 bests, had a chance of making it on paper, but neither proved up to the task.  Looking heavy in stride, Maeda was out of the lead pack early in the race.  Fujiwara looked more comfortable and lasted longer but likewise could not cope when the race really began.  Fujiwara ultimately finished 21st in 2:21:06, just ahead of the only Kenyan athlete to finish the race, with Maeda 40th out of 42 finishers in 2:32:49, seconds behind Mongolia's Ser-Od Bat-Ochir (Team NTN).  Chol Pak (North Korea), who had an unfortunate fall late in the race at last year's Asian Games, was the top …
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