japan running news

Nestled deep in the misty foothills of the western Tokyo mountains, Hosei University's late November Hachioji Long Distance meet has quietly turned into one of the world's premier track 10000 m, its A-heat never quite dipping under 27 minutes yet but still producing record-setting depth and the two fastest Japanese men's 10000 m in history.
This year's entry list is another monster, with 27:02.59 man Nicholas Kosimbei (Toyota) leading 17 men with recent times under 28 minutes, twelve of them Kenyan, three Japanese and two Ethiopian. Fresh off a 27:22.73 win at last weekend's Nittai University Time Trials, two-time steeplechase junior world champion Jonathan Ndiku (Hitachi Butsuryu) is slated to pace what is scheduled to be a sub-28 race, but with Kosimbei, sub-27:30 men John Maina (Fujitsu) and Rodgers Chumo Kwemoi (Aisan Kogyo) and five others under 27:45 including last year's winnerRonald Kwemoi (Komori Corp.) on the list the front end should go faster. 
Rig…

by Brett Larner



Japanese athletes feature in two of the three races at Australia's Gold Coast Airport Marathon in its second year as an IAAF gold label race.  Former Aoyama Gakuin University captain Takehiro Deki (Team Chugoku Denryoku) leads the men's half marathon, with cancer survivor Remi Nakazato at the top of the women's list.

Deki's 58:51 best for 20 km translates to 1:02:15 for the half marathon, far ahead of the 1:03:28 best of #2-ranked Liam Adams (Australia), but although he has run 1:03:11 for the first half of a marathon Deki's legitimate half marathon best remains just 1:04:16, and with a 29:22 two weeks ago in Boston indicating mid-1:04 condition it should be a challenge for him to take down Adams and the other Aussie and Kiwi competition. "This is my first serious race in a long time," Deki told JRN.  "If all goes well I think I can run mid-1:03."

Nakazato, a promising new talent after a 2:24:29 at age 23 in 2011 in her second ma…

by Brett Larner

Last year Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) made his Australian debut at the Gold Coast Airport Marathon, finishing 4th in 2:13:26.  In September he was back to set a course record of 2:11:52 at the Sydney Marathon.  This weekend he returns to the Gold Coast Airport Marathon for the 25th marathon of his 4 1/2-year career to try to become the first man under 2:10 in the IAAF bronze label event's 35-year history.

As part of an article for Australia's Run For Your Life magazine, JRN talked to Kawauchi about his return to the Gold Coast, racing outside Japan, and the appeal Australia holds for him.  The full-length interview covering his evolving training and racing methodology and how he copes with serial racing at a high level, his views on doping and drug testing in the wake of a positive EPO test by last year's GCAM women's winner Kaori Yoshida, and his goals, hopes and dreams for the rest of his competitive career and beyond, will be published i…