japan running news

http://www.kobe-np.co.jp/news/sports/0001686000.shtml

translated by Brett Larner

Following the retirement of head coach Takahiro Ueno in December, Team Noritz has announced that former Team Sega Sammy head coach Yoshihiko Morioka (50) will take over effective Mar. 16. "My goal is to make my runners competitve at the world level," said Morioka. "It will require our complete spirits and bodies."

Morioka is a native of Kawasaki. A notable runner while at Daito Bunka University, he later served as head coach for Team NTN and the now-defunct Team Nihon Seimei and Team Sega Sammy. While with Sega Sammy he coached Yasuko Hashimoto, who ran on the national team in the 2007 Osaka World Championships women's marathon. Both Morioka and Hashimoto left when Sega Sammy ended its support of the team in March last year.

Team Noritz contains six members who will return in the 2009-2010 season, including 2005 and 2007 World Championships marathoner Mari Ozaki. In April three n…

by Brett Larner

The final selection race for the 2009 Berlin World Championships women's marathon team takes place this Sunday, Mar. 8 at the 30th anniversary Nagoya International Women's Marathon. The top Japanese woman in Nagoya will automatically earn a place on the Berlin team, and with the almost complete absence of big-name domestic runners hopes are high that one of the younger, inexperienced runners will step up with a world-class performance. The chance is also there for one of the few veteran Japanese runners in the field to come back with a win.

Winning times in Nagoya over the last ten years have averaged 2:25:18, with the fastest mark being Naoko Takahashi's course-record 2:22:19 in 2000 and the slowest Yasuko Hashimoto's 2:28:49 in 2007. No foreign runner has won Nagoya since Russia's Lyubov Morgunova took the 1999 race, but this year the hosts' streak may be broken. China's Xue Bai has the strongest recent credentials in the field, with a 2:23:…

http://www.chunichi.co.jp/chuspo/article/sports/news/CK2009022002000136.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner

Naoko Takahashi stands between the two monuments in her honor on Tokunoshima island.

Sydney Olympics women's marathon gold medalist and former world record holder Naoko Takahashi (36, Phiten), who retired from professional running last fall, began training on the island of Tokunoshima in Kagoshima Prefecture on Feb. 19 for what she has up until now called a 'thank-you run' at the Mar. 8 Nagoya International Women's Marathon. Q-chan has said her goal for her 'final run' is simply, "to break 3 hours." However, she recently commented, "I'm really afraid that when the starting gun goes off I might get excited and try to run up front [in the lead pack] instead of going out as planned," suggesting the possibility that Nagoya might become a 'real run.' Takahashi was quick to add, "I'm going to try to hold back as much…