japan running news

First-timers brought most of the day's best action to the 73rd running of the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon . Unseasonably hot temperatures meant times were never really in the cards, and a slow opening 10 km left a pack of over 40 together until well into the race. Early casualties included 2:09:31 man Takuya Fukatsu (Asahi Kasei), Keita Shitara (Hitachi Butsuryu) and Tadesse Abraham (Switzerland), but it wasn't until the second half that things started to get complicated. With the pace staying true to a high-2:07 finish time people fell off the pack in twos and threes after rounding the turnaround point just past halfway, but what made this race unusual was that they kept coming back. 2:07:39 man Masato Imai (Toyota Kyushu), 2017 Gold Coast Marathon winner Takuya Noguchi (Konica Minolta) and last year's Ehime Marathon runner-up Yohei Suzuki (Aisan Kogyo) fell off together, then came back together, then fell off again. European champion Daniele Meucci (Italy) was ...

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)...

by Brett Larner For the second year in a row, Kenya and Japan battled back and forth for the lead of the International Chiba Ekiden all the way, with Kenya pulling ahead in the final two km to a narrow victory in 2:05:06 to Japan's 2:05:16.  All three Kenyan women on the team won their stages,  Gladys Cherono  and anchor Joyce Chepkirui  setting new records on their legs.  Olympic 10000 m medalist Galen Rupp  won his stage to bring the U.S.A close to the leaders but could not improve his team's position, the U.S.A. taking 3rd in 2:06:36.  Russia, the Japanese University Select Team, Canada, New Zealand and hosts Chiba Prefecture rounded out the top eight, with New Zealand's twins Jake  and Zane Robertson  winning their stages.  Although times were slower than last year in the cold rain the day brought, in all it felt like the highest-level, most truly international edition of Chiba since the switch to the joint men's and women's tea...