japan running news

It took until the last lap of the track to do it, but Desmond Mokgobu had the kick to overcome the relentless Hayato Sonoda (Kurosaki Harima) and become the first South African winner of the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon since 2006. Running into a moderate headwind for the part of the race, the pacers took things through 10 km in 30:47, just under 2:10 pace. For the Japanese men in the field that was a critical mark. The first of them across the line would qualify for the MGC Race 2020 Olympic trials , with the next five also up for a spot if they went sub-2:10. Rounding the turnaround the lead pack found itself with a nice tailwind all the way to 35 km, and with the boost the pace quickly shifted to 2:09-flat. The fastest Japanese man in the field was Sonoda, head tilted and expression dire, his 2:10:40 best one of the highlights of Fukuoka in 2016. With the pace they were going that meant a steady rate of attrition in the lead pack after 20 km, one or two men dropping off e...

With just over two weeks to go the organizers of the Feb. 4 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon have released their elite field for this year's race. With its history as an elite men-only race Beppu-Oita's women's field is still tiny given its status as an IAAF silver label race, but this year promises a good race between two local 2:32 women, 2016 winner Hiroko Yoshitomi (Memolead) and Yuka Takemoto (Canon AC Kyushu), that should see the 2:39:57 course record fall. Defending champ Haruka Yamaguchi (AC Kita) also returns with a 2:38:43 PB from last fall that puts her range of the course record as well. The men's race is heavier-duty, with a spot in the MGC Race Tokyo Olympic Trials available to the top Japanese man under 2:11:00 and to up to five others if they clear 2:10. Hayato Sonoda (Kurosaki Harima) and Taiga Ito (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) are the only Japanese men in the field to have run those kinds of times in the last couple of years, and with support from 2:09~...