japan running news

Real estate company Makes has announced on its team website that its men's corporate team will be disbanded at the end of March. The team was launched in April, 2021 with the twin missions of "becoming #1 in the world in the marathon" and "getting society excited." Based in Yoga in suburban Tokyo, Makes currently has 7 athletes on its roster. Its coaching staff includes head coach Tsukasa Endo , a 1988 Seoul Olympics 10000 m runner, and assistant coaches Julius Gitahi , a 2000 Sydney Olympian in the 5000 m, and former Meiji University and Konica Minolta standout Masato Kikuchi . Original team members included Tokai University grad Shota Onizuka , who later transferred to M&A Best Partners . Current member Ryosuke Harada took 6th at last May's East Japan Corporate Track and Field Championships, but despite success there and in other road races, Makes didn't run November's East Japan Corporate Ekiden, the regional qualifying race for the Jan....

At Sunday's Kyoto Time Trials meet, 1500 m and 5000 m high school record holder Keita Sato , a 17-year-old 3rd-year at Rakunan H.S. , added the 3000 m high school record to his resume with a mostly solo 7:50.81. In perfect fall conditions Sato frontran the entire way, tailed through a 2:34 first 1000 m by Kogakkan University 's Shoya Suzuki  but all on his own the rest of the way. From 1000 to 2000 m he split 2:38, more or less holding that pace the rest of the way with a 61-second final lap to split 2:38 again for the final 1000 m. In terms of World Athletics scoring tables, Sato's three records break down like this: 1500 m: 3:37.18 - 1145 points 3000 m: 7:50.81 - 1110 points 5000 m: 13:31.19 - 1098 points Sato's rankings on the all-time Japanese lists mirror this, his 1500 m putting him at all-time #3 along with #1 on the U20 and U18 lists, his new 3000 m time at #10 on the all-time list, #2 on the U20 and #1 on the U18 lists, and his 5000 m nowhere near the all-tim...

Zakayo Ngatho and Julius Gitahi go down to the wire with Canada's Jeff Schiebler just behind in the 2001 Hyogo Relay Carnival 10000 m.

Julius Gitahi runs a meet record 27:11.17 at the 1998 Hyogo Relay Carnival.

Future Olympian Julius Gitahi of Sendai Ikuei H.S. sets the still-standing course record of 27:48 for the 10.0 km First Stage at the 1995 National High School Ekiden. Because of great performances like this, most major ekidens later banned non-Japanese runners from their opening stages.

interview by Brett Larner translated by Brett Larner and Mika Tokairin Part four of a five-part interview . Running in miserable conditions at the 2010 Tokyo Marathon,  Arata Fujiwara  came 2nd in Tokyo for the second time in his career. The next day, a badly limping Fujiwara generously met with JRN at a favorite bar of his to talk about the race, training, future, and what went wrong and right. Part four of the interview below focuses on this year's race. Part five talks about Fujiwara's motivations, his training for Tokyo, and the Japanese corporate running system compared with the situation in Africa, Europe and the United States. Congratulations on your first marathon in the 2:10’s. (laughs) Thanks, yeah, I broke through the wall. Having seen your last four marathons, when I watched the video of this year’s Tokyo Marathon I felt that it was the first time you had run like a marathoner, like you really understood the marathon. Compared to your last five mara...

interview by Mika Tokairin and Tsuguki Matsuda translated by Mika Tokairin and Brett Larner Arata Fujiwara  was a relative unknown when he ran the 2008 Tokyo Marathon , but his 2nd place finish in 2:08:40 made his name both domestically and worldwide. He fell five seconds short of being named to the Beijing Olympics team but made the Berlin World Championships thanks to a 2:09:47 at the Fukuoka International Marathon later that year. In this interview for the first time Fujiwara talked to JRN in detail about his now-famous 2008 Tokyo Marathon run, his thoughts and feelings before, during and after the race. What can you say about your first marathon? You really slowed down a lot. It was at Biwako [Lake Biwa] in March, 2007. That time I had stomach problems and blisters. Without them I would have won. (laughs) But I got a lot of confidence out of that race. Problems like blisters are easy to understand, you know? It’s not like if you don’t have enough stamina or a large...

by Brett Larner Sunday's Fukuoka International Marathon isn't the only major race happening on Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu that day. Across the island in Kumamoto is the 34th Kumamoto Kosa 10 Mile Road Race . What the Ageo City Half Marathon is to half marathons, Kumamoto Kosa is to 10-milers: the deepest, toughest in the world . Where Ageo sees university men lining up by the hundreds to prove to their coaches that they are worthy of running in the Hakone Ekiden, Japan's corporate jitsugyodan runners do Kumamoto Kosa as a selection and tune-up race for the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden national championships. Almost everybody who's not running Fukuoka is on the starting line. It's a Japanese-only time trial, thank you very much, as foreign runners are politely given a one-minute head start and scored in a separate "International Division" even though all are based in Japan and run for the same teams as the Japanese runners. Looking at the...

by Brett Larner Nov. 21 was a busy morning at Oda Field, central Tokyo's main public track. Alongside the high school and amateur clubs which had gathered for morning practice, 2009 double 1500 m and 5000 m Yuichiro Ueno (Team S&B) ran a solo workout of 400 m repeats to tune up for Monday's International Chiba Ekiden with one of his coaches in attendance. As he ran, members of Team Nissin Shokuhin began to assemble for a group workout. Nissin won the East Japan Corporate Ekiden Championships earlier this month. With a young roster including Gideon Ngatuny, Yuki Sato, Satoru Kitamura and Bene Zama they are the heavy favorites to win the 2010 New Year Ekiden national championships. Their full team including coaches was present at Oda Field, but several members were apparently injured. Ngatuny, originally slated for the International Chiba Ekiden but then left off the entry list, spent the entire workout sitting on the retaining wall and pouring drinks for the other team memb...

http://www.kahoku.co.jp/news/2009/05/20090510t14030.htm http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/f-sp-tp0-20090510-492731.html translated and edited by Brett Larner On a Rikuren-certified 21.0975 km course starting at the Sendai Civic Track and Field Grounds in Sendai's Miyagino Ward and ending in front of City Hall in Aoba Ward, Berlin World Championships marathon team member Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren) ran 1:08:50 to win the 19th Sendai International Half Marathon on May 10. The mother of a nearly three year old daughter, Akaba's first win in Sendai fittingly came on Mother's Day. Running in cloudy but warm and humid conditions which saw few athletes clock their best times, Akaba dropped the three others in the lead pack after only 8 km. 2nd place finisher Julia Mombi (Team Aruze) was over 2 1/2 minutes behind, while Hiroko Shoi (Team Nihon ChemiCon) came up from 45 seconds behind at 10 km to take 3rd, just missing catching Mombi but earning one of the only PBs in the top...

by Brett Larner The Tokyo Marathon office reported on Mar. 20 that last year's 3rd place finisher Julius Gitahi (Team Nissin Shokuhin/Kenya) has withdrawn from tomorrow's race with an unspecified injury. Women's invited elite Rong Chen (China) has also withdrawn after sustaining an injury while training on Mar. 18. The following general elite division runners have also withdrawn: Men James Mwangi (Team NTN/Kenya) Toshiya Katayama (Team NTT Nishi Nihon) Naoki Mishiro (Team Fujitsu) Manabu Nishida (Team NTT Nishi Nihon) Masatoshi Ibata (Team Aisan Kogyo) Tsuyoshi Igarashi (Team JR Higashi Nihon) Kazuyoshi Tokumoto (Team Nissin Shokuhin) Women Yuka Aikawa (Team Acom) Rei Miura (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) Atsuko Higo (eAthletes Tochigi AC) (c) 2009 Brett Larner all rights reserved

http://iaaf.org/WXC09/news/newsid=49327.html Click pictures for more 2009 Chiba Int'l XC photos by Mikiko Lawrence.

by Brett Larner The 22nd running of the Hokkaido Marathon takes place on Aug. 31 in Sapporo, Hokkaido. Historically a hot race, this year's event comes just a week after the Beijing Olympics and features a relatively limited field. In the men's race, last year's champion Julius Gitahi of Team Nissin Shokuhin will return to defend his title. Gitahi, a track Olympian for his native Kenya, won last year's race in his marathon debut, running 2:17:26 in conditions of extreme heat and humidity. He went on to run 2:08:57 and take 3rd in the 2008 Tokyo Marathon. Gitahi's biggest challenger will be his Nissin teammate Yuzo Onishi, who set a personal best of 2:08:54 at the 2008 Biwako Mainichi Marathon. With the nearly identical times run by both athletes this year, the potential is there for a major duel between the two teammates. Other contenders in the field include 2005 Brecia Marathon winner Richard Maiyo (Kenya), 2006 Warsaw Marathon winner Vitaliy Shafar (Ukraine), an...

http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/080806/spg0808061815001-n1.htm translated by Brett Larner On Aug. 6 the organizing committee of the 2008 Hokkaido Marathon released the names of the elite athletes appearing at this year`s competition to be held Aug. 31 in Sapporo, Hokkaido. Headling the women`s field are Athens Olympics women`s marathon 7th place finisher Naoko Sakamoto (Team Tenmaya) and 2007 Tokyo Marathon winner Hitomi Niiya (Team Toyota Jidoshoki). The men`s field includes defending champion Julius Gitahi (Team Nissin Shokuhin) and 2008 Biwako Mainichi Marathon 4th place finisher Yuzo Onishi (Team Nissin Shokuhin).

Top three finishers Julius Gitahi (L, 3rd place), Viktor Rothlin (C, 1st place) and Arata Fujiwara (R, 2nd place). Winner Rothlin, Tokyo mayor Shintaro Ishihara, and runner-up Fuji wara. Top seven finishers, L-R: Viktor Rothlin, Arata Fujiwara, Julius Gitahi, Toshinari Suwa, Satoshi Irifune, Kurao Umeki and Seiji Kobayashi. all photos (c) 2008 Mika Tokairin all rights reserved

by Brett Larner Osaka World Championships bronze medalist Viktor Rothlin of Switzerland won the 2008 Tokyo Marathon in a Swiss national record of 2:07:23, aggressively frontrunning the later stages of the race to break apart the rest of the pack. Unknown individual entrant Arata Fujiwara of Team JR East Japan overcame severe leg cramps which almost forced him to stop in the last 6 km to run a massive PB of 2:08:40, finishing 2nd and putting his name on the shortlist for the Beijing Olympic team. Kenyan Olympian Julius Gitahi (Team Nissin Shokuhin) had a strong second marathon, running 2:08:57 to take 3rd place. His teammate Toshinari Suwa, the pre-race favorite to be top Japanese, conformed to his history and failed to take the top Japanese slot, settling for 4th in 2:09:16. Rounding out the top 5 was Helsinki World Championships marathoner Satoshi Irifune (Team Kanebo), who ran a PB of 2:09:40. All 5 runners broke last year's winning of time 2:09:45, set by Kenyan Daniel Njenga. N...

by Brett Larner With exactly one month to go until race date the Tokyo Marathon released details on the field of elites who will be competing in the 2nd of Japan's Olympic selection races. The domestic field is easily headlined by Team Nissin's Toshinari Suwa, a 2:07 marathoner who competed in the Athens Olympics and Osaka World Championships. Suwa had previously announced he would run March's Biwako Mainichi Marathon but he has evidently changed strategy in his attempt to qualify for the Beijing Olympic marathon team. Other domestic contenders include Team Kanebo's Satoshi Irifune who competed in the Helsinki World Championships, veteran Olympian Kenjiro Jitsui also of Team Nissin, and younger runners Kenichi Kita and Kazushi Hara. Several strong runners are not among the elite field but have entered as individuals, including Team Chugoku Denryoku's Teruto Ozaki and Kurao Umeki, Team Nissin's Kazuyoshi Tokumoto, and Team JAL Ground Service's Takayuki Nishid...

by Brett Larner Christmas came early this year. For this morning`s Harriers practice we went over to Oda Field to do 4 x 5000 m with 5 min. recovery rather than training in Yoyogi Park as usual. Oda is the main public track in central Tokyo and there are usually some interesting people there working out. Today Keio University and Gakushuin University were both there along with a few high schools, clubs and individuals. One serious-looking woman I didn`t recognize was doing easy laps in a national team warmup uniform. About halfway through our workout one of the best professional teams in Japan, Nissin Shokuhin , showed up for some hard training. Team Nissin includes some stellar talent on its roster. Toshinari Suwa is a 2:07 marathoner, was 6th in the Athens Olympics marathon and 7th in the Osaka World Championships marathon, and is a favorite to make the Beijing Olympics marathon team . Kazuyoshi Tokumoto was a legendary university runner and is considered one of the future stars o...