Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts with the label Kenichi Shiraishi

Weekend Preview

by Brett Larner

It's a big weekend of racing across Japan.  The 70th Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon leads the way with a shot at the Japanese men's national record as Konica Minolta teammates Masato Kikuchi, Keita Shitara and Tsuyoshi Ugachi, all 1:00:32 to 1:01:12 for the half marathon, line up with support from past winner Collis Birmingham (Australia), Goitom Kifle (Eritrea), track star Yuki Sato (Nissin Shokuhin) in his serious half marathon debut, and more.  2014 Asian Games marathon gold medalist Eunice Kirwa (Bahrain) leads a women's field that includes 2015's top Japanese woman Rei Ohara (Team Tenmaya), last year's winner Eloise Wellings (Australia), Canadian record hopeful Natasha Wodak and many more.

Likewise celebrating an anniversary year is the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon in its 65th running.  Not counting in the qualifying for the Rio Olympic team the home field is weaker than usual, Kenichi Shiraishi (Team Asahi Kasei) topping the list …
Post a Comment
Read more

Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon Elite Field

by Brett Larner

The 65th Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon has announced the elite field for its 65th running on Feb. 7.  Coming just before the second and third selection races for Japan's Olympic marathon team it's small up front but features a solid mid-pack of relatively young runners including some good first-timers.

Evans Ruto (Kenya) leads the internationals with a 2:08:55 at last year's Gold Coast Airport Marathon, with competition from sub-2:10 men Hailu Shume (Ethiopia) and Anthony Maritim (Kenya).  Japan-based Ethiopian Melaku Abera (Team Kurosaki Harima), the course record holder at Oita's Half Marathon, is scheduled to debut and should be another to watch.

On the home front, Kenichi Shiraishi (Team Asahi Kasei) is the only Japanese man on the list sub-2:11 recently with a 2:10:36 in Beppu-Oita two years ago.  High-volume marathoner Taiga Ito (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) follows close behind with a 2:11:15 in Tokyo in 2013.  Most interesting among the debuting Japanese …
Post a Comment
Read more

Kiplimo Over Imai at Foggy Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon

by Brett Larner

Little-known Abraham Kiplimo became the first Ugandan winner in the 63-year history of the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, taking four minutes off his best to outrun two of Japan's best marathoners of 2013 for the win in 2:09:23.  Tokyo-area club runner Haruka Yamaguchi (AC Kita) joined him in the books with the women's win in 2:41:56.

In the almost complete absence of Beppu-Oita's usual wind, thick fog blanketed the course for most of the race.  After irregular pacing for the first 10 km things settled down near the mid-2:08 target pace with a large pack of over twenty men up front.  With a 2:08:00 at last year's Tokyo Marathon making him Japan's fastest marathoner last year, Moscow World Championships marathon team member Kazuhiro Maeda (Team Kyudenko) was the favorite, but at 25 km he became the race's first major casualty as he gradually lost touch with the pack.  Top-ranked first-timers Ryo Kiname (Team Mitsubishi Juko Nagasaki) and Ryuji Wat…
2 comments
Read more

Bat-Ochir, Mbote, Imai and Maeda to Face Off at Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon

http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo&k=2014011500595

translated and edited by Brett Larner

 On Jan. 15 the organizers of the 63rd Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon on Feb. 2 announced the names of this year's elite field.  On the domestic men's list are the fastest Japanese marathoner of 2013, Kazuhiro Maeda (Team Kyudenko), 2013 New York City Marathon 6th-place finisher Masato Imai (Team Toyota Kyushu) and Kenichi Shiraishi (Team Asahi Kasei), winner of last weekend's Oita City Half Marathon.  Their top foreign competition comes from 2013 Hofu Yomiuri Marathon winner and 2012 Beppu-Oita runner-up Ser-Od Bat-Ochir (Mongolia) and 2:07:37 Kenyan Jason Mbote.

63rd Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon Elite Field
Oita, 2/2/14
click here for complete field listing

Men
Daniel Njenga (Kenya/Team Yakult) - 2:06:16 (Chicago 2002)
Jason Mbote (Kenya) - 2:07:37 (Seoul 2008)
Kazuhiro Maeda (Team Kyudenko) - 2:08:00 (Tokyo 2013)
Ser-Od Bat-Ochir (Mongolia) - 2:09:00 (Hofu 2013)
Yuko Matsumiya (Team Hitachi…
2 comments
Read more

Unknown Runner Emerges, Outruns Kawauchi for Tanigawa Mari Half Course Record (updated)

http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/athletics/news/f-sp-tp0-20140112-1243077.html
http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/athletics/news/f-sp-tp0-20140112-1243078.html
http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/athletics/news/f-sp-tp0-20140112-1243079.html
http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20140113-OHT1T00039.htm

translated and edited with additional background information by Brett Larner

At the 15th Tanigawa Mari Half Marathon, Jan. 12 along the Arakawa River in northern Tokyo, unknown university runner Hideyuki Ikegami (20, 2nd-yr., Kyoto Kyoiku Univ.) ran 1:03:09, opening a massive lead over defending champion Yuki Kawauchi (26, Saitama Pref. Gov't) and 2012 winner Kazuyoshi Tokumoto (Team Monteroza) to take the win. Around 10 km he attacked with a series of surges before pulling away to run the final 10 km alone. Thinking, "What do you know, Kawauchi's mortal after all," Ikegami broke the finish line tape with a lead of 1:08, his time a PB by more than two and a half mi…
Post a Comment
Read more

Mathathi Wins Sixth Kumamoto Kosa 10-Miler

http://kumanichi.com/news/local/main/20111204005.shtml

translated by Brett Larner

At the Rikuren-certified 36th annual Kumamoto Kosa 10 Mile Road Race on Dec. 4, 2009 World Championships 10000 m runner Yuki Iwai (Team Asahi Kasei) ran 47:08 to win for the second time, five years after his first win.  In the international division, Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) won his third-straight and sixth-total Kosa title in 46:20.

With the international division starting together with the general division for the first time, Mathathi picked up the pace at the halfway mark.  Iwai went with him, leaving all over Japanese runners behind.  He slowed dramatically near the end but still held off 2nd-place Kenichi Shiraishi (Team Asahi Kasei) by 9 seconds.  Kohei Matsumura (Team Mitsubishi Juko Nagasaki) was 3rd.

Daegu World Championships marathoner Hiroyuki Horibata (Team Asahi Kasei) started off in the lead pack, but he fell behind after only 3 km and finished 19th in 47:45.  His World Ch…
Post a Comment
Read more

Asahi Kasei Sets Course Record at Last New Year Ekiden Qualifier

by Brett Larner

Team Asahi Kasei dominated the final regional qualifier for the New Year Ekiden men's national corporate ekiden championships, leading wire-to-wire to set a course record of 3:50:53 at the seven-stage, 78.8 km Nov. 23 Kyushu Corporate Ekiden Championships.  Asahi Kasei runners won the first four stages, with Daegu World Championships marathon 7th-place finisher Hiroyuki Horibata outrunning Team Toyota Kyushu ace Masato Imai to take the 12.2 km Fourth Stage in 34:38.  Fifth Stage Asahi Kasei runner Takehiro Arakawa was beaten on time by Africans Paul Tanui (Team Kyudenko) and Alemu Desta (Team Yasukawa Denki) but had a big enough lead that he was in no danger of being run down.  Asahi Kasei's sixth runner Kenichi Shirashi ran a stage best to further widen the team's lead, with anchor Yuki Iwai bringing the team in for the course record win and a place at the New Year Ekiden.  With several of its best members sitting the regional race out Asahi Kasei will once…
Post a Comment
Read more

Tomoya Onishi Stage Record on Kyushu One-Circuit Ekiden Day Three

by Brett Larner

With the top Japanese men's 10000 m and half marathon times of the year and a 9th-place finish at the World Half Marathon Championships under his belt within the last month, Miyazaki Prefecture's Tomoya Onishi, 23, delivered another big run with a 43:55 stage record for the 15.3 km Fourth Stage on Day Three of the 2010 Kyushu One-Circuit Ekiden, Oct. 31 on Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu. Onishi's time broke the existing stage record by 1:12, 5 seconds per km, and was equivalent to a solid 46:11 10-miler. Stage runner-up Ryuji Watanabe of Fukuoka Prefecture also broke the old Fourth Stage record with a 44:16 clocking.

As with the first two days of the ten-day Kyushu One-Circuit Ekiden, the Miyazaki Prefecture team dominated the early stages of Day Three. A weak run from Third Stage runner Noritaka Yokoyama put Miyazaki 59 seconds behind rivals Fukuoka prefecture at the start of the Fourth Stage, and the team spent the next four stage edging bac…
Post a Comment
Read more

Yacob Jarso and Mary Wanjohi Take Kanaguri Memorial 5000 m Wins (updated)

by Brett Larner

Running in heavy rain, Ethiopian 3000 m SC national record holder Yacob Jarso (Team Honda) overcame Kenyan rivals Gideon Ngatuny (Team Nissin Shokuhin) and Josephat Ndambiri (Team Komori Corp.) on the last lap in a close three-way finish while university student Mary Wangari Wanjohi (Ritsumeikan AP Univ.) ran a solo race ahead of the field of professional women in the main events of the 2009 Kanaguri Memorial Track and Field Meet, the men's and women's elite 5000 m. The top Japanese competitors in each race, Yu Mitsuya (Team Toyota Kyushu) and Yuriko Kobayashi (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) were regrettably absent, leaving the top Japanese positions to Athens Olympian Ryuji Ono (Team Asahi Kasei), 4th in the men's race, and #1-ranked university star Kazue Kojima (Ritsumeikan Univ.), 3rd in the women's race.

As expected, the men's 5000 m was a battle between Jarso, Ngatuny and Ndamibiri, who together ran under the 8 km road world record during January's …
1 comment
Read more