japan running news

http://www.minyu-net.com/sport/running/news/140804/news1.html

translated by Brett Larner

With the goal of boosting reconstruction efforts in the northeast, runners taking part in the "Road to Tomorrow 1000 km Relay" from Aomori to Tokyo passed through Fukushima on Aug. 3, starting the day in Koriyama Sports Park in Koriyama and heading to Iwaki's Misaki Park. 

At the morning's departure ceremony, Koriyama mayor Masato Shinagawa gave his support to participants, telling them, "Let your hearts be touched by the nature and people of Fukushima as you move on toward your goal."  Guest runner and Mexico Olympics marathon silver medalist Kenji Kimihara, 73, told the assembled runners, "Let us pray for the recovery of the northeast, for a successful Tokyo Olympics, and to hand off our tasuki without giving in to the midsummer heat."  When Major Shinagawa fired the starter's pistol, around sixty amateur runners from Fukushima and elsewhere set off along…

http://mainichi.jp/area/ibaraki/news/20120323ddlk08050128000c.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner

Cancelled last year in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami disasters, the organizers of the 22nd Kasumigaura Marathon announced on Mar. 22 that a record 27,353 people have entered this year's race, scheduled for April 15.  The number makes it the third-largest marathon in Japan after the Tokyo Marathon and Osaka Marathon.

2011 World Championships marathoner Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref.) will appear as an invited athlete, pacing his younger brother Koki Kawauchi (Takasaki Keizai Univ.) through his marathon debut.  Past Olympic marathon greats Yuko Arimori, Kenji Kimihara, Akio Usami and Takeyuki Nakayama will run as guide runners in the International Blind Marathon Championships division.

Translator's note: Kasumigaura also features a competitive 10-miler, which Kawauchi won in 2010.  The race course was damaged in last year's disasters.

http://news.searchina.ne.jp/disp.cgi?y=2011&d=0217&f=national_0217_030.shtml

translated by Brett Larner

On Feb. 17, 1963, Toru Terasawa set a marathon world record of 2:15:15.8 at the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon. Terasawa's time eclipsed the previous record set at the Rome Olympics by Abebe Bikila by 4 seconds. The following year Terasawa ran the marathon at the Tokyo Olympics along with Kokichi Tsuburaya and Kenji Kimihara but despite having the best PB in the field finished only 15th.

http://www.asahi.com/sports/spo/SEB201101080004.html

translated by Brett Larner

The ekiden that decides who is #1 in Japan. Once known by that phrase, the curtain is set to fall on the 60+ year history of the Asahi Ekiden. Many famous athletes' careers were born on the winding, hilly roads joining Fukuoka and Kita-Kyushu, but the sound of their footsteps on the seven-stage, 99.9 km course will be heard for the last time on Jan. 10.

Team Yawata Iron & Steel won the first running of the Asahi Ekiden in 1950. At the fourth running, Hakone Ekiden champion Chuo University took the win in its first appearance. It was the only time a university team ever won, but following Chuo's victory Hakone-winning teams were invited to do battle against professional teams to decide who was the best in Japan.

A Japanese creation, the 'ekiden' began in 1917 with the Tokaido Ekiden as a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Tokyo becoming the national capital. The name of the race, chose…

http://sankei.jp.msn.com/region/kanto/tokyo/100225/tky1002251709009-n1.htm

translated by Brett Larner

The leadup to the Feb. 28 Tokyo Marathon kicked off Feb. 25 with the official opening of the Tokyo Marathon Expo 2010 at the Tokyo Big Sight convention center. Along with the bib number pickup center for those running Sunday's race, 96 companies and organization are represented at the expo, which will continue through Feb. 27.

Presiding over the opening ceremonies at 9:45 were Tokyo mayor Shintaro Ishihara and Mexico City Olympics marathon silver medalist Kenji Kimihara. During his opening remarks Ishihara brought up the example of comedian Kunihiro Matsumura, who suffered a heart attack while trying to run last year's Tokyo Marathon, as he urged runners, "Take it easy out there." Going on, Ishihara commented, "Through negotiations with the police we have been able to increase the field size this year from 30000 to 35000, but even so the applications this year were…

http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/p-sp-tp0-20090401-477581.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner and Mika Tokairin

Master craftsman Hitoshi Mimura (60), the man who made custom shoes for the likes of baseball's Ichiro Suzuki (Seattle Mariners) and Olympic marathon gold medalists Naoko Takahashi and Mizuki Noguchi (Team Sysmex), retired from Asics on Mar. 31 after 42 years with the company. Mimura now plans to launch his own new brand, Mimura Shoes, from a workshop in Kakogawa, Hyogo Prefecture. Certified as a 'modern artisan,' Mimura wants to continue helping support athletes from the ground up.

Even on his last day with Asics, Mimura was to be found hard at work matching careful measurements of each individual athlete's feet as he hand-crafts all his shoes. Mimura joined Asics in 1967 and began to make his customized shoes in 1974. Seko, the Soh brothers, Nakayama, Taniguchi, Arimori, Suzuki, Takahashi, Noguchi....the list of Mimura's clients over the year…

by Brett Larner

Once again this year, the Tokyo Marathon has invited an all-star lineup of major international names current and historic to take part in the event's 10 km and marathon divisions as special guest runners. A listing of this year's scheduled guests:

Marathon
Keizo Yamada - 1953 Boston Marathon winner and 1953 Olympics marathoner
Kenji Kimihara - 1968 Olympics marathon silver medalist and 1966 Boston Marathon winner
Hideki Kita - 1981 Tokyo International Marathon winner and 1980 Olympics track runner
Hiromi Taniguchi - 1991 World Championships marathon gold medalist and 1992 Olympics marathoner
Eriko Asai - 1988 Olympics and 1987 World Championships marathoner
Mari Tanigawa - 1991 Tokyo International Women's Marathon winner

10 km
Constantina Tomescu-Dita (Romania) - 2008 Olympics marathon gold medalist
Rosa Mota (Portugal) - 1988 Olympics marathon gold medalist
Kaori Icho - 2004 and 2008 Olympics freestyle wrestling 63 kg. gold medalist
Chiharu Icho - 2004 and 2008 Olympic…