japan running news

http://www.iaaf.org/news/kind=100/newsid=54887.html

Click here to enter JRN's World Championships marathon prediction contest for a chance to win a 2009 Japanese national team singlet.

by Brett Larner

Although she only made the Japanese 10000 m squad by default after winning the 5000 m at June's National Championships, Beijing Olympics marathoner Yurika Nakamura (Team Tenmaya) turned in the run of her life on the first day of the 2009 World Championships in the women's 10000 m. Nakamura ran a PB of 31:14.39 to finish 7th, making her the all-time 4th-fastest Japanese woman over the distance and Japan's best World Championships 10000 m finish in ten years. Nakamura beat all-time #2 Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal) who was 9th in 31:23.49, a SB in a season plagued by plantar fasciitis and other injury woes. The diminuitive Yukari Sahaku (Team Aruze), who unexpectedly beat both Nakamura and Fukushi at Nationals to make the Berlin team, finished last by a minute in 33:41.17.

After finishing 13th in last summer's Beijing Olympic…

by Brett Larner

Kenyan Felista Wanjugu (Team Aruze) sprinted away from three of the cream of Japan's current crop of long distance women to win the women's 5000 m on the third day of the 2009 Japanese National Track and Field Championships, with Beijing Olympics marathoner Yurika Nakamura (Team Tenmaya) a close 2nd and picking up her first World Championships berth. The other big results of the day came in the men's 100 m, where Beijing Olympics 4x100 m relay bronze medalist Naoki Tsukahara (Team Fujitsu) casually dropped a PB of 10.09 in the first heat. Even bigger news was the unheralded Masashi Eriguchi (Waseda Univ.), who ran a PB by 0.20 to win the fifth heat in a World Championships A-standard 10.14.



Yurika Nakamura (Team Tenmaya), the only Japanese woman to finish the Beijing Olympics marathon, gained partial redemption for a poor showing in Thursday's 10000 m by being in the lucky position of being able to outkick two superior but injured runners, national record…

http://www.iaaf.org/GP09/news/kind=100/newsid=50474.html

by Brett Larner

Men's 4 x 400 m Relay - Heats
After Japan's ace runner Yuzo Kanemaru pulled out of the men's 4 x 400 m heats just 30 minutes before the race, veteran 400 m hurdler Dai Tamesue was brought in as a replacement to the mostly young, inexperienced team. Mitsuhiro Abiko handed off to Tamesue in last place, and Tamesue was unable to make up any ground on the rest of the field. Yoshihiro Horigome almost caught 7th place, but it was up to anchor Kenji Narisako, also a hurdler, to move Japan into its final position of 6th, catching Greece and the Dominican Republic in the home stretch. Japan finished in a season best 3:04.18 but failed to advance to the final.

Men's 4 x 100 m Relay - Final
Japan's team of Naoki Tsukahara, Shingo Suetsugu, Shinji Takahira and Nobuharu Asahara ran a season best 38.15 to finish 3rd, winning Japan's first-ever men's medal in an Olympic track race and the country's first Olympic track medal in 80 years. Click here for a mo…

by Brett Larner

Women's 10000 m
Yukiko Akaba went out according to expectation despite having come down with a fever, running in the top four until this historic race's fast pace swallowed her whole. She soon fell back and ran most of the race together with national record holder Yoko Shibui, who was surprisingly passive and never made a move to stay with the lead pack. Japan's third woman, 3000 m, 5000 m and half marathon national record holder Kayoko Fukushi, ran at the back of the lead pack, passing 5000 m in approximately 15:09, far faster than her 3rd place finish time in the 5000 m at June's National Track and Field Championships. She began to struggle between 5000 and 6000 m, but until 9000 m it looked likely that Shibui's national record of 30:48.89 would be in danger. Fukushi was in the end unable to hang on, jogging the home stretch and finishing 11th in a disappointing 31:01.14. Shibui was 17th in 31:31.13, while Akaba finished 20th in 32:00.37.

Women's…