japan running news

In his second pro season, junior and collegiate men's 10000 m racewalk national record holder Daisuke Matsunaga (Fujitsu) stepped up with his biggest performance yet, becoming the first Japanese man to break 38 minutes and coming in with a near miss on the world record to win the 10000 m racewalk in a national record 37:58.08 at Saturday's Hokuren Distance Challenge Kitami meet. A 2017 graduate of Toyo University, throughout the race Matsunaga had support from younger Toyo athletes Koki Ikeda and Masatori Kawano who ended up 2nd and 3rd 40 to 50 seconds back. Currently ranked 4th in the world over 20 km, Matsunaga may be just what Japan needs for Tokyo 2020: a legit gold medal contender in athletics.

Speaking of Tokyo 2020, the JAAF is desperate to get some women under 15 minutes for 5000 m before, something only national record holder Kayoko Fukushi (Wacoal) has ever done. As a step toward that objective, for the second year in a row the Hokuren Distance Challenge featured a…

by Brett Larner

The 2016 Hokuren Distance Challenge series wrapped up Thursday in Kitami, Hokkaido with world record-setting depth in the women's 5000 m.  Newcomer Shuru Bulo (Team Toto) led most of the race for the win in a PB 15:13.07, but the bigger news came further down the field.  In 25th place Nao Isaka (Team Hitachi) finished in 15:59.32, surpassing the 2005 Rome Golden Gala for the most women ever under 16 minutes in a single race.

The women's 3000 m also produced some news.  18-year-old Harumi Okamoto (Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo), already with a 9:00.91 at age 16 to her name, became just the 11th Japanese woman to break nine minutes when she outkicked Kenyan Ann Karindi (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) for the win in 8:59.96.  19-year-old Mina Ueda (Josai Univ.) and 18-year-old Nana Kuraoka (Denso) also cleared 9:10 with new PBs.

After a big 10000 m on Monday in Abashiri the men's races were relatively quiet.  A planned 1500 m national record attempt by 5000 m national r…

by Brett Larner

After a superb come-from-behind 15:21.07 PB for 2nd at the National Championships two weeks ago, 18-year-old Azusa Sumi (Team Univ. Ent.) did what she needed to do to make the Beijing World Championships team, dropping a 2:59 last 1000 m to go under the 15:20.00 Beijing standard for the first time as she won the Hokuren Distance Challenge Kitami Meet women's 5000 m A-heat in 15:17.62.  Sumi ran much of the race with 19-year-old Miyuki Uehara (Team Daiichi Seimei) right on standard pace but needed to bring the kick that took her from 4th to 2nd on the last lap at Nationals into play to go under.  Uehara just missed joining her but likewise marked a big improvement to her PB with a 15:21.40.  Now #2 among juniors worldwide so far this year, Sumi should join Nationals 1st and 3rd placers Misaki Onishi (Team Sekisui Kagaku) and Ayuko Suzuki (Team Japan Post), both of whom already had the Beijing standard, on the World Championships team but must wait for pending offici…

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2014/10/13/kiji/K20141013009092370.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner

The civil servant runner has pushed the reset button.  In his first race since his Asian Games men's marathon bid ended in a bronze medal nine days ago, Yuki Kawauchi (27, Saitama Pref. Gov't) ran the Kitami Half Marathon in Kitami, Hokkaido on Sunday, crossing the line first in 1:04:33.  Because he missed winning the gold medal at the Asian Games and its accompanying place on the Japanese team for next summer's World Championships in Beijing, China, Kawauchi will sit out the rest of the domestic selection races for the Beijing team.  Instead he will next race November's New York City Marathon, following his own route to becoming a better athlete.

by Brett Larner
The first meet of the 2011 Hokuren Distance Challenge series took place June 19 in Kitami, Hokkaido. With cooler than usual temperatures 2006 world 10000 m junior champion and 2008 world junior XC champion Ibrahim Jeilan (Ethiopia/Team Honda) delivered the biggest result of the evening, a solo 27:09.02 nearly a minute ahead of runner-up Alex Mwangi (Kenya/Team YKK). Jeilan's time was the third-fastest of the year by an Ethiopian, putting him into consideration for the Ethiopian team for August's Daegu World Championships. In 5th, third-year Yuki Maeda (Waseda Univ.), whose excellent run on the first day of this year's Hakone Ekiden was instrumental in keeping Waseda in contention for the win, became the latest Waseda runner to break 29 minutes as he clocked a PB of 28:54.34. Ten men on the roster of Waseda's 2010-2011 squad held PBs under 29 minutes.
In the women's 5000 m, 2011 East Japan Corporate T&F 10000 m champion Hiroko Shoi (Team Nihon …

by Brett Larner

All but invisible to the eyes of the world, the penultimate meet in the 2010 Hokuren Distance Challenge, a six-meet series designed to provide racing and sharpening opporunities for the hundreds of corporate, university and high school student athletes who spend the summer training in Hokkaido to escape the heat of Japan's mainland, took place July 14 in Kitami, Hokkaido. At the Kitami meet a host of familiar faces took the top spots at distances from 800 m to 10000 m.

5000 m and 30 km national record holder Takayuki Matsumiya (Team Konica Minolta) took another step in his comeback from two years of setbacks with a 10000 m win in 28:08.16. 5000 m national champion Yuki Matsuoka (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) ran a slim PB to finish a safe 2nd ahead of Matsumiya's Kenyan teammate Samuel Kariuki (Team Konica Minolta). 2010 Tokyo Marathon winner Masakazu Fujiwara (Team Honda) continued his gradual post-Tokyo rebuild with a solid 28:40.06. Fujiwara plans to target a 2:06 at S…

by Brett Larner

The Olympic A-standard victory of Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren) in the women`s 5000 m proved the standout result of the July 13 Hokuren Distance Challenge Kitami Meet. Akaba, who has already been named to the Beijing Olympic team in the women`s 10000 m, ran a sizeable PB of 15:06.07 to win the race and all but assure that she will double in Beijing.

Her potential teammate in the Olympic 5000 m, women`s national 1500 m record holder Yuriko Kobayashi (Team Toyota Jidoshokki), won the Kitami 1500 m in 4:12.79, a time too slow to put her in a position for an Olympic double. Men`s national 1500 m record holder Fumikazu Kobayashi (Team NTN) likewise missed setting an Olympic-standard mark, winning the men`s 1500 m in 3:42.67. Barring a last-minute breakthrough, the male Kobayashi will likely be staying home in August.

Athens Olympics 10000 m team member Ryuji Ono (Team Asahi Kasei) won the men`s 3000 m in 7:54.25 in a tune-up for Wednesday`s Hokuren Distance Challenge Kushiro …

http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2008071300185

translated by Brett Larner

At the fifth meet in the Hokuren Distance Challenge track and field series, the July 13th Kitami Meet in Kitami, Hokkaido, Team Hokuren`s Yukiko Akaba won the women`s 5000 m in a personal best time of 15:06.07. Her mark, set with the aid of a male pacemaker, cleared the Olympic A-standard of 15:09.00. Akaba has already been named to the Beijing Olympic team in the women`s 10000 m but is now eligible to double in the 5000 m. Team Toyota Jidoshokki`s Yuriko Kobayashi and Team Wacoal`s Kayoko Fukushi also hold the A-standard and have already been named to the Olympic team.*

Kobayashi, the national record holder in the women`s 1500 m, ran the 1500 m at the Kitami meet. She won in a time of 4:12.76

Other athletes hoping for last-minute Olympic team selection have until July 23rd to run a qualifying time. In any event if one athlete from a given country breaks the Olympic A-standard the country may send up to …