japan running news

by Brett Larner
photo by Dr. Helmut Winter

In a superb race led by Fukuoka Marathon course record-holder Tsegaye Kebede's world record-pace second half 2:04:38 course record win, relatively unknown 23-year-old Koji Kobayashi (Team Subaru) was the top Japanese man, 14th in a PB of 2:10:40 in his second marathon. While national record-holder Toshinari Takaoka-coached 2:12 runner Hiroki Kadota (Team Kanebo) started the race off in the first pack and 2:11 man Yuki Moriwaki (Team JFE Steel) struggled from the start, Kobayashi, 2:10 runner Takeshi Kumamoto (Team Toyota) and 2:09:16 veteran Takashi Horiguchi (Team Honda) stuck with top American hopeful Dathan Ritzenhein on low-2:07 pace. Kadota soon dropped back to join the pack, but when Ritzenhein accelerated into high-2:06 territory near halfway the pack splintered. Kobayashi, coached by 2:08 man Wataru Okutani at Subaru, was the last to hang on, losing touch just before 30 km but holding on to 2:08 pace through 40 km. Kobayashi fa…

by Brett Larner

Takashi Horiguchi in last year's Chicago Marathon. Follow Horiguchi on Twitter. Photo (c) 2011 Dr. Helmut Winter

Long one of the races of choice for Japanese athletes looking to run a fast time overseas and the home of Toshinari Takaoka's 2:06:16 Japanese national record, for the second year in a row the Chicago Marathon is playing host to a group of developmental-level Japanese men.  This year's group is a step above last year's, including one 2:09 man, one 2:10, one 2:11 and two 2:12 runners.

The Japanese federation has said that a sub-2:08 in any of the Majors will put the runner into the stable for next year's Moscow World Championships marathon squad, but of the men in Chicago only veteran Takashi Horiguchi (Team Honda) looks to be in contention.  After taking eight years to break his 2:12:06 debut time Horiguchi has been on a roll for the last year and a half, PBing twice and becoming one of eight Japanese men so far this year to have broken 2:…

by Brett Larner

Cooler than usual temperatures helped two Kenyans, winner Francis Kibiwott and runner-up Silas Sang, take down double Olympic marathon medalist Erick Wainaina's long-standing Nagano Marathon course record of 2:10:17 on April 15, Kibiwott setting a new mark of 2:09:05 and Sang just five seconds back in a new PB of 2:09:10.  The women's race was a slower affair, but winner Pauline Wangui (Kenya) still managed a sizeable PB as she won in 2:34:22 by nearly a minute over Ethiopian Belainesh Gebre.

Kibiwott, Sang, countryman Moses Kangogo, Russian Alexey Sokolov and ultramarathon specialist Kiyokatsu Hasegawa (Team JR Higashi Nihon) set off in a pack of five, but by 20 km it had whittled down to just the three Kenyans.  The trio hit halfway in 1:04:28, with2:08 man  Kangogo falling off after 25 km.  Kibiwott and Sang were together until near the end, Kibiwott emerging on top in a hard push to the finish.  Down 24 seconds at halfway, Sokolov came within four seconds o…

2012 Nagano Marathon Elite Field
April 15, Nagano
click here for complete elite field listing

Men
1. Francis Kibiwott (Kenya) - 2:07:32 (Tiberias 2012)
2. Moses Kangogo (Kenya) - 2:08:58 (Dublin 2010)
3. Silas Sang (Kenya) - 2:10:58 (Ottawa 2011)
4. Alexey Sokolov (Russia) - 2:11:53 (Zurich 2011)
10. Norihiro Nomiya (Team Toyota) - 2:14:36 (Nobeoka 2010)
11. Kiyokatsu Hasegawa (Team JR Higashi Nihon) - 2:15:15 (Tokyo 2010)
12. Sohei Wada (Team Shikoku Denryoku) - 2:15:19 (Kochi 2010)
13. Koji Matsuoka (Team Mazda) - debut - 1:02:55 (Nat'l Corp Half 2006)
14. Yu Chiba (Team Honda) - debut - 1:04:01 (Ageo City Half 2008)
20. Hiro Tonegawa (Alps Tools AC) - 2:19:34 (Tokyo 2011)
21. Satoshi Nishizawa (Yamani Spring AC) - 2:20:30 (Tokyo Int'l 2005)

Women
51. Belainesh Gebre (Ethiopia) - 2:26:17 (Chicago 2011)
52. Anastasia Ndereba (Kenya) - 2:29:03 (Venice 2002)
53. Rose Kerubo Nyangacha (Kenya) - 2:29:22 (Hamburg 2007)
54. Pauline Wangui (Kenya) - 2:38:05 (Madrid 2011)
60. Yumiko Hara…

http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2011062600197http://ws100.ultralive.net/webcast.php
translated and edited by Brett Larner complete results coming soon
Corporate team runner Kiyokatsu Hasegawa (Team JR Higashi Nihon) took his first win at Japan's premier ultra, the June 26 Saromako 100 km, running 6:31:06 to beat defending champion, Kenyan national record holder and double Olympic marathon medalist Erick Wainaina (Lights AC) and defending 100 km world champion Shinji Nakadai (Harriers AC). "It was pretty close," Hasegawa said after the race, "but I managed to win. This will help me as I get ready for a good run at the Hokkaido Marathon." Wainaina finished 3rd, with Nakadai 6th. Naomi Ochiai (Tokyo T&F Assoc.) won the women's race in 7:54:08.
Across the Pacific, top-ranked trail runner Tsuyoshi Kaburaki, 42, ran a patient race at the Western States 100, advancing through the field late in the race to take 5th overall.