japan running news

by Brett Larner

Organizers of the 49th Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon have announced the elite field for the Feb. 13 race. A developmental race for up-and-coming marathoners and first-timers, Nobeoka serves the role of a step up to the next tier of the Japanese marathoning circuit.

Last year's 3rd-placer Takanori Ide (Team Kyudenko) heads the field, and with training partner Kazuhiro Maeda going for a World Championships spot a week before at the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon Ide has been doing the workouts necessary to win. His competition will include last year's 5th-place man Kenji Higashino (Team Asahi Kasei), Takayuki Ota (Team Fujitsu), and, looking to improve on his rare overseas debut at last fall's Toronto Waterfront Marathon, Minoru Okuda (Team Honda). Among the debutants Okuda's teammate Seigo Ikegami (Team Honda) is the most likely to have a strong showing, but 1:02 half marathoners Yusuke Ichinoi (Team Nishitetsu) and Takaharu Miyazaki (Team Sumco) should also…

all photos (c) 2010 Brett Larner
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The start.

Minoru Okuda (Team Honda)














Ayumi Nakayama (Team Yamada Denki)

Maki Suzawa (Team Yamada Denki)













The team award ceremony.

2010 Toronto Waterfront Marathon
click here for complete results
Men
1. Kenneth Mungara (KEN) - 2:07:58 - PB, CR
2. Jafred Chirchir (KEN) - 2:08:10 (CR)
3. Daniel Rono (KEN) - 2:08:15 (CR)
4. Nixon Machichim (KEN) - 2:08:22 (CR)
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16. Minoru Okuda (Team Honda) - 2:18:53 - debut

Women
1. Sharon Cherop (KEN) - 2:22:43 - PB, CR
2. Tirfi Tsegaye (ETH) - 2:22:44 - PB (CR)
3. Merima Mohammed (ETH) - 2:23:06 - PB (CR)
4. Koren Yal (ETH) - 2:24:33 - PB (CR)
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9. Ayumi Nakayama (Team Yamada Denki) - 2:38:26
13. Maki Suzawa (Team Yamada Denki) - 2:42:08 - debut

Maki Suzawa and Ayumi Nakayama where all Japanese people must go before they die.

by Brett Larner

This weekend marks the real beginning of the fall marathon season. With no major domestic women's marathon on the fall calendar and a relatively wide window in which to qualify for next summer's World Championships, a larger than usual number of Japanese marathoners are lining up overseas.

First and foremost, 2010 Tokyo Marathon winner Masakazu Fujiwara (Team Honda) will be running tomorrow's Berlin Marathon as he aims to fulfill his post-Tokyo promise of delivering Japan its fourth 2:06. Fujiwara holds the Japanese collegiate and debut marathon records thanks to his 2:08:12 run at the 2003 Biwako Mainichi Marathon. For the next six years he suffered a continuous series of overtraining-induced injuries, but his Tokyo win signals that he is back to full capactiy. Fujiwara's coaches Kiyoshi Akimoto and Yosuke Osawa told JRN that he plans to go through halfway in 1:03:15 and then if all goes well to take a shot at the Japanese national record of 2:06:16. Als…

JRN will be on location at the 2010 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon this week. Apologies in advance for any interruptions to regularly-scheduled service.

by Brett Larner

One month to the day from Arata Fujiwara's course-record win at the Ottawa Marathon, the organizers of the Sept. 26 Toronto Waterfront Marathon have announced that they will invite four Japanese athletes to this year's race as part of their International Team Challenge team competition. The Japanese contingent, the first in the history of the event, will consist of Yamada Denki women's team runners Ayumi Nakayama and Maki Suzawa and Honda men's team athletes Takashi Horiguchi and Minoru Okuda. Race director Alan Brookes commented, "This is the first time we'll have had elite Japanese athletes on our flat, fast course. We're delighted to welcome Team Japan, a strong team from one of the great marathon-running nations, to Toronto Waterfront for the first time, and expect them to do very well against teams from around the world."

Nakayama holds a PB of 2:28:50 from the 2008 Osaka International Ladies Marathon. Freezing rain at this year'…

http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/general/news/20100112k0000m050027000c.html

translated by Brett Larner

17 teams competed in the 61st Asahi Ekiden on Jan. 11, a seven-stage, 99.9 km elite competition stretching from Fukuoka to Kita-Kyushu. Team Honda ran 4:47:33 to take its first-ever Asahi Ekiden win. Honda's Sixth Stage runner Yacob Jarso of Ethiopia started the stage in 3rd place 1:40 behind the leader but broke the existing stage record on his way to taking the lead. Honda anchor Suehiro Ishikawa managed to hold on to the lead to bring the team home on top. Trying for a fourth-straight win, Team Asahi Kasei anchor Tomoya Onishi ran the stage's best time but could not catch Ishikawa and had to settle for 2nd. Team Kyudenko finished 3rd, while last year's Kyushu Jitsugyodan Ekiden winner Team Yasukawa Denki was 4th. Alongside Jarso's mark, Kenyan student runner Kiragu Njuguna (Daiichi Kogyo Univ.) also set a new record on the first stage.

2010 Asahi Ekiden - 7 Stages, 99.9…