japan running news

by Brett Larner

The fifth meet in the 2009 Hokuren Distance Challenge series took place July 15 in Kitami, Hokkaido, producing three significant results.

1500 m and 5000 m national champion Yuichiro Ueno (Team S&B) continued his winning streak, taking the men's 3000 m. His time of 8:09.03 was 12 seconds off his best but the win showed that Ueno is maintaining his competitive edge as he trains in Hokkaido for the World Championships 5000 m.

In the women's 5000 m Kenyans Doricah Obare (Team Hitachi) and Christine Muyanga (Team Panasonic) went 1-2 with Obare on top in 15:42.36. The surprise came in 3rd place, as World Championships marathon team member Yoshiko Fujinaga (Team Shiseido) came in just a step behind Muyanga. Earlier in the season Fujinaga had said she wanted to focus on her speed during the track season. While her earlier results had been unimpressive, her run in Kitami suggests she is rounding into form in time to peak in Berlin.

The men's 5000 m featured three o…

by Brett Larner

Yuri Kano (Second Wind AC) continued her summer of strength on July 27th, finishing in 3rd place at the 3rd New York City Half Marathon behind Kenyan marathon legend Catherine Ndereba and Mexican marathon national record holder Madai Perez. After finishing 4th in the race`s previous two editions, Kano once again found herself in a lead pack of four along with Ndereba, Perez and Kenyan Alice Timbilili. The four runners stayed close together throughout the race, with Kano doing most of the leading and Ndereba characteristically holding back just off the other competitors` shoulders. Timbilili was the first to fall back as Perez and Kano began to trade surges, but neither the Mexican nor the Japanese runner could respond to Ndereba`s long surge over the final two kilometers. Ndereba won in 1:10:19, with Perez 2nd in 1:10:26 and Kano 3rd in 1:10:31. Kano`s teammate Kiyoko Shimahara, in training for the Chicago Marathon, was 10th with a 1:13:41.

Across the Atlantic, men`s 400…

by Brett Larner

The 2008 Golden Games in Nobeoka track meet took place May 31. The meet acts as a kind of championship for professional jitsugyodan runners in the leadup to the National Championships in late June and is somewhat unusual in that it features a limited number events, with only the 800, 1500 and 5000 m distances contested along with a 3000 m event for junior high school students. The 5000 m is the main event of the day, with 10 heats for men and 4 for women. Primarily featuring jitsugyodan runners with heavy representation by teams` foreign ringers, the meet also attracts the most ambitious of the nation`s university runners, those who want to run against the strongest competitors.

The most impressive result of the day came in the women`s 800 m, where Team Natureal`s Miho Sato broke the meet record by over one second to win in 2:04.10. 2nd place finisher Ayako Jinnai of Saga University also broke the old meet record but was far behind Sato in 2:05.11. The men`s 1500 m also …