japan running news

Two weeks to the day after running 2:10:53 at the Fukuoka International Marathon, Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) wrapped his 2017 with a win, running one of the few negative splits of his career to win the Hofu Yomiuri Marathon for the third time in 2:10:03. Women's winner Misako Kato (Kyudenko), a 1:09:49 half marathon, soloed an almost perfectly paced 2:28:12 to take 3 minutes off her PB and 7 1/2 minutes off the course record. Further back, Rio Paralympics T12 marathon silver medalist Misato Michishita broke the own world record in her category with a time of 2:56:14.

Watch a complete replay of the race here.


Pacers Taiga Ito and Melaku Abera, both of whom ran Fukuoka alongside Kawauchi, were tasked with taking the field out in 3:06/km, 2:10:48 pace. Pre-race Kawauchi told JRN, "If they'd run 3:04 I ccoul definitely, 100%, go faster than I did in Fukuoka. In cold and windy conditions things went in his favor in the early going with 5 and 10 km splits of 15:19 …

by Brett Larner

The Japanese athletics team at the Rio de Janeiro Paralympics came up short of scoring gold, with a final tally of four silver and three bronze medals. Tomoki Sato led the team with a pair of silvers in the men's T52 400 m and 1500 m, with another highlight coming from the bronze medal-winning men's T42-47 4x100 m relay team.  A complete breakdown of Japanese finalists in athletics at the Rio Paralympics:

Rio de Janeiro Paralympics Athletics
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sept. 8-18, 2016
click here for complete results

Women's T33/34 100 m - Sept. 10 -0.1 m/s
1. Hannah Cockroft (Great Britain) - 17.42
2. Kare Adenegan (Great Britain) - 18.29
3. Alexa Halko (U.S.A.) - 18.81
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7. Haruka Kitaura (Japan) - 20.23

Men's T42 100 m - Sept. 15 -0.2 m/s
1. Scott Reardon (Australia) - 12.26
2. Daniel Wagner (Denmark) - 12.32
3. Richard Whitehead (Great Britain) - 12.32
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7. Atsushi Yamamoto (Japan) - 12.84

Women's T45/46/47 100 m - Sept. 11 +0.2 m/s
1. Deja Young…

by Brett Larner

Shut out of inclusion in the selection races for the Rio Olympics men's team the 65th running of the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon was largely a developmental race, the small international field and large field of second-tier and debuting Japanese men setting out in hopes of sub-2:10 times.  #1 seed Evans Ruto (Kenya), the only athlete in the field to have broken 2:09, was an early casualty, dropping out just past 15 km as the pace accelerated from high 2:09 to low 2:08 territory.  Over a dozen were still in touch at halfway in 1:04:22, including #2 and #3-ranked Shume Hailu (Ethiopia) and Anthony Maritim (Kenya), Japanese men Naohiro Yamada (YKK), Kenichi Shiraishi (Asahi Kasei) and Shogo Kanezane (Chugoku Denryoku), 22-year-old Myeung Jun Son (South Korea) and debuting Melaku Abera (Ethiopia/Kurosaki Harima), Yuki Munakata (Kanebo) and Keisuke Kusaka (Hitachi Butsuryu).

Past the halfway point Kiflom Sium (Eritrea) was the next main casualty, and just after 25 km a…

http://www.nishinippon.co.jp/nnp/f_toshiken/article/203976

translated and edited by Brett Larner

A former Japanese national representative at the World Championships is getting ready to take on his second marathon.  Injuries having forced him into retirement at just age 30, this time he will be running in a new role.  With two World Championships appearances on the track behind him, Yu Mitsuya will run the Nov. 8 Fukuoka Marathon as a guide runner for blind marathoner Misato Michishita, 38, already named as a member of the women's marathon team for next year's Rio de Janeiro Paralympics.  "I want to be a source of strength that will help Michishita on her road to Rio," Mitsuya said.

A native of Kagawa prefecture, Mitsuya emerged as a star in high school before joining the Toyota Kyushu corporate team after graduating in 2003.  At Toyota Kyushu he was coached by Barcelona Olympics marathon silver medalist Koichi Morishita and trained alongside future Beijing Olympics m…

https://www.oita-press.co.jp/1010000000/2015/09/02/001710317
http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/20150901/ath15090118280005-n1.html
http://mainichi.jp/sports/news/20150902k0000m050018000c.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner

The organizers of the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon have announced course changes for the event's 65th running on Feb. 7, 2016, the first course changes since 2010.  The start at Umitamago and finish at Oita Municipal Field will remain the same, but the two turnaround points will each be extended roughly a kilometer while the loop section through the city of Oita will be eliminated.  By reducing the number of times the course crosses bridges over the Oita River organizers believe the race will become flatter and faster, their main goal in making the changes.

The Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon has also been named as the final selection race for the Japanese national team at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics in the visually impaired marathon category.  2015 IPC …