japan running news

Just over seven months since Yuta Shitara broke Toshinari Takaoka's longstanding 2:06:16 national record from the 2002 Chicago Marathon with a 2:06:11 in Tokyo in February, U.S.-based Suguru Osako brought the record back home to Chicago with a 3rd-place finish in 2:05:50.

Running the same pattern as in his first two marathons, Osako sat back in the lead men's pack, never exerting himself as it whittled down to the core members. Just past the turn into Chinatown near 35 km his Nike Oregon Project teammate and 2017 Chicago winner Galen Rupp fell off the front group to leave Osako in contention with former NOP member Mo Farah, 2:04 Ethiopian Mosinet Gemerew, former Asahi Kasei runner Kenneth Kipkemoi and 2017 world champion Geoffrey Kirui.

As in Boston and Fukuoka last year, when the real move came, this time in the form of a surge by Farah and Gemerew, Osako was left behind to battle it out for 3rd. While Farah kicked away for the win by 13 seconds in a European record 2:05:11,…

A Bank of America Chicago Marathon press release

The Bank of America Chicago Marathon announced today that reigning Boston Marathon champion and “citizen runner” Yuki Kawauchi and 2016 Olympian and Nike Oregon Project runner Suguru Osako will join the elite competition as they both seek to become the first Chicago Marathon champion from Japan since Toshihiko Seko took the crown in 1986.

"I'm really happy to have the chance to race in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon and the Abbott World Marathon Majors," Kawauchi said. "I'm looking forward to running the same race where Toshinari Takaoka set the former national record and so many other great Japanese athletes have run well. My results in the other American Abbott World Marathon Majors races, Boston and New York, were pretty good, and I'll do everything I can to line up in Chicago ready to produce good results there too."

“Yuki and Suguru are exciting additions to our elite field,” said Executive Rac…

From Farah to Fukushi to Kawauchi, Ageo to Hakone to New York and back, JRN's ten most-read articles of the year.

川内優輝さん！スーツ姿で爆走中‼︎ pic.twitter.com/GcOwRWrXlN — ▽・x・▽ tru2 (@M31007) March 13, 2016
1.Kawauchi Breaks World Record for Half Marathon in a Suit by 18 Minutes - Mar. 13
A week after running 2:11:53 at the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) ran his hometown Kuki Half Marathon dressed in his work clothes, a full three-piece suit including tie, belt and dress socks.  Kawauchi ran 1:06:42 for 3rd to beat the official Guinness World Record by 18 minutes, but because Kuki is not a certified course his time was not ratified as a new record.

2.Tsegay Over Makau for Fukuoka Win, Miracle-Worker Kawauchi 3rd - Dec. 4
2015 World Championships silver medalist Yemane Tsegay (Ethiopia) stopped former world record holder Patrick Makau (Kenya) from claiming a third-straight Fukuoka title.  Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) overcame injuries to bo…

by Brett Larner
photos by Tsukasa Kawarai


In a career teeming to overflow with double medals at the Olympics and World Championships and an unprecedented triple crown of Great North Run wins earned to varying degrees, Great Britain's Mo Farah staked the ultimate claim to the title of Greatest of All Time with the single most important victory of his career, a win at Saturday's Akasaka 5-Chome Mini Marathon.


Running on a hilly 900 m four-loop course around and through broadcaster TBS' Akasaka studios as part of its semi-annual All-Star Kanshasai variety show, Farah overcame a 5 minute, 55 second handicap start to run down a cavalcade of Japan's finestmodels and comedians for the win, catching the last trio led by entertainer Kenji Moriwaki on the final uphill run up to the studio.

【オールスター感謝祭 TBS】

ファラー速い！💨💨💨🏃
やっぱりファラーはロードでも強かった！😊 pic.twitter.com/tFdpxEXT3K — NOBUKI T&F (@hagechabin123) October 8, 2016
Farah covered the 3.6 km course in roughly 13:40.  His win w…

by Brett Larner

Japanese athletes were thin on the ground on the sixth day of athletics at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.    Men's javelin national champion Ryohei Arai (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) threw 84.16 m on his first qualifying round throw to make the final, the Japanese performance of the day, short and sweet.  His Suzuki teammates Akihiko Nakamura and Keisuke Ushiro ended the first day of the decathlon ranked near the bottom of the field, Nakamura 24th with 3899 points and Ushiro 25th with 3886.

On the track in the men's 5000 m heats, 10000 m national record holder Kota Murayama (Team Asahi Kasei) echoed his run in the 10000 m final.  Ranked 17th of 25 in Heat One, Murayama ran up front early with Richard Ringer (Germany) before fading to 22nd in 14:26.72.  5000 m national record holder Suguru Osako (Nike Oregon Project) was ranked 8th of 26 on PB in Heat Two, giving him a chance of becoming only the second Japanese man post-war to make an Olympic 5000 m final. Osako has lost…

by Brett Larner

Day two of athletics at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics brought high hopes for Japanese men's long distance with a talented 10000 m squad led by national record holder Kota Murayama (Team Asahi Kasei).  But in a familiar sight to anyone who remembers the 10000 m at last year's Beijing World Championships, Murayama and Beijing last-placer Yuta Shitara (Team Honda) were out of the action before it even started.  Murayama sank to 30th of 32 finishers in 29:02.51 with Shitara, who lost to Murayama's twin brother Kenta in Beijing, a few strides ahead in 28:55.23 for 29th.

Just lapping Murayama in the final meters, U.S.-based 10000 m national champion Suguru Osako (Nike Oregon Project) ran 27:51.94, the third-fastest ever by a Japanese man at the Olympics, for 17th to handily beat his pre-race ranking of 23rd in the field.  Osako held on to the lead group long into the race and kept pushing with almost even first and second half splits, kicking in the home straight …

by Brett Larner

Saitama-based William Malel (Team Honda) gave defending Olympic gold medalist Mo Farah (Great Britain) a run for it in Saturday's Prefontaine Classic men's 10000 m, kicking over the last 250 or so meters before Farah caught him in the final 50 m.  Malel finished less than a second behind Farah in 26:54.66, a new PB that, given the injured status of Bedan Karoki (Team DeNA), surely puts Malel into consideration for the Rio team.  Interestingly enough, Ibrahim Jeilan (Ethiopia), who won the 2011 Daegu World Championships 10000 m over Farah with a mighty kick while running for the Honda team, was close behind in a new PB of 26:58.75 for 5th.

Japan-based Kenyans Leonard Barsoton (Team Nissin Shokuhin) and James Mwangi (Team NTN) took 12th and 13th, both in the 27:30 range.  Japan's Suguru Osako (Nike Oregon Project) wasn't up to the night's task, losing touch with the leaders after the first 1000 m and dropping out early in the second half.  One of 11 J…

http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/kenyans-plot-stop-mo

2015 World XC silver medalist Bedan Karoki runs for Tokyo-based DeNA, while 2013 World Championships 10000 m bronze medalist and 2011 World XC silver medalist Paul Tanui runs for Fukuoka's Kyudenko team.

by Brett Larner
video by MYXGAMES2013



Less than a week after setting a new 5000 m national record in Belgium, Suguru Osako (Nike Oregon Project) came up short of breaking his own 3000 m national record of 7:40.09, running 7:46.14 for 10th in the men's 3000 m at the Sainsbury's Anniversary Games Diamond League meet in London.  London Olympics double gold medalist Mo Farah (Great Britain) put on another show for the hometown crowds, outrunning Othmane El Goumri (Morocco) to win in a world-leading 7:34.66.

Sainsbury's Anniversary Games
London, U.K., 7/24/15
click here for complete results

Men's 3000 m
1. Mo Farah (Great Britain) - 7:34.66 - WL
2. Othmane El Goumri (Morocco) - 7:36.71 - PB
3. Emmanuel Kipsang (Kenya) - 7:37.05
4. Yenew Alamirew (Ethiopia) - 7:38.47
5. Collis Birmingham (Australia) - 7:39.85
-----
10. Suguru Osako (Japan/Oregon Project) - 7:46.14

(c) 2015 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Initial ProPublica and BBC articles:

https://www.propublica.org/article/former-team-members-accuse-coach-alberto-salazar-of-breaking-drug-rules

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-32877702

Responses from Salazar and Rupp:

http://www.oregonlive.com/trackandfield/index.ssf/2015/06/alberto_salazar_and_galen_rupp.html

Former Waseda University and Team Nissin Shokuhin runner Suguru Osako has set multiple Japanese national records while working with Salazar in recent years.  He made his formal Nike Oregon Project debut at last weekend's Prefontaine Classic.

Eugene, U.S.A., 5/29/15
click here for complete results

1. Mo Farah (Great Britain) - 26:50.97
2. Paul Tanui (Kenya/Team Kyudenko) - 26:51.96
3. Geoffrey Kamworor (Kenya) - 26:52.65 - PB
4. Cam Levins (Canada) - 27:07.51 - NR
5. Geoffrey Kirui (Kenya) - 27:17.91
6. Emmanuel Bett (Kenya) - 27:22.34
7. El Hassan El Abbassi (Bahrain) - 27:25.02 - PB
8. Joshua Cheptegei (Uganda) - 27:27.57 - PB
9. Diego Estrada (U.S.A.) - 27:30.53 - PB
10. Titus Mbishei (Kenya) - 27:31.48
-----
16. Suguru Osako (Japan/Nike Oregon Project) - 27:45.24

by Brett Larner

Marathon national record holder Mizuki Noguchi (Team Sysmex) and newly-anointed Beijing World Championships team member Masakazu Fujiwara (Team Honda) put in an appearance at Sunday's 25th anniversary Lisbon Half Marathon.  Noguchi, who in recent years has had more DNS that starts in her scheduled races, made a rare start but proved ineffectual, opening at a conservative pace well outside the lead pack but fading badly later in the race to finish 16th in just 1:19:07.  Fujiwara, making the Beijing team off a 2:09:06 at December's Fukuoka International Marathon, started more aggressively, on track for a low 1:02 time through 10 km but struggling over the second half before finishing just outside the top 10, 11th in 1:04:10.

25th Lisbon Half Marathon
Lisbon, Portugal, 3/22/15
click here for complete results

Women
1. Rose Chelimo (Kenya) - 1:08:22
2. Sara Moreira (Portugal) - 1:09:18
3. Priscah Jeptoo (Kenya) - 1:09:21
4. Purity Cherotich Rionoripo (Kenya) - 1:10:24
5…

Birmingham, U.K., 2/21/15
click here for complete results

Men's 2 Miles
1. Mo Farah (Great Britain) - 8:03.40 - WR
2. Paul Koech (Kenya) - 8:13.46
3. Bernard Lagat (U.S.A.) - 8:17.05
4. Suguru Osako (Japan/Nissin Shokuhin) - 8:25.76
5. Thomas Farrell (Great Britain) - 8:26.01
6. Philip Hurst (Great Britain) - 8:26.56
7. Tom Lancashire (Great Britain) - 8:30.79
8. Jonny Hay (Great Britain) -  8:31.69
9. Rob Mullett (Great Britain) - 8:32.50
10. Florian Carvalho (France) - 8:32.87
DNF - Dale Clutterbuck (Great Britain)

by Brett Larner



Already on the edge of national records for 3000 m, 2 miles, 5000 m and 10000 m, Suguru Osako (Team Nissin Shokuhin) stepped up in his last race on the summer European circuit, the 3000 m at Italy's Rieti Meeting 2014.  Partially based in the U.S. since graduating from Waseda University this spring, Osako has been training with the Alberto Salazar-coached Nike Oregon Project.  Before the race NOP assistant coach Pete Julian told JRN, "He's been hitting all the workouts with Mo Farah and Galen Rupp, so he's pretty worn out at this point.  With a couple weeks of rest he'll be stronger but we don't expect much for this race."

Despite the fatigue Osako went with the 2:29.24 opening 1000 m in Rieti, hanging on to the leaders through some ups and downs in the pacing and crossing the line in 7:40.09 to break marathon national record holder Toshinari Takaoka's 15-year-old 3000 m record by almost two seconds.  Among distances officially recorde…

by Brett Larner


The Great North Run celebrated three-part history Sunday, with the great Mary Keitany breaking marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe's course record and Mo Farah bringing home the first British men's win in 29 years to set the stage for the millionth finisher in GNR history, the first race in the world to hit that mark.


In beautiful conditions with a comfortable tailwind heavy favorite Keitany soloed the race the entire way on track for Radcliffe's 1:05:40 record, only appearing to falter near the end.  Bearing down in the home straight she looked to hit the line dead on, but when official results were posted it was announced that she had made it by a second with a new record of 1:05:39.  Nearly a kilometer back, the U.K.'s Gemma Steel was shockingly strong, going head-to-head with London Olympics gold medalist Tiki Gelana, Commonwealth Games silver medalist Caroline Kilel and two-time World Championships gold medalist Edna Kiplagat before droppi…

2014 Copenhagen World Half Marathon team members Masato Kikuchi (Team Konica Minolta) and Risa Takenaka (Team Shiseido) lead the best-ever Japanese contingent at Sunday's Great North Run half marathon, appearing with support from JRN.

2014 Great North Run
Newcastle, U.K., 9/7/14
click here for complete entry list

Men
Mike Kigen (Kenya) - 59:58
Mo Farah (Great Britain) - 1:00:10a / 1:00:59
Mark Kiptoo (Keya) - 1:00:29
Ezrah Sang (Kenya) - 1:01:03
Stephen Kiprotich (Uganda) - 1:01:15
Masato Kikuchi (Japan/Team Konica Minolta) - 1:01:17
Paulo Roberto de Almeida Paula (Brazil) - 1:02:30
Thomas Ayeko (Uganda) - 1:02:32
Keisuke Tanaka (Japan/Team Fujitsu) - 1:02:38
Hiroaki Sano (Japan/Team Honda) - 1:02:40
Sho Matsueda (Japan/Team Mitsubishi Juko Nagasaki) - 1:02:41
Ian Hudspith (Great Britain) - 1:02:53
Tariku Bekele (Ethiopia) - 1:02:59
Jonathan Mellor (Great Britain) - 1:02:59
Takamitsu Hashimoto (Japan/Team Komori Corp.) - 1:03:13
Luis Feiteira (Portugal) - 1:03:43
Tadele Geremew…

by Brett Larner
photos by rikujolove

2014 Copenhagen World Half Marathon Japanese national team members Masato Kikuchi (Team Konica Minolta) and Risa Takenaka (Team Shiseido) will join London Olympics and Moscow World Championships 5000 m and 10000 m double gold medalist Mo Farah (GBR), London and Moscow marathon gold medalist Stephen Kiprotich (Uganda), Daegu and Moscow World Championships marathon gold medalist Edna Kiplagat (Kenya), Birmingham World Half Marathon gold medalist Mary Keitany (Kenya) and others at the Sept. 7 Great North Run half marathon in Newcastle, U.K.

Kikuchi, formerly captain of Meiji University's Hakone Ekiden team, has broken 62 minutes for the half marathon three times so far this year including a 1:01:17 PB for 2nd at February's National Corporate Half Marathon Championships and a 1:01:23 at March's Copenhagen World Half Marathon, where he was the only athlete born outside Africa to make the top 25.  Takenaka, a former captain of National Universi…

by Brett Larner

Waseda University graduate Suguru Osako (Team Nissin Shokuhin) turned up at Sunday's Birmingham Grand Prix to run with sometimes training partner Mo Farah in pursuit of fellow Waseda grad Kensuke Takezawa's Japanese national record of 8:24.69.  While Farah went out way ahead of the field to set a European area record of 8:07.85 for the win, Osako came up a few seconds short of Takezawa's mark in 8:28.30.  In a distance rarely raced by Japanese athletes, Osako's time was good enough for all-time Japanese #2, joining his all-time #6 5000 m best of 13:20.80 just behind Takezawa's all-time #5 mark of 13:19.00.

A small contingent of Japanese high schoolers also turned up at Saturday's International Antwerp Athletics Gala.  Takuya Hanyu (Yachiyo Shoin H.S.), who last November ran 14:00.55 to become Japan's fastest-ever high school first-year for 5000 m, finished 2nd behind Australia's Mitchel Brown in a new PB of 13:52.98 that moved him up to …

http://www.nyrr.org/newsroom/press-release/2014-nyc-half-to-feature-molly-huddle-and-geoffrey-mutai-and-international-fields-for-march-16-race

2013 Ageo City Half Marathon winner Takashi Ichida (1:02:36, Daito Bunka University) and four-time National University Ekiden stage winner Ikuto Yufu (1:02:46, Komazawa University) are running the NYC Half Marathon with support from JRN after placing in Ageo last November.

8th NYC Half Marathon Elite Field
New York, NY, 3/16/14

Men
Geoffrey Mutai (Kenya) - 58:58 (Ras Al Khaimah 2013)
Mo Farah (U.K.) - 1:00:10a (Great North Run 2013)
Stephen Sambu (Kenya) - 1:00:41 (Boston 2013)
Meb Keflezighi (U.S.A.) - 1:01:00 (Rock 'n' Roll San Jose 2009)
Wesley Korir (Kenya) - 1:01:19 (New York 2012)
Juan Luis Barrios (Mexico) - 1:01:21 (New York 2013)
Kevin Chelimo (Kenya) - 1:01:21 (New York 2012)
Luke Puskedra (U.S.A.) - 1:01:36 (Houston 2012)
Matt Tegenkamp (U.S.A.) - 58:30 (New Haven 20 km 2012)
Jason Hartmann (U.S.A.) - 1:01:51 (New York 2013)
Bret…

by Brett Larner

Scratches from the upper end of the entry lists for tomorrow's Great North Run include Koen Raymaekers (Netherlands) and Andy Vernon (Great Britain) in the men's race and #1-ranked Brit Gemma Steel, Irene Jerotich (Kenya), Jen Rhines (U.S.A.), Laura Whittle (Great Britain) and Abigail Bayley (Great Britain) in the women's race.

2013 Great North Run Start List Highlights
Newcastle-South Shields, U.K., 9/15/13

Men
Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia) - debut
Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) - 58:55 (Phoenix, 2006)
Mo Farah (Great Britain) - 1:00:22 (New York 2011)
Collis Birmingham (Australia) - 1:00:56 (Marugame 2013)
Daniele Meucci (Italy) - 1:01:06 (New York 2013)
Arata Fujiwara (Japan/Miki House) - 1:01:34 (Marugame 2012)
Tomohiro Tanigawa (Japan/Team Konica Minolta) - 1:02:17 (Marugame 2013)
Yuki Kawauchi (Japan/Saitama Pref. Gov't) - 1:02:18 (Marugame 2012)
Jonathan Mellor (Great Britain) - 1:02:59 (New York 2012)
Ryota Matoba (Japan/Team Komori Corp.) - 1:03:15 (N…