japan running news

by Brett Larner

Japanese athletes raced in three European road races in three different countries on Sunday, 2015 Zurich Marathon winner Yoshiko Sakamoto (Y.W.C.) leading the way at Germany's Volksbank Muenster Marathon.  Starting off at a conservative pace that left her 20 seconds behind the lead group at 5 km and over a minute and a half behind by 15 km, over the second half she overtook three women, Ethiopian Belaynesh Yigezu, then Kenyans Janet Cheruiyot and Salina Jebet, to move into 2nd.  2015 Nairobi Marathon winner Elizabeth Rumokol of Kenya, the only woman in the field to have broken 2:30, took 1st in 2:33:01, Sakamoto next in 2:38:46 and Jebet 3rd in 2:42:27.  "I wanted to try to run with the lead group, but they went out too fast," Sakamoto said post-race.  "I was hoping for a faster time but I'm really, really happy to have gotten 2nd.  This was the first time I've ever enjoyed myself while racing seriously."

In the Muesnter men's race 2…

by Brett Larner


Germany's Volksbank Muenster Marathon celebrates its 15th running this Sunday.  Appearing with support from JRN, Japan's Shingo Igarashi (Josai Univ. Coaching Staff) and Yoshiko Sakamoto (Y.W.C.) face competitive fields from Kenya and Ethiopia.  The course record setter at January's Katsuta Marathon, Igarashi scored some attention at April's Boston Marathon when he frontran the first 10 km before suffering a minor stress fracture.  Muenster will be his first marathon since then, and he is optimistic of bettering his 2:13:15 best from his Katsuta win.  That PB ranks him 3rd in the field, not far behind 2:12:08 man Joel Kositany (Kenya).  In another class is the heavy favorite, Kenya's Duncan Koech with a 2:09:17 at the 2014 Vienna Marathon.  At the pre-race press conference race director Michael Brinkmann said that he hopes to see a 2:07 winning time, a major improvement on the current 2:10:25 course record and something that only Koech could conceiv…

by Brett Larner

Click here for Dr. Helmut Winter's German-language article on this year's Muenster Marathon including a large number of high-quality photos.

The day dawning with heavy rain, wind, thunder and lightning, the 12th edition of the Volksbank Muenster Marathon saw the worst conditions in the race's history, but with radically opposing results in the men's and women's races the weather's impact on the race was hard to determine.  In the men's race things went out very slow on the twisting roads in the course's first 10 km, understandable given the slick cobblestone surface.  The designated Kenyan pacer was more than 10 seconds per km off the target pace of 3:06/km, but still the almost entirely Kenyan lead pack lagged behind.  Japanese runners Yuko Matsumiya (Team Hitachi Butsuryu) and Yuya Shiokawa (Team Subaru), in Muenster with support from JRN, gestured for the pacer to run the designated splits but he repeatedly looked over his shoulder and…

by Brett Larner

For the second year in a row, Germany's Volksbank Muenster Marathon features Japanese athletes in its elite field through the support of JRN.  Yuko Matsumiya (Team Hitachi Butsuryu), identical twin brother of 5000 m and 30 km Japanese national record holder Takayuki Matsumiya (Team Konica Minolta), and veteran Chihiro Tanaka (AthleC AC) are the fastest athletes in the field on paper, Matsumiya with a best of 2:09:18 and amateur Tanaka holding a 2:29:30.  But both ran these times several years ago and will face tough challenges from the best-quality fields Muenster has yet assembled.  Kenyans Bertram Kimutai Keter, Joel Kipsang Kositany and John Kyalo have all run under the course record of 2:10:25 within the last two years, and with favorable conditions forecast for Sunday it may well take a new course record to win.  Pre-race Matsumiya was optimistic, saying, "I'm here to win.  I'm not focused on a time, just whatever it takes to win." Komazawa …

text and photos by Brett Larner

Makoto Fukui (Team Fujitsu) and Ryosuke Fukuyama (Team Honda) in the early going at the 2012 Muenster Marathon

Unseasonably hot temperatures kept the field at the 2012 Muenster Marathon from approaching the course record of 2:10:25, but despite the heat the front end of the men's race was the deepest and most international in the race's 11-year history. The two men with 2:10 bests went 1-2 as Moroccan Ahmed Nasef took the win by five seconds over Kenyan Paul Kimaiyo Kimugul, 2:12:21 to 2:12:26 after breaking away near 35 km.  Kimugul challenged Nasef's win, saying that Nasef had received unfair aid from a cyclist giving him water in the final 7 km, but the protest was dismissed after judges investigated the claims and could find no supporting evidence or witnesses.

                                     The Muenster Marathon finish

Defending champion Elijah Kimaiyo Kimugul ran only one second slower than his winning time last year but was nearly…

Ryosuke Fukuyama (Team Honda) and Makoto Fukui (Team Fujitsu) will make their European marathon debuts at this Sunday's Volksbank Muenster Marathon in Germany with support from JRN.  Fukui ran a PB of 2:14:15 at February's Tokyo Marathon, with Fukuyama running a PB of 2:13:55 a week later at the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon.