japan running news

http://www.nishinippon.co.jp/nsp/item/150060

translated by Brett Larner

Sunday's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon will be the final run for one of the country's best, 1999 Seville World Championships marathoner Tadayuki Ojima (33, Team Asahi Kasei). For 15 years he has been a force in the Japanese marathon and ekiden circuit, ranked all-time #3 in the Kyushu Isshu Ekiden with a lifetime total of 38 stage best titles, running in the World Championships and narrowly missing out on the Athens Olympics but always remaining quietly focused on challenging his own limits. Now, his strength spent, he prepares for retirement with a deep feeling of gratitude toward the people of Kyushu. His final 42.195 km will be his way of saying thank you. "I've given it everything I have for 15 years," Ojima says. "Really, I just don't have anything left to give."

"He doesn't waste words on excuses," says Team Asahi Kasei head coach Takeshi Soh. "He just does …

http://www.kobe-np.co.jp/news/sports/0002629542.shtml

translated by Brett Larner

1999 World Championships marathoner Tadayuki Ojima (33, Team Asahi Kasei) announced on Jan 8 that he will retire from competition following his run at February's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon. After retirement Ojima plans to concentrate on his work obligations with Asahi Kasei.

A native of Sasayama, Ojima went to the competitive Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S. where he was part of the school's two year-straight national champion ekiden team. Following his older brother Muneyuki to Team Asahi Kasei, Ojima had a remarkable string of successes as a pro. He was a member of the Japanese national team at the 1999 World Championships marathon in Seville. At the 2004 Biwako Mainichi Marathon he ran 2:08:18, 2nd overall and the top Japanese finisher. The mark put him into contention for the Athens Olympics marathon team but ultimately he was not selected.

Ojima commented, "Before I joined Team Asahi Kasei, Nishiwaki …

by Brett Larner

special thanks to Ken Young at ARRS, the IAAF and All-Time Athletics for their database assistance in preparing this article

Last month I published a comparison of the results from the American NCAA Pre-Nationals XC Meet and the Hakone Ekiden Qualifier Road Race which showed that more Japanese university runners were running as fast or faster for a hilly 20 km on the roads than American university runners were running for a hilly 8 km XC. I received a fair amount of response to this comparison, much of it negative and much of it from American university runners, in the comment section, on message boards such as letsrun.com, and in my email inbox. One such letsrun poster asked what was apparently supposed to be a rhetorical question:

So how many of these "Rising Sons" have run sub-13:30 at age 18?

Yeah.The poster was referring to Americans German Fernandez and Chris Derrick, both of whom achieved this impressive feat in late spring this year, clocking times of 1…

http://www.nishinippon.co.jp/nsp/local/20080225/20080225_001.shtml

translated by Brett Larner

Cutting through the strong headwind without struggle to run away to the goal line, Masaya Shimizu's 4th marathon was his 1st perfect race. "I ran 120% today. Knowing I won by running perfectly is the best feeling I've ever had," the laurel-crowned king of the Nobeoka Nishi Nihon Marathon said with a shaky voice.

Shimizu, 27, took a potential disaster and reshaped it into a tool with which to forge his dream race. At the drink station just after the pace makers dropped out at 30 km, he was unable to grab his special drink. "Some dumbass put my bottle too far back on the table to reach. I missed it and didn't have any choice except to just go without it." Instead, he put on a spurt which caught most of the other leaders off guard, breaking up the pack and reducing it from 10 runners to 4.

Shimizu led the pack into the biting headwind. "I didn't want to get i…

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20080224-OHT1T00205.htm
http://www.umk.co.jp/news/headline/20080224.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner

Masaya Shimizu of Team Asahi Kasei won the Nobeoka Nishi Nihon Marathon on a windy Feb. 24 in a time of 2:13:06. It was his 4th full marathon and first time winning at the distance.

18 seconds behind Shimizu was Team Kyudenko's Tomonori Onitsuka, with Kentaro Nakamoto of Team Yasukawa Denki 3rd in his marathon debut. Team Asahi Kasei's Muneyuki Ojima, running his final marathon, was 9th.

Shimizu launched a spurt at 30 km, breaking up the lead pack and turning the event into a match race against Onitsuka. Attacking at 41 km, he managed to break contact with Onitsuka and run away to his first victory. Both runners were slightly off their PB times.

Conditions at the start were 6.4 degrees with 35% humidity and NNW winds at 6.1 m/s.

Translator's note: Team Asahi Kasei continues its strong showing in the marathon this year. Asah…