japan running news

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2014/02/18/kiji/K20140218007615820.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner

The Daihatsu women's corporate team, based in Ikeda, Osaka, announced on Feb. 18 that 2011 Daegu World Championships marathoner Remi Nakazato (25) will quit the team at the end of the month to become an amateur runner.  According to Daihatsu, the decision to leave the team was Nakazato's.  She plans to be based in her native Gunma Prefecture.

A graduate of Ota Shogyo High School in Gunma, Nakazato finished 12th in her debut marathon at the 2010 Nagoya International Women's Marathon.  At the 2011 Yokohama International Women's Marathon she was 2nd, going on to finish 10th at the Daegu World Championships and running her PB of 2:24:28 the following spring back in Nagoya.  She finished only 10th at last year's Yokohama.

http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2012092701007

translated by Brett Larner

Yuri Kano (Team Shiseido) and other top athletes running the Sept. 30 Berlin Marathon appeared at a press conference Sept. 27.  "In Berlin I want to get things off to a good start building toward my future marathons," she said of her ambitions.  Kano, 33, finished 7th in the 2009 Berlin World Championships marathon, going on the next year to win the 2010 Nagoya International Women's Marathon.  Of her training for this weekend's race she said, "Even though I wasn't feeling good I pushed through and did two months of altitude training."  She is hopeful of running a good time.

Translator's note: Along with Kano, 2010 Tokyo Marathon winner Masakazu Fujiwara (Team Honda), 2:11 men Atsushi Ikawa (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) and Suehiro Ishikawa (Team Honda) and others are scheduled to run Berlin.

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2012/09/18/kiji/K20120918004142040.html
http://www.gifu-np.co.jp/news/sports/20120919/201209191210_5077.shtml

translated and edited by Brett Larner

The organizers of the Nagoya Women's Marathon announced Sept. 18 that based on criteria established by the IAAF to evaluate worldwide road races on the quality and size of their fields, beginning with next year's running on Mar. 10 the Nagoya Women's Marathon will be upgraded from its current silver label to a gold label, the highest ranking.  Nagoya is the fourth domestic Japanese race to receive a gold label, following the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Tokyo Marathon and Fukuoka International Marathon, and the first women-only marathon featuring both professional and amateur runners to be recognized as a gold-label event.  This year Nagoya changed from its historic elite Nagoya International Women's Marathon format to become a mass-participation event.  With 13000 runners it was the worl…

http://www.chunichi.co.jp/s/article/2011041001000311.htmlhttp://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/110410/spg1104101719004-n1.htm

translated and edited by Brett Larner
At the Apr. 10 Daegu International Marathon, a selection race for the Japanese women's marathon team for this summer's Daegu World Championships, Yuko Machida (Team Nihon ChemiCon) was the top Japanese woman. Finishing 7th in a time of 2:32:39, her chances of making the team are very slim. Among other contenders for the World Championships team, Tomomi Higuchi (Team Daihatsu) was 8th in 2:33:48, while Seika Iwamura (Team Daihatsu) was 12th in 2:36:33. Atsede Besuye (Ethiopia) won in 2:25:12. Veteran Takeshi Hamano (Team Toyota) was the top Japanese man, 14th in 2:16:49.
With the cancellation of March's Nagoya International Women's Marathon selection race and its designated replacement, April's Nagano Marathon, following the March 11 disasters in northeastern Japan, the Japanese federation Rikuren named Daeg…

http://www.plus-blog.sportsnavi.com/kmanabu/article/449
translated by Brett Larner
2010 Nagoya International Women's Marathon winner Yuri Kano's coach Manabu Kawagoe (Second Wind AC) posted this notice of Kano's withdrawal from the Apr. 17 London Marathon this morning, just hours after the official announcement that the nine domestic elite women originally scheduled to run Nagoya have been added to the London Marathon field following the cancellation of both Nagoya and its domestic replacement as a World Championships selection race, the Nagano Marathon, in the wake of the series of disasters to hit Japan in the last two weeks.
The Nagano Marathon World Championships selection race, a replacement for the cancelled Nagoya International Women's Marathon selection race, has now also been cancelled. Yuri Kano has been targeting the World Championships and planned to run the overseas selection race subsequently designated by the Japanese federation Rikuren, but after consider…

http://www.iaaf.org/LRR11/news/newsid=59611.html
Along with the nine women added to London from the Nagoya field, 2011 Osaka International Women's Marathon winner Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren) is already entered in London's elite field.

http://www.47news.jp/CN/201103/CN2011031201000773.html
translated by Mika Tokairin
Due to the major earthquake in northeast Japan, on Mar. 12 the organizers of the Nagoya International Women's Marathon, scheduled for Mar. 13, announced the official cancellation of the race. Nagoya was to be the final selection race for the national women's marathon team for this summer's World Championships in Daegu, Korea. There was no postponement of the race. In making the decision to cancel the race organizers took into account the continuous aftershocks, the prediction of more extensive damage than initial estimates, and the state of confusion in road traffic. The cancellation is the first in Nagoya's history since it was founded in 1980 as a 20 km women's road race.
In response to the cancellation, Rikuren has announced that by the time of its board meeting on Mar. 15 it will select a domestic or overseas race in April to serve as a replacement selection race. Only athletes…

http://www.chunichi.co.jp/niwm/chuushi.pdf
translated by Brett Larner
Due to the major earthquake in northern Japan on Mar. 11, in consideration of the continuous aftershocks and confusion in road traffic and public transportation, we have decided to cancel the 2011 Nagoya International Women's Marathon scheduled for Mar. 13.
Translator's note: This was to be the last selection race for Japan's women's marathon team for the World Championships. Four of the domestic women in the Nagoya field were training in Christchurch, New Zealand at the time of last month's earthquake there.

http://s.nikkei.com/fbTtIF
translated by Brett Larner
In response to the major earthquake in northern Japan, one of the federation officials in charge of the Nagoya International Women's Marathon scheduled for Mar. 13 told to the media on Mar. 11, "We haven't come to a definitive decision yet. We will consider whether or not to go through with the race once we examine the situation throughout Japan."
A race organizer stated, "We are still watching how the situation unfolds. We are undertaking preparations for the event, but the final decision will depend on the federation's determinations." Nagoya is the final domestic women's selection race for this summer's World Championships in Daegu, Korea.
Translator's note: Four of the elite Japanese women scheduled to run Nagoya were caught in Christchurch, New Zealand during that recent earthquake.

http://www.shizushin.com/sports_news/shizuoka/20110308000000000018.htm
translated by Brett Larner
At the final domestic selection race for the 2011 World Championships women's marathon team, the Mar. 13 Nagoya International Women's Marathon, track ace Noriko Matsuoka (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) will take on her marathon debut. "I wouldn't exactly say that I have no chance [to make the World Championships team]," she says. Matsuoka has always kept the hope of making a strong marathon debut hidden away inside, and now at age 31 having risen above hardship and setbacks she is ready to take hold of the opportunity.
With no significant injuries since last summer Matsuoka completed the entire training menu she was given and is in a state of excellent preparation. But, she says, "I've practiced and practiced, but for some reason I just can't shake my self-doubt. 42.195 km is a long way. But, I think that when we get down to the day before the race I'll cut …

by Brett Larner
photo by Mika Tokairin


In her final tuneup before defending her Nagoya International Women's Marathon title on Mar. 14, Yuri Kano (Second Wind AC) won the first running of the Mar. 7 Shibuya Omotesando Women's 10 km in 35:45. A hilly course through the heart of Tokyo's fashion district, the Omotesando race attracted roughly 4000 women.

(c) 2011 Brett Larner all rights reserved photo (c) and (p) 2011 Mika Tokairin

by Brett Larner
After a delay to allow four top Japanese women caught in Christchurch, New Zealand during last week's major earthquake time to decide whether they are ready for a competitive marathon, on Mar. 2 the Nagoya International Women's Marathon announced the elite field for the Mar. 13 race. The final edition of the elite-only race before the race changes formats next year to a mass-participation women-only event, Nagoya features the deepest domestic field of the three selection races for this summer's World Championships marathon team. To prevent any unnecessary stress to the runners, Rikuren officials have taken the unusual step of forbidding journalists from asking any questions related to the New Zealand earthquake until after the race.
The last three Nagoya winners, defending champion Yuri Kano (Second Wind AC), '09 winner Yoshiko Fujinaga (Team Shiseido) and '08 victor Yurika Nakamura (Team Tenmaya) return. They will face 2009 Tokyo Marathon winner M…