japan running news

This was a relatively quiet weekend as people make their final preparations for the five major championship ekidens over the next three weeks. The main action came Saturday in Kyoto at the Edion Distance Challenge . 19-year-old Judy Jepngetich (Shiseido) had the biggest result of the meet, winning the women's 5000 m A-heat in a PB 14:50.20. 2nd-placer Agnes Mwikali (Kyocera) and 3rd-place Pauline Kamulu (Route Inn Hotels) both ran PBs too, the 19-year-old Mwikali running 14:51.35 and Kamulu 14:54.19. After having run 14:44.83 in November pacer Margaret Akidor (Comodi Iida) jogged it in to a 4th-place finish, just missing out on another sub-15 clocking at 15:02.15. Across three heats a total of 35 women were under 16 minutes. Results in the women's 10000 m fast heat were good too. Rino Goshima made it a double for the national champion Shiseido team with a 31:22.38 win. Momoka Kawaguchi (Toyota Jidoshokki) and Wakana Itsuki (Kyudenko) were 2nd and 3rd in 31:57.81 and 31...

Two of Japan's main year-ending marathons celebrated anniversary runnings this year, with the Saitama International Marathon holding its 5th edition and the Nara Marathon marking ten years. Former half marathon world record holder Peres Jepchirchir (Kenya) dropped the competition at 30 km to win in Saitama. Within the first kilometer an all-African lead group had left top Japanese entrants Kaori Yoshida (Team RxL) and Kasumi Yoshida (Nitori), and Nina Savina (Belarus) behind. The lead group quickly rounded down to four, Jepchirchir and Ethiopian trio Fatuma Sado , Belaynesh Oljira and Rahma Tusa . #1-ranked Oljira slipped off early in the second half, and when the pacers stopped at 30 km Jepchirchir had no trouble getting rid of Tusa and Sado. Jepchirchir took 1st in a PB of 2:23:50, with Sado a distant 2nd in 2:26:45. After 35 km Tusa ran into trouble, stopping and stretching out her legs and losing ground first to Oljira, 3rd in 2:27:11, and then Savina, who ran a PB...

http://www.nara-np.co.jp/n_all/081114/all081114b.shtml translated by Brett Larner The Nara Prefectural Track and Field Association held a press conference Nov. 13 at the head offices of the Nara Newspapers Group to announce that, with the support of Rikuren director Yohei Kono, it will stage a new marathon beginning in 2010 as part of the celebrations for the 1300th anniversary of Nara's status as the ancient capital of Japan . The Nara Marathon aims both to generate increased involvement in sports within Nara Prefecture and to attract the interest of those outside the prefecture in Nara's 1300 years of history. Nara T&F director Masahiro Morioka said that a race committee was in the process of being assembled and that it would hold its first meeting by the end of the year with the purpose of making preliminary decisions on the course and other basic organizational elements.