japan running news

It seemed at the time that last year's Hakone Ekiden had to have been a peak of some kind, with 4 new course records between Hakone's 10 stages, a new Day Two CR, a new overall CR, and all-time top 3 performances on 5 other stages and the Day One course. But this year went even higher. 5 stages, both Day One and Day Two, and the overall course had their records broken, 3 of the stages that didn't have their CR broken had an all-time #2 performance, 2 of them less than 10 seconds off the CR, and the other 2 stages had an all-time #3 performance. Every stage had at least 2 all-time top 6 performances, the Tenth Stage had 6 in its all-time top 10, and the opening First Stage saw 9 of its 10 fastest-ever runs. The 1:07:16 CR on the uphill Fifth Stage rightfully earned Asahi Kuroda from overall winner Aoyama Gakuin University the MVP award at this year's Hakone , but the other 4 stage CR, 1:00:28 for the 21.3 km First Stage by Koku Gakuin University 's Rui Aoki , 1:05...

A native of Uwajishima, Ehime, a new chapter is starting in the life of men's marathon national record holder Kengo Suzuki , 30. On Oct. 8 he announced that he is quitting the Fujitsu corporate team to which he has belonged for 8 years to go independent. His new main sponsor will be a major food product manufacturer, who will support him in his shot at making the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics team. Suzuki ran the National High School Ekiden as a 3rd-year at Uwajishima Higashi H.S. . His 3rd year at Kanagawa University he won the 93rd Hakone Ekiden's most competitive leg, the Second Stage, making him determined to pursue a future as a marathoner. He joined Fujitsu after graduating in 2018, and in January, 2021 played a key role in the team winning its first New Year Ekiden national title in 12 years. A month later he ran 2:04:56 to win the Biwako Mainichi Marathon, a national record that still stands. In recent years he has suffered from a series of injuries, causing his star to l...

On Oct. 4, Tokyo Olympics marathon 6th-placer Suguru Osako , 31, announced that he has signed with the GMO corporate team. Osako will continue his relationship with sponsor Nike but will run January's New Year Ekiden as part of the GMO team. It is an unusual move for an independently-sponsored runner to join the corporate leagues. GMO held a press conference in Tokyo to announce the news. Taking part remotely from his training base in the U.S., Osako looked excited. He talked about the move in broad strokes. "When I run, everyone will pay attention to the New Year Ekiden," he said. "Winning is a given, but I want to a game-changer in the running world. I want to create some kind of new added value on top of just going for the win." After quitting the Nissin Shokuhin corporate team in March, 2015, Osako moved to the U.S. to join the now-defunct Nike Oregon Project team led by the now-suspended coach Alberto Salazar . Since then he has trained in the U.S. and...

On Aug. 10 World Athletics announced that revised regulations on competition footwear that it had released on July 28 had already gone into effect on that date for track events. At the time of the new regulations' announcement WA had initially said that they would take effect on Dec. 1. The regulations effectively ban the use of thick-soled shoes Nike's dominant Vaporfly and Alphafly on the track and disallow any performances run in them. WA's July 28 announcement of revised regulations was made in preparation for the postponed Tokyo Olympic Games. The new regulations specify the thickness of the sole that may be use in shoes for various disciplines, with field events apart from the triple jump and track events up to 400 m limited to 20 mm, the triple jump, track events 800 m and longer, and cross-country up to 22 mm. Nike's current models, which dominate the long distance market, have thicknesses of 36 mm for the Vaporfly and 39.5 mm for the Alphafly. The r...

an editorial by Kazuhiro Masuda Nike's recent generations of thick-soled platform racing shoes swept the 2020 Tokyo Marathon , with 28 out of the top 30 placing men wearing them, including international entrants. Of these, 9 including new Japanese national record holder Suguru Osako (Nike) wear wearing the new Air Zoom Alphafly Next% model with a 3.95 cm thick sole complying with new regulations from World Athletics. With 10 Japanese men running under 2:08 in a single race for the first time in history, all 10 were wearing models of the platform shoes. Despite a mix in choice of models, the shoes dominated the market in the race. One after another, thick green, black, pink, and green and orange shoes crossed the finish line in Marunouchi, Tokyo. From winner Birhanu Legese to 30th-place Shuho Dairokuno , 28 men had the Nike shoes on their feet. The other 2 were wearing Adidas and Asics. Wearing the latest model of the Nike shoes for his latest national record, Osako said, ...

Damn, has it already been a week? Time goes by so fast. Times at the Hakone Ekiden this year were fast too. Eight guys broke course records on four of the five stages on Day One , and another five broke the records on three of the five stages on Day Two . Two of the three stages that didn't have new records were just seconds off. Four teams broke the Day One course record, two broke the overall course record, and one broke the Day Two record. This all mirrored what happened a day earlier at the New Year Ekiden , where eight men broke the records on four of the seven stages, at least one other missed by seconds, the top two teams broke the official overall course record and two more broke the record for the actual current version of the course. And not just records. Some of them were historic, epoch-making marks. None more so than Tokyo Kokusai University 's Vincent Yegon , who busted the greatest performance in Hakone history, a 59:25 course record for the 21.4 km Thi...

Suguru Osako age: 28 sponsor: Nike Oregon Project graduated from: Saku Chosei H.S., Waseda University best time inside MGC window: 2:05:50, 3rd, 2018 Chicago Marathon – NR PB: 2:05:50, 3rd, 2018 Chicago Marathon – NR other PBs: 5000 m: 13:08.40 (NR, 2015) 10000 m: 27:38.31 (2013) half marathon: 1:01:13 (2017) marathons inside MGC window (Aug. 1 2017 – April 30 2019) DNF, 2019 Tokyo Marathon 3rd, 2018 Chicago Marathon, 2:05:50 – NR 3rd, 2017 Fukuoka International Marathon, 2:07:19 other major results: 1st, 2019 Hot Trot Half Marathon, 1:02:23 – CR 3rd, 2019 HDC Abashiri 10000 m, 27:57.41 2nd, 2019 Payton Jordan Invitational 5000 m, 13:40.48 24th, 2018 Valencia World Half Marathon Championships, 1:01:56 1st, 2018 National Cross Country Championships 10 km, 29:53 1st, 2017 National Championships 10000 m, 28:35.47 3rd, 2017 Boston Marathon, 2:10:28 6th, 2017 Marugame Half Marathon, 1:01:13 – PB 12th, 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics 5000 m Heat 2, 13:31.45 17th...

Running again in her hometown on the second day of the Osaka Track and Field Championships at Yanmar Stadium Nagai, 2014 Youth Olympics girls' 3000 m gold medalist Nozomi Musembi Takamatsu (19, Osaka T&F Assoc.) took the first step toward a comeback. Closing the gap to the runner ahead of her on the second lap, Takamatsu finished with effort to spare in 2:14.51 for 2nd. "I was able to run the way I'd envisioned," she said afterward. "I had some anxiety since it was pretty much my first real race in a year but I was able to give it my best." After graduating from Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. in the spring last year Takamatsu moved to Oregon, U.S.A. to take part in the " Nike Oregon Project " elite long distance group created by Nike. With a dream of winning gold in the 5000 m or 10000 m at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and high hopes in her heart, she crossed the ocean. But in the U.S. she was hit by the cold hand of reality. "I was DFL ...

by Brett Larner 大迫傑 Suguru Osako @sugurusako 途中棄権 DNF 5Km @OregonPJT #早稲田大学 Waseda #陸上競技 #PTF15 2015年6月14日 pic.twitter.com/AKxW7yHw0S — TrackAndFieldPhoto (@TaFphoto) June 15, 2015 Former Waseda University star Suguru Osako 's string of bad luck in his snakebitten move away from the corporate leagues to embattled coach Alberto Salazar 's Nike Oregon Project continued with a DNF in Sunday's Portland Track Festival 5000 m.  After setting three national records while training under Salazar with quasi-NOP status for the last couple of years Osako's full NOP debut was shot down with the cancellation of the 5000 m at May's Hoka One One Middle Distance Classic due to dangerous weather conditions.  His belated debut came two weeks later at the Prefontaine Classic, where he missed the 2015 World Championships 10000 m qualifying standard of 27:45.00 by just 0.24 seconds.  Just days later the NOP was hit by doping allegations against Salazar and athlete Galen Rup...

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 .

http://sports.nissin.com/rikujo/weblog/sp/2015/03/post-52.html translated by Brett Larner At this time we would like to announce that Suguru Osako , who has had great success as a member of the Nissin Shokuhin Group corporate team, will resign his position with the team on Mar. 31, 2015.  We extend our thanks to all the fans who have generously given their warmest support.  All of us at Nissin Shokuhin will continue to cheer Osako on as he leaves to take on the world in pursuit of his life's dream. Osako's comments: "During the last year in which I've been based in the United States while competing I've become confident that I can race the way I see myself racing, and I've decided that it is time to start over based in Oregon, U.S.A. as a professional athlete.  And for everyone at the Nissin Shokuhin Group who supported me this year and who are willingly letting me go, I will give it all to produce the results."

by Brett Larner video courtesy of USATF.TV Suguru Osako (Team Nissin Shokuhin) continued to break ground as the only top-level Japanese man to base himself abroad, scoring the third national record of his tenure at the Nike Oregon Project in the Paavo Nurvi 5000 m at Saturday's NYRR Millrose Games.  Running in an exclusively Nike-sponsored field he stayed relatively steadily throughout the race, starting near the front and slipping slightly toward the read before coming back to challenge for the win. Just 0.40 separated winner Lopez Lomong (Nike BTC), runner-up Ryan Hill (Nike BTC) and Osako, but with no official national record on the book Osako's 13:28.00 was more than enough to give him a legitimate mark to add to his outdoor 3000 m and indoor 2 mile national records.  Osako easily beat training partner Cam Levins (Nike OP), raising hopes among home ground fans that Osako will take down the longstanding outdoor 5000 m and 10000 m national records of 13:13.20 and...

by Brett Larner click photo for video c/o USATF.TV Quasi- Nike Oregon Project member Suguru Osako ran the 2 mile at the 2015 Armory Track Invitational alongside training partners Cam Levins and Galen Rupp .  After moving to Oregon to train with the NOP and head coach Alberto Salazar while remaining tied to the Nissin Shokuhin corporate team, early last fall Osako set the outdoor 3000 m national record of 7:40.09 and all-time #2 Japanese mark of 8:28.30 for 2 miles outdoor.  Biding his time mid-pack at the Armory, Osako kicked hard to take 2nd behind Levins in 8:16.47, a new national record more than 8 seconds faster than fellow Waseda University alumnus Kensuke Takezawa 's outdoor 2 mile NR of 8:24.69.  More records are sure to follow. Armory Track Invitational Men's 2 Mile New York, 1/31/15 click here for complete results 1. Cam Levins (Canada/Nike Oregon Project) - 8:15.38 2. Suguru Osako (Japan/Nissin Shokuhin) - 8:16.47 - NR 3. Ben Blankenship (USA/...

by Brett Larner Toyo photos by Mika Tokairin A day after winning its second-straight Hakone Ekiden title, Toyo University had a busy Monday morning. The entire team and coaching staff appeared on the nationally-broadcast Sukkiri morning talk show, equivalent to Good Morning America, which devoted today's episode to interviewing team members and asking for their comments on clips from Saturday and Sunday's race. Sukkiri brought in marathon legend Toshihiko Seko for additional expert commentary and questioning. Following the TV appearance, a good deal of which focused on second-year Ryuji Kashiwabara's record-setting Fifth Stage run, the team went straight to Toyo sponsor Nike's flagship store in the heart of the Harajuku/Omotesando fashion district for a lunchtime in-store appearance. Nike had done up the large display windows along Omotesando, Tokyo's most fashionable street, with Hakone uniforms from the four teams it sponsors and oversized lettering which read ...