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Showing posts with the label Noritaki Fujiyama

Tomoya Onishi Stage Record on Kyushu One-Circuit Ekiden Day Three

by Brett Larner

With the top Japanese men's 10000 m and half marathon times of the year and a 9th-place finish at the World Half Marathon Championships under his belt within the last month, Miyazaki Prefecture's Tomoya Onishi, 23, delivered another big run with a 43:55 stage record for the 15.3 km Fourth Stage on Day Three of the 2010 Kyushu One-Circuit Ekiden, Oct. 31 on Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu. Onishi's time broke the existing stage record by 1:12, 5 seconds per km, and was equivalent to a solid 46:11 10-miler. Stage runner-up Ryuji Watanabe of Fukuoka Prefecture also broke the old Fourth Stage record with a 44:16 clocking.

As with the first two days of the ten-day Kyushu One-Circuit Ekiden, the Miyazaki Prefecture team dominated the early stages of Day Three. A weak run from Third Stage runner Noritaka Yokoyama put Miyazaki 59 seconds behind rivals Fukuoka prefecture at the start of the Fourth Stage, and the team spent the next four stage edging bac…

Speed Runner Mitsuya On His Way to Marathon Debut

http://www.nishinippon.co.jp/nsp/item/76204

translated by Brett Larner

Photo courtesy of Rikuren.

Long distance track ace Yu Mitsuya (Team Toyota Kyushu) won the 49th Karatsu 10 Mile Road Race on Feb. 8 with the kind of finish Japanese marathon fans love to see.

Entering the stadium with just 300 m left to go on the track, Mitsuya outkicked Kenyan leader and 2007 Karatsu winner Silas Jui (Team Nissan) to win by 6 seconds after dueling over the last 6 km of the race. Mitsuya raised his hands triumphantly as he broke the finish tape, smashing through the first gate on the road to his debut marathon. "I think Silas had a cold or something, but we'll see each other again in the [Kumanichi] 30 km race. That's where I really want to win," a sweaty Mitsuya commented afterwards, looking toward his first 30 km race with eager eyes.

This 10 mile race and the Feb. 22 Kumanichi 30 km Road Race are part of his development plan for a planned marathon debut next year, a series of tests …

Mitsuya and Miyauchi Win Karatsu 10-Miler

http://www.saga-s.co.jp/view.php?pageId=1036&mode=0&classId=0&blockId=1172497&newsMode=article

translated and edited by Brett Larner

Two-time World Champioinships track runner Yu Mitsuya (Team Toyota Kyushu) won the Karatsu 10 Mile Road Race on Feb. 8 in Karatsu, Saga Prefecture. Mitsuya ran 47:04 to take his first-ever win in Karatsu. In two weeks he will run the Kumanichi 30 km Road Race as part of his preparations for a marathon debut later in the year. Noritaka Fujiyama (Team Sumco Techxiv) was the top Saga Prefecture native, finishing 3rd overall.

Hiroko Miyauchi (Team Oki) also scored her first Karatsu win, taking the women's 10 km event in 32:38. Yuya Konishi (Tosu Kogyo H.S.) won the high school boys' 10 km race in 30:12, giving Saga Prefecture its first high school division win in 3 years. Konishi's teammate Satoru Hori was 4th overall.

Yuki Iwai Cracks 15 km World Record Mark as Team Asahi Kasei Wins 3rd-Straight Asahi Ekiden

by Brett Larner


Yuki Iwai reaches the finish of the 2009 Asahi Ekiden in world record time. Click photo for video highlights. The clip of Iwai's run begins at time index 8:16.


Still smarting from landing 3rd in the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden's sprint finish, Team Asahi Kasei came up from 3rd place to win the 60th Asahi Ekiden on Jan. 12 thanks to a stage-record run by anchor Yuki Iwai. Iwai covered the 16.7 km 7th stage in an astonishing 45:35, with the next fastest runner clocking 47:27. Iwai's pace was just under 2:44 / km, equivalent to 40:57 for 15km. The 15 km world record of 41:29 is held by Kenyan great Felix Limo. It was Team's Asahi Kasei's 3rd-straight Asahi Ekiden win and its 27th in the event's 60 runnings.

Team Asahi Kasei rival Team Honda was highly focused on the win after a dismal showing at the New Year Ekiden, taking two stage best titles. After leading the second half of the race on the strength of a stage-best run by Ethiopian ace Hailu Mekonnen th…

University Student Masato Kihara at the Helm of Japanese Men's Team at World Half Marathon

by Brett Larner
photos courtesy of Chuo Gakuin University

"Kihara, I'm sorry, I had never heard your name before. I'll always remember it after this. That was incredible."

--Legendary marathoner Toshihiko Seko to Chuo Gakuin University first-year student Masato Kihara after Kihara's victory on the 1st stage of the 2006 Hakone Ekiden.A lot can change in a couple of years. On Jan. 2, 2006 Masato Kihara was an unknown freshman at Chuo Gakuin University, a small school which had been lucky to squeeze into the prestigious university championship Hakone Ekiden but was not regarded as even B-class. Not a single runner from Chuo Gakuin had ever won a Hakone stage, one of the basic marks of a running school's authenticity. Kihara was a 19 year old from Hyogo Prefecture, a graduate of Hotoku High School where he had shown only a hint of his potential, his best mark a 14:26 5000 m. The 1st stage of the Hakone Ekiden is usually one of the most interesting, a fertile mix of…