japan running news

http://dd.hokkaido-np.co.jp/news/area/doto/1-0169494.html

 translated by Brett Larner

On Aug. 16 the 34th running of the Hoppo Ryodo Nosappu Misaki Half Marathon took place along the Pacific coastal highways of far northeastern Hokkaido.  Blessed with perfect weather, over 700 runners gave it their best with encouraging cheers from local residents crowding the roadside. 

The race featured three distances, the main half marathon as well as 10 km and 3.7 km races, with participation numbers increasing year by year.  Last year's winner Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) returned to run as part of the masses, finishing 1st in 1:07:01.  "I have the Rio Olympics and London World Championships coming up," he said, "so I won't be able to run this race next year or the year after that.  But I will definitely be back three years from now!"

Half marathon senior division runner-up Seiji Okabe, 61, laughed as he commented, "I've run here every year since th…

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20140817-00000035-nksports-spo

translated by Brett Larner

The 33rd Hoppo Ryodo Nosappu Misaki Half Marathon took place Aug. 17 on the northeastern coast of Nemuro, Hokkaido. 2014 Incheon Asian Games marathon team member Yuki Kawauchi (27, Saitama Pref. Gov't) ran the half marathon division as an invited athlete, taking 1st in 1:06:12. The last time the Nosappu Misaki Half invited an athlete was nine years ago when it featured Seoul Olympian Akemi Matsuno.  As a measure of the 'Kawauchi Effect,' 779 people entered the race, the most ever in the event's 33-year history.

Wearing a bib reading "Give back the Northern Territories!" [a reference to an ongoing territorial dispute with Russia involving nearby islands held by the Soviet Union and Russia since the end of World War II but still claimed by Japan] emblazoned across his chest, Kawauchi showed his strength to local fans.  After finishing, he gorged himself on the local spe…

http://mainichi.jp/sponichi/news/20140813spn00m050012000c.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner

2014 Incheon Asian Games men's marathon team member Yuki Kawauchi (27, Saitama Pref. Gov't) has confirmed that he will run the Aug. 31 City to Surf Marathon in Perth, Australia.  The race has been on his tentative schedule for some time but he did not officially commit to it until Aug. 12.  It will be Kawauchi's final marathon before the Oct. 3 Asian Games.

Kawauchi has run many Australian marathons in recent years, winning the Gold Coast Airport Marathon and Sydney Marathon and finishing 2nd at the Melbourne Marathon.  Famous for running while maintaining his career as a civil servant, interviews with him have been published in Australian running magazines.  A familiar and comfortable place for him, Kawauchi hopes that another quick spin through Australia will help him succeed in his ambitions for the Asian Games.

Before Perth, Kawauchi will run Sunday's Hoppo Ryodo Nos…