japan running news

http://mainichi.jp/articles/20170202/dde/035/050/065000c

translated and edited by Brett Larner

Tormented by injuries and having been on the brink of retirement, Fumihiro Maruyama (26, Asahi Kasei) has chosen tomorrow's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon for his second marathon.  With Asahi Kasei's long legacy behind him, including Koichi Morishita's 1992 Beppu-Oita win that took him to the Barcelona Olympics and a silver medal, Maruyama's desire to succeed and earn a place on the London World Championships team is strong.  "I want to take a big step up and win so that I can compete at the world level," he said.

At last March's Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon Maruyama made an aggressive marathon debut, surging away from the all-Japanese chase pack at 30 km. But at 39 km he was run down and finished as the fourth Japanese man, missing the Rio de Janeiro Olympic team.  His time of 2:09:39 meant he had achieved a rare sub-2:10 debut, but, he said with lingering regret,…

http://www.oita-press.co.jp/print.php?print_type=localSports&print_first_genre=120731038943&print_second_genre=&print_news_id=2010_126947790574

translated by Brett Larner

It was announced this week that Kenichi Jiromaru, 25, assistant coach with Oita's Tomei H.S. ekiden team, will be joining the powerful Tokyo-based Nissin Shokuhin corporate team in April. Having once before quit the running world only to find rebirth in Oita, Jiromaru is a runner of a different color who hopes that joining this year's New Year Ekiden national champion team will help lead him to his ultimate goal of racing in the national uniform.

Jiromaru was born in Tottori Prefecture. After running the Hakone Ekiden all four years that he was a student at Komazawa University he was somewhat discouraged thinking, "There are a million guys my level." He decided to quit the sport. Jiromaru took a position working at a fabric maker but found that he couldn't stop thinking about running a…

http://www.e-obs.com/obs-news/genko/DD01110011914.html
http://www.oita-press.co.jp/localNews/2010_126318885586.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner

Nearly 600 runners took part in the 50th anniversary Oita Godo Road Race on Jan. 11 in downtown Oita. Intended to help raise the level of distance running within Oita prefecture, the race takes place each year on the Coming of Age Day national holiday and is the frequent site of breakthrough performances by new stars. This year's 50th edition saw course records in the men's half marathon and high school men's 10 km as well as the first women's 10 km race in 22 years. With extended checkpoint cutoff times helping to swell the numbers, this year saw 406 finishers in the men's half marathon, 137 in the high school men's 10 km, and 36 in the women's 10 km.

In the men's half marathon, Oita Tomei H.S. graduate Fumihiro Maruyama (19, Team Asahi Kasei) dropped his rivals with an attack over the last km, winning in…