japan running news

http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/090327/spg0903271759002-n1.htm
http://mainichi.jp/area/kagoshima/news/20090328ddlk46050630000c.html
http://www.nishinippon.co.jp/nsp/item/86030

translated and edited by Brett Larner

Kyushu-based Kagoshima Bank announced on Mar. 27 that it will begin sponsoring a new professional women's track and field team beginning in April. The new Team Kagoshima Ginko's starting lineup will feature six athletes aged 18-29, four who graduated from high school in March and two experienced professional runners. Kagoshima Bank director Fumiharu Nagata told members of the press, "We want to do our part to help support talented athletes who wish to remain in their hometowns after graduating from high school and to help strengthen the local sports world."

Team Kagoshima Ginko's head coach will be Yoshinobu Uchida, a man with experience guiding long distance athletes since his student days. Uchida will be assisted by Natsuko Tatesako, while Kenji Arimura,…

http://www.jiji.com/jc/zc?k=200903/2009032700863

translated by Brett Larner

Team Kyocera announced on Mar. 27 that following the departure of head coach Kunio Omori at the end of the month Yasunori Niihara (53), currently of Team Oki, will take over as the team's head coach. Niihara is a native of Kagoshima Prefecture and graduated from Juntendo University. He served as head coach of Team YKK and elsewhere before being hired by Team Oki in 2008. Team Oki will disband at the end of March, freeing up the team's aces, identical twin sisters Hiroko and Yoko Miyauchi to follow Niihara to Team Kyocera where they will replace departing runners Yumiko Hara and Kiyomi Ogawa.

http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2009022500755

translated by Brett Larner

Citing a decline in the strength of the business environment, the Oki electronics company announced on Feb. 25 that effective Mar. 31 it is eliminating its running team, known as one of the strongest professional women's squads. The team currently includes six athletes along with a support staff of eleven. Oki has pledged to assist its runners with finding positions in other teams and to provide jobs within the company for those athletes who may wish to remain as ordinary workers. The company's public relations office issued a statement saying, "We genuinely regret the necessity of taking this step. We offer our most sincere apologies to team members whose activities we have supported until now and thank them for all their efforts."

The Miyazaki-based Team Oki was founded in 1986. In 1988 Hidekoku Hiroshima, the man who developed the Soh brothers Shigeru and Takashi into legendary marathone…

http://www.jiji.com/jc/zc?key=&k=200801/2008010600071&rel=j&g=spo
http://www.jiji.com/jc/zc?key=&k=200801/2008010600076&rel=j&g=spo
http://www.the-miyanichi.co.jp/contents/?itemid=4557

translated and edited by Brett Larner

Kenyan Julia Mombi won the 28th Miyazaki Women's Road Race half marathon on Jan. 6 in a PB time of 1:09:34. She followed her pre-race plan precisely, attacking with 2 km to go and dropping Hiroko Miyauchi of Team Oki.

Mombi attended Aomori Yamada High School and now runs for Team Aruze. She is preparing for the Jan. 27 Osaka International Women's Marathon, where she hopes to run 2:25 to qualify for the Kenyan marathon team at the Beijing Olympics. Mombi enthusiastically smiled, "I ran easily today. My legs have gotten stronger."

Miyauchi finished 20 seconds behind Mombi in 2nd place, while Miyauchi's sister Yoko, also of Team Oki, finished 3rd. 2006 Asia Games women's marathon bronze medalist Kayoko Obata of Team Acom did …