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Local Resident Saves Spectator's Life During Road Race

On Apr. 9 the organizing committee of February's Ome 30 km Road Race recognized local care worker Tomoko Furuya, 59, and three race officials for saving the life of a fallen spectator during the race. Furuya downplayed her role, saying, "I only did what anyone would've done."

While watching the Feb. 17 Ome race Furuya saw an elderly man who collapsed along the side of the course. When she came nearer to him she saw that he had been one of her teachers in junior high school. Repeatedly calling him "teacher," Furuya performed CPR. Race officials Takao Murakami, 70, and Toru Hara, 64, rushed to assist Furuya with the aid of an AED. A third official, Masao Yamaguchi, 82, organized emergency transportation.

The stricken man was taken to a hospital where he recovered and was discharged on Mar. 5. Via telephone he told Furuya, "I received the gift of life, and I will spend it all with my wife."

source article:
https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/local/tokyotama/new…
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Cheboitibin Breaks Seko's Course Record at Ome 30 km

One of Japan's longest-standing course records at its elite races fell Sunday as Kenyan Ezekiel Cheboitibin (Sunbelx) beat the great Toshihiko Seko's 38-year-old Ome 30 km Road Race record by almost 30 seconds.

Tough and hilly with a net climb in the first half and descent on the return trip, Ome is a standard spring marathon prep run and a natural partner for April's Boston Marathon, with which it has a longstanding athlete exchange program. The 2017 Ome winner, this time out Cheboitibin was gunning for Seko's record from the start, hitting the mostly uphill 10 km completely solo in 29:47, 20 km midway through the return trip in 59:30, and saving his fastest 10 km split for the end as he crossed the finish line in 1:29:06. Seko's 1:29:32 just two months before his first Boston win had made him the only man in Ome history to break 90 minutes. With the best performance of his career Cheboitibin turned the page on that history.

With the withdrawal of Fukuoka winner …
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Shimokado and Imada Scratch From Sunday's Ome 30 km

Following the earlier announcement of the withdrawals of Yuma Hattori (Toyota) and Ayuko Suzuki (Japan Post), on Feb. 15 the organizers of the 53rd Ome 30 km Road Race announced that two more athletes have pulled out of the women's 30 km division of Sunday's race. Miharu Shimokado (28, Brooks) has withdrawn due to a pulled muscle in her right calf, while Marie Imada (29, Iwatani Sangyo) is suffering from inflammation in her right foot.

Both Shimokado and Imada ran December's Saitama International Women's Marathon. Imada broke her PB by 2 minutes and 25 seconds to take the top Japanese position at 4th in 2:29:35 but missed qualifying for the MGC Race 2020 Olympic marathon trials by 35 seconds. The last race in the MGC qualifying series is the Mar. 10 Nagoya Women's Marathon, with the wildcard qualifying window running until Apr. 30.

Waseda University 3rd-year Kosuke Magara has also withdrawn from the men's 30 km division.

source article:
https://headlines.yahoo.c…
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Hattori and Suzuki Scratch From Ome 30 km

The organizers of the Ome 30 km Road Race announced on Feb. 10 that both of its feature invited elite athletes Yuma Hattori (Toyota) and Ayuko Suzuki (Japan Post) have scratched from the Feb. 17 race.

Hattori won December's Fukuoka International Marathon in a strong 2:07:27 to position himself as a leading candidate for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and its trials event, September's MGC Race. He is reportedly not feeling well currently. In the organizers' statement he commented, "I'm simply not in the best condition to run Ome, and thinking about the future I've decided not to do it. I'm very sorry to disappoint everyone who was looking forward to Ome. I will do everything I can to be on the starting line of the MGC Race in perfect condition and ask for your continued support."

Suzuki ran an all-time Japanese #3 time of 1:07:55 at the Feb. 3 Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon, demonstrating the potential to make the podium at the Tokyo Olympics. A…
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Hattori and Suzuki Lead Ome 30 km Elite Field

On Jan. 30 the organizers of the Ome 30 km and 10 km Road Race announced the elite field for this year's 53rd running, scheduled for Feb. 17. Leading the men's 30 km division is 30 km collegiate record holder and 2018 Fukuoka International Marathon champion Yuma Hattori (25, Toyota), the first Japanese man to win Fukuoka in 14 years. Hattori will run Ome as one of the 21 men who have qualified for the MGC Race, the 2020 Tokyo Olympic marathon trials. He will face 2017 winner Ezekiel Cheboitibin (Sunbelx).

Leading the women's field is Ayuko Suzuki (27, Japan Post), winner of the 2018 Hokkaido Marathon in her debut over the distance and one of nine women to have qualified for the MGC Race. 2018 Boston Marathon 4th-placer Rachel Hyland (U.S.A.) will make her Ome debut. The guest starter will be 2004 Athens Olympics marathon gold medalist Mizuki Noguchi, 40, with 2000 Sydney Olympics marathon gold medalist Naoko Takahashi, 46, likewise appearing as a special guest.
53rd Ome 3…
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Kawauchi Takes Six Minutes Off Kitakyushu Marathon Course Record to Lead Weekend Results

After a seven-week break from the marathon, Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) scored his third-straight marathon win, second-straight course record and came just shy of a third-straight negative split as he ran a completely solo 2:11:46 to take almost six minutes off the Kitakyushu Marathon course record. Following up on negative split wins at December's Hofu Yomiuri Marathon and January's Marshfield New Year's Day Marathon, the latter a course record by half an hour, Kawauchi was on his own in the first 100 m in Kitakyushu and never looked back.

In the hilly first 10 km his pace fluctuated from high-2:12 to high-2:10, but once Kawauchi got into the flatter section of the course he settled out on track for a high-2:11 to low-2:12 time. After a 1:05:51 split at halfway he slowed slightly on the outbound trip to the turnaround near 31 km, but picking it up again after 35 km he marked a 6:34 from 40 km to the finish to stop the clock at 2:11:46,  a 1:05:55 second half …
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Kato, Herrick and Okamoto Lead Ome 30 km Elite Field

One of the Tokyo area's most popular races, the Ome 30 km and 10 km Road Race has long had a relationship with the U.S.A.'s Boston Marathon with top-placing runners from each event being invited to the other. For the first time in recent memory Ome will bring an American woman instead of a man. Off a 2:34:53 in Boston last year Danna Herrick will face 2015 Rotterdam Marathon winner and two-time Ome champ Asami Kato (Panasonic) and, fresh from a win at Sunday's Osaka Half Marathon, Maki Ashi (Kyudenko) in her 30 km debut.

On the men's side 2:12 marathoner Naoki Okamoto (Chugoku Denryoku) and the Koichi Morishita-coached Kento Otsu (Toyota Kyushu) top the bill. Track specialist Naohiro Domoto (JR Higashi Nihon) and university men Daisuke Horiai (Komazawa University) and Kota Oki (Waseda University) round out the invited athlete list with their 30 km debuts, with deeper competition to be expected at the front end of the general division.

The top Japanese female and male …
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Asian Junior Record Holder Osako Leads Japanese Contingent at Boston Marathon

by Brett Larner

Through two long-standing race partnerships, a group of sub-elite Japanese runners will again be part of this year's Boston Marathon field.  In the women's race, two-time Katsuta Marathon winner Kana Kurosawa (Team Hitachi) returns to Boston after running a PB 2:43:03 to win this year's Katsuta.  Making her marathon debut alongside Kurosawa is Ome 30 km Road Race winner Ami Utsunomiya (Canon AC Kyushu), with a 1:13:39 half marathon best at Feburary's Marugame Half Marathon.

On the men's side, Katsuta winner Hiroki Kai (Team Raffine) and 3rd-placer Kaito Iwasa (Chuo Univ.) will be running, Kai in his third marathon of the year following his Katsuta title in January and 2:18:07 PB in Tokyo in February. Earning his spot in Boston with a 5th-place finish in Ome and coached by two-time Boston winner Toshihiko Seko, Hiroki Sugawa (DeNA RC), will also line up in his second career marathon after debuting in 2:24:14 at the 2014 Gold Coast Airport Marathon i…
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Ueno, Arai Win in Kumamoto, Cheboitibin and Utsunomiya Take Ome

by Brett Larner

熊日３０k　男子　優勝　上野裕一郎選手（DeNA） pic.twitter.com/Oa0TgDRcMp — M.Kawaguchi (@rikujolove) February 19, 2017
Both of the world's two main 30 km races took place in Japan today.  In the morning, to the south in Kumamoto the Kumanichi Road Race held its 61st edition, the first since last year's powerful earthquakes caused heavy damage in the area.  2009 double 1500 m and 5000 m champion Yuichiro Ueno (DeNA RC) went out fast, close to 30 km national record pace at 10 km in 29:27 and still on track for a 1:28 time at 20 km in 59:11.  Over the last 10 km Ueno slowed dramatically, taking 31:06 to reach the finish line in 1:30:17, but even so his margin of victory over runner-up Ryu Takaku (Team Yakult) was more than a minute.

The women's race was closer, with last year's 4th-placer Sakie Arai (Osaka Gakuin Univ.) outrunning corporate leaguers Rie Uchida (Otsuka Seiyaku) and Yoko Miyauchi (Team Hokuren) by just 8 seconds to win in a PB of 1:46:29 just three weeks after…
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Kamino's 30 km Debut in Ome Highlights Weekend Action

by Brett Larner

This weekend is a lull in the middle of Japan's seven-week elite marathon season, but there's still plenty going on.  Both of its main 30 km road races, Kumamoto's Kumanichi 30 km and Tokyo's Ome 30 km, the world's two greatest races at the distance, happen Sunday.

Run in conjunction with the mass participation Kumamoto-jo Marathon, the Kumanichi 30 km is an elite-only event with small men's and women's fields and the home of Takayuki Matsumiya's 1:28:00 national record.  Toyo University graduate Ryu Takaku (Team Yakult) leads the field with a 1:30:32 in Kumanichi three years ago.  Current Toyo runner Shun Sakuraoka and past 1500 m and 5000 m national champion Yuichiro Ueno (DeNA RC) are his main competition.  Mami Onuki (Team Sysmex) has the best 30 km time in the women's field, 1:46:37 for 2nd in last year's race, but the favorite may be the debuting Ayumi Kubo (Team Kagoshima Ginko), a 1:11:29 half marathoner.

The Ome 30 km i…
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Oshikawa Versus Githae, Kamino and Hine, Sumi to Debut at Ome 30 km

by Brett Larner

The 15,000 runner-strong Ome 30 km and 10 km Road Race has rolled out the men's and women's elite fields for its 51st running on Feb. 19.  Coached by 1992 Barcelona Olympics marathon silver medalist Kochi Morishita, defending men's champion Yuki Oshikawa (Team Toyota Kyushu) returns to try to become the first man since 1986 to win Ome two years in a row.  Last year Oshikawa had a narrow 9-second win over Kenyan Michael Githae (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC), and this year Githae returns with a good chance of becoming Ome's first-ever Kenyan winner.  Both have tough competition in the form of celebrity runner Daichi Kamino (Team Konica Minolta), the former star of the Hakone Ekiden's famed uphill Fifth Stage.

Ome's course is a tough and hilly one that plans to Kamino's strengths, and for both he and Oshikawa there's a nice payday waiting for a solid run: 500,000 yen for the win [~$4400 USD], 2,000,000 yen for breaking Masaki Ito's 2013 winning…
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Ome 30 km to Add Public Prize Money for Men's and Women's Winners

http://www.hochi.co.jp/sports/etc/20160823-OHT1T50025.html

translated by Brett Larner

The organizers of the Ome 30 km Road Race announced this week that they will award prize money to the overall men's and women's winners at next year's 51st running on Feb. 19.  First place in both the men's and women's races will receive 500,000 yen [~$5000 USD].  Prize money is open to all entrants in the 30 km race.

The 5,000,000 yen course record purse announced for last year's 50th running remains in place.  Breaking either official course record, 1:30:21 for men and 1:39:09 for women, will earn 2,000,000 yen [~$20,000 USD].  Breaking Toshihiko Seko's 1:29:32 unofficial course record from 1981 will earn an additional 1,000,000 yen [~$10,000 USD].  The course record bonuses are only available to JAAF-registered Japanese citizens.

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A Double 30 km Day: Shitara and Matsumi Win Kumanichi, Oshikawa and Shimokado Take Ome

by Brett Larner
熊日30キロ優勝は設楽啓太くんでした！ pic.twitter.com/u4ZG27xFjf — つきこ (@t_tsuki) February 21, 2016Former national university record holder Keita Shitara (Team Konica Minolta) returned to Japan's biggest 30 km, the Kumanichi Road Race, for the first time in three years to pick up the win in Kumanichi's 60th edition.  A graduate of 2014 Hakone Ekiden winner Toyo University, Shitara took the race in hand from the start, leading through 5 km in 14:38 just 2 seconds off the pace for the 1:28:52 course record set in 2014 by Toyo's Yuma Hattori.  Early company included Shitara's Konica Minolta teammate Masato Kikuchi, Toyo grad Kento Otsu (Team Toyota Kyushu) and current Toyo students Ryo Kuchimachi and Shun Sakuraoka.  Over the next 10 km the pack whittled down to just Shitara and Sakuraoka, 20 seconds off CR pace at 15 km in 44:15 with Otsu another 20 seconds back.

Around 21 km Shitara got a few strides on Sakuraoka, who began to fade rapidly and was overtaken by Otsu and ot…
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Kawauchi, Asmerom, Nagao and Waku Headline 50th Anniversary Ome 30 km

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20160210-00000045-sph-spo

translated by Brett Larner

On Feb. 10 the Ome Road Race organizing committee announced the elite field and guest starters for its 50th anniversary running on Feb. 21.  The fastest man ever over the historic Ome course, marathon great and DeNA corporate team executive head coach Toshihiko Seko will serve as starter in the 30 km, with former marathon world record holder and Sydney Olympics marathon gold medalist Naoko Takahashi starting the 10 km.  A $30,000 bonus will be offered to any runner who can beat Seko's 1981 winning time of 1:29:32, with $20,000 offered for breaking the all-time second-fastest winning time in Ome history, 1:30:21 by Masaki Ito (Konica Minolta) in 2013.

50th Ome Road Race Elite Field
Ome, Tokyo, 2/21/16

Men's 30 km
Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) - 1:29:31 (2013 Kumanichi 30 km)
Yared Asmerom (Eritrea) - 1:30:16 (2008 Biwako Mainichi Marathon)
Shota Yamaguchi (Fujitsu) - 1:01:42 (2012 Marug…
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Ome 30 km Road Race to Offer 2 Million Yen Bonus for New Course Record By a Japanese Citizen

http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/athletics/news/1539747.html

translated by Brett Larner

The organizing committee of the Ome 30 km Road Race announced on Sept. 17 that it will offer 2 million yen [~$16,500 USD] bonuses to the top Japanese finishers for new men's and women's course records at the event's 50th running on Feb. 21, 2016.  The current official men's course record is 1:30:21 set by Masaki Ito in 2013, while the women's course record is 1:39:09 set by Mizuki Noguchi in 2004.  Men will receive an additional 1 million yen if they break the fastest time ever run on the Ome course, the 1:29:32 mark set by Toshihiko Seko in 1981 while running as a guest runner.  Course record setters must be Japanese citizens and currently registered with the JAAF to be eligible for the bonuses.
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Collegiates Kimura and Noda Win Kumanichi 30 km, Hasegawa and Amako Take Ome

by Brett Larner

On a busy weekend the Japanese racing calendar featured not one but two elite 30 km road races.  In western Japan, the Kumanichi 30 km staged its 59th running, its fourth edition since adding a mass-participation marathon to help keep the small elite-level 30 km afloat.

The men's 30 km featured a pack of five up front featuring corporate teammates Sota Hoshi and Shota Yamaguchi (Team Fujitsu) and collegiates Shin Kimura (Meiji Univ.),  Shohei Otsuka (Komazawa Univ.) and Hazuma Hattori (Toyo Univ.), the younger brother of last year's winner Yuma Hattori (Toyo Univ.).  Kimura did most of the early leading before making a two-man break with Minato Oishi (Team Toyota) at 10 km, opening a 15-second lead by 15 km but swallowed back up by 20 km.  The pace slowed and the race turned tactical, and in a five-way sprint finish Kimura again pulled to the front for the win in 1:31:27, just ahead of 2013 national 5000 m champion Hoshi who clocked the same time and Yamaguchi …
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Osako Going for NR #3, the National Corporate Half, Arciniaga Returns to Ome and Kawauchi Goes for WR - Weekend Preview

by Brett Larner

It's another busy weekend on the roads in Japan.  One runner who won't be part of it is one of its best, Oregon-based Suguru Osako (Team Nissin Shokuhin).  Osako has set national records for 3000 m and indoor 2 miles since affiliating with the Nike Oregon Project and is set to run Saturday's Millrose Games Paavo Nurmi 5000 m.  There is no official Japanese NR for indoor 5000 m, but the JAAF has a blank waiting for whatever time he runs.  Considering that his indoor 2 mile NR of 8:16.47 two weeks ago broke the outdoor NR by 8 seconds that could end up being a very decent one.

The biggest race back home is Sunday's National Corporate Half Marathon Championships.  The men's race has a fantastic field, featuring all-time Japanese #4 Chihiro Miyawaki (1:00:53, Team Toyota), all-time Japanese #5 Masato Kikuchi (1:00:57, Team Konica Minolta), sub-61 Japan-based Kenyans Jacob Wanjuki (1:00:55, Team Aichi Seiko) and Daniel Gitau (1:00:59, Team Fujitsu), eigh…
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Arciniaga and Mutazaki Lead Field for 49th Ome 30 km Road Race

http://www.ohme-marathon.jp/news/2015/01/27/3284

translated by Brett Larner

We are pleased to announce the elite athletes for the 49th running of the Ome 30 km Road Race on Feb. 15.

30 km Division - Men

Nicholas Arciniaga (U.S.A.)
D.O.B.: June 30, 1983 (31 yrs old)
height/weight: 177 cm / 63 kg
bib number: 1
PBs
marathon: 2:11:30
half-marathon: 1:03:22
10000 m: 28:29.71
5000 m: 14:13.14
Major Accomplishments
2014 NYC Marathon: 10th
2014 Boston Marathon: 7th
2009 Ome 30 km: 5th
2008 Boston Marathon: 10th

Kiyokatsu Hasegawa (JR Higashi Nihon)
D.O.B.: Apr. 2, 1983 (31 yrs old)
height/weight: 174 cm / 57 kg
bib number: 2
PBs
marathon: 2:15:15
half-marathon: 1:02:26
10000 m: 28:45:23
5000 m: 14:05.93
Major Accomplishments
2012 Nagano Marathon: 5th
2011 Lake Saroma 100 km: 1st
2010 Tokyo Marathon: 10th
2009 Ome 30 km Road Race: 6th

Kohei Ogino (Fujitsu)
D.O.B.: Dec. 8, 1989 (25 yrs old)
height/weight: 174 cm / 58 kg
bib number: 3
PBs
marathon: 2:13:12
half-marathon: 1:03:18
10000 m: 28:56.00
5000 m: 14:19.76
Major Accomp…
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American Tapia, Caught by Ome Cancellation, Says "I'll Never Forget This"

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20140215-OHT1T00233.htm

translated and edited by Brett Larner

 Due to heavy snowfall on Feb. 14, the organizers of the 48th Ome Road Race were unable to complete their preparations for the race and were forced to cancel it on Feb. 15.  Ome had previously been cancelled in 1996 and 2008, but this was the first time it was cancelled the day before the race.  With no substitute date on the schedule, the 49th running will take place next year on Feb. 15.  Invited elite athlete Daniel Tapia, 27, a member of the U.S.A. national team in the 2013 Moscow World Championships marathon, couldn't hide his surprise at how much snow fell.

Tapia was scheduled to run the 30 km at Ome.  In response to hearing that the news of the race's cancellation at around 9 a.m., he said, "And I came all the way to Japan to run...," his shoulders dropping in disappointment.  Tapia arrived in Japan on Feb. 13 and did a test run on the Ome course as snow fell…
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Ome Road Race Cancelled Due to Difficulty of Clearing Heavy Snow From Course

http://www.asahi.com/articles/ASG2H315SG2HUTIL017.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner

The organizers of the Ome 30 km and 10 km Road Race, scheduled for Feb. 16 in western Tokyo's Ome area, have announced that the race has been cancelled due to the difficulty of clearing the heavy snow accumulation from yesterday's record-setting snowstorm from the course.  According to organizers, a total of 20,000 people were entered in the 10 km and 30 km divisions.  This year was to be Ome's 48th edition.  It has been cancelled due to snow twice before in its history, in 1996 and in 2008.

Current conditions in Ome:

https://twitter.com/Ome_aruaru/status/434654631998676992/photo/1

 https://twitter.com/0300314/status/434465604930531328/photo/1

https://twitter.com/ssymg/status/434482889120419840/photo/1

https://twitter.com/chitbmp123/status/434487823052185600/photo/1

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