japan running news

Bound for the 2020 Olympic marathon trials MGC Race to be held Sept. 15, Tenmaya teammates Rei Ohara, 28, and Honami Maeda, 23, left July 22 for altitude training in the U.S.A. The pair will be based in Albuquerque, New Mexico at 1600 m elevation until early September, doing the brunt of their preparations for the MGC Race there.

Maeda won the 2017 Hokkaido Marathon to become the first woman to qualify for the MGC Race. After that she ran an excellent 2:23:48 at the 2018 Osaka International Women's Marathon and competed at the World Half Marathon Championships. The main event on Sept. 15 will be one without pacers and a field of only 12. "I've never run in a race with so few people before," she said. "I want to run my own race. The last 5 km will be the key."



Ohara ran 2:23:20 at the 2016 Nagoya Women's Marathon, missing a place on the Rio Olympic team by 1 second as the second Japanese finisher. "The next few weeks will be an important time,"…

We hereby announce the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Marathon Team qualifying standards for the MGC Final Challenge.
men: 2:05:49
women: 2:22:22 These times are one second faster than the fastest times run by Japanese men and women within the MGC Race qualifying period. The fastest athlete under these standards at one of the MGC Final Challenge series races will earn the third and final spot on the Tokyo 2020 team following the two to be decided at September's MGC Race. MGC Final Challenge series races:
Men:73rd Fukuoka International MarathonTokyo Marathon 202075th Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon Women:5th Saitama International Marathon39th Osaka International Women's MarathonNagoya Women's Marathon 2020 For more information on the overall Tokyo 2020 Olympic team qualification process please click here.
The official MGC site:  http://www.mgc42195.jp/
source press release:
https://www.jaaf.or.jp/news/article/12712/
translated and edited by Brett Larner

http://www.run24.co.za/blog-run24.php?articleid=570&id=NEWS/FEATURES

On Feb. 1 the Wacoal women's corporate team announced that 2017 London World Championships team member Yuka Ando, 24, has joined its organization. Ando previously ran for the Suzuki Hamamatsu AC team.

Known for her unique "ninja running" style with minimal upper body motion and arms held almost straight down at her sides, Ando ran 2:21:36 at the 2017 Nagoya Women's Marathon to become the fourth-fastest Japanese woman ever and break the debut marathon national record. She placed only an unremarkable 17th at the World Championships later that year, but with a 2:27:37 at the 2018 Osaka International Women's Marathon she qualified for September's MGC Race, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics marathon trials event.

The Suzuki Hamamatsu AC team has undergone repeated coaching staff changes in recent years. In her new environment alongside half marathon national record holder Kayoko Fukushi Ando will now be able to target the Tokyo Olympics.

source article:
https://www.nikkanspo…

On Jan. 28 the Wacoal corporate team posted an update on its website about the condition of Kayoko Fukushi, 36, following her DNF at Sunday's Osaka International Women's Marathon. Running her first marathon since the Rio Olympics, Fukushi fell 12.6 km into the race. Bleeding from her head and knees she got up and continued the race in order to qualify for the Sept. 15 MGC Race 2020 Tokyo Olympic marathon trials, but near 35 km she finally dropped out.

On the Wacoal website it said that an MRI and examination had found, "only cuts and bruises on both knees, her right forehead and right elbow. There was no damage to any bones, and it is expected to take only one week for her to fully recover." With regard to MGC qualification the statement said, "Once she has recovered from her injuries, after talking the situation over with her we will be actively looking at her running the Mar. 10 Nagoya Women's Marathon." If Fukushi runs it will be a major addition to…

Relative darkhorse Fatuma Sado (Ethiopia) outlasted some of Japan's top Olympic hopefuls and her Kenyan competition to win the Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2:25:39.

Stellar pacing right on the A-group target of 17:00 per 5 km quickly shook the pack down to the main contenders, Ethiopians Sado, Abebech Afework and Sutume Asefa Kebede, Kenyans Bornes Chepkirui and Eunice Jeptoo and Japan's Rei Ohara (Tenmaya), Kayoko Fukushi (Wacoal), and Natsuki Omori (Daihatsu). Ohara had already qualified for September's MGC Race 2020 Olympic marathon trials, but for Fukushi, running her first marathon since the Rio Olympics, and the debuting Omori, they needed to either clear 2:24 or be in the first three Japanese women after Ohara and under 2:28.

Just past 12 km disaster struck Fukushi. Tripping in the middle of the pack and falling, she tore both knees and hands before hitting her head on the pavement. Fukushi bounced up and quickly regained contact with the pack, but b…

We're getting into the last few months of qualification for September's MGC Race 2020 Olympic marathon trials, and for Japanese women's Sunday's Osaka International Women's Marathon represents one of the last chances to make it. One of only eight to have qualified so far, Rei Ohara (Tenmaya) is one of three Japanese women in the field to have broken 2:24, along with 2016 Osaka winner Kayoko Fukushi (Wacoal) and 2014 Yokohama winner Tomomi Tanaka (Daiichi Seimei). But none of that trio has run that kind of time since early 2016, and for both Fukushi and Tanaka this will be the first marathon since they represented Japan in the marathon in Rio.

That seems to be the overall impression of the domestic field in Osaka this year, it being mostly made up of people at their best two or three years ago but hoping to get it back together well enough to qualify for the trials. They'll have to be under 2:28:00 if among the top three Japanese women excluding Ohara, and unde…

The organizers of the 38th Osaka International Women's Marathon have announced cancellations from Sunday's race. Mari Ozaki (Noritz) has withdrawn due to sciatic nerve pain, Shiho Takechi (Yamada Denki) with a stress fracture, and Maki Ashi (Kyudenko) and Rie Fujita (Kyocera) with Achilles tendon pain.

From overseas, Merima Mohamed (Bahrain) has also withdrawn for reasons unspecified, to be replaced by Abebech Afework (Ethiopia), runner-up at the 2016 Amsterdam Marathon in 2:24:27.

source article:
https://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/20190122/ath19012211020004-n1.html
translated and edited by Brett Larner

The 37th Sanyo Ladies Road Race took place Dec. 23 in Okayama on a course starting and finishing at City Lights Stadium. In the half marathon division, MGC Race 2020 Olympic marathon trials qualifier Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) won her first Sanyo title in 1:09:12, the fastest time by a Japanese woman in over 5 years. Dropping the lead pack just a kilometer into the race, Maeda ran solo the entire way to become the only Japanese woman under 1:10 this year.

Australian Ellie Pashley was 2nd in 1:09:20, with Maeda's teammate and fellow MGC qualifier Rei Ohara (Tenmaya) 3rd in 1:10:37. National record holder Kayoko Fukushi (Wacoal) was 6th in 1:11:32. Both Ohara and Fukushi are scheduled to run January's Osaka International Women's Marathon.

In the 10 km division, Kenyan Grace Kimanzi (Starts) equalled the 31:54 course record set in 2007 by future Olympic marathon gold medalist Tiki Gelana of Ethiopia. Tenmaya runners Sara Miyake and Mai Nishiwaki were a distant 2nd and 3rd.

source…