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MGC Race Olympic Marathon Trials Qualifier Profile - Mizuki Matsuda

Mizuki Matsudaage: 25
sponsor: Daihatsu
graduated from: Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.

best time inside MGC window:
2:22:23, 5th, 2018 Berlin Marathon

PB: 2:22:23, 5th, 2018 Berlin Marathon

other PBs:
5000 m: 15:46.40 (2016) 10000 m: 31:39.41 (2017) half marathon: 1:10:25 (2016)

marathons inside MGC window (Aug. 1 2017 – April 30 2019)
5th, 2018 Berlin Marathon, 2:22:23 – PB
1st, 2018 Osaka International Women’s Marathon, 2:22:44

other major results:
10th, 2019 National Championships 10000 m, 32:37.13
2nd, 2019 National Women’s Ekiden Fourth Stage (4.0 km), 12:56
7th, 2018 National Corporate Women’s Ekiden Third Stage (10.9 km), 35:28
1st, 2018 National Championships 10000 m, 31:52.42
19th, 2017 London World Championships 10000 m, 31:59.54
3rd, 2017 Bhubaneshwar Asian Championships 10000 m, 32:46.61
1st, 2017 National Championships 10000 m, 31:39.41 – PB
17th, 2016 Cardiff World Half Marathon Championships, 1:11:00
4th, 2016 National Corporate Half Marathon Championships, 1:10:25 – PB

Matsud…

MGC Race Olympic Marathon Trials Qualifier - Honami Maeda

Honami Maedaage: 23
sponsor: Tenmaya
graduated from: Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.

best time inside MGC window:
2:23:48, 2nd, 2018 Osaka International Women’s Marathon

PB: 2:23:48, 2nd, 2018 Osaka International Women’s Marathon

other PBs:
5000 m: 15:38.16 (2018) 10000 m: 32:13.87 (2018) half marathon: 1:09:12 (2018)

marathons inside MGC window (Aug. 1 2017 – April 30 2019)
12th, 2019 Tokyo Marathon, 2:31:42
7th, 2018 Berlin Marathon, 2:25:23
2nd, 2018 Osaka International Women’s Marathon, 2:23:48 – PB
1st, 2017 Hokkaido Marathon, 2:28:48

other major results:
3rd, 2019 Hakodate Half Marathon, 1:10:23
3rd, 2019 National Women’s Ekiden Ninth Stage (10.0 km), 31:49
1st, 2018 Sanyo Ladies Half Marathon, 1:09:12 – PB
5th, 2018 National Corporate Women’s Ekiden Third Stage (10.9 km), 35:15
35th, 2018 Valencia World Half Marathon Championships, 1:12:09
7th, 2017 Sanyo Ladies Half Marathon, 1:10:22
12th, 2017 Osaka International Women’s Marathon, 2:32:19
2nd, 2016 Sendai International Half Marathon,…

Osaka Kunei H.S. Beats Top Corporate and University Competition at Kitakyushu Women's Ekiden

In the last major women's ekiden of the season, 2016 National High School Ekiden champion Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. made up for their loss at the 2017 Nationals last month as they outran top corporate and university competition to win the 29th Kitakyushu Invitational Women's Ekiden.

5th on the opening leg, Osaka Kunei moved up to 2nd behind the Toto corporate women's team on the Second Stage thanks to a strong run from third-year Tomomi Musembi Takamatsu. Building on Takamatsu's momentum, third runner Ayaka Murao put Osaka Kunei 7 seconds ahead of Toto, fourth runner Hikari Takeuchi opening up their lead to 34 seconds, and its last two women Ami Taniguchi and Mai Misaki extending that to 48 seconds by race's end.

Scored in separate divisions, Osaka Kunei and Toto were each awarded 1st-place trophies, but as the first across the line Osaka Kunei was only the 2nd high school in Kitakyushu's 29-year history to take the top spot overall. Local power Kitakyushu…

Kurashiki and Osaka Kunei Joshi Win Season-Opening High School Ekidens

The 37th Nihonkai High School Boys Ekiden and 32nd Kurayoshi High School Girls Ekiden, the first major national-level high school races of the season, took place Oct. 8 in Kurayoshi, Tottori on courses starting and finishing at Kurayoshi Municipal Field.

In the seven-stage, 42.195 km Nihonkai Ekiden, the 2016 national champion Kurashiki H.S. boys ran 2:07:09 to return to the winner's circle after a loss last year. Running 3rd after the First Stage, Kurashiki moved up into the lead on the Fifth Stage and held that position the rest of the way. For the third year in a row Tottori Johoku H.S. was the top-fnishing school from within Tottori prefecture.

Defending girls' national champions Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. won the five-stage, 21.0975 km Kurayoshi Ekiden for the first time in 1:09:44. The Osaka Kunei girls took over 1st on the Third Stage and ran on to the finish without challenge. For the first time in nineteen years Yazu H.S. was the first Tottori school to finish.

A …

Takamatsu Makes Return to Racing After Nike Oregon Project Disappointment

Running again in her hometown on the second day of the Osaka Track and Field Championships at Yanmar Stadium Nagai, 2014 Youth Olympics girls' 3000 m gold medalist Nozomi Musembi Takamatsu (19, Osaka T&F Assoc.) took the first step toward a comeback. Closing the gap to the runner ahead of her on the second lap, Takamatsu finished with effort to spare in 2:14.51 for 2nd. "I was able to run the way I'd envisioned," she said afterward. "I had some anxiety since it was pretty much my first real race in a year but I was able to give it my best."

After graduating from Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. in the spring last year Takamatsu moved to Oregon, U.S.A. to take part in the "Nike Oregon Project" elite long distance group created by Nike. With a dream of winning gold in the 5000 m or 10000 m at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and high hopes in her heart, she crossed the ocean.

But in the U.S. she was hit by the cold hand of reality. "I was DFL every ti…

Japanese Team Rosters for Kampala World Cross Country Championships

by Brett Larner

#世界クロカン】日本代表選手団、第42回世界クロスカントリー選手権大会の開催地、ウガンダ カンパラに到着です。現地メディアのお出迎えもありました! #陸上pic.twitter.com/3YpD2j5Hfc — JAAF(日本陸上競技連盟) (@jaaf_official) March 22, 2017
The World Cross Country Championships take place this Sunday, March 26 in Kampala, Uganda.  Perpetual team medal contenders, the Japanese junior women's squad is the strongest part of the Japanese roster, featuring four women with 3000 m bests under 9:10 led by 8:58.86 runner Tomomi Musembi Takamatsu of 2016 National High School Ekiden champion Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.  The Japanese national team for the 2017 World Cross Country Championships:

Senior Men's 10 km
Kosei Yamaguchi (Team Aisan Kogyo) - 28:34.19
Shota Maeda (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 28:59.86
Yuma Higashi (Team Kyudenko) - 29:14.78
Haruki Ono (Kanagawa Univ.) - 29:18.49
Yamato Otsuka (Kanagawa Univ.) - 29:22.18

Senior Women's 10 km
Mao Ichiyama (Team Wacoal) - 32:15.73
Kaori Morita (Team Panasonic) - 32:27
Yuki Hori (Team Panasonic) - 32:40
Fumik…

Universal Entertainment and Osaka Kunei Win Kita-Kyushu Invitational Women's Ekiden

by Brett Larner

The women's championship ekiden season came to a close at Sunday's Kita-Kyushu Invitational Women's Ekiden in Fukuoka.  Cancelled last year due to heavy snow, Kita-Kyushu pits the country's top high school, university and pro women's teams against each other over a short five-stage, 32.8 km course, the long 11.7 km anchor stage split in two for the high school division.

With both divisions running together it was a close race throughout.  Running without star marathoner Eri Hayakawa, the Toto corporate team led almost the entire race.  Its opening pair Hana Omori and Shuru Bulo built a 36-lead over 2016 National High School Ekiden champion and 2015 high school division winner Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S., with its nearest corporate league competition Universal Entertainment almost a minute behind.

Universal's third runner Mai Shinozuka cut that down to 19 seconds, Osaka Kunei's Ayako Murao coming even closer at just 8 seconds back. Fourth…

Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. Wins Second National High School Girls Ekiden Title in Three Years

by Brett Larner
highlights video courtesy of race broadcaster NHK
click here for National High School Boys Ekiden results

2014 national champion Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. ran one of the fastest times in National High School Girls Ekiden history, breaking its school record to win its second national title in three years.

Osaka Kunei got off to a relatively slow start, its leading runner Kanami Sagayama just 10th on the 6.0 km First Stage behind defending champ Sera H.S., last-year's runner-up Tokiwa H.S., powerhouse Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S. and others.  Osaka Kunei's star runner Tomomi Musembi Takamatsu, with an 8:58.86 best for 3000 m while still just 16 years old, got the team back in the game, running the second-fastest time on the 4.0975 km Second Stage to put Osaka Kunei into 1st.

Third and fourth runners Ayaka Murao and Saya Nakajima both won their stages, giving Osaka Kunei a 26-second lead over the relatively unheralded Nagano Higashi H.S. heading onto the 5.0 km anchor …

Sera Girls Win First-Ever National High School Ekiden Championships Title

by Brett Larner
video highlights courtesy of broadcaster NHK

The Sera H.S. girls won their first-ever National High School Ekiden Championships Sunday in Kyoto thanks to a solid team performance and a stunning run from 2nd-year anchor Yuka Mukai.

Ranked #1, defending champion Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. was handicapped from the start by the loss of its #2 member Kanami Sagayama to injury and was far behind on the 6.0 km First Stage.  In Sagayama's absence Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S. first-year Nozomi Tanaka, daughter of sub-2:30 amateur marathoner Chihiro Tanaka, led almost the entire way from her opening 3:10 km to the final stretch where she was outkicked by Sera's Shinobu Koyoshigawa.  The two handed off almost simultaneously and over the 4.0975 km Second Stage little changed in their teams' relative positions, Nishiwaki Kogyo handing off to its third runner one second ahead of Sera.  Behind them Tokiwa H.S. and Osaka Kunei drew closer, Osaka Kunei thanks to its debuting Tomo…

Sera H.S. Going for History at National High School Ekiden Championships

by Brett Larner

Sunday is the next stop on the national championship ekiden season calendar, the National High School Ekiden Championships in Kyoto, both the boys’ and girls’ races broadcast live nationwide to millions of fans starting at 10:20 for the girls’ race and 12:30 for the boys. JRN will cover both races live on @JRNLive.

The seven-stage, 42.195 km boys’ race is about one thing and one thing only: can defending champion Sera H.S. of Hiroshima take down the legendary 2:01:32 course record set in 2004 by future Olympic marathon gold medalist Samuel Wanjiru and his Sendai Ikuei H.S. teammates? Last year Sera ran the fifth-fastest time in Nationals history, winning easily in 2:03:18. This year they return even better, with a lineup that could compete against many of the best university teams over 5000 m. How good are they? Judge for yourself.


None of the other 55 teams even comes close. Their strongest competition Gakuho Ishikawa H.S. of Fukushima, led by #1-ranked Japanese…

Kurashiki H.S. and Okazaki Gakuen H.S. Win First Kurayoshi Ekiden Titles

by Brett Larner

Okayama prefecture's Kurashiki H.S. and Aichi's Okazaki Gakuen H.S. took their first-ever wins at the season's first big nationwide high school ekiden in Kurayoshi, Tottori on October 4.  In the 35th edition of the boys' race, Kurashiki, splitting its team into A and B squads, started slow, its B-squad 21st and A-squad 25th after the 10.0 km First Stage.  The A-squad moved up to 14th on the 3.0 km Second Stage, and with a stage best by its third runner Maeda it moved up to 3rd at halfway.  Kurashiki A's next three runners juggled between 1st and 2nd places, and with a 38-second lead over Kyushu Gakuin H.S. for the 5.0 km anchor stage it looked safe for the win.

Safe, that is, until Kurashiki A anchor Koga ran only the 12th-best time on the final stage, while behind him Kyushu Gakuin anchor Ueda bore down with a stage best 15:15.  It looked like it would be close, but in the end Koga had the margin he needed and broke the tape in 2:06:55, Kurashiki&#…

Osaka Kunei Unseats Ritsumeikan Uji at Kita-Kyushu Women's Ekiden

by Brett Larner

A week after the National Women's Ekiden marked the end of the main women's championship ekiden season, 9 pro and university teams and 15 high school teams lined up for the 26th edition of the Kita-Kyushu Women's Ekiden, a 5-stage, 32.8 km race that features an 11.7 km anchor stage split into two for the high school runners.  Last year's winning anchor Misaki Kato got defending open division champion Kyudenko off to a good start with an 18-second lead on the 4.2 km First Stage, and after Kenyan Sally Chepyego was through with the 5.9 km Second Stage Kyudenko's lead was up to well over a minute, a margin they held for the rest of the race to take a second-straight win in 1:45:23.

With a long streak of Kita-Kyushu wins behind it, defending H.S. division champion Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. got off to a slow start, 2nd among H.S. teams on the First Stage and more than 30 seconds behind Kato.  2014 National H.S. Ekiden championOsaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. was…

Their Father a Kenyan, Distance Star Takamatsu Sisters Power Osaka to National Title

http://www.hochi.co.jp/sports/etc/20150111-OHT1T50282.html

translated by Brett Larner

Rising stars in the women's long distance world, the Takamatsu sisters powered Osaka to its first National Women's Ekiden win in three years on Jan. 11 in Kyoto.  Their father a Kenyan, Tomomi Musembi Takamatsu (3rd year, Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin J.H.S.) ran the fastest time on the 3.0 km Third Stage to pass five people and put Osaka in 2nd before handing off to older sister Nozomi Musembi Takamatsu (2nd year, Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.) who, even though losing ground, kept the team in contention with the leaders.  Both played important roles in Osaka winning over defending champion Kyoto by 1 second.

Just before the finish and Osaka's come-from-behind win both Takamatsu sisters were all smiles.  Having repeated her stage win from last year, Tomomi said, "I had a lot of strong competition on the Third Stage so I'm really happy to win it again."  Getting a shout of, "G…

Osaka Kunei Girls Win First-Ever National High School Ekiden Championships

by Brett Larner
video highlights courtesy of race broadcaster NHK

A back-and-forth race between four of the top five ranked schools in the country saw Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. emerge to take its first national title Dec. 21 at the 26th National High School Girls Ekiden Championships in Kyoto, covering the five-stage, 21.0975 km course in 1:07:26.

Defending champion Toyokawa H.S. was never a factor, 26th of 47 teams at the end of the 6.0 km First Stage and working its way back up through the field to 6th thanks in large part to a 15:42 stage win for the 5.0 km anchor leg by star Azusa Sumi.  In its absence, #3-ranked Tokiwa H.S. took an early lead with its top runner Harumi Okamoto winning the First Stage in 19:12.  #2-ranked Osaka Kunei moved up on the 4.0975 km Second Stage as its 2014 Youth Olympics 3000 m gold medalist Nozomi Musembi Takamatsu quickly took the lead, but while Takamatsu looked strong a surprise came from Fukiko Ando of #5-ranked 2012 national champion Ritsumeika…