japan running news

by Brett Larner

Japan's major midsummer track series, the Hokuren Distance Challenge in four locations across Hokkaido, wrapped up July 16 with the Abashiri Meet.  For the second time in a week, 20 km race walk world record holder Yusuke Suzuki (Team Fujitsu) broke a national record held by teammate Eiki Takahashi, both times outgunning Takahashi to do it.  This time it was Takahashi's 10000 mRW national record, from which Suzuki lopped 8 seconds with a new record of 38:10.23.  12 more seconds to another world record.

Other new came in the women's 10000 m, where National Championships 3rd-placer Rei Ohara (Team Tenmaya) finally succeeded in breaking the Beijing World Championships qualification standard of 32:00.00, taking 3rd in a new PB of 31:48.31 for which she is all but certain to be rewarded with a place on the Beijing team.  Riko Matsuzaki (Sekisui Kagaku) won in a solid PB of 31:44.86, with the top 4 breaking 32 minutes and the top 7 all clearing the 32:15.00 stan…

by Brett Larner

Japan's late-June and early-July Hokkaido-based Hokuren Distance Challenge time trial series gets underway tomorrow in Shibetsu.  Formerly a six-part series, the Distance Challenge now includes only four meets, June 26 in Shibetsu, June 29 in Fukagawa, July 3 in Abashiri and wrapping up July 6 in Kitami.  Given the series' timing its focus is often on improving marks ahead of international championships and Japanese athletes often produce their best track times of the year at one of the four races.

Shibetsu features mens' and womens' 1500 m, 3000 m and 5000 m distances.  On the women's side where the most notable names are 2013 London Marathon 7th-place finisher Mai Ito (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) and 2013 National Championships 5000 m 3rd-placer Riko Matsuzaki (Team Sekisui Kagaku) in the women's 3000 m A-heat, with Ayumi Hagiwara (Team Uniqlo), 3rd in this year's Payton Jordan 10000 m, looking like the favorite in the 5000 m A-heat.

5000 m natio…

by Brett Larner

2011 World Cross Country silver medalist Paul Tanui (Kenya/Team Kyudenko) delivered the biggest run of a weekend of regional corporate track and field championships, setting a meet record at the Kyushu region championships 10000 m in a world-leading 27:21.50. His teammate Sally Chepyego (Kenya/Team Kyudenko) likewise brought her best with a meet record 15:17.47 in the women's 5000 m.  Moscow World Championships marathon team members Kazuhiro Maeda (Team Kyudenko) and Kentaro Nakamoto (Team Yasukawa Denki) both ran well behind Tanui to go sub-29, Nakamoto for only the second time in his career.

Less than an hour after Tanui's world leading run, London Olympics 10000 m 5th-place Bedan Karoki (Kenya/DeNA RC) flashed the flamboyant colors of the new DeNA uniform to win the East Japan region 10000 m in 27:30.65, the fastest time in the world this year behind Tanui.  Ethiopian Asmeraw Mengistu (Team Honda), hired as the Honda team's B-African behind 2011 world c…

by Brett Larner

Four track meets featured noteworthy Japanese performances on the first truly busy weekend on the spring outdoor season calendar.

Cold rain and wind hit the biggest of the domestic meets, the Hyogo Relay Carnival.  In the Grand Prix 10000 m, Patrick Mutunga (Kenya/Team Toyota Boshoku) continued his climb to the top of the Japanese circuit with a world-leading 27:40.44 to win over world-level medalists Paul Tanui (Kenya/Team Kyudenko) and Martin Mathathi (Kenya/ Suzuki Hamamatsu AC).  Former 1500 m and 5000 m national champion Yuichiro Ueno (DeNA RC) was the top Japanese man, 5th overall with the fastest time so far this year by a Japanese man, 28:16.79.  The year's leading Japanese marathoner, Kazuhiro Maeda (Team Kyudenko), was 12th in a decent 28:32.23 as he began working toward the Moscow World Championships.  His teammate Sally Chepyego (Kenya/Team Kyudenko) easily won the Grand Prix women's 10000 m in 32:00.02.  Runner-up Rei Ohara (Team Tenmaya) was far b…

by Brett Larner

The Japanese outdoor track season got started Saturday at Kumamoto's Kanaguri Memorial Meet depite high winds and heavy rain from a passing storm that kept times from what was hoped.  Japan-based Africans won all the major races, with last year's winners Patrick Mutunga (Kenya/Team Toyota Boshoku) and Sally Chepyego (Kenya/Team Kyudenko) repeating in the men's and women's 5000 m A-heats in 13:26.48 and 15:42.81.  The Koichi Morishita-coached Yuya Konishi (Team Toyota Kyushu) clocked the fastest time of the day by a Japanese man, 13:39.46 for 2nd in the B-heat, while independent Yuka Ando (Tokinosumika T&F Assoc.) took 2nd behind Chepyego for the top Japanese time in 16:02.08.  The year's leading Japanese marathoner, Kazuhiro Maeda (Team Kyudenko), started his buildup to August's World Championships, running a 14:07.46 shakeout in the men's 5000 m B-heat in his first race since running 2:08:00 at February's Tokyo Marathon.

In the men&…

by Brett Larner

The 67th running of the Meigi Ekiden joined other races across the country in being blessed with good weather on Feb. 3, the kind of weather that produces course records. In the 6-stage, 52.6 km open men's division Team Toyota Boshoku unseated defending champion and course record holder Team Toyota for the win in 2:31:17, just 32 seconds off Toyota's 2012 record.  Toyota Boshoku started slow, its opening man Yoshiaki Shiota only 7th, but steadily advanced through the field until Kenyan ace Patrick Mutunga ran down Toyota's Chihiro Miyawaki to put Toyota Boshoku ahead by 10 seconds.  Both Toyota Boshoku and Toyota's fifth men Yuya Taguchi and Kenta Matsubara broke the stage record, Matsubara closing to within 1 second as he fought desperately to retake the lead, but on the anchor stage his teammate Minato Oishi was no match for Toyota Boshoku anchor Yoshihiro Yamamoto, who ran a stage best 34:14 for the 11.8 km leg to secure the overall win.  Absent 200…

by Brett Larner

In what appears to have been his final ekiden appearance, 5000 m and 30 km national record holder and former 30 km world record holder Takayuki Matsumiya brought pre-race favorite Team Konica Minolta home to its first New Year Ekiden title since 2008, winning the seven-stage, 100.0 km national corporate men's championship event in 4:51:32 by a margin of over a kilometer.  After a relatively slow start Konica Minolta took the lead on the race's longest stage, the 22.0 km Fourth Stage with a stage-second run by captain Tsuyoshi Ugachi, and with stage wins on the remaining three legs its lead was never threatened.  Samuel Wanjiru's former team Toyota Kyushu was an unexpected 2nd, its best-ever finish, thanks to three strong middle-stage runs including a Fourth Stage record by Masato Imai and a superbly-timed kick by anchor Takuya Sakai to win a seven-way sprint finish for the remaining podium spots behind Konica.  Running without 2011 10000 m world champion Ib…