japan running news

http://www.nikkan-gendai.com/articles/view/sports/199496/1

translated by Brett Larner

It's turned into an era when it's hard to break even 2:09.

On Feb. 12, Yuki Kawauchi (29), the top Japanese finisher in December's Fukuoka International Marathon at 3rd overall, set a new course record of 2:09:54 to win the Ehime Marathon for the first time.  Speaking of 2:09, in Fukuoka as well Kawauchi ran 2:09:11.  On the 5th this month Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon winner Kentaro Nakamoto (34) ran 2:09:32 too.  And the three members of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics team did it in the selection races.  Satoru Sasaki barely broke 2:09 at 2:08:56 for 3rd in Fukuoka, and Hisanori Kitajima and Suehiro Ishikawa ran 2:09:16 and 2:09:25 for 2nd and 4th at Lake Biwa.  Even in the Olympic season when marathoners' gaze is supposed to be loftier, that was all they could do.

Even though the world standard in the men's marathon is now at the 2:02 level, Japanese haven't run 2:07 in a domest…

https://www.iaaf.org/news/report/jepchirchir-breaks-world-half-marathon-record

The Ras Al-Khaimah Half was the fifth-straight win for Tokyo-based Bedan Karoki (DeNA RC), having won two track races in 24 hours at November's Nittai University Time Trials meet, the first a 10000 m in 27:07.30, a brilliant win in the most competitive January race in the world, the New Year Ekiden's 8.3 km Second Stage, and a tune-up for RAK with a win at the 10 km Discovery Cross meet in Kenya late last month.  Karoki is set to debut at April's London Marathon after a DNS there last year.

photo © 2017 Dr. Helmut Winter
all rights reserved

by Brett Larner

Led by a 10th-place overall finish by Yuka Ando (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) with support from top-20 placings by Miho Shimizu (Team Hokuren) and Mizuki Matsuda (Team Daihatsu), the Japanese women narrowly held off Australia to score the team bronze medal at the 2016 World Half Marathon Championships in Cardiff.  All three scoring members turned in solid runs, Ando and Matsuda seconds off their bests and Shimizu, the fastest on the team with a PB of 1:09:41 at last month's National Corporate Half Marathon Championships, just over a minute off hers.

Likewise bronze medal quality on paper with one runner with a 1:00:54 best, two under 1:01:30 and a fourth at 1:01:53, the Japanese men left their races at home as they struggled to make the top five.  Komazawa University second-year Naoki Kudo, 5th in last year's World University Games Half Marathon, was the top Japanese man and the only one to break 64 minutes as he finished 22nd in 1:03:41.  The other two scoring members…

http://www.iaaf.org/news/report/2015-prague-grand-prix-10km-jepchirchir

Prague Grand Prix 10 km
Prague, Czech Republic, 9/5/15
click here for complete results

Women
1. Peres Jepchirchir (Kenya) - 30:55
2. Linah Cheruto (Kenya) - 32:08
3. Kidsan Alema (Ethiopia) - 32:10
4. Eshete Shitae (Ethiopia) - 32:11
5. Viola Jelagat (Kenya) - 32:37
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8. Mizuki Matsuda (Japan) - 33:19
12. Ai Inoue (Japan) - 34:22

Men
1. Daniel Chebii (Kenya) - 27:42
2. Gilbert Masai (Kenya) - 27:45
3. Barselius Kipyego (Kenya) - 27:46
4. Japhet Kipyegon Korir (Kenya) - 27:48
5. Teshome Mekonen (Ethiopia) - 27:50
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18. Rikinobu Watanabe (Japan) - 30:04
20. Ryuji Okada (Japan) - 30:28