japan running news

http://www.sanyonews.jp/article/459054 translated by Brett Larner 327 women are set to run the 35th anniversary Sanyo Ladies Road Race Dec. 23 in Okayama.  117 are entered in the Yuko Arimori Cup Half Marathon, with 210 entered in the Kinue Hitomi Cup 10 km.  Top-level domestic and international athletes including some who ran in this summer's Rio de Janeiro Olympics are set to bring fireworks to the streets of Okayama. The half marathon is led by Rio marathoner Mai Ito (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) and features last year's runner-up local Rei Ohara (Team Tenmaya) and 2015 World Championships team member Risa Shigetomo  (Team Tenmaya). Misaki Kato (Team Kyudenko), who ran brilliantly at last month's National Corporate Women's Ekiden Championships, and Reia Iwade (Team Noritz), who set the junior national record of 1:09:45 in Sanyo in 2013, are also on the list.  Rio 5000 m 9th-placer Eloise Wellings and 2016 World Half Marathon Championships team member Cassie Fi...

by Brett Larner The Osaka Marathon is something of an oddity.  The progeny of the post-Tokyo Marathon mass participation running boom, in its fifth running last year Osaka had nearly 30,000 finishers to rank as the 7th-largest marathon worldwide in 2015 .  But along with the United States' Marine Corps Marathon it was one of only two races in the top ten without an IAAF label, an indication that the JAAF has not positioned it as part of Japan's crowded elite race calendar.  And yet, Osaka typically has an invited elite field good enough for at least IAAF bronze medal status if it wanted it, good enough that it has yet to see a Japanese winner male or female.  There's something of an indication there of the tension between tradition and modernity in today's Japanese distance running world, neither purely elite nor purely mass participation. Whatever the organizers' intentions, Sunday's race features good fields on both the men's and women's sides wit...

by Brett Larner The new Nov. 15 Saitama International Marathon is the inheritor of the defunct Yokohama International Women's Marathon, itself the lesser offspring of the great Tokyo International Women's Marathon that folded under the pressure of the big new mass-participation Tokyo Marathon.  At the time of the event's "relocation" to Yokohama JRN published an editorial questioning whether The Yokohama International Women's Marathon was an idea whose time had passed .  History bore that out, unfortunately, as Yokohama was constantly beset with problems including its first winner Inga Abitova of Russia testing positive, a circuit course popular with spectators but unpopular with runners that underwent extensive changes, a date change into the next year in its second running, the welcoming back of Lithuanian Zivile Balciunaite within virtually days of the end of her doping suspension, and a growing sense of irrelevance highlighted by its winners and top J...

by Brett Larner With the demise of the Sapporo International Half Marathon, Hokkaido's Shibetsu Half Marathon has taken on a bigger role as a major domestic summer half marathon, especially for members of Japanese national teams for international championships.  Despite generally hot conditions and the apparent cutting of the elite women's 10 km this year, both the women's and men's races featured solid fields. Kenyan Winfredah Kebaso , the main support of the fledgling Nitori corporate women's team, easily took the win in 1:12:36 over Mai Ito (Team Otsuka Seiyaku), one of the three Japanese women in the marathon at next month's Beijing World Championships.  Ito was a distant 2nd behind Kebaso in 1:14:47 but had little trouble holding off teammate Yui Okada , 3rd in 1:15:13.  Runners from the Noritz corporate team featured prominently, taking 4 of the top 10 places, while Nitori's Remi Nakazato continued her comeback from a cancer diagnosis last Nove...

by Brett Larner Japanese athletes feature in two of the three races at Australia's Gold Coast Airport Marathon in its second year as an IAAF gold label race.  Former Aoyama Gakuin University captain Takehiro Deki (Team Chugoku Denryoku) leads the men's half marathon, with cancer survivor Remi Nakazato at the top of the women's list. Deki's 58:51 best for 20 km translates to 1:02:15 for the half marathon, far ahead of the 1:03:28 best of #2-ranked Liam Adams (Australia), but although he has run 1:03:11 for the first half of a marathon Deki's legitimate half marathon best remains just 1:04:16, and with a 29:22 two weeks ago in Boston indicating mid-1:04 condition it should be a challenge for him to take down Adams and the other Aussie and Kiwi competition. "This is my first serious race in a long time," Deki told JRN.  "If all goes well I think I can run mid-1:03." Nakazato, a promising new talent after a 2:24:29 at age 23 in 2011 in...

http://www.asahi.com/articles/ASH4464KHH44UTQP02W.html translated by Brett Larner An involved source has revealed that Sapporo-based furniture and interior supplies retailer Nitori Holdings is in the process of forming a women's running team.  2011 Daegu World Championships marathoner Remi Nakazato , who quit the Daihatsu team in February last year, will feature prominently on the team, which will be based in Kanto and, with a small number of athletes, will focus on developing marathoners.  The new team's coaching staff will include former Sakura AC assistant coach Katsuhiko Takahashi and former Route Inn Hotels head coach Tsutomu Takahashi .

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2014/02/18/kiji/K20140218007615820.html translated and edited by Brett Larner The Daihatsu women's corporate team, based in Ikeda, Osaka, announced on Feb. 18 that 2011 Daegu World Championships marathoner Remi Nakazato  (25) will quit the team at the end of the month to become an amateur runner.  According to Daihatsu, the decision to leave the team was Nakazato's.  She plans to be based in her native Gunma Prefecture. A graduate of Ota Shogyo High School in Gunma, Nakazato finished 12th in her debut marathon at the 2010 Nagoya International Women's Marathon.  At the 2011 Yokohama International Women's Marathon she was 2nd, going on to finish 10th at the Daegu World Championships and running her PB of 2:24:28 the following spring back in Nagoya.  She finished only 10th at last year's Yokohama.

http://www.iaaf.org/news/report/fourth-japanese-marathon-victory-for-mayorova

by Brett Larner The organizers of the Nov. 17 Yokohama International Women's Marathon have released this year's elite field and it is looking pretty okay.  2012 Nagoya Women's Marathon winner Albina Mayorova  (Russia) is back in Japan for more and leads the way among the internationals with her 2:23:52 best from Nagoya, joined at the 2:24 level by Yamanashi Gakuin graduate and longtime Hokuren corporate team member  Philes Ongori  (Kenya) and Jessica Augusto  (Portugal).  Top Japanese elite Remi Nakazato  (Team Daihatsu) with a best of 2:24:28 is something of a question mark after bailing on last month's Berlin Marathon. Should she falter, #3-ranked domestic woman Mizuho Nasukawa  (Team Univ. Ent.), the top Japanese woman last year in an anaemic performance that saw her left off the Moscow World Championships team in favor of an empty seat, is the best bet to pick up the reins.   Azusa Nojiri  (Hiratsuka Lease) and Eri Okubo  (M...

by Brett Larner photo by Martin Lever Coming in fit off a 1:08:59 win at March's National Corporate Half Marathon Championships, 2011 Daegu World Championships marathon 5th-placer Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren) ran a smart, steady and strong race at the Apr. 21 London Marathon, staying near 2:24 pace as the lead group of Kenyan and Ethiopia women fluctuated, sometimes far ahead, sometimes all around her, and on at least two occasions falling behind her. Initially working with Mai Ito  (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) to reach the Federation's sub-2:24 time goal for the Moscow World Championships team, Akaba slipped off track late in the race after Ito dropped behind but continued to press ahead, reeling in five of the seven Africans up front to take 3rd in 2:24:43, her third time running 2:24 in London. Ito, still hot from a 1:10:00 half marathon PB two weeks ago in Berlin, couldn't keep up with Akaba's bid for a 2:23 and landed 7th in 2:28:37.  The other three Japanese wome...

by Brett Larner photo by Mika Tokairin The Japanese campaign for places on the 2013 Moscow World Championships marathon team kicks off this Sunday in Yokohama at the fourth running of the Yokohama International Women's Marathon , followed two weeks later by the Fukuoka International Marathon.  With Risa Shigetomo  (Team Tenmaya) running 2:23:23 to win January's Osaka International Women's Marathon and Arata Fujiwara  (Miki House) running 2:07:48 for 2nd in Tokyo in February the Federation decided to enact strict standards for the Moscow team: sub-2:24 for women and sub-2:08 for men at any of the designated domestic selection races or the World Marathon Majors.  Considering that both Shigetomo and Fujiwara made it into the all-time Japanese top ten it seems like a pretty tall order to imagine Japan being able to field full five-member teams of that caliber next summer, but that's where the powers that be set the hoop and people are lining up to jump.  With fav...

by Brett Larner The organizers of the Yokohama International Women's Marathon have announced the elite field for this year's 4th running on Nov. 18.  With the Japanese federation dictating a sub-2:24 requirement for Japanese women to be considered for next year's Moscow World Championships marathon squad they have assembled a field with at least three runners potentially in range of that goal. Kenyan Lydia Cheromei  serves as the one to follow for those chasing the Moscow time, her 2:21:30 coming as part of the miracle in Dubai last January.  The main contenders to achieve the federation's target time behind her are three of this year's top ten Japanese women, 2011 Osaka International Women's Marathon winner Yukiko Akaba  (Team Hokuren), spring 2011 Yokohama runner-up and 2012 Nagoya International Women's Marathon 3rd-placer  Remi Nakazato  (Team Daihatsu) and Nagoya 5th-placer Mai Ito  (Team Otsuka Seiyaku).  2009 Tokyo Marathon winner Mizuho...

The Daihatsu women's team posted this video of London Olympics marathon team member Ryoko Kizaki  and her teammate, 2:24:28 marathoner Remi Nakazato , training in Flagstaff, Arizona on its website .  According to the splits being called out, in the early part of the video the group is running just under 4:00/km pace.  After the jump Kizaki and Nakazato are running roughly 3:35/km, closing with a 3:28 before doing some sprints. Nakazato's comments: I'm Remi Nakazato.  Right now I'm based in Flagstaff in the United States.  Every day I'm training hard with all my great teammates.  Since I got here I've been feeling better and better, so the workouts have been really fulfilling and day-to-day life has been a lot of fun.  My next race is the National Track and Field Championships in Osaka in June.  I'm from Osaka, so I want to run the kind of race that's going to make everybody who comes to watch happy.  I also want to tell everyone who ord...

by Brett Larner Transformed on the one-year anniversary of the Tohoku disasters from the small, elite-only format to the world's largest women-only marathon with 15,000 runners running a new course with an indoor finish unique in Japan, the Nagoya Women's Marathon marked the end of the Japanese Olympic team selection cycle.  Russian veteran  Albina Mayorova ran a massive negative split of over two minutes to effortlessly blow by Japan's best in the final part of the race and take the win in 2:23:52, nearly two minutes better than her 8 1/2 year-old PB.  Tumbling in the turbulence behind her, 2009 World Championships silver medalist Yoshimi Ozaki  (Team Daiichi Seimei) outkicked her 2011 World Championships teammate Remi Nakazato  (Team Daihatsu) to take the top Japanese spot, 2nd overall in 2:24:14, and put herself into the circle of contenders for the London team.  Nakazato was 3rd in 2:24:28, a PB by one second and good enough to give her a chance of ...

by Brett Larner The Japanese selection races for the country's marathon teams for the London Olympics wrap up this Sunday with the new-and-improved Nagoya Women's Marathon .  Modernizing from a small, elite-only race to the world's largest women-only mass participation field of 15000 and an accompanying co-ed half-marathon, Nagoya retains its elite history with what may be the closest thing the country has seen to a straight-up single-race Olympic trial.  Fifteen elite Japanese women will be going for what are generally believed to be the two remaining Olympic team places, at least eight of them with a realistic chance of making the team.  Fuji TV will be broadcasting the race live nationwide starting at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, Mar. 11, and overseas viewers should be able to watch online for free via the lo-res splendor of Keyhole TV .  Twitter coverage via @JRNLive will unfortunately not be available for this race. Races need an international field of at least fiv...

by Brett Larner Coming in just ahead of the wave of Tokyo Marathon hype, the organizers of the reformatted Nagoya Women's Marathon have announced the elite field for the final Japanese women's Olympic selection race to be held Mar. 11.  Switching gears from a small, elite event to a mass-participation women-only race with an accompanying mixed half-marathon, Nagoya will host a tiny overseas field and the biggest domestic invited field in memory. The all-but-negligible international field features veteran medalists Catherine Ndereba  (Kenya) and Lidia Simon  (Romania) returning for their perpetual Japanese invites along with Eastern Europeans Albina Mayorova  (Russia), Olena Shurkhno  (Ukraine) and Rasa Drazdauskaite  (Lithuania).  Of more interest is the domestic field, the closest thing Japan has seen to a straight-up Olympic trials race. Fifteen Japanese women are on the invited list to contend for the Olympic team spot or spots still availabl...

http://www.kobe-np.co.jp/news/touban/0004668166.shtml translated and edited by Brett Larner Organizers of the 23rd Kakogawa Marathon, scheduled for Dec. 23 in Hyogo prefecture, have announced that Daegu World Championshiops marathon 10th-place finisher Remi Nakazato  (Team Daihatsu) will run this year's race.  Nakazato finished 2nd in February's Yokohama International Women's Marathon to qualify for the World Championships team.  In Daegu she was the second Japanese finisher.  Nakazato will race in Kakogawa's 10 km division.  The event features full marathon, 10 km, 5 km and 2 km distances, with 5000 people total entered.

by Brett Larner For only the third time in the last 20 years, the Japanese women's World Championships marathon team came up empty-handed, outdone by a superb team performance from Kenya who marked the first-ever sweep of a world-level marathon.  After a slow first half which saw Azusa Nojiri  (Team Daiichi Seimei) take the lead from 8 km to 15 km in a bid to get the pace on track, defending silver medalist Yoshimi Ozaki  (Team Daiichi Seimei) faltered when the action began at 33 km, moving backwards from the front of the pack and ultimately finishing 18th as the third woman on the Japanese team. The other four Japanese women on the team finished in PB order ranging from 5th for Yukiko Akaba  (Team Hokuren) to  Mai Ito  (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) in 22rd.  Nojiri was the first to lose touch with the leaders after the forcing the field into action, but after staying within sight of the front pack she later overtook Ito and ended up just back from Oz...

by Brett Larner A few months ago JRN had dinner with an executive member of an IAAF gold label overseas marathon.  "The World Championships marathon doesn't matter," this colleague told us.  "Nobody cares about it."  That may be true many places, but in Japan, where most athletes receive regular salaries and do not have agents pushing them into overseas big money races, patriotism still counts for more than the shot at a big payday and the country's best marathoners regularly line up for the chance to represent their country at the World Championships.  Even more so in years like this which precede an Olympics because if a Japanese athlete scores an individual marathon medal at Worlds their place on the Olympic team is secure.  The results speak for themselves.  In the last 20 years Japanese women have scored nine individual marathon medals at eight out of ten World Championships and the men at three along with team medals from both sides virtually every ...