japan running news

http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo&k=2014011500595 translated and edited by Brett Larner On Jan. 15 the organizers of the 63rd Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon on Feb. 2 announced the names of this year's elite field.  On the domestic men's list are the fastest Japanese marathoner of 2013, Kazuhiro Maeda  (Team Kyudenko), 2013 New York City Marathon 6th-place finisher Masato Imai  (Team Toyota Kyushu) and Kenichi Shiraishi  (Team Asahi Kasei), winner of last weekend's Oita City Half Marathon.  Their top foreign competition comes from 2013 Hofu Yomiuri Marathon winner and 2012 Beppu-Oita runner-up Ser-Od Bat-Ochir  (Mongolia) and 2:07:37 Kenyan Jason Mbote . 63rd Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon Elite Field Oita, 2/2/14 click here for complete field listing Men Daniel Njenga (Kenya/Team Yakult) - 2:06:16 (Chicago 2002) Jason Mbote (Kenya) - 2:07:37 (Seoul 2008) Kazuhiro Maeda (Team Kyudenko) - 2:08:00 (Tokyo 2013) Ser-Od Bat-Ochir (Mongolia) - 2:09:00...

http://www.nishinippon.co.jp/nsp/item/82664 translated by Brett Larner Major Tokyo-based electronics manufacturer Canon announced that its subsidiary Oita Canon Materials Inc. will begin sponsoring a new women's running team in April. The team will be based in Oita and will be coached by former Oita Nishi High School head coach Michio Ito. Oita Canon has already hired four professional and high school athletes from Oita, Nagasaki and Kagoshima Prefectures who will be employed at the company's Oita facility. It is searching for two more runners to bring the team's starting lineup to six. Among the runners already chosen for the team are Oita Nishi graduate Rina Abe (19), who runs for Team Oki but will lose that position when the team disbands at the end of March, and Yuka Yano (22), another Oita Nishi graduate who currently runs for Team Sysmex. Under Coach Ito, Oita Nishi was a regular at the National High School Ekiden Championships. In his days at Tsurusaki Kogyo High Sc...