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Showing posts with the label Stefano Baldini

Kawauchi Joins Elite Club of 11+ Sub-2:10 Marathoners

by Brett Larner

With his 2:09:54 at Sunday's Ehime MarathonYuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) became the fifteenth runner in history to run sub-2:10 eleven times or more in his career.  The achievement puts him in distinguished company, including two marathon world record setters, seven Olympic marathon medalists, seven World Championships marathon medalists, three World Marathon Majors champions and eight winners of the six races now making up the World Marathon Majors.

Kawauchi is one of only three non-African athletes to make the list, one of four on the list without either an Olympic or World Championships medal or a win at one of the Big Six, one of four to have not broken 2:07, and, with a PB of 2:08:14, the only one who has not run sub-2:08.  A sub-2:08 PB and a World Championships medal remain the major goals of his career.

Tsegaye Kebede (Ethiopia) - 16 times sub-2:10
PB: 2:04:382013 World Marathon Majors champion1st, 2013 London Marathon1st, 2012 Chicago Marathon1st,…

Loaded Dice - International Chiba Ekiden Preview

by Brett Larner

The 2009 International Chiba Ekiden takes place on Monday, Nov. 23. As economic times have continued to grow harder Japan's once-thriving international ekiden circuit has dwindled dramatically. When the Yokohama International Women's Ekiden took a bow in February this year it left Chiba as the lone representative of the format, and even it was scaled back in 2007 from separate men's and women's races to a single, six-stage 42.195 km race featuring mixed men's and women's teams. This wasn't necessarily a bad move, the mixed teams having proved to be popular and interesting.

Being the host country, Japan has tended to stack the deck in recent years. This year is no exception as the Japanese national team far outweighs any other in star power: men's half marathon national record holder Atsushi Sato (Team Chugoku Denryoku) and women's 1500 m national record holder Yuriko Kobayashi (Team Toyota Jidoshoki), 2009 men's 1500 m and 5000 m n…

Abel Kirui and Catherine Ndereba Lead Kenyan Team at International Chiba Ekiden

http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2009111101005

translated by Brett Larner

On Nov. 11 Rikuren announced that the Kenyan team at the six-stage, 42.195 km International Chiba Ekiden on Nov. 23 will include 2009 Berlin World Championships marathon gold medalist Abel Kirui and two-time Olympic silver medalist Catherine Ndereba.

Also in the field are Beijing Olympics women's marathon gold medalist Constantina Dita (Romania) and Athens Olympics marathon gold medalist Stefano Baldini (Italy). The Chiba Prefectural team will feature former marathon national record holder Atsushi Fujita (Team Fujitsu). Race-day lineups will include three men and three women on each team.

Translator's note: Ndereba and Dita are regulars at the International Chiba Ekiden, which will take place eight days after the pair's appearance at this Sunday's Yokohama International Women's Marathon. Abel Kirui's presence in Japan two weeks before the Fukuoka International Marathon all but guarante…

At Age 29, Going for a Comeback and Talking to Her Body, Mizuki Noguchi Ready for the 2007 Tokyo International Women`s Marathon

http://www.asahi.com/sports/spo/TKY200711130086.html

translated by Mika Tokairin and Brett Larner

The golden singlet Mizuki Noguchi wears is fading into the sunset in the mountains of Kunming, China. A 40 km run at the end of October. Her training is almost at completion.

At last April`s London Marathon, race organizers presented defending Olympic gold medalists Stefano Baldini of Italy and Mizuki Noguchi of Japan with golden singlets. Baldini wore his singlet during the race but Noguchi was not able to compete due to an injury to her left Achilles tendon which she suffered in January. She missed the opportunity to display this gift in a race and it became part of her training wear.

Noguchi was also unable to run Berlin last year because of an unrelated injury to her left leg. This weekend`s Tokyo International Women`s Marathon will be her first marathon in 2 years, her first since setting the Japanese national record of 2:19:12 at the `05 Berlin. "I was shocked because I have never …