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Showing posts with the label Tomoyuki Morita

Kawauchi and Takemoto Headline Dec. 18 Hofu Yomiuri Marathon (updated)

by Brett Larner

update: both Tewelde and Igarashi have scratched.

Fresh off one of the greatest marathons of his career to date in Fukuoka last weekend, Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) once again returns to the Dec. 18 Hofu Yomiuri Marathon for his year-ending marathon double.  With injuries to both legs before Fukuoka Kawauchi's condition is a question mark, but on paper he is the class of the field with an almost three-minute advantage over his nearest competition, the Toshinari Takaoka-coached Tomoyuki Morita (Team Kanebo).  Taiki Yoshimura (Team Asahi Kasei), coached by Takeshi Soh, and Katsuta Marathon course record-setter Shingo Igarashi (Josai Univ. Staff) are the other main domestic contenders. Perpetual pacemaker Isaac Macharia (Kenya) is listed in the field rather than as a pacer, but it has been years since Macharia has run a good marathon. That makes Rio Olympian Tsegai Tewelde (Great Britain) the top international runner in the field with a 2:12:23 at this ye…
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Berlin Marathon - Japanese Results

by Brett Larner

With decent performances in Chicago and Frankfurt and a 2:09:21 PB at this year's Tokyo Marathon behind him, Koji Gokaya (Team JR Higashi Nihon) turned in the fastest marathon of the year by a Japanese man outside Japan, running 2:10:58 for 9th at the Berlin Marathon.  Gokaya, sub-2:10 men Tomoyuki Morita (Team Kanebo) and Masanori Sakai (Team Kyudenko) and track star Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin) ran the entire race inside the third pack just under 2:10 pace, Morita and Sakai tending toward the front of the group and Gokaya and Sato relaxing out back.  A late-race move by Reid Coolsaet in a bid for the Canadian national record pulled Sato along, but after 40 km he faded badly and was easily run down by Gokaya.  Sato, in his third marathon, still managed a sizable PB of 2:12:32 for 14th, while Sakai and Morita dropped to 22nd and 33rd in 2:14:52 and 2:15:57.

In the women's race, 2014 Asian Games team member Eri Hayakawa (Team Toto) started near PB pace in th…
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Kawauchi Leads Weekend Road Results With Solo Saga Sakura Marathon Course Record

by Brett Larner

As is his tendency, Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) led the way on a busy weekend that saw Japanese athletes in at least four competitive overseas races. Running the second edition of the Saga Sakura Marathon in scenic southwesternmost Kyushu despite having changed his workplace this week, Kawauchi took almost nine minutes off the course record and beat last year's winner Tomonori Onitsuka (Team Kyudenko) by more than ten minutes in 2:13:02 CR, his third marathon of the year and second soloing a massive CR in an amateur-level race.  "I haven't been feeling well since the Incheon Half last week and have just been jogging 60 minutes a day, so I'm glad I could at least run passably," he told JRN post-race. "If there hadn't been a strong headwind between 25 and 35 km I would have been a minute faster." Like Onitsuka, women's course record holder Hiroko Yoshitomi (First Dream AC) was knocked back to 2nd as 20-year-old Hua Y…
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Kanaguri Memorial Meet Kicks Off Japanese Track Season

by Brett Larner

With the start of the Japanese fiscal and academic year this week, outdoor track season gets rolling this Saturday at the Kanaguri Memorial Meet in Kumamoto.  A distance-oriented meet with a focus on 5000 m, Kanaguri is the place where many of the top young talents make their debuts wearing new high school, university and corporate team colors.

Competition in the women's races is thin, with Kenyans Pauline Kamulu (Team Toto) and Susan Wairimu (Team Denso) leading 2014 Marugame Half Marathon winner Eri Makikawa (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) and the talented Yukari Abe (Team Shimamura) as the top contenders in Heat 2 of the 5000 m.  The high school girls' 3000 m, featuring a long list of top juniors, may supply the more interesting races.

The big races on the men's side are heats 4 and 5 of the 5000 m.  Heat 5 features three of the very best Japan-based Kenyans, Moscow World Championships 10000 m bronze medalist Paul Tanui (Team Kyudenko), two-time 3000 mSC junior wo…
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'Morita Signs Up for Brighton'

A Brighton Marathon press release

The Brighton Marathon will be breaking new ground when Japan’s Tomoyuki Morita lines up on April 6. Morita is the first Japanese athlete to compete in the race which celebrates its fifth edition this year. He joins a quality line-up as the Brighton Marathon, an IAAF Bronze Label event, welcomes its most outstanding men’s elite field to date.

With a personal best of 2:09:12, Morita is the second fastest in a race that features four men who have run faster than the course record of 2:10:46. Kenya’s William Chebor, 31, heads the line-up. He clocked 2:08:21 in Turin three years ago and comes to Brighton off the back of his most recent win in Jakarta last October.

Morita, 29, who set his lifetime best at Lake Biwa in 2012, will also clash with course record holder, Dominic Kangor of Kenya. Morita’s half marathon best of 61:55 stems from Marugame 2012.
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For more information contact: Press Officer Michael Butcher mi…
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Japan's Main Summer Track Series Starts Tomorrow in Shibetsu

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…
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Lake Biwa, Tachikawa and Tamana Ahead With Worlds Places at Stake

by Brett Larner

The end of the Japanese road season approaches with three big races on Sunday.  First is the last of the domestic selection races for Japan's World Championships marathon team, the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon.  With 2:05:13 man Vincent Kipruto (Kenya), 30 km world record holder Peter Kirui (Kenya) and 2012 Houston Marathon winner Tariku Jufar (Ethiopia) in the field Wilson Kipsang's 2:06:13 course record may be in reach, or at least the 2:06:50 winning time last weekend in Tokyo.  For the Japanese men the Federation has set a 2:07:59 hoop for a guaranteed place on the Moscow team, and the men have been jumping.  The main candidates for the team so far are:
Kazuhiro Maeda (Team Kyudenko) - 2:08:00 - PB (4th, Tokyo)Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref.) - 2:08:15 - PB (1st, Beppu-Oita)Hiroyuki Horibata (Team Asahi Kasei) - 2:08:24 - PB (2nd, Fukuoka)Kentaro Nakamoto (Team Yasukawa Denki) - 2:08:35 - PB (2nd, Beppu-Oita) Given the recent upward trajectory in Japanese men…
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Kipruto, Kirui, Yamamoto and Kubota Headline 68th Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon Elite Field

by Brett Larner

The Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Biwako for short, has finally announced the elite field for this year's 68th running.  While it lacks the sub-2:05 punch that Tokyo was able to pull in this year as a fledgling major, Biwako has put together the deepest field of any domestic Japanese marathon in the 2012-2013 season.  Up front, a small but high-quality international group including 2:05 man Vincent Kipruto (Kenya), 30 km world record holder Peter Kirui (Kenya) and 2012 Houston Marathon winner Tariku Jufar (Ethiopia) to go up against Wilson Kipsang's 2:06:13 course record.

In pursuit of both them and the Federation's sub-2:08 time requirement for a guaranteed spot on the 2013 World Championships is a solid field including four of the five Japanese men to break 2:10 at last year's Biwako, namely London Olympian Ryo Yamamoto (Team Sagawa Express), Tomoyuki Morita (Team Kanebo), Takashi Horiguchi (Team Honda) and Masashi Hayashi (Team Yakult), veterans Atsus…
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Ndungu Wins Debut at Lake Biwa, Szost Sets 2:07:39 Polish NR, Yamamoto Takes Probable Olympic Spot

by Brett Larner
photos by Dr. Helmut Winter

Hot on the heels of a record-setting morning of half-marathon action across the country, the 67th Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Japan's final domestic selection race for its London Olympics men's marathon team, was tense and exciting, with a string of strong debuts, a national record, and an unexpected last-minute Olympic berth upset making up most of the major results in the top ten.

In cold, rainy conditions Japan-based Kenyan Samuel Ndungu (Team Aichi Seiko) was the surprise winner, marking a steady 2:07:04 debut time for the win.  Ndungu sat tight in the lead pack, which stayed on low-2:07 pace throughout the race, through km in 30:12, 20 km in 1:00:22 and halfway in 1:03:38.  Virtually the entire elite field and the upper echelons of the general division went with him, more than forty men still in contention at halfway.  Some of the few early casualties included Australia's Lee Troop, Canadian Dylan Wykes, and 2:11:00 man Nao…
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2011 Oregon Relays - Top Results

Apr. 22, Hayward Field, Oregon click here for complete results click event header for complete video
Bill McChesney Jr. Men's 5000 m 1. Bitan Karoki (Kenya/Team S&B) - 13:38.57 2. Dylan Wykes (Canada/P.I.H.) - 13:43.43 3. Yusuke Hasegawa (Team S&B) - 13:45.97 4. Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 13:46.76 5. Tsuyoshi Ugachi (Team Konica Minolta) - 13:47.29 6. Tomoyuki Morita (Team Kanebo) - 13:53.75 7. Yusuke Takabayashi (Team Toyota) - 13:54.52 8. Daisuke Shimizu (Team Kanebo) - 13:55.54 9. Seth Summerside (U.S.A./OTC Elite) - 13:57.59 10. Takayuki Matsumiya (Team Konica Minolta) - 14:01.21 11. Ryohei Kawakami (Team Kanebo) - 14:06.27 12. Ryo Matsumoto (Team Shikoku Denryoku) - 14:08.37 13. Takaya Iwasaki (Team Shikoku Denryoku) - 14:22.49 14. Takayuki Hamaguchi (Team Shikoku Denryoku) - 14:30.88
Women's 5000 m 1. Brie Felnagle (U.S.A./Adidas) - 15:43.87 2. Bridget Franek (U.S.A./OTC Elite) - 15:52.81 3. Miho Ihara (Team Shikoku Denryoku) - 16:06.86 4. Kumi Ogura (Team Shikoku Denryoku) - …
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Nittai Time Trials and Mt. SAC Results

by Brett Larner
On day one of the first Nittai Univ. Time Trials meet of the season, marathoner Satoshi Osaki (Team NTT Nishi Nihon) continued the comeback from the injury that knocked him out of the Beijing Olympics, finishing 3rd in 29:19.31. The biggest results of the day, however came in the women's 800 m and 3000 m. Running against a field of pro, university and high school competitors, unior high school student Ayaka Nakagawa (Asaka Daisan J.H.S.) started the day off with a win in the 800 m A-heat in 2:10.61, nearly 1 1/2 seconds ahead of her closest rival. 2 1/2 hours later Nakagawa returned to take 6th in the 3000 m A-heat, clocking 9:31.18.
Nittai Univ. Time Trials Top Results Nittai Univ., Yokohama, 4/16/11 click here for complete results
Men's 10000 m Heat 5 1. Yuki Takamiya (Team Yakult) - 29:17.67 2. Yuta Shitara (Toyo Univ.) - 29:19.00 3. Satoshi Osaki (Team NTT Nishi Nihon) - 29:19.31 4. Sho Matsueda (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 29:23.77 5. Tomohiro Hayakawa (Nittai Univ…
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Weekend Race Results

by Brett Larner
 Apart from the Fukuoka International Cross Country Meet and Sunday's epochal Tokyo Marathon, three other significant races took place in Japan on Feb. 27.
Tomoyuki Morita (Team Kanebo) took the Kumanichi 30 km road race, winning in 1:32:14 by 18 seconds over Komazawa University's Akinori Iida. No women competed in this year's running.
At the 60th running of the venerable Kashima Yutoku Road Race, Hiroaki Koike (Toyo Univ.) won the men's half marathon in a modest 1:05:04, the only runner to break 66.
Korean university runner Seung Ho Baek beat Toyo University's Koshi Watanabe by 1 second to win the Inuyama Half Marathon in 1:03:47, while Mao Kuroda lead a near-sweep by Team Yutaka Giken runners in the women's division in a strong 1:12:21. Six women went under 35 minutes and six men under 30 in Inuyama's 10 km.
Kumanichi 30 km Kumamoto, 2/27/11 1. Tomoyuki Morita (Team Kanebo) - 1:32:14 2. Akinori Iida (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:32:32 3. Shota Yamaguch…
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No Women at Kumanichi 30 km - Elite Field Announced

http://kumanichi.com/lsports/kiji/20110210001.shtml

translated by Brett Larner

On Feb. 9 the organizers of the 55th edition of the world's most competitive 30 km race, the Kumanichi 30 km Road Race scheduled for Feb. 27 in Kumamoto, Kyushu, announced the 13 athletes in this year's elite field. Known as "The Gateway to the Marathon," Kumanichi typically invites young corporate and university runners still in their 20's to get their first experience of longer distance.

2nd by just one second at this year's New Year Ekiden, Team Fujitsu sends two men to try to follow team leader Atsushi Fujita's win at last year's Kumanichi. Shoji Akutsu won the New Year Ekiden's Sixth Stage, while Shota Yamaguchi was 5th on the competitive Third Stage.

New Year Ekiden winner Team Toyota will field Takamasa Uchida, while 3rd place Team Nissin Shokuhin is sending Kenichi Jiromaru. Two of the strong Team Kanebo's youngest members, Tomoyuki Morita and Hiroki Kadota, wil…
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Murayama 28:23.18 for High School Year Leader

by Brett Larner
photos by Daniel Seite

#30 Kenta Murayama (Meisei H.S.) on the shoulder of 2010 Tokyo Marathon winner #16 Masakazu Fujiwara (Team Honda).

Hot from a 13:49.45 PB two weeks ago, Meisei High School's Kenta Murayama ran the fastest 10000 m time of the year by a Japanese high schooler, 28:23.18, to finish 3rd in the A-heat at the 213th Nittai University Time Trials meet Dec. 4 in Yokohama. Ahead of Murayama were only Kenyans Jacob Wanjuki and Samuel Ndungu of Team Aichi Seiko, Wanjuki winning in a strong PB of 27:49.44. Among the Japanese competition to finish behind Murayama were 2010 Tokyo Marathon winner Masakazu Fujiwara (Team Honda) and 2010 Kanto Regional University 5000 m champion Taku Fujimoto (Kokushikan Univ.), who battled head to head to finish 5th and 6th in 28:27.52 and 28:27.66.

10000 m A-Heat winner Jacob Wanjuki (Kenya/Team Aichi Seiko).

Murayama's time improved the high school year best time by 30 seconds over the sub-29 time set two weeks ago by Yuma Ha…
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