japan running news

http://www.chunichi.co.jp/s/chuspo/article/2012110801001672.html
http://mainichi.jp/sports/news/20121109k0000m050013000c.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner

On Nov. 8 the organizers of the Dec. 2 Fukuoka International Marathon announced the elite field for this year's Moscow World Championships selection race edition.  The domestic field of four consists of London Olympian Arata Fujiwara (Miki House) and 2011 Daegu World Championships team members Hiroyuki Horibata (Team Asahi Kasei), Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref.) and Yoshinori Oda (Team Toyota).  Eleven athletes from seven countries including former world record holder Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) and, in his marathon debut, 2007 World Championships 10000 m bronze medalist Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC), make up the international field.

Japanese men must run 2:07:59 or better to qualify for the World Championships team.  Speaking at the press conference announcing the field, Federation executive Toshio Kiuchi c…

translated and edited by Brett Larner
Yuki Kawauchi at work a day after the Tokyo Marathon as media look on. Click here to enlarge.

Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki, 67, Long Distance and Road Racing Special Committee chief Toshio Kiuchi and other executive members of the Japanese athletics federation traveled to Kasukabe, Saitama on Mar. 2 to pay a formal visit to Yuki Kawauchi, 23, the amateur runner who qualified for August's World Championships marathon team by placing 3rd overall and top Japanese at the Feb. 27 Tokyo Marathon. "Since he is not affiliated with a corporate team, we had to talk about what the future holds," said Kiuchi. The federation dignitaries asked administration officials at Kasukabe High School, where Kawauchi is employed as an administrative assistant, for their help and support in getting Kawauchi to the World Championships.
In order to minimize the strain caused by the sudden rush of media attention upon Kawauchi, one of the main topics under…

http://www.daily.co.jp/general/2011/02/28/0003832911.shtml

translated by Brett Larner

Saitama-based amateur runner Yuki Kawauchi, 23, finished 3rd at the Feb. 27 Tokyo Marathon in 2:08:37. The top Japanese finisher, he earned a guaranteed spot on the national team for August's World Championships marathon. As an ordinary amateur runner not belonging to a jitsugyodan corporate team, Kawauchi's titanic run has had a profound impact on Rikuren, the Japanese federation.

Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki commented, "I think it is quite a major shock to all the established teams to see the limelight shining on a unique runner like Kawauchi."

Rikuren Long Distance and Road Racing Special Committee executive Toshio Kiuchi agreed that Kawauchi's result was a sharp sting to the corporate team system, saying, "This shows that our elite runners have to toughen up and get to work. Back in the day everyone had the kind of hunger Kawauchi showed today."

Team Chugoku Denryoku…

http://www.asahi.com/sports/spo/TKY201101250131.htmlhttp://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/110124/spg1101241747004-n1.htm
http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2011012400672

translated and edited by Brett Larner

On Jan. 24 Rikuren announced the domestic and overseas elite fields for the second running of the Yokohama International Women's Marathon, scheduled for Feb. 20. The domestic field of six includes 2009 World Championships marathon silver medalist Yoshimi Ozaki (Team Daiichi Seimei) and 2010 Nagoya International Women's Marathon 5th place finisher Mayumi Fujita (Team Juhachi Ginko. The foreign field of five is led by 2009 New York City Marathon winner Derartu Tulu (Ethiopia), who holds a marathon best of 2:23:30. 2004 Athens Olympics marathoner Naoko Sakamoto (Team Tenmaya) is entered in the general division.

As a selection race for August's World Championships in Daegu, Korea, the top Japanese woman in Yokohama will earn a place on the team provided she runs under 2:26 on…

http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/p-sp-tp0-20091207-573431.html

translated by Brett Larner

At Sunday's Fukuoka International Marathon no Japanese men finished within the top eight. General Division entrant Tadashi Shitamori (31, Team Yasukawa Denki) was the best-placing Japanese finisher, 9th overall in 2:14:42, while lone Japanese invited runner Tomoyuki Sato (28, Team Asahi Kasei) suffered muscle cramps in both legs and dropped to 31st. Beijing Olympics bronze medalist Tsegaye Kebede (22, Ethiopia) brought the first-ever 2:05 on Japanese soil, winning his second straight Fukuoka title in 2:05:18.

The difference in strength between the overseas and Japanese runners was plain to see and has never been greater. At 7 km when the leaders dropped the pace down below 3 min / km all the Japanese runners in the pack immediately fell out. In the end it was the first time in Fukuoka's 63 year history that there was not a single Japanese finisher in the top eight. Rikuren Long Distan…

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/flash/KFullFlash20090812100.html

translated by Brett Larner and Mika Tokairin

2009 World Championships Japanese national team head coach Toshio Kiuchi announced on Aug. 12 that women's marathon squad alternate Tomo Morimoto (Team Tenmaya) will not travel to Berlin with the team and has withdrawn due to injury. Kiuchi stated, "Morimoto has officially notified us that because her condition is not improving she does not feel she could make any contribution to the team and thus wishes to withdraw. We will run the race with the primary five athletes already entered." Because of the large number of Japanese marathoners who did not start last summer's Beijing Olympics marathons, this year Rikuren is sending the alternates along with the starting team to cover any eventuality.

http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2009022600881

translated by Brett Larner

The 42.195 km Biwako Mainichi Marathon takes place Mar. 1 in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture. As a selection race for August's World Championships in Berlin, the top Japanese finisher will automatically earn a spot on the team. With all five of the domestic invited elites close in ability the race will likely come down to who is best able to summon up a strong finish.

The Japanese runner with the best time is Yuzo Onishi (Team Nissin Shokuhin), who set his mark of 2:08:54 at last year's Biwako where he was 4th. In the same race Tomoya Shimizu (Team Sagawa Express) was 5th, running 2:09:23 in his marathon debut. Both runners are looking for a big leap in their performances this year. Shimizu's twin brother Masaya (Team Asahi Kasei) and veterans Kazutoshi Takatsuka (Team Komori Corp.) and Takashi Ota (Team Konica Minolta) make up the rest of the invited domestic field.

After the failure of Japanese men's…

http://www.asahi.com/sports/update/0219/OSK200802190031.html
http://www.sponichi.co.jp/osaka/spor/200802/20/spor207728.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner

The organizing committee of final selection race for the Beijing Olympics men's marathon team, the Mar. 2nd Biwako Mainichi Marathon, on Feb. 19 announced the field for this year's race. Headlining the field with a 2:08:46 PB is Osaka World Championships 6th place finisher and 2006 Asian Games bronze medalist Satoshi Osaki (Team NTT Nishi Nihon). Joining him are Osaka World Championships teammates Tomoyuki Sato and Mitsuru Kubota, both of Team Asahi Kasei.

Overseas competitors include Osaka World Championships silver medalist Mubarak Hassan Shami (Qatar) and 4th place finisher Yared Asmeron (Eritrea), as well as 2-time Biwako winner Jose Rios (Spain) and past Fukuoka International Marathon winner Dmytro Baranovsky (Ukraine) who holds a PB of 2:07:15.

2007 Fukuoka 3rd place finisher Atsushi Sato leads the standings to quali…