japan running news

by Brett Larner

Last weekend's Ottawa Marathon marked the effective end of the spring marathon season, apart from July's Gold Coast Airport Marathon, and of course the Rio Olympics, the last IAAF gold label marathon until September.  Gold label events are required to recruit elite athletes of a variety of nationalities under specific time standards, currently 2:10:00 for men and 2:28:00 for women, in order to earn that label.  There's no question that at its very front end the London Marathon men's race was the best of the season, but using these standards to look at the number of men and women running gold label times, what the IAAF has decreed to be the top level of the sport, what were the best marathons in the first five months of 2016 by depth of quality?

Below are the top ten marathons worldwide this season by number of men under 2:10, number of women under 2:28, and by combined men's and women's numbers under the gold label time standard.  Where races ha…

Men

5000 m
1. 13:13.20 Takayuki Matsumiya, Team Konica-Minolta, 7/28 (national record)
2. 13:18.32 Yu Mitsuya, Team Toyota Jidosha Kyushu, 5/2
3. 13:19:00 Kensuke Takezawa, Waseda University, 7/28
4. 13:21.49 Yuichiro Ueno, Chuo University, 7/28
5. 13:28.84 Kazuhiro Maeda, Team Kyudenko, 5/26
6. 13:34.44 Terukazu Omori, Team Shikoku Denryoku, 4/20
7. 13:36.13 Atsushi Sato, Team Chugoku Denryoku, 6/17
8. 13:36.18 Satoshi Irifune, Team Kanebo, 5/26
9. 13:36.51 Yuki Matsuoka, Juntendo University, 6/10
10. 13:37.69 Yuta Takahashi, Josai University, 6/10

10000 m
1. 27:45.59 Kensuke Takezawa, Waseda University, 4/29
2. 27:51.65 Yuki Sato, Tokai University, 10/14
3. 27:51.90 Terukazu Omori, Team Shikoku Denryoku, 6/2
4. 27:53.78 Takeshi Makabe, Team Kanebo, 12/2
5. 27:55.17 Kazuhiro Maeda, Team Kyudenko, 12/2
6. 28:00.22 Satoru Kitamura, Nittai University, 6/2
7. 28:03.83 Kenji Noguchi, Team Shikuoku Denryoku, 4/29
8. 28:04.40 Kenta Murozuka, Self-Defense Force Academy, 12/2
9. 28:07.57 Takashi Horiguchi, Team H…

Below is a ranking of Japan's 25 fastest marathon men graded relative to their era. The % difference indicated is that between the average of the athlete's 5 fastest performances and the average of the 5 all-time fastest performances at the midpoint of the athlete's career. The third of the athlete's 5 best performances chronologically is used as the midpoint. A % closer to zero indicates a stronger athlete relative to world standard during the athlete's career. Gold indicates a ranking within roughly the top 10 worldwide era-graded rankings, silver indicates top 25, bronze top 50, and green top 100. Click to enlarge.


Updated 5/4/09

Below is a ranking of Japan's 25 fastest marathon women graded relative to their era. The % difference indicated is that between the average of the athlete's 5 fastest performances and the average of the 5 all-time fastest performances at the midpoint of the athlete's career. The third of the athlete's 5 best performances chronologically is used as the midpoint. A % closer to zero indicates a stronger athlete relative to world standard during the athlete's career. Gold indicates a ranking within the top 10 worldwide era-graded rankings, silver indicates top 25, bronze top 50, and green top 100. Click to enlarge.


Updated 5/4/09

Below is a ranking of Japan's 25 fastest marathon men by the average of their 5 fastest performances. The date listed is that of the most recent of their 5 runs. Click to enlarge.



Updated 5/4/09

Below is a ranking of Japan's 25 fastest marathon women by the average of their 5 fastest performances. The date listed is that of the most recent of their 5 fastest runs. Click to enlarge.



Updated 5/4/09

Top 25 Japanese Men's and Women's Performances Over 5000 m, 10000 m, Half Marathon and Marathon

Japanese National Records - Women
Japanese National Records - Men

Top 100 Japanese Women's Marathon Performances
Top 100 Japanese Men's Marathon Performances

Top 25 Japanese Marathon Women by Average Time
Top 25 Japanese Marathon Men by Average Time

Top 25 Japanese Marathon Women Graded by Era
Top 25 Japanese Marathon Men Graded by Era

Ageo City Half Marathon Complete History