japan running news

by Brett Larner Great conditions meant fast times across the board including three national records at the first major Japanese half marathon of the season, the Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon . A large pack including internationals Goitom Kifle (Eritrea), Fabiano Sulle (Tanzania) and Japan-based 18-year-old Dominic Nyairo (Kenya/Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.), Hakone Ekiden stars Keisuke Nakatani and Naoki Kudo (both Komazawa Univ.), corporate runners Keijiro Mogi and Shuho Dairokuno (both Asahi Kasei) and Taku Fujimoto (Toyota) went out slightly slower than expected, hitting 5 km in 14:27 on track to just crack 1:01.  20-year-old Kudo, a second-year at Komazawa, pushed the next 5 km faster, on 1:00:50 pace at 10 km in 28:50.  Mogi, also just 20 after going straight into the corporate leagues post-high school, took over after 10 km and dropped the fastest 5 km yet, shaking down the leaders to just himself, Kifle, Nyairo and Sulle as he took them through 15 km...

by Brett Larner It's a big weekend of racing across Japan.  The 70th Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon leads the way with a shot at the Japanese men's national record as Konica Minolta teammates Masato Kikuchi , Keita Shitara and Tsuyoshi Ugachi , all 1:00:32 to 1:01:12 for the half marathon, line up with support from past winner Collis Birmingham (Australia), Goitom Kifle (Eritrea), track star Yuki Sato (Nissin Shokuhin) in his serious half marathon debut, and more.  2014 Asian Games marathon gold medalist Eunice Kirwa (Bahrain) leads a women's field that includes 2015's top Japanese woman Rei Ohara (Team Tenmaya), last year's winner Eloise Wellings (Australia), Canadian record hopeful Natasha Wodak and many more. Likewise celebrating an anniversary year is the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon in its 65th running.  Not counting in the qualifying for the Rio Olympic team the home field is weaker than usual, Kenichi Shiraishi (Team Asahi Kasei) ...

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20160204/k10010397731000.html translated by Brett Larner Coincidentally timed nearly simultaneously with reports of Chinese state media confirming the existence of a 1995 letter claiming state-sponsored doping , on Feb. 4 Japanese public broadcaster NHK , headed by the controversial Katsuto Momii , aired a news report on "Why Japanese athletes don't dope."  A segment of the video is included in the source article linked above. In the first-ever survey of Japanese medalists regarding doping, research found that many of them cited the spirit of bushido , the samurai way , as the reason Japanese athletes do not dope.  Among unending doping problems in the rest of the world including the scandal in Russian athletics, Japan has never produced a single athlete who has tested positive at the Olympics.  Against this backdrop, a Waseda University graduate school research group led by Mikio Hibino and Prof. Yoshiyuki Mano interviewed six mal...

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20160204-00000096-mai-spo translated and edited by Brett Larner A member of last summer's Beijing World Championships women's marathon team, Sairi Maeda (24, Team Daihatsu) has withdrawn from the Mar. 13 Nagoya Women's Marathon Rio de Janeiro Olympic team selection race, with a leg injury.  With Nagoya serving as the final selection race for the women's marathon team her withdrawal means that Maeda will miss the Rio Olympics. After setting the national university record of 2:26:46 in her 2014 debut at the Osaka International Women's Marathon Maeda ran 2:22:48 in Nagoya last year, at the time making her the all-time 8th-fastest Japanese woman.  Heading to Beijing as the star of the Japanese team she finished only 13th, missing a chance to score a place in Rio by finishing in the top 8.  Following Beijing Maeda planned to run Osaka in January but was forced to change plans after an injury.  Nagoya became her target, but accordi...

http://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1033994/tokyo-2020-olympics-minister-at-centre-of-cash-for-support-allegations

by Brett Larner The National Corporate Half Marathon Championships are Japan's premier half, producing more quality times over its 43-year history than any other half marathon worldwide.  This year's 44th running on Feb. 14 counts as the final men's and women's selection race for the 2016 World Half Marathon Championships team and has fields as good as ever lined up.  The men's field includes last year's course record-breaking top two Charles Ndirangu (Team JFE Steel) and Macharia Ndirangu (Team Aichi Seiko), 2014 3rd-placer Sota Hoshi (Team Fujitsu), 2013 runner-up Johana Maina (Team Fujitsu) and 2012 winner Chihiro Miyawaki (Team Toyota), along with Rio Olympics marathon team contender Satoru Sasaki (Team Asahi Kasei) and fellow 2:08 marathoners Kentaro Nakamoto (Team Yasukawa Denki) and Ser-Od Bat-Ochir (Team NTN). The women's field is split between the half marathon and 10 km distances again this year, making for two smaller but equally comp...

http://news.goo.ne.jp/article/mainichi_region/region/mainichi_region-20160201ddlk40050396000c.html translated by Brett Larner Appearing at an event in Kurosaki as part of a campaign to revitalize the area through better health, London Olympics men's marathon 6th-placer Kentaro Nakamoto and other members of the local Yasukawa Denki corporate team spoke on the theme of "From Kurosaki to the World."  "My goal is to make the Rio Olympics," Nakamoto said with determination. The event took place in the Yasukawa Denki Headquarters Auditorium.  Appearing alongside Nakamoto were 2015 Sydney Marathon winner Hisanori Kitajima and 2012 Fukuoka International Marathon 5th-placer Bunta Kuroki , a graduate of Tsutsui Elementary School.  The trio spoke about the appeal of the marathon, their training, and their future goals. All three plan to run March's Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, which will serve as the final Olympic selection race.  Nakamoto commented, "T...

JRN editor Brett Larner will be co-hosting Nippon TV's live international broadcast of the 2016 Tokyo Marathon Rio de Janeiro Olympics men's marathon team and Paralympic Games wheelchair marathon team selection race alongside popular Nippon TV announcer Ralph Suzuki .   The Tokyo Marathon broadcast will begin at 9:00 a.m. Japan time on Sunday, February 28.  More details forthcoming.   Click here for men's and women's marathon elite field entry lists .