With renewed confidence, Japan's Olympic marathon team will face the total 438 m elevation difference hills of Paris this summer. The members of the women's and men's marathon teams for August's Paris Olympics appeared at a press conference in Tokyo on Mar. 25 in conjunction with the Japan Marathon Championship Series III (JMC) awards gala. Women's Olympic trials winner Yuka Suzuki (Daiichi Seimei) said she was riding a wave of motivation in the wake of the new women's national record. When she watched Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) set the record at January's Osaka International Women's Marathon on TV, Suzuki said she was, "absolutely stunned." Her coach Sachiko Yamashita told her afterward, "When someone breaks the NR, things change," and Suzuki found herself saying, "I want to take my shot." After training for a great run in Paris, she said, "I definitely want to break the NR in one of my marathons after that." Mao
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Comments
I'm looking for running groups to join. I wondered if you had suggestions of running groups around the Tokyo area that welcome others to explore japan through running! Your help is much appreciated!
April
Namban Rengo is a good place to start if you are new to Japan as it is international in nature and free to newcomers. If you want something more Japanese, try Harriers, Restart or Second Wind, but all three of those are paid clubs with only Japanese-language staff. All four should come up with a google search.
I just moved to Shizuoka (closest city is Kakegawa) and I was just wondering if you knew of any running clubs or groups in the area that are more into long distance running.
Any advice on how I might go about finding a club in this area would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
Maho
http://smileyangel-ac.com/
Hope that is helpful.