Skip to main content

Japan to Send Squad of 26 to 36th World Cross Country Championships

http://www.rikuren.or.jp/cgi-bin/column/view.cgi?act=stdview&id=250

translated by Brett Larner

Rikuren has announced the squad of 26 Japanese runners to be sent to the 36th World Cross Country Championships scheduled for Mar. 30 in Edinburgh, Scotland.

In the Senior Men's 12 km event, the team of 8 is led by Makoto Tobimatsu (Team Yasukawa Denki), the top Japanese finisher in both the Chiba International and Fukuoka International Cross Country meets, along with Satoru Kitamura (Nittai University), the 2nd Japanese in Chiba and 3rd Japanese in Fukuoka. Appearing for the 4th time and 3rd consecutive year is Yoshitaka Iwamizu (Team Toyota Jidosha).

The team of 6 for the Senior Women's 8 km race is jointly led by Chiba International Cross Country top Japanese finisher Kazuka Wakatsuki (Team Toto) and Fukuoka International Cross Country top Japanese finisher Aya Manome (Team Shimamura). Joining the team for the 3rd straight year is Aimi Horikoshi (Team Yamada Denki).

The Junior Men's 8 km team of 6 features Chiba and Fukuoka short course winner Akinobu Murasawa (Saku Chosei High School), while the Junior Women's 6 km team of 6 includes Fukuoka competitor Atsuko Matsumura (Tokiwa High School), appearing for the 2nd straight year.

Complete listings of Japanese entrants are included below.

Senior Men
Makoto Tobimatsu, Team Yasukawa Denki (Fukuoka), 3rd time on team
Satoru Kitamura, Nittai University (Hyogo), 3rd time on team
Yuki Nakamura, Team Kanebo (Tokyo), 2nd time on team
Yoshitaka Iwamizu, Team Toyota Jidosha (Aichi), 4th time on team
Hiroyoshi Umegae, Team NTN (Mie), 1st time on team
Yuki Sato, Tokai University (Nagano), 3rd time on team
Tsuyoshi Ugachi, Komazawa University (Tochigi), 3rd time on team
Hidekazu Sato, Team Toyota Boshoku (Aichi), 4th time on team

Senior Women
Aya Manome, Team Shimamura (Saitama), 1st time on team
Kazuka Wakatsuki, Team Toto (Fukuoka), 1st time on team
Megumi Seike, Team Sysmex (Kyoto), 1st time on team
Aimi Horikoshi, Team Yamada Denki (Gunma), 3rd time on team
Yuko Nohara, Team Toyota Jidoshokki (Chiba), 3rd time on team
Kazue Kojima, Ritsumeikan University (Kyoto), 3rd time on team

Junior Men
Akinobu Murasawa, Saku Chosei High School (Nagano), 1st time on team
Kenta Chiba, Saku Chosei High School (Nagano), 1st time on team
Shun Kurihara, Kyushu Gakuin High School (Kumamoto), 2nd time on team
Hiroyuki Sasaki, Saku Chosei High School (Nagano), 1st time on team
Hirotaka Tamura, Aomori Yamada High School (Aomori), 1st time on team
Ryuji Kashiwabara, Iwaki Sogo High School (Fukushima), 1st time on team

Junior Women
Atsuko Matsumura, Tokiwa High School (Gunma), 2nd time on team
Risa Takenaka, Ritsumeikan Uji High School (Kyoto), 1st time on team
Ayaka Mori, Suma Gakuen High School (Hyogo), 1st time on team
Asami Kato, Toyokawa High School (Aichi), 1st time on team
Yukino Ninomiya, Toyokawa High School (Aichi), 1st time on team
Yukari Abe, Sendai Ikuei High School (Miyagi), 1st time on team

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Nagoya Asian Games Test Event Canceled After Insulation Falls From Venue Ceiling

A section of insulation material fell from the ceiling of Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, the official venue for squash competition at September's Nagoya Asian Games. There were no injuries, but the city suspended use of the arena until its safety could be guaranteed, resulting in the cancelation of the Asian Games squash test event which was scheduled to have begun on May 14. It is not yet clear whether the arena will be usable for the Asian Games as planned. According to city officials, arena staff found that the insulation material had fallen onto a work walkway 13 m above the ground on the night of May 11. The fallen material was 3.6 m long, 50 cm wide and 2.5 km thick, and was found to be waterlogged. The cause of the accident is unknown, but it is possible that it was caused by rainwater leaking in from the roof. The same insulation material is installed across the entire ceiling, and the city plans to check for the extent of the possible flooding. Asked whether the arena will be re...

Australian Male Arrested on Drug Smuggling Charges After Entering Japan for Osaka Marathon

On Apr. 9 the Kinki Region Bureau of Health, Labor and Welfare's Drug Control Division arrested Matthew Inglis Fox , 38, an Australian business owner of no known fixed address, on charges of violating the importation regulations of the Narcotics Control Act by smuggling tablets containing marijuana elements from the United States. The suspect had entered Japan in February to run in the Osaka Marathon . The suspect was arrested on suspicion of smuggling approximately 12 pills containing marijuana by sending them from a U.S. airport to Osaka's Kansai Airport using an international courier service on Feb. 19. The Osaka branch of the Customs Service discovered the tablets in arriving cargo and suspected them to be narcotics. Customs contacted the Narcotics Control Division, which then began its investigation of the case. According to the Narcotics Control Division, the suspect denies the charges.  Translator's note: Fox, who received a lifetime ban from the Ageo City Half Mara...

My Training for 1:00:44

Hi, I'm Ayumu Kobayashi . Today I'm going to write about this year's National Corporate Half Marathon and the training I did for it. I hope other runners will find it even a little bit helpful. At the Corporate Half on Feb. 13 I was 10th in 1:00:44. My goal had been to run 61 minutes, so I hit that target. My Training Menu In January I ran a total of 681 km. Key workouts: Jan. 11: 1000 m x 5 at 2:50/km Jan. 12: 22.5 km Jan. 15: 9 km variable pace Jan. 17: 25 km Jan. 24: 1000 m x 8 at 2:52/km Jan. 27: 1 km + 4 km + 2 km Jan. 30: 16 km at 3:18/km avg. In January I was tired from the New Year Ekiden and had some knee pain after it, so I just jogged for 10 days until I started doing workouts again on the 11th. That's why I only ran 681 km for the month. But even on the jog days I was aware that I had the Corporate Half coming up, so I was doing around 30 km. It's pretty meat and potatoes, but I think it was really important. February (training for the 10 days before...