Skip to main content

Yu Mitsuya to Debut at Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon

http://www.nishinippon.co.jp/nsp/item/139184

translated and edited by Brett Larner

Yu Mitsuya (Team Toyota Kyushu), a two-time World Championships track runner and former training partner of Beijing Olympics marathon gold medalist Samuel Wanjiru (Kenya), will run his debut marathon at February's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon. Mitsuya acted as pacemaker for the first half of last Sunday's Fukuoka International Marathon as part of the serious marathon training he began in November. "I could run a half [marathon] a dozen times, but this gave me a better feeling for it," he said after Fukuoka. After eventual winner Tsegaye Kebede (Ethiopia) started pressing the pace Mitsuya held on to precisely 3 min / km pace to bring the second pack through halfway. The experience gave him a taste of what to expect in Beppu-Oita. "Seeing this today really ups my motivation," he nodded. The expectations are high for this track star as he turns to the 42.195 km distance.

Translator's note: Yu Mitsuya is one of the best hopes for the next generation of Japanese marathoners, a potential 2:06 man at least. He was one of the athletes detailed in part one of JRN's comparison of young American and Japanese runners, running 28:00.23 for 10000 m at age 19, 27:41.10 at age 20, and 13:18.32 for 5000 m at age 22. Still only 24 years old, he holds PBs of 13:18.32 (5000 m), 27:41.10 (10000 m), 1:02:26 (half) and 1:29:55 (30 km) and is coached by 1992 Barcelona Olympic marathon silver medalist Koichi Morishita.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

'CAS Clears Japan’s Olympic Silver Medallist Ikeda of Doping, Overturns Ban'

https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2026/10/23/cas-clears-japans-olympic-silver-medallist-ikeda-of-doping-overturns-ban The AIU's missteps in this case cost Tokyo Olympics and Oregon World Championships 20 km race walk silver medalist Koki Ikeda , a Toyo University graduate who competes for the Asahi Kasei corporate team, the chance to represent Japan at a home soil World Championships last year. It is almost unheard of for an athlete to successfully fight a biological passport suspension as Ikeda did, making this a highly significant case. The CAS' press release about its decision stated: "The Panel stressed that the Athlete did not merely assert his position on the ABP abnormalities but adduced very extensive evidence in support of his explanations. In this highly complex case, the evidence brought during the CAS proceedings was far more abundant and specific than during the first instance proceedings with the WA Disciplinary Tribunal, implying the CAS Panel had further ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meijo Back With Morinomiyako Ekiden CR for National University Title

The last big dynasty school in Japanese women's distance running with 7-straight wins at October's Morinomiyako Ekiden from 2017 to 2023 and 6-straight titles at the season-ending Mt. Fuji Women's Ekiden from 2018 to 2023, Meijo University came back from a 3rd-place finish last year to win the 44th Morinomiyako Ekiden again, leading almost start-to-finish to set a 2:02:21 CR for the 6-stage, 38.0 km course in Sendai. 12 second back in 2nd after the opening leg, collegiate 3000 mSC champ Nozomi Kondo put Meijo out front with a 12:36 CR for the 4.0 km Second Stage, and the rest of the team never looked back. The biggest threat to a Meijo win was on the 9.2 m Fifth Stage, where this year's collegiate 10000 m winner Sarah Wanjiru from last year's runner-up Daito Bunka University started 50 seconds back from Meijo 1st-year Mao Kimura . In taking the 10000 m title Wanjiru had outrun Kimura by over a minute, but today Kimura was a revelation, strong and smooth out fr...
1 comment
Read more

Waseda Leads Top 7 Teams Under Izumo Ekiden CR, Ivy League Best-Ever 3rd (updated)

3rd last year, Waseda University scored its first Izumo Ekiden win since 2010, taking almost 2 minutes off the CR and leading the top 7 teams under the old record of 2:07:51 for the complete 6-stage, 45.1 km course. Waseda was 16 seconds back in 7th after the First Stage, but its 2nd runner Ojiro Honda made that up easily and put them 6 seconds out front. A massive 22:56 CR for the 8.5 km Third Stage by Shadrack Kipkemei (Nihon Univ.) dropped Waseda back to 2nd even though its runner Ryuki Suzuki broke the old CR too, but back-to-back CR on the next 2 stages by 1st-year Haruki Niizuma and Shunpei Yamaguchi put anchor Shinsaku Kudo out of reach of the rest of the field. Kudo duly won the 10.2 km anchor stage in 29:00, bypassing a 2:06 time entirely for a new 2:05:56 CR, just under 2:48/km average pace for the complete course. Defending champ Koku Gakuin University struggled a bit in the first half of the race but came on strong in the longer second half with 4th and 5th runners...
8 comments
Read more