japan running news

http://kyushu.yomiuri.co.jp/news/national/20101130-OYS1T00214.htm translated by Brett Larner On Nov. 29 the organizing committee of the 41st Hofu Yomiuri Marathon , scheduled for Dec. 19, announced the field of ten invited elites at this year's race. Eight domestic runners and two overseas athletes will compete for the win, while the general division will see its largest-ever field including 1692 men and 156 women. At the top of the field is Kurao Umeki (Team Chugoku Denryoku), who set his PB of 2:09:52 at the 2003 Berlin Marathon. 2008 Hofu champion Kentaro Ito (Team Kyowa Hakko Bio) returns to seek a second title. Young rising stars seeking to make a name include Takuro Yamashita (Team Fujitsu), Takashi Yamauchi (Team Aisan Kogyo) and Kiyotaka Shimamura (Tokyo T&F Assoc.). Kenyan Samuel Ganga (Team Mazda) will make his marathon debut. Invited overseas elites include Mongolian Serod Batochir , who set a PB of 2:12:42 at September's Berlin Marathon and returns for his...

by Brett Larner Takushoku University's fortunes under its new coach Okada continue to improve. A month after Takushoku won both the Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai 20 km qualifier team and individual titles Takushoku first-years Duncan Mozay and John Maina worked together to crack 28 minutes at the Kanto Regional University Time Trials in Tokyo's National Stadium on Nov. 27. Both runners clocked 27:53, meaning they are now the fastest university runners in the Kanto region ahead of Jobu University senior Yusuke Hasegawa and Nihon University junior Benjamin Gando . Only one of the pair will be allowed to run January's Hakone Ekiden, but with two aces to choose from Takushoku is in an excellent position to make the Hakone seeded bracket. 2010 Kanto Regional 5000 m champion Taku Fujimoto (Kokushikan Univ.), fresh from a 3rd-place finish on the competitive 1st Stage of Tuesday's International Chiba Ekiden, won another of the meet's ten heats of 10000 m, pushed to a 28:41...

2010 Time Trial in Nagasaki Kakidomari Field, Nagasaki Civic Sports Park, 11/27/10 click here for complete results Women's 5000 m - Heat Two 1. Sally Chepyego (Kenya/Team Kyudenko) - 15:37.44 2. Misaki Kato (Team Kyudenko) - 15:55.60 3. Mayumi Fujita (Team Juhachi Ginko) - 16:07.22 4. Manami Takehisa (2nd yr., Kojokan H.S.) - 16:09.16 5. Chieko Kido (Canon AC Kyushu) - 16:12.21 Men's 10000 m 1. Masahiko Takeyasu (Team Chudenko) - 29:09.02 2. Kazuaki Iwami (Team Kyudenko) - 29:10.54 3. Kazuharu Takai (Team Kyudenko) - 29:16.68

by Brett Larner With the emergence of India's superb double track medalists Preeja Sreeharan and Kavita Raut and nearly all of the remaining medals in the men's and women's distance medals going to Kenyan and Ethiopian athletes running in the colors of Qatar and Bahrain, Japanese athletes were virtually shut out of the distance medals at the 2010 Asian Games in Guanzhou, China. In just his second marathon, Yukihiro Kitaoka (Team NTN) delivered one of Japan's only distance medals of the Games, outkicking the defending gold medalist, Kenyan Richard Yatich running as Mubarak Hussan Shami of Qatar, in the final meters of the race to take silver behind an outstanding if unsportsmanlike gold medal run from South Korea's Youngjun Ji . In taking silver Kitaoka likely earned himself one of the five spots up for grabs on the Japanese marathon squad for next summer's World Championships in Daegu, South Korea. By contrast the Japanese women marathoners came up empty-han...

by Brett Larner New Nishi-Kanasa Mountain Road Race women's CR holder by 9 minutes, 17 year-old Minami Yamanouchi. The 11th Nishi-Kanasa 14 km Mountain Road Race took place Nov. 21 in the town of Hitachi Ota, Ibaraki prefecture. For the second year in a row, Kenyans Joaz Ogata and Evan Malarsa of Team Ibaraki Kankyo Kigyo went 1-2, just off Ogata's course record in times of 49:36 and 49:45. The relatively slow pace, just over 3:30/km, reflects the difficulty of the course - a gentle downhill for the first two km, a gradual uphill for the next four, and then a suddenly 300 m climb from 6 km to 9 km followed by an equal descent in only 2 km and then a gradual slope down to the finish. The big news of the race came in the women's division, where 17 year old Minami Yamanouchi , a high school junior from Koriyama, Fukushima prefecture, finished 9th overall. Her time, 54:37, was only five minutes off that of the professional male Kenyan winner, broke the existing women's c...

2010 Hachioji Long Distance Meet Kamiyugi Koen Track, Hachioji, Tokyo, 11/24/10 click here for complete results Women's 5000 m 1. Betelhem Moges (Ethiopia/Team Denso) - 15:24.53 2. Kayo Sugihara (Team Denso) - 15:24.66 3. Hiromi Koga (Team Denso) - 15:50.45 4. Yuko Mizuguchi (Team Denso) - 15:52.70 5. Yuka Takashima (Team Denso) - 15:54.89 Men's 10000 m - Heat 5 1. Yusuke Takabayashi (Team Toyota) - 28:10.19 2. Samuel Kariuki (Kenya/Team Konica Minolta) - 28:16.85 3. Yoshinori Oda (Team Toyota) - 28:19.73 4. Chihiro Miyawaki (Team Toyota) - 28:29.40 5. Hiroyuki Yamamoto (Team Konica Minolta) - 28:34.54 Men's 10000 m - Heat 4 1. Shingo Mishima (Team Toyota) - 28:51.03 2. Takeshi Kumamoto (Team Toyota) - 29:13.80 3. Tsubasa Maeda (Team YKK) - 29:14.51 Men's 10000 m - Heat 3 1. Ryotaro Nitta (Team Konica Minolta) - 28:56.88 2. Takanobu Otsubo (Osaka City Hall AC) - 29:07.51 3. Noriyuki Nabetani (Osaka City Hall AC- 29:14.71 Men's 10000 m - Heat 2 1. Wataru Yamaguchi (T...

by Brett Larner photos by Daniel Seite On a windy and wild Nov. 23, a select team of Japanese university all-stars staged a surprise upset at the 2010 International Chiba Ekiden , coming up in the second half of the race to take its first-ever win over a field including ten national teams. 1st Stage leaders. In running order: Yuichiro Ueno (Japan), Vincent Yator (Kenya), Craig Mottram (Australia), Taku Fujimoto (Japan Univ.), Bobby Curtis (U.S.A.) While the expected battle between Kenya and Japan took place up front, 2010 Kanto Regional University 5000 m champion Taku Fujimoto (Kokushikan Univ.) ran a gritty 1st Stage to put the university team into 3rd as 2009 double 1500 m and 5000 m national champion Yuichiro Ueno had a rare perfect run, putting Japan into 1st over Kenyan ace Vincent Yator just 1 second off the stage record. 2010 National University 5000 m runner-up Risa Takenaka (Ritsumeikan Univ.) caught up to Kenyan Mercy Njoroge on the 2nd Stage while her male counterpart, 2...

2010 Nagoya Half Marathon Nagoya, 11/23/10 - final running click here for complete results Men 1. Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 1:00:29 2. Jacob Wanjuki (Kenya/Team Aichi Steel) - 1:00:32 - PB 3. Mekubo Mogusu (Kenya/Team Aidem) - 1:01:12 4. Satoru Kasuya (Team Toyota Boshoku) - 1:03:50 5. Munehiro Sugaya (Team Toyota) - 1:04:05 Women 1. Noriko Matsuoka (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 1:11:13 - PB 2. Hiromi Ominami (Utic AC) - 1:14:50

2010 Kyushu Jitsugyodan Ekiden Fukuoka-Kitakyushu, 11/23/10 click here for complete results Stage Best Performances 1st Stage (13.4 km) - Masato Imai (Team Toyota Kyushu) - 40:22 2nd Stage (10.2 km) - Satoru Sasaki (Team Asahi Kasei) - 31:20 3rd Stage (10.5 km) - Kazuhiro Maeda (Team Kyudenko) - 28:55 4th Stage (12.2 km) - Tomoya Onishi (Team Asahi Kasei) - 35:36 5th Stage (8.7 km) - Paul Tanui (Kenya/Team Kyudenko) - 24:50 6th Stage (9.6 km) - Kenichi Shiraishi (Team Asahi Kasei) - 28:17 7th Stage (14.2 km) - Yuki Iwai (Team Asahi Kasei) - 41:35 Top Team Results - 78.8 km 1. Team Asahi Kasei - 3:53:33 2. Team Yasukawa Denki - 3:55:38 3. Team Kyudenko - 3:57:47

The 2010 International Chiba Ekiden will be broadcast live on Fuji TV from 1:00 to 3:25 p.m. on Nov. 23, Japan time. Overseas viewers can watch live online for free using Keyhole TV . JRN will be doing live English commentary http://twitter.com/JRNLive . Click here for a preview of this year's possibly final edition of the last of the great international relays. Click here for the starting lists and running order. Click here for a course map .

by Brett Larner photos by Daniel Seite Suguru Osako, 2010 Ageo City Half Marathon winner. Waseda University first-year Suguru Osako ran his biggest performance yet Nov. 21 at the Ageo City Half Marathon, winning his half marathon debut in a new junior national record and junior Asian record of 1:01:47. Running in perfect conditions the 19 year-old Osako, who holds a 5000 m PB of 13:47.29 and a 10000 m PB of 28:35.75, battled it out with Kenyan Cosmas Ondiba (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) for 16 km ahead of a large chase pack before dropping a hard surge with 5 km to go and pulling away for the win with the largest margin of victory in Ageo history, 57 seconds. Following the race he told the Yomiuri newspaper , "That didn't feel like it was very long at all." Cosmas Ondiba (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) leads Osako and 3000 mSC national record holder Yoshitaka Iwamizu (Team Fujitsu) at 3 km. Osako became only the third man to break 1:02 at Ageo and the fastest-ever Japanese runner to...

by Brett Larner Alongside the Ageo City Half Marathon it was a big weekend at the 212th Nittai University Time Trials, Nov. 20-21 in Yokohama. Among the highlights: While 19 year-old Kenyan Bitan Karoki (Team S&B) added another sub-28 time in the 10000 m to his name with a 27:46.19 win, Jobu University senior Yusuke Hasegawa ran the fastest mark of the year by a Japanese university student, 28:07.47, to take 2nd in the A-heat. In the B-heat, Sendai Ikuei High School junior Yuma Hattori set the fastest time of the year by a Japanese high school student, 28:58.08. Three Josai University men broke 29 minutes for the first time; Josai head coach Seiji Kushibe , Jobu head coach Katsuhiko Hanada and Ageo winner Suguru Osako 's coach at Waseda University, Yasuyuki Watanabe , were all teammates at Waseda during their student days. Former 2:08 marathoner and national champion Team Nissin Shokuhin assistant coach Kenjiro Jitsui , 41, set a masters' 10000 m national record of 29:16...

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/114692/asian-games-athletics-sudha-wins.html 2010 Asian Games - Athletics Distance Results click here for complete results Women's 10000 m 1. Preeja Sreedharan (India) - 31:50.47 - PB, NR 2. Kavita Raut (India) - 31:51.44 - PB 3. Shitaye Habtegebrel (Ethiopia/Bahrain) - 31:54.27 - PB 4. Kayoko Fukushi (Japan) - 31:55.54 5. Hikari Yoshimoto (Japan) - 32:06.73 Men's 5000 m 1. Mahboob Ali Hasan Mahboob (Kenya/Bahrain) - 13:47.86 2. James Kurui (Kenya/Qatar) - 13:48.55 3. Felix Kibore (Kenya/Qatar) - 13:49.31 4. Dejenee Mootumaa (Ethiopia/Bahrain) - 13:50.60 5. Abdullah Aljoud (Saudia Arabia) - 13:52.34 6. Kensuke Takezawa (Japan) - 13:54.11 ----- 9. Yuki Matsuoka (Japan) - 14:03.62 Women's 3000 mSC 1. Sudha Singh (India) - 9:55.67 - PB 2. Yuan Jin (China) - 9:55.71 3. Minori Hayakari (Japan) - 10:01.25

2010 Zevenheuvelenloop 15 km Nijmegen, Netherlands, 11/21/10 Women click here for complete women's results 1. Genet Getaneh (Ethiopia) - 47:53 2. Florence Kiplagat (Kenya) - 48:07 3. Sayo Nomura (Meijo Univ.) - 49:43 4. Aki Odagiri (Meijo Univ.) - 51:37 5. Benita Willis (Australia) - 51:51 Men click here for complete men's results 1. Leonard Patrick Komon (Kenya) - 41:13 - WR 2. Abera Kuma (Ethiopia) - 42:01 3. Ayele Abshiro (Ethiopia) - 42:01 4. Abraham Kiplimo (Uganda) - 43:03 5. Berhanu Delale (Ethiopia) - 43:08 ----- 14. Kazuya Watanabe (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) - 45:31

http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/101121/spg1011211606004-n1.htm translated and edited by Brett Larner At the final running of the Kobe National Women's Half Marathon on Nov. 21, Mari Ozaki (Team Noritz) took her first win with a time of 1:11:35. Her teammate Misato Horie was 2nd, 1 minute 10 seconds back. Megumi Seike (Team Sysmex) was 3rd. The Kobe National Women's Half Marathon is to be replaced with a mass-participation marathon, the Kobe Marathon, which will have its first running next fall. A field limit of 20,000 is expected.

http://www.mxtv.co.jp/mxnews/news/201011217.html translated by Brett Larner Once again this year the Setagaya 246 Half Marathon took place Nov. 21 in Setagaya, Tokyo. Under crystal-clear autumn skies it was an ideal race for hobbyists and elites alike. Begun in 2006 as an opportunity for Setagaya-area residents to enjoy their neighborhood in a new way, this year's race was the 5th edition. With demand growing steadily, this year organizers accepted an additional 500 entrants to bring the event up to 1500 runners. 6700 hundred people applied for the spots. A Rikuren-certified course, the Setagaya 246 Half Marathon begins at Komazawa Olympic Park and runs along Route 246 to the River Tama. Aoyama Gakuin University's Takuya Yokoyama won this year's race in 1:05:01, the second-fastest winning time so far. Hobby runners in the field enjoyed the support and cheers of their friends and family along the course, with all involved enjoying the best of autumn Setagaya.

by Brett Larner Thanks in part to a big run from 2010 national university 5000 m champion Hiroki Mitsuoka on the 15.1 km Seventh Stage, Kyoto Sangyo University took its first-ever win Nov. 20 in the Biwako University Ekiden , western Japan's counterpart to January's Hakone Ekiden. Kyoto Sangyo defeated perpetual winner Ritsumeikan University by over 2 1/2 minutes, joining Bukkyo University's women's team in ending the Ritsumeikan stranglehold on western Japan men's and women's distance running. 2010 Biwako University Ekiden - Top Results click here for complete results Stage Best Performances First Stage (11.1 km) - Tetsuya Kimura (Osaka Keizai Univ.) - 33:12 Second Stage (7.3 km) - Kenji Nakamura (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 21:48 Third Stage (11.0 km) - Jackson Kwarai (Tanzania/Nara Sangyo Univ.) - 33:11 Fourth Stage (9.6 km) - Kiragu Njuguna (Kenya/Daiichi Kogyo Univ.) - 27:50 Fifth Stage (9.0 km) - Daiki Maruno (Daiichi Kogyo Univ.) - 27:50 Sixth Stage (12.8 k...

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/flash/KFullFlash20101118070.html http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/news/20101119k0000m050060000c.html translated and edited by Brett Larner On Nov. 18 Rikuren announced the elite field for this year's Fukuoka International Marathon scheduled for Dec. 5, the first of the domestic selection races for the 2011 World Championships marathon in Daegu, Korea. Beijing Olympics silver medalist and two-time World Championships gold medalist Jaouad Gharib (Morocco) leads the overseas invited field while a large group of Japanese elites will vie for a World Championships berth. The domestic field includes 2005 World Championships marathon bronze medalist Tsuyoshi Ogata (Team Chugoku Denryoku), 2009 World Championships marathon team member Satoshi Irifune (Team Kanebo), 5000 m and 30 km national record holder Takayuki Matsumiya (Team Konica Minolta), and in his marathon debut 3000 mSC national record holder Yoshitaka Iwamizu (Team Fujitsu). Gharib will be run...

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/flash/KFullFlash20101116082.html translated by Brett Larner Athens Olympics women's marathon gold medalist and national record holder Mizuki Noguchi (Team Sysmex) is on the entry list announced Nov. 16 for the National Jitsugyodan Ekiden Championships to be held Dec. 19 in Gifu. Should she start it will be the second race of her comeback. Noguchi withdrew from the Beijing Olympics marathon after sustaining an injury to her left thigh. On October 24 she ran in the West Japan Jitsugyodan Women's Ekiden, her first race in 2 years, 5 months. According to the Kansai Athletics Association, Team Sysmex registered ten people for next month's Nationals. The starting lineup of six will be announced Dec. 18.

http://sankei.jp.msn.com/sports/other/101115/oth1011152039036-n1.htm translated by Brett Larner On Nov. 15, Olympian Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren) privately toured the new course for the 30th anniversary Osaka International Women's Marathon, scheduled for Jan. 30, 2011. Akaba jogged the final 20 km from the turnaround point at Dotonboribashi Minamijime to the finish at Nagai Stadium at a comfortable pace to let her get a feel for the new course while her coach and husband Shuhei accompanied her by car. "There isn't much elevation change now, and the long straightaway [after 33 km] is also gone, so I think it's going to be a fast course," Akaba commented. Asked about her goals for what will be her fifth marathon she said, "I haven't won a marathon yet, so I am going to be in this race to win it. Not just to be the top Japanese finisher, but the winner." Osaka will be one of the selection races for next summer's World Championships in Daegu, Korea.

http://www.47news.jp/CN/201011/CN2010111501000936.html translated by Brett Larner Holder of the men's marathon world record of 2:03:59, Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie wrote on his Twitter feed on Nov. 15, "Running is in my blood. I have decided to keep running competitively," officially reversing his recent announcement of retirement. In a telephone interview the same day Gebrselassie's agent Jos Hermans confirmed, "Haile will run the Tokyo Marathon. His knee problem is not serious. With another week's rest he'll be able to get back to training." He said Gebrselassie will travel to Japan in February as previously planned. Aged 37, Gebrselassie dropped out partway through the Nov. 7 New York City Marathon with an injury to his right knee. Following the race Gebrselassie abruptly announced his retirement. Hermans commented, "Right after the race he was very emotional and in the heat of his disappointment blurted out that he was retiring, but he stil...

by Brett Larner It was a busy weekend across Japan, with six major ekidens taking place simultaneously. For professional men there were four regional qualifiers for the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden, while for women there was the Fukui Super Ladies' Ekiden featuring corporate, university, regional and amateur teams, and the regional East Japan Women's Ekiden. Among the highlights: Ritsumeikan University had a surprise win over rivals Bukkyo University and every corporate team in the Fukui Super Ladies' Ekiden. Four of the six Ritsumeikan runners took stage bests, leading the team to a course-record 1:34:56 for 30 km. Bukkyo was 2nd without a single stage best, while Team Denso took 3rd thanks to stage bests from aces Betelhem Moges and Kayo Sugihara . Chiba Prefecture prevented another Nagano Prefecture win at the East Japan Women's Ekiden, taking four of nine stage bests. Anchor Chika Horie , who runs for Team Universal Entertainment and is usually thought of as a marat...

by Brett Larner On Nov. 12 the organizers of the 2010 International Chiba Ekiden announced the entry lists for this year's edition, scheduled as always for Nov. 23. The last of the great international ekidens, Chiba has in recent years scaled down to an interesting format of mixed-gender teams, with top men and women from 12 teams worldwide alternating stages on a six-leg, 42.195 course. Notable names on the list this year include: Bobby Curtis (U.S.A.) - 2008 NCAA 5000 m champion Atsushi Fujita (Chiba Pref.) - former marathon nat'l record holder Wilson Kiprop (Kenya) - 2010 African 10000 m champion Yuriko Kobayashi (Japan) - 1500 m nat'l record holder Maria Konovalova (Russia) - 3rd, 2010 Chicago Marathon Hiroki Mitsuoka (Japan Univ.) - 2010 nat'l univ 5000 m champion Ed Moran (U.S.A.) - 2010 U.S.A. road 10 km champion Craig Mottram (Australia) - 2005 WC 5000 m bronze medalist Kasumi Nishihara (Japan Univ.) - 2010 nat'l univ 5000 m champion Yuki Sato (Ja...

http://www.fukuishimbun.co.jp/modules/news0/index.php?page=article&storyid=24728&storytopic=4 http://mainichi.jp/area/fukui/news/20101112ddlk18050540000c.html translated by Brett Larner The town of Wakasa's most famous pair of long distance runners, identical twins Hiromi and Takami Ominami , 34, held a press conference in their native Fukui prefecture on Nov. 11 to announce the launch of a new running club under the support of new sponsor Utic which will support their athletic careers. Both Rotterdam Marathon winners, the world-class Ominami Twins lost their previous sponsor last spring when Toyota Shatai shut down its running team. Moving from Nagoya to Tokyo the sisters worked temp jobs while searching for a sponsor. The new sponsor, Utic, is based in Sakai, Fukui. Utic AC will be made up of a team of four, the sisters, Toshio Shibata , their coach during their days at Mikata J.H.S. in Wakasa, and 110 m hurdler Hironori Murao . The company plans to add two more members ...

The 2010 East Japan Women's Ekiden will be broadcast live on Fuji TV from 12:00 to 2:35 p.m. on Nov. 14, Japan time. International viewers should be able to watch online for free via Keyhole TV. Click here for more information .

2010 Nagoya Half Marathon Elite Athlete Field final running - 11/23/10 click here for complete listing Men Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 59:48 Mekubo Mogusu (Kenya/Team Aidem) - 59:48 Gideon Ngatuny (Kenya/Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 59:50 Jacob Wanjuki (Kenya/Team Aichi Seiko) - 1:01:07 Samuel Ndungu (Kenya/Team Aichi Seiko) - 1:01:17 Munehiro Sugaya (Team Toyota) - 1:02:22 Yoshiki Otsuka (Team Aichi Seiko) - 1:03:29 Hiroaki Inoue (Team Toenec) - 1:03:32 Satoru Kasuya (Team Toyota Boshoku) - 1:03:33 Satoshi Abe (Team Toenec) - 1:03:34 Yoshihiko Asaba (Team Toenec) - 1:03:35 Women Hiromi Ominami (Yutic AC) - 1:08:45 Noriko Matsuoka (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 1:11:46 Kaori Akagawa (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 1:12:28

http://www.iaaf.org/news/kind=100/newsid=58696.html Tokyo-based men's winner Shinji Nakadai is one of my fellow coaches at the Harriers running club. 2010 I.A.U. 100 km World Championships Gibraltar, 11/7/10 Men click here for complete men's results 1. Shinji Nakadai (Japan) - 6:43:44 2. Jonas Buud (Sweden) - 6:47:40 3. Michael Wardian (U.S.A.) - 6:49:18 4. Noriyuki Araki (Japan) - 6:50:00 5. Oleksandr Holovnytskyy (Ukraine) - 6:51:03 Men's Teams 1. Japan - 20:32:21 2. U.S.A. - 20:46:04 3. France - 21:05:52 Women click here for complete women's results 1. Ellie Greenwood (GBR) - 7:29:05 2. Monica Carlin (Italy) - 7:30:50 3. Lizzy Hawker (GBR) - 7:33:26 4. Gloria Vinstedt (Sweden) - 7:37:06 5. Meghan Arbogast (U.S.A.) - 7:46:01 Women's Teams 1. GBR - 23:16:54 2. Italy - 23:47:11 3. Japan - 24:00:22

by Brett Larner Arata Fujiwara faces the Japanese media immediately post-race. Alongside the high-profile withdrawal of world record holder Haile Gebrselassie and low-profile withdrawal of 2010 European champion Viktor Rothlin from yesterday's ING New York City Marathon, Arata Fujiwara suffered his first-ever DNF at any distance as he pulled out of the marathon at the 35 km point . Throughout the first half of the race Fujiwara ran comfortably in the lead pack through the moderately-paced 1:05:20 first half, the slowest of any marathon he has ever run. Approaching the Queensboro Bridge he abruptly experienced sharp, stabbing pain in his lower left abdomen, something more serious than a simple cramp. "That was the worst pain I've felt since my first marathon," a dejected Fujiwara told Japanese media following the race. The pain intensified into spasms which forced Fujiwara to bend forward, disrupting his balance and leg motion and causing him to slip from the lead p...

by Brett Larner Waseda University head coach Yasuyuki Watanabe has finally got it together. Weeks after Waseda's course record win at the Izumo Ekiden, the team came out fighting again and scored a stunning course record win to take the 2010 National University Ekiden Championships , its first national title in 15 years. In so doing Waseda took a big step toward Watanabe's stated goal of a triple crown this season: Izumo, Nationals and Hakone. Two-time defending Hakone Ekiden champion Toyo University got things started with an outstanding run by frosh Keita Shitara , who took down a raft of older runners to win the 14.6 km First Stage by 12 seconds. Waseda's Yo Yazawa , highly impressive on Izumo's First Stage, only managed 9th in 43:28. Star Waseda frosh Suguru Osako brought things back into place on the 13.2 km Second Stage, outrunning Toyo ace Ryuji Kashiwabara by 20 seconds to put Waseda into 2nd. Further back, Meiji University star Tetsuya Yoroizaka set a new st...

by Brett Larner With 8 individual day wins and 37 single-stage victories, Miyazaki prefecture easily took down defending champion Fukuoka prefecture to win the 10-day, 72-stage, 1056.6 Kyushu Isshu Ekiden . The Tour de France of Japanese distance running, the Kyushu Isshu Ekiden consists of one loop of the coast of Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu beginning in Nagasaki, heading south, turning and heading north through Miyazaki, and ending in Fukuoka. Miyazaki's team was made up almost entirely of runners from the Asahi Kasei corporate team based in the prefecture. 2010 World Half Marathon 9th placer Tomoya Onishi led the way, winning all three of his stages including a sizzling 43:55 stage record for the 15.3 km Day Three Fourth Stage. First-year Asahi Kasei member Takuya Fukatsu also won all his stages, as did veteran marathoner Tomoyuki Sato , 2009 World Championships 10000 m runner Yuki Iwai and the solid Satoru Sasaki . Olympian Ryuji Ono , out for the entire y...

by Brett Larner The 2010 National University Ekiden Championships take place this Sunday, Nov. 7. With six men with 10000 m PBs under 29 minutes, Izumo Ekiden winners Waseda University come in as the heavy favorites after taking apart rivals Komazawa University last month at Izumo. Komazawa, with five 28 minute men, is traditionally stronger over longer distances and should put a dent in Waseda. Also in strong contention will be two-time defending Hakone Ekiden champion Toyo University , whose ace Ryuji Kashiwarabara returned from recent injury troubles with a 10000 m PB two weeks ago. The race will be broadcast live by TV Asahi from 8:00 a.m. to 1:40 p.m. Japan time on Nov. 7. That's 7:00 p.m. on Nov. 6 on the East Coast of the U.S. Overseas viewers can watch live online for free using Keyhole TV. Click here for more info . JRN will be doing live race commentary via its Twitter feed JRNLive . (c) 2010 Brett Larner all rights reserved

http://www.boxinginsider.com/headlines/new-york-city-marathon-contender-arata-fujiwara-inspired-by-boxing/

Arata Fujiwara spekaing at the 2010 ING New York City Marathon pre-race press conference with Abel Kirui, Marilson Gomes dos Santos, James Kwambai and Emmanuel Mutai: http://nimg.sulekha.com/sports/original700/arata-fujiwara-abel-kirui-mar-lson-gomes-dos-santos-james-kwambai-emmanuel-mutai-2010-11-4-12-30-51.jpg http://www.daylife.com/photo/05EPeef0mGbTQ New York Times coverage of Fujiwara's NYCM debut: http://marathon.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/04/japanese-runner-looks-to-make-mark-in-new-york/ Runners World coverage of Fujiwara's NYCM debut: http://newyorkmarathon.runnersworld.com/2010/11/arata-fujiwara-wants-to-put-japanese-stamp-on-new-york.html

by Brett Larner photo courtesy of Remo System Arata Fujiwara will be the best Japanese man to have ever run the ING New York City Marathon. That’s a safe statement to make considering that the best Japanese marathoners are never able to run New York due to the demands of the regional corporate ekiden qualifiers held in early November. But Fujiwara had dreamed of running New York since his high school days in Nagasaki, and he found his own solution for the dilemma of not being able to run: despite being one of Japan’s best current marathoners, with a 2:08:40 PB, two runner-up spots at Tokyo and a 3rd at Fukuoka that put him into the Berlin World Championships, he quit his corporate team cold this spring in order to be free to race where and when he wanted. And that meant New York. First off the bat in his new solo career was a dry run, May’s Ottawa Marathon, a race with the same time difference from Japan as New York and a similar course, hilly with a combination of sharp curves and lo...

http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2010110300284 http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/athletics/news/f-sp-tp0-20101103-697806.html translated and edited by Brett Larner The 21st Women's and 51st Men's East Japan Jitsugyodan Ekiden Championships , the regional qualifiers for the year-end National Ekiden Championships, took place Nov. 3 in Saitama prefecture. Led by 2009 World Championships marathon silver medalist Yoshimi Ozaki , Team Daiichi Seimei took its first win in the women's race with a time of 2:18:46 for the six-stage, 42.195 km course. The top thirteen teams qualified for the Dec. 19 national championships in Gifu. Team Panasonic placed 2nd, while defending champion Team Toyota Jidoshoki could do no better than 9th. Former nine-time champion Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo was 6th. Leading them for the first time in a year was 10000 m national record holder Yoko Shibui , who placed 3rd on the anchor stage. After nearly two years of injury setbacks Shibui told report...