Skip to main content

Higashino, Makishima, Watanabe, Ichida Twins Win on Roads in Kyushu

http://www.oita-press.co.jp/localNews/2012_132608542166.html
http://www.373news.com/modules/pickup/index.php?storyid=37548
http://www.nagasaki-np.co.jp/kiji/20120110/05.shtml

translated and edited by Brett Larner

Japan's southernmost main island Kyushu was the site of most of the long weekend's road action.

The 49th South Japan Long Distance Meet took place Jan. 8 in Kagoshima on a road loop course inside Kagoshima Sports Park.  A track 10000 m until last year, the open men's 10 km division saw  Takashi Ichida (Daito Bunka Univ., formerly of 2010 national champion Kagoshima Jitsugyo H.S.) take the win in 29:35.  His identical twin brother Hiroshi Ichida (also Daito Bunka Univ. / Kagoshima Jitsugyo H.S.) was close behind in 2nd in 29:38 with Chihiro Suzuhigashi (Kokubu SDF Base) also cracking 30 minutes as he took 3rd in 29:59.  Click here for top results.

A record 951 people competed in the Oita City Half Marathon on Jan. 9 on a course starting and finishing at the Oita Civic Track and Field Grounds.  In the men's half-marathon division Kenji Higashino (Team Asahi Kasei) won a close three-way sprint finish to take 1st in 1:05:19.  His teammate Ryoichi Matsuo (Team Asahi Kasei) was just behind in 2nd in 1:05:21 with amateur Hiroki Nonaka (Usuki Fire Dep't) 3rd in 1:05:23.  Saori Makishima (Canon AC Kyushu) won the women's division in 1:15:19.  Three local high schoolers broke 30 minutes in the men's 10 km, led by Shuhei Kondo (Oita Tomei H.S.) in 29:47.  Sayaka Kuribayashi (Uwa H.S.) likewise won the women's 10 km, clocking 36:22.  The half-marathon started at 10:00 a.m., with the 10 km getting underway at 10:08.  772 people finished the half-marathon, 179 people the 10 km.  The runners travelled along Oita's waterfront highway and took in many of the sights of downtown Oita on a course conducive to fast times.  Click here for complete results.

Further west in Nagasaki at the 41st Unsen Obama Half-Marathon, Masahiko Watanabe (Team Sumco) took his first win in the men's open division in 1:05:54.  A total of 1046 people from elementary school students to adults took part in the different divisions.  Tomoya Oda (Isahaya H.S.) won the high school boys' 10 km in 30:58, while Kana Matsuzoe (Nagasaki Shogyo H.S.) won the high school girls' 5 km in 17:12.

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Federation Tells World Championships Marathoner Horibata To Go On Diet

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20110307-OHT1T00258.htm translated by Brett Larner Having made the 2011 World Championships marathon team by running a PB of 2:09:25 to come in 3rd overall and as the top Japanese finisher at the Mar. 6 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Hiroyuki Horibata (24, Team Asahi Kasei), talked to the media at Osaka Airport on Mar. 7. Following Sunday's race Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki , 67, told Horibata, "Let's cut things down a bit until the World Championships," directing him to go on a diet. The 189 cm Horibata weighs 72 kg [~6'3", 160 lbs]. When he joined Team Asahi Kasei in 2005 at age 18 he weighed 65 kg, and this weight is still generally listed on his profile at races and in the media. "For some reason it never changes," he said with a grin. His coach Takeshi Soh , 58, commented, "If he was hungrier for glory his world would change completely," slapping the 'heavyweight division runner...

Kawauchi Wins Inaugural Kawauchi Half Marathon

http://www.minyu-net.com/sports/running/FM20160501-070419.php translated by Brett Larner 川内優輝ロード pic.twitter.com/rEJk7CQPFV — みとっぽ (黒) (@mitoppo_tmyk) April 30, 2016 Yuki Kawauchi Road in Kawauchi, Fukushima Held to inspire former residents to return to the area after the nearby TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident five years ago, the village of Kawauchi held the first " Kawauchi no Sato Kaeru Half Marathon - From Reconstruction to Creation " on April 30.  The course started and finished at the village heliport.  1188 runners from across the country gathered to celebrate the village's revival as they ran through its springtime streets. The event's organizing committee was made up of local government and board of education members with support from the Fukushima Minyu Newspaper and other sponsors.  The race's purpose was to transmit the vitality and charm of the reconstructing Kawauchi village to the rest of the nation in hopes of helpin...

A Record-Breaking 22 High School Boys Under 14 Minutes for 5000 m This Season

As we saw with multiple national records at last Friday's long distance National Championships , the Japanese distance world keeps getting faster and faster. High school athletes are no exception. Breaking 14 minutes for 5000 m is the gold standard for a top-level high school runner. This season 22 boys have done it not including foreign student athletes, almost double the previous record for a single season, 12 in 2010. In 2010, Kenta Murayama , now part of the Asahi Kasei corporate team but then running for Miyagi's Meisei H.S., was the fastest high schooler at 13:49.45. Future Tokyo Olympics marathon trials winner Shogo Nakamura ran 13:50.38 that year while at Iga Hakuho H.S. Since then the number of boys under 14 minutes has held steady, with 10 in 2015, 10 in 2016 and 11 in 2019, showing how exceptional this season's number is. Leading this new generation is Tokyo Nogyo Daini H.S. 3rd-year Kosuke Ishida . While at Fukuoka's Asakawa J.H.S. Ishida ran 3:49.72 for 1...