Osaka Marathon Announces Elite Field

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/running/feature/20140919-OYT8T50064.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner

The official 2014 Osaka Marathon theme song "42.195 km" by Kobukuro.

The organizing committee of the 4th Osaka Marathon on Oct. 26 have announced this year's 23-member elite field. The men's race features all three champions crowned so far in race history led by last year's winner Jackson Limo (Kenya), who improved his PB to 2:09:06 at this year's Paris Marathon. Seeking to stop him from become the first man in Osaka history to defend his title are Osaka's first winner Elijah Sang (Kenya) and second winner Ser-Od Bat-Ochir (Mongolia/Team NTN), who won last year's Hofu Yomiuri Marathon in a PB 2:09:00.

Japan's hopes lie with Satoshi Osaki (NTT Nishi Nihon), holder of a 2:08:36 best, and 2012 runner-up Yasuyuki Nakamura (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC). 2009 World Championships marathon 7th-place finisher Yuri Kano (Kyoto T&F Assoc.) leads the women's field. Her main competition comes from Kumi Ogura (Kochi T&F Assoc.), who ran a PB 2:34:01 at this year's Nagoya Women's Marathon, and Hisae Yoshimatsu (Shunan City Hall), whose best of 2:28:49 is the second-fastest in the field.

Aiming to help develop and cultivate upcoming talent, the "Hope Program" features two men and one woman led by Toshiyuki Fujimatsu (Crest AC). Guest runners include 1964 Tokyo Olympics marathoner Toru Terasawa and 1991 Tokyo International Women's Marathon winner Mari Tanigawa.

4th Osaka Marathon Elite Field
Osaka, 10/26/14
click here for complete field listing

Men
Satoshi Osaki (Team NTT Nishi Nihon) - 2:08:36 (2008 Biwako)
Ser-Od Bat-Ochir (Mongolia/Team NTN) - 2:09:00 (2013 Hofu Yomiuri)
Jackson Limo (Kenya) - 2:09:06 (2014 Paris)
Elijah Sang (Kenya) - 2:10:13 (2007 Frankfurt)
Stepan Kiselev (Russia) - 2:11:28 (2014 Zurich)
Kota Noguchi (Tahara AC) -- 2:12:24 (2012 Fukuoka Int'l)
Sho Matsumoto (Nikkei Business Service) - 2:13:38 (2013 Nobeoka Nishi Nippon)
Shingo Igarashi (Team Subaru) - 2:13:46 (2011 Nobeoka Nishi Nippon)
Yasuyuki Nakamura (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 2:14:41 (2013 Tokyo)
Yusei Nakao (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 2:14:43 (2009 Tokyo)
Yasushi Yamamoto (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 2:15:15 (2013 Biwako)
Kenichi Jiromaru (Tokyo T&F Assoc.) - 2:15:24 (2014 Biwako)
Kazuyoshi Shimozato (Team Komori Corp.) - 2:16:23 (2012 Tokyo)
Toshiyuki Fujimatsu (Crest AC) - 2:18:36 (2014 Tokyo)

Women
Yuri Kano (Kyoto T&F Assoc.) - 2:24:27 (2008 Tokyo Int'l Women's)
Hisae Yoshimatsu (Shunan City Hall) - 2:28:49 (2002 Hokkaido)
Maryna Damantsevich (Belarus) - 2:31:29 (2012 Kosice)
Kumi Ogura (Kochi T&F Assoc.) - 2:34:01 (2013 Nagoya Women's)
Chika Tawara (Fukuoka T&F Assoc.) - 2:40:00 (2013 Hofu Yomiuri)
Haruka Yamaguchi (AC Kita) - 2:41:56 (2014 Beppu-Oita Mainichi)

19-Yr-Old Munakata Breaks Miura's U20 NR to Win Ageo City Half Marathon

The Ageo City Half Marathon is always big, the main race that the coaches of Hakone Ekiden-bound university men's teams use for firming up their entry rosters for the big show. That makes what's basically an idyllic small town race into one of the world's great road races, with depth unmatched anywhere. One of the top-tier people on the start list at 1:02:07, Kodai Miyaoka (Hosei Univ.) took the race out fast, but the entire pack was keying off the fastest man in the race, Reishi Yoshida (Chuo Gakuin Univ.), 1:00:31. Yoshida reeled Miyaoka in before 5 km and kept things steady in the low-1:01 range, wearing down the lead group to around 10 including his CGU teammate Taisei Ichikawa , a quartet from Izumo and National University Ekiden runner-up Komazawa University , 2 runners from local Daito Bunka University , 2:07:54 marathoner Atsumi Ashiwa (Honda), and Australian Ed Goddard . Right after 15 km Komazawa went into action, Yudai Kiyama , Hibiki Murakami and Haru Tanin

Ageo City Half Marathon Preview and Streaming

This weekend's big race is the Ageo City Half Marathon , the next stop on the collegiate men's circuit. Most of the universities bound for the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden use Ageo to thin down the list of contenders for their final Hakone rosters, and with JRN's development program that sends the first two Japanese collegiate finishers in Ageo to the United Airlines NYC Half every year a lot of coaches put in some of their A-listers too. That gives Ageo legendary depth and fast front-end speed, with a 1:00:47 course record last year from Kenyan corporate leaguer Paul Kuira (JR Higashi Nihon) and the top 26 all clearing 63 minutes. Since a lot of programs just enter everybody on their rosters you never really know who on the entry list is actually going to show up, but if even a quarter of the people at the top end of this year's list run it'll be a great race, even if conditions are looking likely to be a bit warmer than ideal. Chuo Gakuin University 's Reishi Yoshi

10000 m NR Attempt In the Works Saturday at Hachioji Long Distance - Streaming and Preview

There are a bunch of other time trial meets this weekend and next, but Saturday's Hachioji Long Distance is the last big meet for Japanese men, 8 heats of Wavelight-paced 10000 m finely graded from target times of 28:50 down to 26:59 for the fastest heat. Heat 6 at 17:55 local time is effectively the B-race, with 35 Japan-based Kenyans targeting 27:10 at the front end, and in a lot of cases a spot on their teams at the New Year Ekiden national championship on Jan. 1. Corporate teams are only allowed to field one non-Japanese athlete in the New Year Ekiden, and only on its shortest stage, and getting to that has a big impact on African athletes' contracts and renewal prospects. Toyota Boshoku , Yasukawa Denki , Chugoku Denryoku , Aisan Kogyo , JR Higashi Nihon , Subaru and 2024 national champion Toyota are all fielding two Kenyans, and Aichi Seiko three. For people like Toyota's Felix Korir and Samuel Kibathi , getting as close to the 27:10 target time as they can and

japan running news

Search This Blog