Skip to main content

Nogami to Represent Japan at Asian Marathon Championships

Keiko Nogami, star runner of the Juhachi Ginko women's ekiden team, will represent Japan in the 16th Asian Marathon Championships Nov. 26 in Dongguan, China. Excited about her first time wearing the Japanese national colors, Nogami said, "I've been given a great opportunity. I'm really targeting a domestic race next year, but since I'm running this one I'll be aiming for the top."

Nogami's training this season has been going well and she is in good shape. At October's Ehime National Sports Festival she finished 3rd in the women's 5000 m, and later the same month at the National Corporate Women's Ekiden Championships qualifying race she took 2nd on its toughest stage, the 10.7 km Third Stage, just 2 seconds from winning it.

Nogami was selected for the Asian Marathon Championships based on her results including August's Hokkaido Marathon, where she finished 2nd in 2:30:11 in just her fourth career marathon. The race takes place the same day as the National Corporate Women's Ekiden, for which the Juhachi Ginko women failed to qualify. "Since we can't run the ekiden, I want to bring some glory to Juhachi Ginko for everyone on the team," she said.

Noguchi had focused on ekiden training through October, but although she will be running short on marathon-specific training, head coach Satoshi Yoshii was optimistic, saying, "Running with the Rising Sun on your vest carries a different weight. The results are important, but I hope that she will gain experience that will aid her in her future races."

Translator's note: Nogami has a best of 2:28:19 from the 2015 Nagoya Women's Marathon. She finished 2nd at the 2015 Gold Coast Airport Marathon, her only previous international race. Japanese men will be represented by Shogo Kanezane (Chugoku Denryoku), who holds a best of 2:14:15 from last year's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon.

source article:
http://www.nagasaki-np.co.jp/news/kennaitopix/2017/11/22091424053081.shtml
translated by Brett Larner
photo © 2015 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Comments

Most-Read This Week

2026 Tokyo Marathon Elite Field

The Mar. 1 Tokyo Marathon has great fields this year, so let's get right to it. The women's field has 3 of last year's top 10, winner for the 2nd year in a row and Tokyo CR holder Sutume Asefa Kebede , 3rd-placer and 2025 Chicago winner Hawi Feysa , and 5th-placer and 2025 Berlin winner Rosemary Wanjiru , plus 2024 Valencia winner Megertu Alemu , 2025 Prague winner Bertukan Welde , 2024 Paris winner Mestawut Fikir , 2024 Osaka winner Waganesh Mekasha , former WR holder Brigid Kosgei , and a lot more. Japanese hopes pretty much go to all-time #7 Ai Hosoda , 2:20:31 in Berlin 2024 but who announced this month that she is retiring after Tokyo despite having qualified for the 2028 Olympic marathon trials with her 2:23:27 for 6th in Sydney last year. Other internationals include Canadian Malindi Elmore , American Sara Hall , a big Chinese group led by Yuyu Xia , Poland's Aleksandra Brzezińska and Australian Vanessa Wilson . The men's race has 5 of last year's top 1...

Ai Hosoda Announces Retirement

photo © 2025 Victah Sailer/Photo Run, all rights reserved On Jan. 8 the Edion women's corporate team announced that Ai Hosoda , 30, will retire at the end of March this year. The Tokyo Marathon will be her last race. At Nagano Higashi H.S. Hosoda ran in the National High School Ekiden her 2nd and 3rd years. During her 3rd year at Nittai University she won both the 5000 m and 10000 m at the Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships, going on to win the bronze medal in the 10000 m at the World University Games in her 4th year at Nittai. After graduating she joined the Daihatsu corporate team, debuting at the 2019 Nagoya Women's Marathon in 2:29:27. 2 years later she transferred to Edion. She qualified for the Paris Olympics marathon trials at the 2022 Nagoya Women's Marathon and finished 3rd in the trials in the fall of 2023, but was later bumped down to Olympic alternate after another athlete ran a faster time. Instead of the Olympics, Hosoda ran the 2024 Ber...

Measuring Marathon Courses by Bicycle

http://news.searchina.ne.jp/disp.cgi?y=2013&d=0110&f=column_0110_034.shtml translated by Brett Larner The full marathon is a sport where you compete over 42.195 km, but how do they go about measuring that distance?  Today we're going to look a little bit at how they go about certifying the distance of a marathon. The reality is that major international marathons use a bicycle to measure the distance.  This rule is an international standard, and the same method of measurement is used everywhere.  It was put into place in 1986.  In order to ensure that the same method is used everywhere, a bicycle that meets IAAF specifications must be used for measurement. In the case of Japan's major marathons, to be certain that the distance is correct a provisional measurement is first made.  Before the course is certified using a bicycle the course is measured using a 50 m-long length of wire to determine that it is in fact 42.195 km.  When a bicycle is u...