Kazami Breaks 100 km World Record at Lake Saroma

Running on the same course where Japan's Takahiro Sunada set the road 100 km world record of 6:13:33 twenty years ago, 2:17:23 marathoner Nao Kazami bested a deep and competitive field to win the Lake Saroma 100 km Ultramarathon in a world record 6:09:14.

Part of a front group of at least five that went through the marathon split in 2:33:36, on pace for 6:04:01, Kazami lost touch with the lead as rivals Koji Hayasaka and Takehiko Gyoba surged just before halfway to open a roughly 30 second lead that lasted until nearly 75 km. But in the last quarter of the race Kazami, a graduate of Hakone Ekiden powerhouse Komazawa University, was the only one who could sustain anything close to the early pace, overtaking Hayasaka and Gyoba before pulling away to open a lead of over 11 minutes. Kazami's mark took more than 4 minutes off the world record, and he also bettered the 100 km track world record of 6:10:20 set in 1978 well before he was born by the late Don Ritchie.

Trying to stay with Kazami, high-volume marathoner Hayasaka dropped Gyoba after 75 km to take 2nd in 6:20:49. Gyoba, an editor for Japan's largest running magazine, lasted for 3rd in 6:22:55. Coming up from the second group after having been more than 3 minutes behind Gyoba at 90 km, Hideaki Yamauchi ran down Yoshiki Kawauchi, younger brother of Boston Marathon winner Yuki Kawauchi, for 4th in 6:23:49, with Kawauchi breaking his PB by almost 14 minutes in 6:28:35 for 5th. 2016-17 winner including a near-miss on the world record last year in 6:14:18, Tatsuya Itagaki took 7th in 6:40:46. Kazami, Hayasaka and Gyoba all stand to be named to Japan's national team for this year's 100 km World Championships in Croatia.

In the women's race, most of the lead pack trailed behind 2013 Lake Saroma winner Mai Fujisawa, Fujisawa splitting 3:10:03 at the marathon point and 3:45:26 at 50 km to the pack's 3:11:34 and 3:47:17. But ahead of her, national-level triathlete Konoka Azumi was trying to make the race her own, hitting the marathon in 3:09:37 and 50 km in 3:45:23. Fujisawa reeled her in, pushing on unchallenged to win in 7:37:56, but Azumi's effort was enough for 2nd in 7:47:07. Aiko Kanematsu was the first runner from the chase pack to make it across the line, taking 3rd in 7:49:18 to seal up a spot on the World Championships team.

33rd Lake Saroma 100 km Ultramarathon

Hokkaido, 6/24/18
click any name for official splits and results

Men
1. Nao Kazami - 6:09:14 - WR
2. Koji Hayasaka - 6:20:49
3. Takehiko Gyoba - 6:22:55
4. Hideaki Yamauchi - 6:23:49
5. Yoshiki Kawauchi - 6:28:35

Women
1. Mai Fujisawa - 7:37:56
2. Konoka Azumi - 7:47:07
3. Aiko Kanematsu - 7:49:18
4. Yuko Kusunose - 7:55:19
5. Tomomi Nakashima - 8:01:20

© 2018 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

70th Yamagata-ken Judan Ekiden

The 70th running of the Yamagata-ken Judan Ekiden happened over the start of the Golden Week holidays, a 3-day, 29-leg race covering 306.9 km around the northern prefecture of Yamagata. There used to be a lot more of these races where people from the prefecture run for their hometown teams on a Tour de Whatever prefecture or area it happens to be held in, but Yamagata's is one of the few to have survived this long. And amazingly enough, local broadcaster YBC live streamed the entire thing on Youtube. There aren't many corporate teams in the mostly rural area, so runners from the ND Software corporate team played a heavy role, its 2 best runners Masato Arao and Ryoma Takeuchi winning their stages on Day 2 with Takeuchi doubling to anchor the Kita-Murayama team to an overall 5th-place finish, and Koichi Shoji breaking the 2nd leg CR on Day 1 and winning the 2nd-to-last stage on Day 3 to play a key role in the Yamagata city team taking the overall win in 16:06:51, 3:09/km ...

April Track Roundup

Four big meets with distance action happened across Japan over the 2nd half of April. Highlights from each of them: Hyogo Relay Carnival - Kobe, 18-19 April Hirokazu Sakai (Senko) set a 2.25 m MR in the men's high jump. Sae Takemoto (Orico) threw 59.68 m to set a new MR in the women's javelin throw. Distance events were pretty low-key, with Ryota Natori (Konica Minolta) winning the men's 10000 m in 28:49.74 and Yuzu Nishide (Daihatsu) the women's 5000 m in 15:44.03. National University Individual Championships - Hiratsuka, 24-26 April Miori Kida (1st yr., Juntendo Univ.) debuted with 4:19.14 MR in the women's 1500 m, going 0.12 under the previous record set last year. Sarah Wanjiru (4th yr., Daito Bunka Univ.) kicked off her senior year by chopping 25 seconds off her own 10000 m MR to by over a minute in 31:23.69. Mao Kimura (1st yr., Meijo Univ.) had a great debut in 32:31.56 for 2nd, more than 70 sec up on 3rd place. Shunpei Yamaguchi (3rd yr., Waseda ...

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...

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