Weekend Overseas Japanese Results

Following the Japanese success early Saturday at the IAU 100 km World Championships, Japanese athletes lined up in races across Europe over the weekend.

At Saturday's Prague Grand Prix 10 km, Yuka Takashima (Shiseido) followed up her 2:26:13 marathon debut in Paris with a 9th-place finish in 32:26. 2:08:48 at February's Tokyo Marathon, Kenji Yamamoto (Mazda) was ineffectual in the men's race, nearly a kilometer behind winner Rhonex Kipruto at 17th in 29:21. Keita Shitara (Hitachi Butsuryu), twin brother of half marathon and marathon national record holder Yuta Shitara, was 23rd in 30:17 with Yuta's teammate Masaya Taguchi (Honda) overtaken by the top three women to finish 24th in 30:25.

On the track, Jakarta Asian Games men's 200 m gold medalist Yuki Koike had the best Japanese placing on the first day of the Continental Cup in the Czech Republic, finishing 4th in the 200 m in 20.57 (-1.6 m/s). Kosei Yamaguchi was next-best in the men's 3000 m steeplechase at 5th, with Takatoshi Abe, Ayako Kimura and Nozomi Tanaka each 6th in the men's 400 m hurdles, women's 100 m hurdles and women's 3000 m respectively.

Taio Kanai followed that trend up with a 6th place finish Sunday in the Continental Cup's men's 110 m hurdles. Eri Utsunomiya had the weakest showing of the Cup, finishing 8th in the women's 400 m hurdles.

At Sunday's Great North Run, Hiroyuki Yamamoto (Konica Minolta) broke 1:03 there for the second year in a row, taking 6th in 1:02:49. Naoya Takahashi (Yasukawa Denki) was 12th in 1:05:41. In the women's race National Corporate Half runner-up Yuka Hori (Panasonic) was 5th in 1:11:13.

Also Sunday, Asuka Tanaka (Yutori RC) attempted to qualify for Japan's MGC Race 2020 Olympic Trials at the Volksbank Muenster Marathon after having run 2:10:13 at this year's Tokyo Marathon. Tanaka needed to run 2:11:47 to make it, but despite starting off with the leaders on 2:10-flat pace he faded off before halfway. Dizzy by 27 km, he staggered in to an 11th-place finish in 2:32:31, collapsing at the finish line and carried to the medical area where he was found to be suffering from low blood sugar. Justus Kiprotich (Kenya) negative split a course record 2:09:27 for the win. 2017 Osaka Marathon runner-up Mitsuko Ino was expected to be a contender for the win, but after experiencing a ping in a tendon in her upper left leg on a corner just 4 km in the race she began to limp, dropping off pace and eventually out of the race. With six women have withdrawn before the start with injury, first-timer Sheila Rono (Kenya) won in 2:45:45.

text and photos © 2018 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Hassan Runs NR/CR for Osaka Win, Dibaba Hits Women's CR, Yoshida and Shuley Earn Legends

This was maybe the most entertaining marathon in years. After rocking the 2nd leg at last year's Hakone Ekiden Hibiki Yoshida (Sunbelx) ran an incredible 1:01:01 CR for the 21.9 km New Year Ekiden 2nd leg last month, equivalent to a 58:47 half marathon. That predicted a 2:03:27 marathon if he ever ran one, and when Yoshida announced he was debuting at this year's Osaka Marathon he wasted no time in saying it'd be a shot at the 2:04:55 NR. Things went out fast enough with a 14:50 split through 5 km, 2:05:11 pace, but Yoshida just couldn't hold back and took off at 8 km. He clearly DGAF about what was probably going to happen as his projected finish kept getting faster, 2:04:41, 2:04:15, 2:03:51, 2:03:40, edging closer and closer to what his New Year time predicted, but not helped along by the fact that he missed 4 out of his first 5 drink bottles. People laughed, and then cheered him on. 30 km was the first time he slowed, his finish projection dropping to 2:03:53, an...

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...

M.I.A.

Sorry to have been silent for a while. JRN associate editor Mika Tokairin was in Taiwan for Ironman Penghu, where she won her age group to qualify for Kona for the first time. Right after that we moved for the first time in 14 years, and immediately after that I headed to the U.S. to help Keita Sato get settled in his new training base in Flagstaff. We'll be resuming normal operations shortly with a big roundup of results over the last 2 weeks. Brett Larner

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