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

Arao Becomes 1st Man in 40 Years to Score Back-to-Back Ome Road Race Wins

30 km is an under-appreciated distance, and both of Japan's big races at that distance happened Sunday. At the Ome Road Race in western Tokyo's mountains, Sydney Marathon 6th-placer Masato Arao (ND Software) became the first man since the great Kunimitsu Ito in 1985-1986 to win back-to-back years. Arao, who finished 39th of 40 on his leg at the New Year Ekiden last month, stayed in the pack through 20 km before going on the attack, putting over a minute on New Year Ekiden Sixth Stage CR breaker Yudai Shimazu (GMO). Sub-1:31 winning times are rare on the tough and hilly Ome course, but Arao's 1:30:54 almost equaled his 1:30:50 from last year, making him the first Japanese man ever to do it twice and second only to CR holder Ezekiel Cheboitibin . Next up Arao races the Tokyo Marathon, where he is targeting sub-2:06. Shimazu was 2nd in 1:31:58 and Yuta Nakayama (JR Higashi Nihon) 3rd in 1:32:07. Cheboitibin was only 9th, running almost 8 minutes off his CR in 1:36:42. Shi...

Nagoya Women's Marathon Elite Field

Last year's top 3 Sheila Chepkirui , Sayaka Sato and Eunice Chebichii Chumba are back for this year's Nagoya Women's Marathon on Mar. 8, but things are being set up more for it to be a race between Chepkirui, 2:17:49 in Berlin 2023, Aynalem Desta , 2:17:37 in Amsterdam last fall, and Japanese NR holder Honami Maeda , 2:18:59 at the Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2024. Aynalem has the freshest sub-2:20 of the 3, with neither Chepkirui nor Maeda having done it in 2 years. Maeda's only recent result is a 1:10:07 from Houston last month, but when she ran her NR she didn't have any kind of tuneup race to indicate her fitness so it's probably best not to read too much into that. If it goes out as a 2:18 race those are the only 3 who can probably hang with it. If it turns out to be more of a 2:20 race like when Chepkirui won in 2:20:40 last year then there's a group of 7 at the 2:20-2:22 level who will be in the picture, including Chumba, Selly Chep...

'Kobe 2024: Aitchison, Athmani Lead Record-Breaking Thursday'

https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-aitchison-athmani-lead-record-breaking-thursday Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships are here .

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