Skip to main content

JRN's Ten Most-Read Stories of 2019

The New Year and Hakone Ekidens were big news among JRN readers as always. But in Japanese long distance, this year was all about the 2020 Olympic marathon, and especially about the Sept. 15 MGC Race, Japan's first modern attempt at a one-shot Olympic trials format for choosing its Olympic marathon lineup. Five of this year's ten most-read stories were about the MGC Race, its qualifying races, and about the Olympic marathon itself. The complete top ten stories of the year in Japanese distance as seen by JRN readers:

Tokai University Wins First-Ever Hakone Ekiden Title - Jan. 2-3
After Toyo University held off four-time defending champion Aoyama Gakuin Unviersity to lead the Hakone Ekiden at the end of its first day, Tokai University came on strong on Day Two to overtake Toyo and keep AGU at bay for its first-ever win at Japan's most prestigious race.

Nakamura and Maeda Win Japanese 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials - Sept. 15
Abandoning its black box multi-race national team selection process in favor of a clear-cut one-race trials format, Japan saw a thrilling men's race where Shogo Nakamura closed in what may have been the fastest-ever Japanese split after 40 km to win over 2018 Fukuoka champ Yuma Hattori and national record holder Suguru Osako. 2017 Hokkaido winner Honami Maeda threw it down early and ground the rest of the field into the pavement to win the women's race over favorite Ayuko Suzuki and Maeda's teammate Rei Ohara. Preview 1. Preview 2.

Running the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Marathon Course Part One - Women's Marathon Test Run - Aug. 2
For the second year in a row, JRN ran the Tokyo Olympics marathon course at exactly the time the event will take place in 2020, taking temperature and humidity readings every half hour along the way. Part Two featured 2018 European marathon champion Koen Naert of Belgium, with Part Three happening at the time of the men's marathon.

61-Year-Old Mariko Yugeta Becomes First 60+ Woman to Go Sub-Three - Nov. 27
At the Nov. 3 Shimonoseki Kaikyo Marathon, 61-year-old Mariko Yugeta because the first woman 60 or older to ever break 3 hours for the marathon. Two weeks later in Bangkok she ran the 100th marathon of her career. A week after that she negative split a PB 2:56:54 in Saitama to better her Shimoseki time by over 2 minutes.

Sado Over Ohara at Osaka Women's Marathon, Fukushi DNF After Bad Fall, Iwade and Tanihara Take the Half - Jan. 27
With places at Japan's new MGC Race 2020 Olympic marathon trials on the line, Ethiopian Fatuma Sado took the top spot at the Osaka International Women's Marathon. Rio Olympian Kayoko Fukushi fell early in the race and tried to keep going, but ultimately she dropped out and regrouped to try again in Nagoya. Preview.

Beppu-Oita Marathon to Review Staff Training After Interpreter Refers to African Athletes as "Chimpanzees" - Feb. 15
A local woman working as an interpreter at the Beppu-Oita Marathon caused an outcry when she referred to invited elite African athletes at the race as "chimpanzees" and "primitive people" on a public blog. The race promised to improve its staff training.

Legese and Aga on Top, El Abbassi and Osako on the Sidelines at 2019 Tokyo Marathon - Mar. 3
Already qualified for the MGC Race Olympic marathon trials, national record holder Suguru Osako, Shogo Nakamura and Yuki Sato went through halfway in 1:02:04 at the Tokyo Marathon before the cold rain got to them. Ethiopians Birhanu Legese and Ruti Aga won the men's and women's race overall. Preview 1. Preview 2.

Shitara Rocks Fastest-Ever Marathon in Australia Two Months Out From Olympic Trials - July 7
Despite saying he was there for a training run, former national record holder Yuta Shitara went head-to-head with fellow twin Zane Robertson of New Zealand for the win at the Gold Coast Marathon, pulling away in the final kilometers to win in an Australian all-comers record 2:07:50. Rodah Tanui (Kenya) won the women's race in 2:27:56, while a large number of Japanese men tuning up for the MGC Race 2020 Olympic marathon trials took on the half marathon. Preview.

MHPS Just Misses Stopping an Asahi Kasei New Year Ekiden Threepeat - Jan. 1
The marathon-oriented MHPS team came up just short of stopping old-school ekiden powerhouse Asahi Kasei from claiming a third-straight New Year Ekiden national title, with MHPS anchor Yuji Iwata losing out to AK's Shuho Dairokuno in the final 100 m of the 100 km race.

Keitany Leads 12 Under 28 Minutes at Hachioji Long Distance Meet, 138 Go Sub-29 - Nov. 25
Less than a week after almost 150 men broke 1:05:00 at the Ageo City Half Marathon, two Tokyo-area meets produced 138 men under 29 minutes for 10000 m. Evans Keitany (Toyota Boshoku) was the fastest, leading 12 men under 28 minutes at the Hachioji Long Distance Meet, with Tomoya Nakamura (Aoyama Gakuin University) leading the Kanto Region meet in 28:31.68.

Buy Me A Coffee
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

World Marathon Majors Japanese Entries

We're back from a short summer break. A week and a half out from the first race of the season's four World Marathon Majors races, here's a look at Japanese athletes scheduled to run. Everything right now is about qualifying for the MGC Race, the official trials race for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics to be held in the fall of 2027 in Nagoya. The JAAF makes no mistake about wanting to keep its top people racing domestically where it can get a share of revenue from the TV broadcast and race operations, so anyone who decides to race overseas has to do it in a WA platinum label race and hit either 2:06:30 or 2:23:30, regardless of place, course or weather if they want to make the trials. At the same time concessions are make for domestic races, like for example the late-August Hokkaido Marathon where up to 3 men and 3 women can qualify if they go 2:12:00 or 2:32:00. As a result, you get things like last year where amateur runner Yudai Fukuda made the trials by finishing 3rd Jap...
1 comment
Read more

Nakajima Breaks 100 mH NR Twice, Kitaguchi Returns - August Track Roundup

Catching up on what's been happening in track and field this month during our summer break: Men's 3000 m NR holder Nagiya Mori was just off his 5000 m PB at the IFAM Oordegem meet in Belgium on Aug. 1, taking 16th in 13:15.01. Shota Nakano was 26th of 28 in 13:35.02. This year's national champion Ryoma Aoki ran the 3000 mSC but didn't finish. Naoto Hasegawa was the only Japanese athlete at Mutaz Essa Barshim 's What Gravity Tour stop at the Monaco Athletics Festival meet on Aug. 5. Having cleared 2.30 m for the first time earlier this year Hasegawa only managed 2.18 m in Monaco, taking 7th of 10. There were a lot of good performances at the Fuji Hokuriku World Trial meet in Fujiyoshida on Aug. 9, but the one that got the headlines was a 12.62 (-0.2) NR in the women's 100 mH by Hitomi Nakajima . Nakajima actually did it twice, running 12.62 (+2.0) in the heats before repeating in the final. Masumi Aoki also ran big in the heats, with a 12.68 (+2.0) for al...
1 comment
Read more

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...
Post a Comment
Read more