japan running news

After 54 years at the Asahi Kasei corporate team, first as athlete and then as coach, Takeshi Soh will retire at the end of this month. Together with his twin brother Shigeru Soh they formed a duo who were icons of the Japanese marathoning world and went all the way to the Olympics. After retiring from competition Takeshi devoted himself to coaching young athletes and came to play a primary role in the leadership of Japanese long distance. His list of achievements is long, and so is the list of those he influenced and inspired. His twin Shigeru was chosen for three Olympic teams in the marathon, Montreal in 1976, Moscow in 1980 and Los Angeles in 1984. Takeshi was named to the Moscow and Los Angeles teams, placing 4th in L.A. to confirm his position as one of the greatest names in the sport in that era. After becoming a coach the twins helped lead Hiromi Taniguchi to gold at the 1991 Tokyo World Championships, Koichi Morishita to silver a year later at the Barcelona Olympics, and o...

Japan's golden years dream team of Toshihiko Seko and the Soh twins at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

In a Summer Marathon, Even World-Class Athletes' Lives Are at Risk from Heat Stroke In order to prevent incidences of heat stroke among athletes and spectators alike at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, work is progressing at a fevered pitch to develop countermeasures against the heat in the stadium environs and along the marathon course. Local municipal governments are focusing their efforts on increasing the number of large trees along the course to improve shade, and on implementing road surface materials with heat shielding properties. In past Olympics and World Championships there have been cases of athletes suffering from dehydration and heat stroke, and the issue represents a major challenge for the Tokyo Games. Late July on Sotobori Avenue in Tokyo's Kanda neighborhood. Under the peak strength of the summer sun helmeted workers hoisted by cranes cut back the branches and leaves of trees lining the street by hand. It looks like ordinary pruning work, but...

by Brett Larner special thanks to Dr. Helmut Winter for assistance with graphics It's fitting that last weekend's U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials brought American marathoning back to Los Angeles.  In the years leading up to the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics American men and women paved the way as the world's best marathoners, but the L.A. Olympics marked the start of a long decline on both sides that has only recently started to turn around.  With Galen Rupp making a massively anticipated debut and Los Angeles launching its bid for the 2024 Olympics the 2016 L.A. Trials may come to be looked back upon as another turning point.  It's worth taking an honest look at the last 50 years or so of history to understand where that turning point may take American marathoning. Looking at the average of the ten fastest marathons per year by American men, for the 16 years between the 1968 Mexico City Olympics and the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics American men's marathoning develop...

http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/20141022/ath14102221220003-n1.html translated and edited by Brett Larner On Oct. 22 the organizers of the Nov. 16 Yokohama International Women's Marathon revealed that the event, jointly operated by the JAAF and the Asahi Newspaper group, will be discontinued after this year's sixth running due to ongoing financial difficulties with the race.  As a continuation of the former Tokyo International Women's Marathon it played an important role in establishing the prosperity of Japanese women's distance running over its 36-year history, a history on which the curtain is now set to fall after this year's race. Established in 1979 to encourage the participation and development of female athletes, the Tokyo International Women's Marathon was the first women-only marathon in the world to be officially certified by the IAAF and led directly to the introduction of a women's marathon to the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.  It laid the ...

http://sankei.jp.msn.com/sports/other/090702/oth0907020838001-n1.htm an editorial by Sankei Newspapers Editor in Chief Ikuro Beppu translated by Brett Larner and Mika Tokairin Japanese women's marathon pioneer Nanae Nagata passed away on June 27, far too young at only 53 years old. More people probably remember her by her maiden name, Nanae Sasaki. In 1985 her wedding was one of the Yukan Fuji newspaper's big scoops. On the day of her dowry ceremony Sasaki came to the house of her coach Kiyoshi Nakamura in Tokyo's Sendagaya neighborhood during her early morning training. As a young Yukan Fuji reporter I was there waiting outside the front door, and I said "Congratulations!" to her. Then the aging master appeared. Both were surprised that the media had found out about Sasaki's impending wedding, but as Nakamura admitted Sasaki inside he turned to me and gave a simple, "Enter." As I sat next to Sasaki, Nakamura implored me, at times stridently, at time...