japan running news

by Brett Larner

2009 World Championships marathon 7th place finisher Yuri Kano (Second Wind AC) took a perfunctory win at the 2010 Nagoya International Women's Marathon, running 2:27:11 for the second marathon victory in her career. Ethiopian Derartu Tulu, who beat Kano at last November's New York City Marathon, was second in 2:28:13. For the first time this season the weather cooperated, with clear skies, low winds and humidity and temperatures which started in the upper teens and dropped comfortably.

The race kicked off with a quick 3:20 first km but quickly calmed down with veteran Hiromi Ominami (Team Toyota Shatai) doing much of the early leading work. Kano and Tulu were part of a pack of four, along with Ominami and first-timer Mai Ito (Team Otsuka Seiyaku), who broke away from the field after a slow half. Tulu fell away around 25 km, and after Kano picked up the pace rounding the turnaround point at 28 km Ominami likewise fell back. Only Ito was able to hang on after 30 k…

http://www.runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=18939

by Brett Larner

Last weekend's Osaka International Women's Marathon and this weekend's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon and Meigi Ekiden mark the transition from ekiden season to Japan's short but dense late-winter marathon season. Six elite marathons are crammed into a seven-week span, but there is more. In February and March Japan hosts an array of competitive 10 milers, half marathons and 30 km road races both as marathon tune-ups and target races for those focusing on the intermediate distances. While the pointy ends of these races may often be somewhat blunted relative to smaller but wealthier races in Europe and the Arabian peninsula, many of the Japanese races top the worldwide lists in overall quality and depth. The conclusion of the Kyoto City Half Marathon last year as Kyoto prepares to host a large-scale full marathon means other races stand to benefit, as was clear at last weekend's Osaka Half Marathon where six men broke the course record.

Feb. 7 sees two co…

http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/joshi-ekiden/2009/news/f-sp-tp0-20091209-574251.html

translated by Brett Larner

The 2009 National Jitsugyodan Women's Ekiden Championships take place this Sunday, Dec. 13 in Gifu. The top 27 teams from across the country will face off over the 6-stage, 42.195 km course.

Last year Team Toyota Jidoshoki took its first-ever national title with a surprise win. This year the team returns a step ahead of the pack as the clear favorite. Its pair of 21 year old aces Hitomi Niiya and Akane Wakita led Toyota Jidoshoki to victory with stage best titles at the East Japan Jitsugyodan Women's Ekiden and will again be a major factor in its 2009 Nationals run.

East Japan runner-up Team Hokuren also looks strong, with World Championships marathoner Yukiko Akaba and national jitsugyodan 5000 and 10000 m double champion Philes Ongori leading the way.

Last year's national runner-up Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo's chances largely depend on whether the team's …

by Brett Larner

The 2009 National Jitsugyodan Track and Field Championships got underway Sept. 25 in Okayama with the men's and women's 10000 m, the men divided into three heats by time and the women into two. Photo finishes were the order of the day.

Former Hakone Ekiden "God of the Mountain" 5th stage legend Masato Imai (Team Toyota Kyushu) kicked off the night with a 0.32 second win over Shinji Suzuki (Team Aisan Kogyo) in Heat One of the men's 10000 m, the slowest of the three. Aya Nagata (Team Toyota Jidoshoki) followed suit in the women's 10000 m Heat One, beating teammate Akane Wakita by just 0.02 seconds. Ryosuke Fukuyama (Team JAL Ground Service) widened the margin of victory in the men's Heat Two, winning over Kenichi Kita (Team Kyudenko) by a luxurious 0.83 seconds.

In the women's Heat Two, the only race of the night with a margin of victory greater than one second, Kenyan Philes Ongori (Team Hokuren) had a predictable win in one of her last t…

The 2009 Osaka International Women's Marathon* will be broadcast live nationwide on Fuji TV on Jan. 25 beginning at 12:00 noon Japan time. International viewers should be able to watch online for free through this site.

Click here for the IAAF's Osaka preview.

*AKA 'Osaka International Ladies` Marathon'

by Brett Larner



The official 2009 Osaka International Women's Marathon preview video.

The third official selection race for Japan's women's marathon team at the 2009 Berlin World Championships takes place this Sunday, Jan. 25, at the Osaka International Women's Marathon. Last year's Olympic selection race edition of Osaka saw the memorable marathon debut of half marathon national record holder Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal), a spectacular failure in which Fukushi ran near 2:20 pace in the first half only to finish in the 2:40's with a bloody face and bruised pride. This year's Osaka promises even more drama: a duel between Fukushi's fellow Beijing 10000 m Olympians, former marathon national record holder and current 10000 m national record holder Yoko Shibui (Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) and, in her marathon debut, Japan's popular 'mama-san' runner Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren).

With the complete failure of Japanese marathoning at the Beijing Olympi…

by Brett Larner

The Osaka International Women’s Marathon has released the list of elite entrants for its 2009 running on Jan. 25, a competition which doubles as the second selection race for the Japanese national team at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin. At the top of the field are former Japanese national record holder Yoko Shibui (Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) and Ethiopian Worknesh Tola, both of whom clocked 2:25 times in their best marathons of 2008. While Tola’s time came in a 2nd-place finish at the Paris Marathon in April, Shibui’s came in a 4th-place meltdown after she attempted to run under 2:20 at November’s final Tokyo International Women’s Marathon.

Aside from a potential challenge from two-time World Championships marathoner Yumiko Hara (Team Kyocera), Osaka would likely end up a match race between Shibui and Tola were it not for the presence of marathon debutantes Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren) and Peninah Arusei (Kenya). Both women ran low-1:08 half marathons in 2008, ma…

http://runwoman.jp/rw/news/news_03rikujyou/post_175.php

translated and edited by Brett Larner

In the wake of former marathon national record holder Yoko Shibui's surprise declaration following the Dec. 14 All-Japan Jitsugyodan Women's Ekiden that she has changed her spring marathon plans and will face off against debutante Yukiko Akaba at the Jan. 25 Osaka International Women's Marathon for a spot on the national team at the 2009 Berlin World Track and Field Championships, two members of the Jitsugyodan Ekiden-winning Team Toyota Jidoshoki announced their intent to try for a spot on the team.

2007 Osaka World Track and Field Championships 10000 m competitor Akane Wakita will, like Akaba, debut in January at Osaka. Wakita ran the 2007 World Championships at age 19 but since then has been in poor condition, missing her chance for the Beijing Olympics. Her stage 3rd-best performance behind Akaba on the 5th leg of the Jitsugyodan Ekiden was, however, instrumental in putting Team …

by Brett Larner

After failing to even qualify for the 2007 All-Japan Jitsugyodan Women's Ekiden, Team Toyota Jidoshoki scored a surprise win over defending champion Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo at this year's national championship ekiden in Gifu Prefecture. Toyota Jidoshoki, one of two teams in the ekiden coached by Yoshio Koide, had only previously qualified once and was missing its star runner Yuriko Kobayashi, whom Rikuren banned from competing in jitsogyodan events after her enrollment in university last year. Neverthless, strong performances from the entire team, particularly anchor Aya Nagata's stage best run, were enough to unseat Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo.

Team Panasonic's 17 year old Christie Muyanga, the 2008 World Junior 3000 m steeplechase champion, ran away from the field on the ekiden's 6.6 km 1st stage. She faded in the final 600 m and was almost overtaken by the chase pack which included 2008 International Chiba Ekiden Japanese national team anchor Miz…

http://www.kahoku.co.jp/news/2008/11/2008112401000237.htm
http://www.kahoku.co.jp/news/2008/11/2008112401000231.htm

translated and edited by Brett Larner

Running in cool, rainy conditions on Nov. 24, Julia Mumbi of Team Aruze won the Kobe All-Japan Women's Half Marathon for the 2nd straight year, covering the course stretching from the HAT Kobe Center to Kobe Harborland in a time of 1:09:45. Team Toyota Jidoshoki's Akane Wakita was 12 seconds behind in 2nd place, with Team Kyocera's Maki Suzawa a distant 3rd in her half marathon debut. Right from the start it was a match race between Mumbi and Wakita, but when Mumbi attacked at 15 km she was easily able to pull away for the win.

Somewhat overshadowing Mumbi's victory was the surprise appearance of Athens Olympics marathon gold medalist Mizuki Noguchi (Team Sysmex) as a guest runner in the 10 km race, her first public run since withdrawing from the Beijing Olympics marathon with an injury. Noguchi was scheduled to appear at…

by Brett Larner

The organizing committee of the 2008 Kobe National Women’s Half Marathon has announced this year’s field of elite and invited athletes. The list includes a mix of current top runners, veterans, and a crew of debut half marathoners from Team Kyocera.

Kenyan Julia Mombi will be at the top of the class as none of the Japanese runners approach her recent times. Mombi’s only foreign competition, Brit Mara Yamauchi, is running the Tokyo International Women’s Marathon eight days before Kobe and is doubtlessly appearing only in a special guest capacity.

Japanese runners Yumiko Hara, Mari Ozaki and Akemi Ozaki, all primarily running as marathoners these days, have the potential for a good day performance in which they stay with Mombi. Akane Wakita is on an improvement curve in recent years and may well be the best hope for a domestic breakthrough performance.

The 2008 Kobe National Women’s Half Marathon takes place on Nov. 24 at 9:30 a.m.

2008 Kobe National Women’s Half Marathon Eli…