japan running news

by Brett Larner

What a day. With 6 degree temperatures at the start, strong winds, rain turning to snow as temperatures fell, and a tsunami warning for the waterfront finish area, this year's Tokyo Marathon had the worst conditions in the event's four-year history. That is saying quite a bit after the cold rain in 2007 and the gale-force winds last year. Times were never on the table as runners fought simply to survive.

Injury-plagued debut marathon national record holder Masakazu Fujiwara (Team Honda) staged a major comeback, gutting it out over a pack of nine with a surge at 2:52/km over the last 2.195 km to win the men's race in 2:12:19, the first Japanese man to win Tokyo. 2008 Tokyo runner-up Arata Fujiwara (Team JR Higashi Nihon), no relation, won out a great sprint finish for 2nd against half marathon national record holder Atsushi Sato (Team Chugoku Denryoku) and amateur Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't). Time aside, the day was a big one for Masakazu Fujiwara.…

by Brett Larner

Update: With 2 1/2 hours to go until the start the weather and forecast are terrible. 6 degrees, wind, and moderate to heavy rain.

The 2010 Tokyo Marathon takes place this Sunday, Feb. 28. With a potentially dramatic men's race lined up it's a shame that media coverage of this year's race has to have taken a back seat to the Winter Olympics, but the unfortunate timing does nothing to diminish what could be a course record year if the storm front threatening the Tokyo area passes in time. Both men's and women's defending champions Salim Kipsang (Kenya) and Mizuho Nasukawa (Team Universal Entertainment) return but neither stands an unbreakable chance of repeating.

Kipsang's PB of 2:07:29 puts him towards the top of the field, but he will have plenty of competition at that level. Six other men in the field have run under 2:08 within roughly the last two years. Rachid Kisri (Morocco) will wear bib #1 thanks to his 2:06:48 PB at last year's Paris M…

by Brett Larner

click here for complete elite field details

On Jan. 25 the Tokyo Marathon announced its elite field for the race's fourth edition on Feb. 28. Last year's winners Salim Kipsang (Kenya) and Mizuho Nasukawa (Team Universal Entertainment) return to defend their titles.

Tokyo's organizers have done a good job of putting together a solid men's field at the start of the crowded spring marathon season. Kipsang may be back, but the 2:06:48 by Rachid Kisri (Morocco) at last year's Paris Marathon makes him a potential favorite despite a lack of other comparable performances. Six other men in the field have run under 2:08 within the last two or three years, meaning the course record of 2:07:23 should be in danger. Domestic hopes lie with half-marathon national record holder Atsushi Sato (Team Chugoku Denryoku). Sato's 2:07:13 PB against Samuel Wanjiru (Kenya) and Deriba Merga (Ethiopia) in Fukuoka '07 makes him the third-fastest man in the field, and his p…

http://www.honolulumarathon.org/?s=raceweeknews#st_7






Kiyoko Shimahara approaching the finish in Honolulu. Photos by Dr. Helmut Winter.







After not breaking 2:30 since 2006 Kiyoko Shimahara (Second Wind AC) has now done it three times in the last three and a half months, running a PB and CR of 2:25:10 to win the Hokkaido Marathon on Aug. 30, finishing 2nd in 2:28:51 on Nov. 15 in the inaugural Yokohama International Women's Marathon, and now four weeks later a 2:29:53 runner-up spot in the Dec. 13 Honolulu Marathon.






Third sub-2:30 of the season.











2009 Honolulu Marathon - Top Women's Finishers
click here for complete results with splits

1. Svetlana Zakharova (Russia) - 2:28:34
2. Kiyoko Shimahara (Second Wind AC) - 2:29:53
3. Pamela Chepchumba (Kenya) - 2:32:41
4. Kaori Yoshida (Amino Vital AC) - 2:35:46
5. Eri Hayakawa (Amino Vital AC) - 2:44:33
6. Satoko Uetani (Kobe Gakuin Univ.) - 2:45:19
7. Akemi Ozaki (Second Wind AC) - 2:50:20
8. Mina Ogawa (Japan) - 2:50:20
9. Kozue Saito (Japan) - 2:51:…

by Brett Larner

The Honolulu Marathon is one of the biggest draws for the average Japanese runner. Prior to the Tokyo Marathon it was the race for those who wanted to say they had done a marathon in their life. It's still a major attraction, and in recent years Japanese runners have consistently been on the podium in at least the women's race thanks in large part to the Second Wind AC team. Second Wind runners are back again in force, with defending champion Kiyoko Shimahara, 2007 runner-up Akemi Ozaki, and former club member and 2008 runner-up Kaori Yoshida (Amino Vital AC) on the line. Second Wind runner Yuko Manabe, a 1:09:36 half marathoner, is also acting as pacemaker in the women's race.

Shimahara and Ozaki went 1-2 in the heat of August's Hokkaido Marathon, Shimahara setting a course record in a PB of 2:25:10 and Ozaki likewise recording a new PB of 2:27:33. Ozaki went on to win the Athens Classic Marathon in November in a controlled effort, while a week late…

http://www.globerunner.org/blog/?p=306

An article by Pat Butcher about interesting Tokyo-based club Second Wind. One thing worth noting with regard to Mari Hirata is that the English word 'coach' is used in Japanese more in the sense that we would use 'trainer.' The word 'kantoku' denotes what we think of as the 'coach.' Manabu Kawagoe is the coach, while Hirata is one of the club's trainers. By contrast, 1991 World Championships women's marathon silver medalist Sachiko Yamashita is the coach of Team Daiichi Seimei and its star runner, 2009 World Championships women's marathon silver medalist Yoshimi Ozaki, the younger sister of Second Wind runner Akemi Ozaki.

http://www.iaaf.org/LRR09/news/newsid=54846.html

Note: Popular fan website letsrun.com mistakenly states that Athens winner Akemi Ozaki and Second Wind teammate Yuri Kano are coached by a woman. Both are coached by former Team Shiseido head coach Manabu Kawagoe, who is in fact a man. Ozaki's younger sister Yoshimi, the 2009 Berlin World Championships women's marathon silver medalist, is coached by Sachiko Yamashita, a woman and World Championships women's marathon silver medalist in her own right.

Men's race 7th place finisher Masaru Takamizawa is engaged to Akemi Ozaki and Yuri Kano's third teammate Kiyoko Shimahara who will run this week's first edition of the Yokohama International Women's Marathon.

by Brett Larner

Two veterans made comebacks to win the 2009 Hokkaido Marathon in its first edition on a new course. In the men's race Kenyan Daniel Njenga (Team Yakult) endured a relatively slow first 5k of 15:46, typical of hot, summery Hokkaido, before cutting loose at 12 km with a surge at world record pace. From 12 km to 18 km Njenga ran under 3:00 / km pace, clocking as fast as 2:50 / km to kill off all rivals. He hit halfway in 1:04:11 with a chase pack of three including fellow Kenyan Laban Kagika (Team JFE Steel), Seiji Kobayashi (Team Mitsubishi Juko Nagasaki) and debutant Takayuki Tagami (Team Kyudenko) around 25 seconds behind.

A minute ahead of the Hokkaido Marathon record, Njenga began to slip in the heat and was down to 3:10 / km pace by 25 km. He continued to fade, but the chasers were likewise suffering and could make no headway. Approaching 40 km, first-timer Ryo Yamamoto (Team Sagawa Express) cruised past into second as Njenga dropped to 3:20 / km. Yamamoto almost …

by Brett Larner

There were no surprise upsets in the 11th edition of the Nagano Marathon on Apr. 19. Running on a new course, the fastest man in the field, Isaac Macharia (Kenya) bided his time before dropping the other leaders in the final 7 km to take his second Nagano win in 2:11:21, while the woman with the best recent time, Irina Timofeyeva (Russia), finished strong to overtake ailing Kenyan Irene Limika in the final stretch, clocking 2:30:08 for the win. Expected men's contender Masaru Takamizawa (Saku Chosei H.S.) went flat in the second half of the race, leaving the top Japanese man title to debutant Masaki Shimoju (Team Konica Minolta), 7th overall in 2:15:57. Akemi Ozaki (Second Wind AC), the older sister of 2009 World Championships team member Yoshimi Ozaki (Team Daiichi Seimei), was the top Japanese woman, 3rd overall in 2:31:18.

Frontrunning the race as he did on his way to victory at last year's Hokkaido Marathon, high school coach Masaru Takamizawa took the race o…

http://iaaf.org/LRR09/news/newsid=50217.html

Surprisingly, there will not be a live broadcast of this year's Nagano Marathon. NHK will broadcast a one-hour highlights show on Apr. 25 at 2:00 p.m.

http://www.shinmai.co.jp/news/20090401/KT090327IWI090025000022.htm

translated by Brett Larner

On Mar. 31 the organizing committee of the 11th Nagano Olympics Commemorative Marathon announced the elite athletes for this year's race to be held on Apr. 19. Running Nagano for the third time, 2005 men's winner Isaac Macharia (Kenya) will be back to look for his second Nagano win, while two-time Olympic track gold medalist Derartu Tulu (Ethiopia) will lead the women's race.

Tulu won the gold medal in the 10000 m at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She won the 2001 London Marathon and set her PB of 2:23:30 while finishing 4th at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki. At 37 she is facing the effects of age but is still competitve, finishing 9th at last year's Tokyo International Women's Marathon in 2:36.47.

Macharia won the 2005 edition of Nagano in 2:10:59 and took 3rd in 2006 with a time of 2:12:44. At the 2007 Dubai Marathon he was 2nd in 2:07:16…

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://www.plus-blog.sportsnavi.com/kmanabu/article/133

translated and edited by Brett Larner

Team Kyudenko's Pauline Kiragu Wanguru won a five-way sprint finish at the 2008 Sanyo Women's Road Race half marathon to win in a PB of 1:10:54. A hilly course, cold temperatures and strong winds in the second half made for an overall tactical race. Five runners remained together with 400 m to go, meaning the race would go to the strongest kicker. Wanguru pulled ahead by a step to beat Team Sysmex's Megumi Seike, who came fresh from winning the Nov. 30 Shanghai Half Marathon, and Second Wind AC newcomer Ruth Wanjiru. Team Tenmaya's Yuka Izumi was 4th in a PB of 1:10:58, with Wanjiru's teammate Akemi Ozaki a short distance behind in 5th.

Second Wind AC head coach Manabu Kawagoe commented that the race was excellent preparation for Ozaki and Wanjiru's planned run in next month's Osaka International Women's Marathon, but that Ozaki was feeling in top condition and wo…

http://www.iaaf.org/LRR08/news/newsid=44195.html

Akemi Ozaki runs for Tokyo-based Second Wind AC. She ran her marathon debut at the 2006 Tokyo International Women's Marathon where she finished 2nd and beat defending champion Naoko Takahashi. She was 4th at the 2007 Tokyo International but recorded her PB of 2:28:39 in that race. Three weeks later she ran the Honolulu Marathon as a pacemaker for teammate Kaori Yoshida. Yoshida faltered, but Ozaki continued on to finish 2nd. Her complete profile is available here.

http://www.sanin-chuo.co.jp/sports/modules/news/article.php?storyid=499933094

translated by Brett Larner

On Feb. 6 the organizing committee of the 29th Matsue Ladies Half Marathon released the names of the invited field for this year's event. Appearing at the race is Reiko Tosa (Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo), who will be running the women's marathon at this summer's Beijing Olympics. The winner of January's Osaka International Women's Marathon, Mara Yamauchi (Second Wind AC; U.K.), and 2nd place finisher in the 2006 Tokyo International Women's Marathon Akemi Ozaki (Second Wind AC) are also entered. Yamauchi and Ozaki will be racing in the half marathon, while Tosa will be appearing as a guest runner in the girls' 10 km event.

The race will take place in Matsue on Mar. 16 in front of Matsue Castle and includes 4 events: a nationally-certified official half marathon and 10 km, a 10 km for girls aged 16 or older, a 2.5 km elementary school girls' and boys' …

http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2008020300056
http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/f-sp-tp0-20080203-316071.html
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20080203-00000020-mai-spo

translated and edited by Brett Larner

Kenyan runner Philes Ongori (Team Hokuren) won the women's race at the 62nd Kagawa Marugame Half Marathon on Feb. 3 in a time of 1:07:57. Yoshimi Ozaki (Team Daiichi Seimei) was 2nd in 1:09:30. 14th place finisher in last summer's Osaka World Championships marathon Mari Ozaki (Team Noritz) was 3rd in 1:09:58, while veteran runner Harumi Hiroyama (Team Shiseido) was 4th. Ongori commented, "I really wanted to break [Kayoko Fukushi's course record of] 1:07:26." She plans to run a track event in the Beijing Olympics.

Yoshimi Ozaki will also be looking to qualify for the Olympics when she runs her marathon debut at the Nagoya International Women's Marathon in March. She ran Marugame to help her image training for the 2nd half of the full marathon, breaking…

JRN's most-read articles of 2007 by month:

July
Takayuki Matsumiya sets Japanese 5000 m national record.- July 29

August
Kano, Oshima and Ozaki finish in top 10 at NY Half-Marathon.- Aug. 6

September
'Perhaps the Japanese have Lydiard right.'- Sept. 4

October
Atsushi Sato sets new Japanese and Asian half-marathon record. - Oct. 16

November
397 under 70 minutes: the 20th Ageo City Half-Marathon.- Nov. 20

December
The Hakone Ekiden: a brief history and preview.- Dec. 31

(c) 2007 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

http://www.sanspo.com/sports/top/sp200712/sp2007121104.html

translated by Brett Larner

17,000 Japanese runners in a field of 28,000 took part in the 35th JAL Honolulu Marathon on Dec. 9. Ambesse Tolosa of Ethiopia won the men`s race for the 2nd year in a row with a time of 2:17:26, while Alevtina Biktimirova of Russia took the women`s title for the 1st time, winning in 2:33:07. Among Japanese runners, Akemi Ozaki (Second Wind AC) was 2nd in the women`s race in 2:34:22 and Satoru Hori of Yamanashi Prefecture ran 2:29:12 to finish a strong 6th in the men`s race in his first appearance at this event.

Marathon-loving model Rie Hasegawa, 34, ran in the 3:30 range in her 8th time to challenge the Honolulu course. Hasegawa hoped to run a 3:15 but said afterwards, "With the hills and rain making for tough conditions in the first half I just couldn`t do it this time. I love running, though, so I plan to come back to Honlulu again next year."

At 90 years plus 5 months the oldest Japanese …

http://www.letsrun.com/2007/nychalfwomen0805.php

written by Brett Larner

Three Japanese women placed in the top 10 at the 2007 New York Half-Marathon. Yuri Kano ran in the lead pack for most of the race, finishing 4th in 1:11:05. Megumi Oshima also ran in the lead pack, fading to 6th in 1:11:35. Akemi Ozaki finished further back, 7th in 1:13:37.