japan running news

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20090224-OHT1T00291.htm translated by Brett Larner On Feb. 24, former men's marathon national record holder Atsushi Fujita (32, Team Fujitsu), held a public practice session in Chiba as he prepares for next month's Tokyo Marathon. Fujita has sworn to stage a comeback victory in memory of his late mother. Today was the one-year anniversary of his mother Shizue's loss at age 54, the victim of a brain tumor. On the 22nd Fujita returned to his hometown of Shirakawa in Fukushima Prefecture to observe the one-year memorial ceremony. "Please watch me as I run this marathon," he prayed before her shrine. Fujita's last marathon was the Dec. 2007 Fukuoka International Marathon, where he finished 8th. Since Team Fujitsu's win at the New Year Ekiden he has been at training camps on the southern islands of Amami Oshima and Tokunoshima, focusing on high mileage to fortify his stamina. On the 27th he will again travel to Am...

http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/p-sp-tp0-20090108-447916.html http://www.47news.jp/CN/200901/CN2009010701000863.html http://www.sponichi.co.jp/osaka/spor/200901/08/spor216432.html http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/flash/KFullFlash20090107050.html translated and edited by Brett Larner Mizuki Noguchi (30, Team Sysmex) returned to Kyoto on Jan. 7 from a training camp on Amami Oshima island after carrying out her first full training since withdrawing from the Beijing Olympics women's marathon with an injury to her right thigh. "I did everything that was on the schedule," commented Noguchi. Since her original injury on July 25 the pain in Noguchi's leg has come back each time she has restarted her training. Prior to the training camp her longest daily mileage since the injury had been 18 km. Noguchi described her training while on Amami, saying, "Both the time and distance I've been able to run have increased. I got up to about 40 km a day." All of her...

http://www.sanspo.com/sports/top/sp200803/sp2008031407.html http://news.goo.ne.jp/article/nikkan/sports/p-sp-tp0-080314-0003.html translated and edited by Brett Larner Mizuki Noguchi (29, Team Sysmex), who this summer in Beijing will attempt to become the first woman to win two Olympic marathon gold medals, left for a training camp on Amami Oshima on Mar. 13. Noguchi withdrew from this Sunday's Jitsugyodan Half Marathon championship after contracting a skin rash while training at altitude in Kunming, China. Noguchi decided to leave Kunming and return to Japan on Mar. 6 for extensive health testing. After her final examination on Mar. 12, Noguchi told reporters, "It was nothing. I am completely fine," while smiling in apparent perfect health. Two doctors who examined Noguchi said that the rash may have been a reaction to China's notorious yellow sandstorms. They said there is no danger of lingering effects or of an impact upon her performance in this summer's Be...

by Brett Larner Arata Fujiwara , 26, came from the obscurity of professional running with the undistinguished JR East Japan team to finish 2nd overall and in the top Japanese position at the Tokyo Marathon on Feb. 17. His finish time of 2:08:40 was a major PB; more impressive than the time itself was the way in which Fujiwara overcame severe leg cramping in the final few kilometeres to hold off Olympian Julius Gitahi of Kenya. Fujiwara's result puts him into good position as a contender for the Beijing Olympic marathon team, yet he is almost completely unknown. Born Sept. 12, 1981 in Nishi Sonogi, Nagasaki Prefecture, Fujiwara attended Isahaya High School, one of the stronger running high schools in Japan. He went on to Takushoku University , a relatively minor school which in its better years qualifies for one of the bottom slots in the Hakone Ekiden. Fujiwara ran Hakone twice, finishing 10th on the 1st stage as a 1st year student in 2001, and 4th on the 4th stage as a 3rd year...

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20080128-OHT1T00072.htm http://sankei.jp.msn.com/region/chugoku/okayama/080129/oky0801290224004-n1.htm http://www.okanichi.co.jp/20080129122320.html http://www.okanichi.co.jp/20080129122635.html translated and edited by Brett Larner At the Osaka International Women's Marathon on Jan. 27, 2nd place overall finisher Tomo Morimoto (24, Team Tenmaya) couldn't quite secure a position on the Beijing Olympic team. Although she couldn't move with eventual winner Mara Yamauchi's breakaway at 32 km, Morimoto didn't lose any additional ground over the final 9 km. Describing her race, Morimoto said, "I was watching the breathing of the runners around me, and at 30 km I took off. I was a little weak mentally this time, though and couldn't keep my own race together. That's why my time was not what I wanted." Morimoto was the top Japanese finisher in 2:25:34, off her target time of 2:22-23. "I'm very happy to ha...

http://beijing2008.nikkansports.com/athletics/f-sp-tp0-20080107-304344.html http://www.daily.co.jp/tigers/2008/01/08/0000793924.shtml translated and edited by Brett Larner Athens Olympics women's marathon gold medalist Mizuki Noguchi (29, Team Sysmex) returned on Jan. 7 from a training camp on the island of Amami Oshima in southern Kagoshima Prefecture, landing at Osaka Airport. At the camp she focused on cross-country running. "At first I had a bit of a sore throat, but I was able to complete the training menu," Noguchi told reporters at the airport. She visited a shrine near the camp on New Year's Day, where she prayed "with a clear and empty mind" at the start of the Olympic year.* While training on Jan. 6, Noguchi encountered Hanshin Tigers pitcher Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi (39) at a track where both were doing solo workouts. After watching Noguchi practice, Shimoyanagi shook his head and commented, "I'm glad I decided to become a baseball player....

http://beijing2008.nikkansports.com/athletics/p-sp-tp0-20071216-296028.html translated by Brett Larner Probable Beijing Olympics women`s marathon team member Mizuki Noguchi (29, Team Sysmex) will compete in the Kumamoto 30 km road race on Feb. 24 next year in an attempt to set a new world record at the distance. Her coach Nobuyuki Fujita (67) held a press conference today to announce the news, saying that, "Setting a world record would make a major impact leading into the Olympics." Noguchi is also scheduled to run in the All-Japan Interprefectural Women`s Ekiden on Jan. 13. She plans to leave on Dec. 27 for a training camp on Amami Oshima. Translator`s note: Mizuki Noguchi set the current 30 km world record of 1:38:49 during the 2005 Berlin Marathon. Paula Radcliffe ran 1:36:36 for 30 km while setting the marathon world record at the 2003 London Marathon, but the IAAF apparently does not consider this 30 km mark or any of the other 30 km splits run by Radcliffe and Catherin...