japan running news

One of the Tokyo area's most popular races, the Ome 30 km and 10 km Road Race has long had a relationship with the U.S.A.'s Boston Marathon with top-placing runners from each event being invited to the other. For the first time in recent memory Ome will bring an American woman instead of a man. Off a 2:34:53 in Boston last year Danna Herrick will face 2015 Rotterdam Marathon winner and two-time Ome champ Asami Kato (Panasonic) and, fresh from  a win at Sunday's Osaka Half Marathon , Maki Ashi (Kyudenko) in her 30 km debut. On the men's side 2:12 marathoner Naoki Okamoto (Chugoku Denryoku) and the Koichi Morishita -coached Kento Otsu (Toyota Kyushu) top the bill. Track specialist Naohiro Domoto (JR Higashi Nihon) and university men Daisuke Horiai (Komazawa University) and Kota Oki (Waseda University) round out the invited athlete list with their 30 km debuts, with deeper competition to be expected at the front end of the general division. The top Japanese f...

by Brett Larner The Nagoya Women's Marathon is the largest women-only marathon in the world, with 19,112 finishers last year.  It was also the deepest elite women's marathon in the world next to the Rio Olympics, with more women sub-2:27 than in Rio and only three fewer under 2:30.  Many of the main people who made it what it was last year are set to return, led by course record holder and two-time defending champion Eunice Kirwa (Bahrain) who comes back to Nagoya as an Olympic silver medalist.  Japan's Rei Ohara (Team Tenmaya), Mao Kiyota (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC), Reia Iwade (Team Noritz), Sayaka Kuwahara (Team Sekisui Kagaku) and Shiho Takechi (Team Yamada Denki) all ran sub-2:26 PBs in Nagoya last year, Ohara's 2:23:30 just missing her a place on the Rio Olympic team.  Ohara is Kirwa's closest competition, but with a nearly two-minute difference in their recent half marathon wins Ohara will have a very tough battle facing her to stay in contact.  At sta...

by Brett Larner Tenmaya teammates Rei Ohara and Risa Shigetomo won today's Osaka Half Marathon and Osaka International Women's Marathon with dominating performances.  Ohara, the fastest female Japanese half marathoner of 2015 and second-fastest last year, took the half marathon out hard, splitting 15:58 for the first 5 km, 1:07:22 pace with a 1:08 target.  She faded steadily from there but held on to win by 52 seconds in 1:10:02, bettering her fastest time of 2016 by 2 seconds.  Having missed the Rio Olympic team by 1 second despite running 2:23:20 at last year's Nagoya Women's Marathon, Ohara will line up in Nagoya again in March in hopes of joining the London World Championships team. Her teammate Shigetomo was one step ahead in making that goal a reality.  A member of the 2012 London Olympics and 2015 Beijing World Championships marathon teams, Shigetomo won Osaka in 2012 in 2:23:23, still her PB, to make the London team, and was controversially added to ...

Hakodate, Hokkaido, 6/26/16 click here for complete field listing times listed are 2013-16 bests except where noted Women Kayoko Fukushi (Wacoal) - 1:10:04 (Berlin 2014) Asami Kato (Panasonic) - 1:10:21 (Philadelphia 2013) Hiroko Miyauchi (Hokuren) - 1:10:27 (Sanyo 2015) Yuko Mizuguchi (Denso) - 1:11:03 (Marugame 2015) Yukiko Okuno (Shiseido) - 1:11:28 (Matsue 2015) Kaori Yoshida (Runners Pulse) - 1:13:04 (Nerima 2016) Men Tomohiro Tanigawa (Konica Minolta) - 1:02:17 (Marugame 2013) Yuya Ito (Toyota) - 1:02:21 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2014) Michael Githae (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 1:02:27 (Gifu 2015) Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) - 1:02:55 (Ageo 2014) Masaki Takamoto (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:03:10 (Marugame 2015) Yu Chiba (Honda) - 1:03:12 (Ageo 2013) Yuya Kato (Teikyo Uiv.) - 1:03:54 (Marugame 2016) Shota Saito (JR Higashi Nihon) - 1:03:58 (Marugame 2014) © 2016 Brett Larner all rights reserved

by Brett Larner The world's largest women-only marathon, Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon is the end of the Japanese Olympic marathon selection saga, if not the end of the drama.  2015 World Championships marathon bronze medalist Eunice Kirwa (Bahrain) is back to defend her title, and will, her last race a 1:08:06 win last month at Japan's Marugame Half in national record time.  Formerly-Japan based Betelhem Moges (Ethiopia) is her only real international competition, but it would take an off day from Kirwa for Moges to really stand a chance. At the 2014 Asian Games Kirwa beat Japan's Ryoko Kizaki (Team Daihatsu) for gold.  Kizaki comes to Nagoya with the best time in the last three years among Japanese women, 2:23:34 in Nagoya in 2013, but while Kirwa's star has only risen since then Kizaki's hit a brick wall.  In 2015 she only raced once, placing only 13th on her stage at December's National Corporate Women's Marathon.  There's nothing ...

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/sapporo-news/20150628/5792931.html translated by Brett Larner Now in its 25th year, 4500 runners from across the country ran Hokkaido's Hakodate Half Marathon on June 28, coming for the seaside course and staying for the legendary hot spring resorts.  A fall race up to now, this year the Hakodate Half saw its entry numbers swell by 1000 this year with a move to a June race date.  The race began at 8:00 sharp with the firing of a gun at Chiyogadai Field in Hakodate.  A light rain left runners shivering before the start, but things warmed up over the 21 km seaside course with enthusiastic cheering from roadside spectators.  One participant, a firefighter from Tokyo, commented, "This was both a race for me and a vacation for my family.  I really enjoyed the scenery along the course while I ran." Kenyan Mitchell Gizae (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) won the men's race in 1:02:29, while Asami Kato (Team Panasonic) was the women's winner in 1:12...

http://www.iaaf.org/news/report/abera-kuma-rotterdam-marathon Evidently Asami Kato (Team Panasonic) was not worth a headline mention and less than a handful of sentences as the winner of the Rotterdam Marathon to the IAAF and writer Cors van den Brink despite having previously won races in both the U.S.A. and Australia.  Likewise, her nationality didn't seem to matter to race broadcasters to whom it was no doubt a given that a non-white winner must be African.  Even the usually-reputable German Road Races website condescended toward Kato's win with the headline " Abera Kuma gewinnt in Rotterdam - Schnellste Frau eine Japanerin ," in English "Abera Kuma wins in Rotterdam - The fastest woman a Japanese woman."  The 'invisible Japanese' phenomenon remains a constant source of puzzlement.

by Brett Larner 2014 Gold Coast Airport Marathon winner Asami Kato (Team Panasonic) topped what may have been the deepest women's half marathon ever run on Japanese soil, running 1:10:36 to win the last big race of the Japanese season, the 36th running of the Matsue Ladies' Half Marathon .  After a relatively conservative first half splitting 33:42 at 10 km Kato pushed the pace relentlessly, cutting the lead group down to a trio with Kotomi Takayama (Team Sysmex) and Ai Inoue (Team Noritz) by 15 km and dropping both by 20 km to win by 11 seconds.  Takami was next in 1:10:47, Inoue rounding out the top 3 in 1:11:02. Matsue also served as the National University Women's Half Marathon Championships, this year acting as the selection race for the team for this summer's World University Games where Japanese women have medalled every time since 1985 including a sweep of the podium in 2009.  Five collegiate women led by Ayumi Uehara (Matsuyama Univ.) were in contentio...

by Brett Larner 2014 was a mixed year for Japanese distance running.  Most of the good came from the under-25 generation that will be at its peak at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.  More than a dozen high school boys including one 16-year-old broke 14 minutes for 5000 m, and at least four high school girls ran 9:01 or better for 3000 m, one winning Youth Olympics gold while doing it.  A 19-year-old woman ran an under-20 Japanese record 2:27:12 , and a 22-year-old set a collegiate national record of 2:26:46 .  Another 22-year-old went under 9 minutes for 3000 m.  Japanese university men ran times from 3:39.56 for 1500 m to 1:00:50 for the half marathon to an incredible 1:28:52 collegiate national record for 30 km by a runner just turned 20.  A 23-year-old set a 3000 m NR of 7:40.09 , and a 24-year-old ran the fastest 10000 m ever by a Japanese man on Japanese soil , 27:38.99.  Among older runners ten Japanese men broke 2:10 for the marathon a total of ...

by Brett Larner The Gold Coast Airport Marathon saw the expected surpassing of Rob de Castella 's 1982 Australian all-comers' record of 2:09:18 to commemorate its graduation to the rank of an IAAF gold label race, but despite having the course, the weather, the goal and the field it was close, and little else about the race went as expected. None of the pre-race favorites factored up front, 2:06 men Nicholas Manza (Kenya) and Gebretsadik Adihana (Ethiopia) dropping out and the hoped-for duel between defending champion Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) and London Olympian Arata Fujiwara (Miki House) never materializing after Fujiwara lost contact early in the second half with cramping. Instead, virtual unknown Silah Kipkemboi Limo (Kenya), debuting off a 1:01:26 half marathon best last year in Singapore, went to the front near 20 km with pacer Isaac Macharia (Kenya) and went it alone at 25 to shake off his Kenyan competition and front-running Japanese man Ch...

by Brett Larner photos by Mari Tanigawa With a shiny new IAAF gold label to its name, Sunday's Gold Coast Airport Marathon has put together fields worthy of its distinction as the only Australian race to have achieved the honor.  The 2:27:17 women's course record is a definite possibility, the men's 2:10:01 record all but a certainty with most of the top end of the field talking about times that would put them under Rob de Castella 's prehistoric 2:09:18 Australian all-comers' record dating back to 1982.  The race will be streamed live worldwide starting at 5:45 a.m. local time with the gun going off at 7:20, giving fans worldwide the chance to catch a potential piece of history.  For the first time, JRN will be part of the broadcast alongside hosts Ian Eckersley and Steve Moneghetti to help cover the stellar Japanese component of the elite field. The withdrawal of #1-seeded Mulu Seboka (Ethiopia) means Naoko Takahashi 's 2:23:14 Australian all-comers...

by Brett Larner For its first edition as an IAAF gold label race, the July 6 Gold Coast Airport Marathon has put together men's and women's elite fields worthy of the distinction, and especially in the men's race with the multiple story lines that make a good race worth watching.  Three 2:06 men, Gebretsadik Abraha Adihana (Ethiopia), Stephen Tum (Kenya) and course record holder Nicholas Manza Kamakya (Kenya) lead the way.  Facing them is defending champion and joint CR-holder Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't).  In the race to ruin the day for Kawauchi are his arch-rival independent Arata Fujiwara (Mika House) and new training partner Cyrus Njui (Kenya/Arata Project), appearing with support from JRN.  Gunning for both Kawauchi and Fujiwara is the pride of the corporate leagues, Hirokatsu Kurosaki of two-time New Year Ekiden national corporate champion Team Konica Minolta . What more could you want?  The 2:10:01 course record?  Done.  Rob ...

San Diego, U.S.A., 6/2/13 click here for complete results Women 1. Edna Kiplagat (Kenya) - 1:08:56 2. Georgina Rono (Kenya) - 1:09:03 3. Firehiwot Dado (Ethiopia) - 1:09:46 4. Embet Bedada (Ethiopia) - 1:09:56 5. Paskalia Kipkoech (Kenya) - 1:10:14 6. Asami Kato (Japan/Team Panasonic) - 1:10:49 7. Yuko Watanabe (Japan/Team Edion) - 1:11:40 8. Lidia Simon (Romania) - 1:12:36 9. Deena Kastor (U.S.A.) - 1:15:51 10. Joanne Zeiger (U.S.A.) - 1:16:45

by Brett Larner Ome photos by Mika Tokairin Kumanichi screencap by Applepie Cold and clear weather helped bring fast times at both of Japan's major 30 km road races on Feb. 17.  At the 57th Kumanichi 30 km Road Race in Kumamoto, the site of the former 1:28:00 world record set by Takayuki Matsumiya  (Team Konica Minolta in 2005) and a race which joined forces with the new mass-partipation Kumamoto-jo Marathon last year to ensure its own survival, Yuki Kawauchi  (Saitama Pref.) did the seemingly impossible and fulfilled his pre-race promise of a win around 1:29:30.  Despite a spectacular 2:08:15 marathon PB two weeks ago at the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, Kawauchi took apart a top-notch field and outkicked the fresh 22-year-old  Fumihiro Maruyama  (Team Asahi Kasei) by 3 seconds for the win in 1:29:31, a new PB by 36 seconds and a record on the hillier new course introduced last year by 30 seconds. Kawauchi's time was the sixth-best in Kumanichi h...

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/event/sports/news/20130204-OHT1T00222.htm http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/feature/sports/20090121-834932/news/20130212-OHT1T00189.htm http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/feature/sports/20090121-834932/news/20130214-OHT1T00117.htm http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20130214-OHT1T00245.htm http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20130215-OHT1T00216.htm translated and edited by Brett Larner The 47th edition of the Ome 30 km and 10 km Road Race is just around the corner on Feb. 17.  Once again this year runners will pour in from across the country to take part, with 15000 entered for the 30 km and 5000 for the accompanying 10 km division.  We profile five people from among the elites and amateurs who will pass through the early-spring streets of Ome this Sunday. Ryuji Kashiwabara   (23, Team Fujitsu) - Men's 30 km The star of the Hakone Ekiden from 2009 to 2012, Kashiwabara is targeting an ambitious time of 1:30:30 in his 30 km debut. ...

by Brett Larner The Japanese women took the team bronze medal at the Oct. 6 World Half Marathon Championships, year-leading national corporate champion Tomomi Tanaka (Team Daiichi Seimei) finishing 8th after running 7th throughout the race with teammate Mai Ito (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) only to lose out in the final sprint to a fast-closing Gemma Steel (GBR). Both Steel  and Tanaka clocked 1:11:09, Ito just back in 1:11:25 after fading in the final kilometer. 21-year-old Asami Kato (Team Panasonic) came through in the second half of the race to move up from 17th to 12th, her 1:12:11 less than a minute off her best and enough to give Japan the bronze over Great Britain. All five Japanese women cracked the top 20.  Ethiopians Meseret Hailu and Feyse Tadese went 1-2 and sub-1:09, ensuring that Ethiopia scored the team gold over Kenya, whose top finisher Paskalia Chepkorir Kipkoech took the individual bronze 9 seconds back from winner Hailu. As for the men, what is there ...