japan running news

by Brett Larner Rio Olympics marathoner Mai Ito (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) leads the elite field of domestic hopefuls for the 2017 World Championships team at the Jan. 29 Osaka International Women's Marathon .  On the home front she faces London Olympian Risa Shigetomo (Team Tenmaya), the last two Gold Coast Airport Marathon winners Misato Horie (Team Noritz) and Risa Takenaka (Team Shiseido), and the debuting Hanae Tanaka (Team Daiichi Seimei), a training partner of Ito's Rio teammate Tomomi Tanaka . Ethiopian-born Shitaye Habtegebrel (Bahrain) presents the toughest international competition to Ito with a PB just under a minute slower than Ito's 2:24:42 best.   Iwona Lewandowska (Poland), Muluhabt Tsega (Ethiopia), Serena Burla (U.S.A.), Cassie Fien (Australia), Ling-Ling Jin (China) and Munkhzaya Bayartsogt (Mongolia) round out the international contingent. Further down the field, Japan's current top three amateur women Yoshiko Sakamoto (YWC), Yumiko Kin...

by Brett Larner video by Ekiden News Waseda University fourth-year Rintaro Takeda became just the fourth man and third Japanese collegiate runner in the 29-year history of the Ageo City Half Marathon to break 62 minutes on the Ageo course, running a PB of over a minute to win in 1:01:59 in a tight sprint finish on the track. Just about the last major university race before the January 2-3 Hakone Ekiden , Ageo serves to help coaches of the twenty Hakone-bound schools sort out their final rosters for Japan's biggest race.  With most schools fielding around thirty runners apiece this has made Ageo into the deepest half marathon in the world, and over the last five years an invitation for the top two finishers to run March's United Airlines NYC Half Marathon has taken the front end of the race to another level. Despite predicted hot weather the day dawned with thick fog and temperatures under 10 degrees.  Running his first half marathon, 18-year-old  Chuo Gakui...