japan running news

30th Zevenheuvelenloop 15 km Road Race Nijmegen, Netherlands, 11/17/13 click here for complete results Women 1. Tirunesh Dibaba (Ethiopia) - 48:43 2. Berhane Adere (Ethiopia) - 50:59 3. Ayame Takagi (Japan/Meijo Univ.) - 51:08 4. Honoka Yuzawa (Japan/Meijo Univ.) - 51:27 5. Miranda Boonstra (Netherlands) - 51:41 6. Kim Dillen (Netherlands) - 51:53 7. Mio Muraoka (Japan/Meijo Univ.) - 51:56 8. Yurina Yokoyama (Japan/Meijo Univ.) - 52:38 Men 1. Leonard Komon (Kenya) - 42:15 2. Nicholas Kipkemboi (Kenya) - 42:32 3. Daniel Chaves da Silva (Brazil) - 43:49 4. Jesper van der Wielen (Netherlands) - 44:33 5. Tom Wiggers (Netherlands) - 44:42 © 2013 Brett Larner all rights reserved

by Brett Larner 2010 Matsue Ladies Half Marathon winner Doricah Obare  (Kenya/Team Hitachi) returned to the top Mar. 17, winning the 2013 edition of the race in 1:11:11.  Doubling as the National University Women's Half Marathon Championships and the selection race for the Japanese women's half marathon squad for this summer's World University Games, Obare was up against an almost entire collegiate field and saw tough competition from Yasuka Ueno  (Tsukuba Univ.), who challenged for the win before falling back and taking 2nd in 1:11:30.   Ayako Mitsui  of 2012 national champion Ritsumeikan University and Meijo University ace Aki Odagiri  rounded out the collegiate top three to secure themselves places on the World University Games team, while last year's winner Ayame Takaki  (Meijo Univ.) was only 26th.   Ayumi Hagiwara  (Team Uniqlo) took the 10 km division in 33:19. 2013 Matsue Ladies Half Marathon National University Women's Half Mar...

by Brett Larner Four major races this weekend mark the end of Japan's winter road season, two domestic and two foreign.  On the home front, the National Corporate Half Marathon Championships lead the way.  2008 Kenyan national XC champion Gideon Ngatuny (Team Nissin Shokuhin) is the favorite, followed closely by last year's runner-up Jacob Wanjuki (Team Aichi Seiko) and, making a return to the half following a long injury, 2010 World Half Marathon Championships 9th-place Tomoya Onishi  (Team Asahi Kasei).  Ten other men have PBs under 62 minutes, making for a thick front pack.  Notable debuts will come from track champions Yuichiro Ueno  (Team S&B) and Taku Fujimoto  (Team Toyota). Course record holder Yukiko Akaba  (Team Hokuren) is the favorite in the women's race as she tunes up for next month's London Marathon.  She faces young competition from Sakiko Matsumi  (Team Daiichi Seimei) and Yuka Tokuda  (Team Starts), with...

2012 Oda Memorial Track & Field Meet Big Arch Stadium, Hiroshima, Apr. 28-29, 2012 click here for complete results Women's Grand Prix 5000 m 1. Sally Chepyego (Kenya/Team Kyudenko) - 15:19.27 2. Beatrice Wainaina Murugi (Kenya/Team Toyota Jidoshokki) - 15:38.71 3. Toshika Tamura (Matsuyama Univ.) - 15:49.11 4. Ayame Takagi (Meijo Univ.) - 15:54.80 5. Yoko Aizu (Team Shikoku Denryoku) - 15:57.38 6. Azusa Kurusu (Juntendo Univ.) - 16:07.19 7. Yuka Ando (Team Mizuno) - 16:10.19 8. Sayuri Sendo (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) - 16:10.85 9. Michi Numata (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) - 16:18.85 10. Mika Tanimizu (Team Shikoku Denryoku) - 16:22.46 Men's Grand Prix 5000 m 1. Charles Ndirangu (Kenya/Team JFE Steel) - 13:36.29 2. Jeremiah Karemi (Kenya/Toyokawa H.S.) - 13:40.64 3. Takayuki Matsumiya (Team Konica Minolta) - 13:42.27 4. Ryo Matsumoto (Team Shikoku Denryoku) - 13:46.02 5. Yasuhito Ikeda (Team NTT Nishi Nihon) - 13:46.58 6. Yasuhiro Tago (Team Chugoku Denryoku)...

by Brett Larner Toyo University's Yuta Shitara  has had a busy last month.  After a 1:01:48 PB at the March 18 New York City Half Marathon he beat marathoner Yuki Kawauchi  (Saitama Pref.) over ten miles on April 1 and set a meet record for 3000 m on April 8 before travelling to Lodz, Poland for the 18th World University Cross-Country Championships on April 15.  Leading the first part of the race and working together with Tokai University's Daichi Motomura to control the pace, Shitara ended up going head-to-head against Algerian Abdelmajed Touil  for the win but falling four seconds short as Touil outkicked him for the win, 29:11 to 29:15.  Leading at halfway, Motomura hung on to 3rd in 29:22.  Komazawa University's Kazuhiro Kuga  placed 7th and Daito Bunka University's Hiroshi Ichida , like Shitara an identical twin, 24th to give the Japanese men the team gold medal alongside Shitara and Motomura's individual silver and bronze.  T...

by Brett Larner 20-year-olds dominated the Japanese half-marathon news this weekend. 20-year-old Olympic 10000 m squad favorite Chihiro Miyawaki (Team Toyota) set a course record of 1:00:53 in his half-marathon at the National Corporate Half-Marathon Championships, outkicking Kenyan Jacob Wanjuki (Team Aichi Seiko) on the final lap of the track after dueling with the talented Masato Kihara (Team Kanebo) throughout the race. Miyawaki's time was the third-fastest ever by a Japanese man on an unaided course, with Kihara's 1:01:15 PB landing him at all-time #8. Tamagawa Univ. grad Tomomi Tanaka (Team Daiichi Seimei) won the women's race in 1:09:47, the first sub-70 by a Japanese woman this year, while past 1500 m national champion Mika Yoshikawa (Team Panasonic) won the women's 10 km in 32:59 by a second over Kenyan Grace Kimanzi (Team Starts). A few hours and half a world away 20-year-old Yuta Shitara (Toyo Univ.), runner up at last year's Ageo City Half-...