japan running news

Compared to yesterday's Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai half marathon conditions were tougher for the Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon today, and the effects of the warmer weather showed in the results. With people like Tokyo Olympics 10000 m gold medalist Selemon Barega , 57:50 for the half marathon, and 59:30 collegiate record co-holder Richard Etir in the race the men went out in a leisurely 14:52 for the downhill first 5 km, with Sydney Marathon 6th placer Masato Arao in the lead and a pack of over 50 in tow. Victor Kipchirchir made a couple of tries to get things moving, shaking the front pack down to 16 by 10 km and 9 by 15 km. Things really broke up on the same hill that featured near the end of the Tokyo World Championships marathons, leaving it down to Barega, Etir, Benard Kimeli and Paul Kuira with 1 km to go. Barega and Etir were head-to-head heading onto the track, and even though Etir tried to pull off a replay of the Tokyo Worlds men's marathon finish Barega hung on for t...

Conditions at Sunday's Sendai International Half Marathon were too hot for fast times, but for Paris Olympics marathon team members Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) and Naoki Koyama (Honda) it was a pretty good test run for what they'll up against come August. Marathon NR holder Maeda had no problems soloing the win, running 1:11:17 to finish 1:17 ahead of 2nd-placer Yuki Nakamura (Panasonic). Rie Kawauchi (Otsuka Seiyaku) was 3rd in 1:12:58. Koyama was a little shakier at 6th in 1:03:23 in the men's race, not exactly a bad day but not up to the no-miss form he's had over the last two years either. In his place, Koyama's Honda teammate Ken Nakayama scored the men's win, out kicking Kenyans Paul Kuira (JR Higashi Nihon) and Benard Kimeli (Fujitsu) on the track to take the win in 1:02:31. Kuira was 2nd in 1:02:32 and Kimeli 3rd in 1:02:36. Sendai International Half Marathon Sendai, Miyagi, 12 May 2024 complete results Women 1. Honami Maeda 1:11:17 2. Yuki Nakamura 1...

  The Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon took place Oct. 15 alongside the Marathon Grand Championship Olympic marathon trials, starting and finishing at Tokyo's National Stadium. In the men's race, Evans Keitany (Toyota Boshoku) ran down leader Bedan Karoki (Toyota) and holding off Benard Kimeli (Fujitsu) to take the win in 1:01:10. In his first pro season Aoyama Gakuin University graduate Kotaro Kondo (SG Holdings) was the top Japanese finisher in 1:01:26. In the women's race, Gladys Chepkurui (Kenya) broke the course record with a 1:08:03 for the win. Dolphine Nyaboke Omare (U.S.E.) was also under the old CR in 1:08:13 for 2nd. The top Japanese woman was Natsuki Ogawa (Suzuki AC) in 1:14:34 for 4th. Tomoki Suzuki won the men's wheelchair race in 43:40, with Tsubasa Kina winning a photo finish with Wakako Tsuchida in the women's race, both athletes clocked at 52:45. Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon Tokyo, 15 Oct. 2023 complete results Men 1. Evans Keitany (Toyota Bo...

Scheduled to happen in parallel with the MGC Race Paris Olympic marathon trials, the Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon has announced the elite fields for its second running Oct. 15. Straight from this spring's Barcelona Half Marathon, Gladys Chepkurui and Charles Langat are the top internationals coming in from abroad at 1:05:46 and 58:53. Chepkurui's only real competition is Japan-based Dolphine Omare , winner at last year's National Corporate Half Marathon in 1:07:56. Langat has more serious competition from Japan-based Alexander Mutiso , 58:48 at last year's RAK Half among others, and another five in the mid-to-high 59-minute range. Sub-27:20 10000 m runners Evans Keitany , Jonathan Ndiku and Timothy Kibet should also factor in. Given that the race will happen at the same time as the Olympic marathon trials there aren't a lot of high-level Japanese athletes in the race. The top woman in Mao Kiyota , 1:11:18 at this race last year, with Toyo University 's Kazuki...

Running through the lush green of the city, 8000 people ran the June 4 Sendai International Half Marathon , double the number in last year's corona-limited comeback edition. In the men's race, a trio of international athletes, Joseph Karanja , Charles Kamau and Benard Kimeli , led early and battled over the last 5 km. Nearing the track for the finish, Karanja broke free to win in 1:01:49. It was his first victory in Sendai. Running the women's race for the first time, Tokyo Olympics marathon 8th-placer Mao Ichiyama won in 1:11:38. Masayuki Higuchi and Tsubasa Kina won the men's and women's wheelchair divisions. Sendai International Half Marathon Sendai, Miyagi, 4 June 2023 complete results Women 1. Mao Ichiyama - 1:11:38 2. Sakiho Tsutsui - 1:12:04 3. Joan Kipkemoi - 1:12:33 4. Chiharu Ikeda - 1:12:53 5. Hikari Onishi - 1:13:10 6. Nanami Aoki - 1:13:52 7. Rinka Hida - 1:14:21 8. Yumeno Yamazaki - 1:14:28 9. Eriko Otsuka - 1:15:01 10. Shihoka Kato - 1:15:07 Men 1...

Tokyo's newest elite-level road race happened Sunday on the course used for Japan's 2020 Olympic marathon trials and the 2020 Paralympic Games marathon, with the first edition of the Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon bringing 15,000 to the streets. Kenyan Vincent Kipkemoi outran Japan-based world all-time #4 Alexander Mutiso for the win 1:00:10 to 1:00:29, with 3rd and 4th-placers Benard Kimeli and Vincent Raimoi also getting under 61 minutes despite the tough uphill finish. With prize money running 8 deep Kenyans took the top 8 spots. Winning a three-way sprint finish on the track for 9th and top Japanese honors was Kenta Murayama , outkicking marathoners Daisuke Uekado and Yusuke Nishiyama by 1 second in 1:02:14. In the women's race, unknown Caroline Nyaga outran 2022 National Corporate Half Marathon champ Dolphine Omare Nyaboke for the win, breaking her PB by over a minute and a half in 1:08:23. Nyaboke was 2nd in 1:09:46. On the climb back up to the stadium 2022 Hokka...

Japan's newest top-level half marathon happens Oct. 16 in Tokyo with the Tokyo Legacy Half bringing together 70 elite men, 23 elite women and 15,000 mass-participation runners to cover a course unused for the Tokyo Olympics but which did see action, including three home team medals, at the Tokyo Paralympics. The women's race has American Fiona O'Keeffe in a duel with this year's National Corporate Half winner Dolphine Omare , both of them having cleared 68 minutes this year. American Betsy Saina went sub-68 at Marugame in 2019 but hasn't finished a race since the 2019 Honolulu Marathon, her only starts since then being a DNF in Nagoya 2020 and a DNF at last year's Olympic test half in Sendai. Fresh off a win at the Hokkaido Marathon at the end of August, Haruka Yamaguchi is next in line with a 1:09:50 PB in Gifu this spring. Ikumi Fukura is the only other Japanese woman to have gone sub-70 in the field with a 1:09:58 PB from the 2020 National Corporate Half....

Joyciline Jepkosgei 29:43 WR to win Birell Prague Grand Prix 10k pic.twitter.com/dlem1WFKvQ — Japan Running News (@JRNHeadlines) September 9, 2017 Japanese runners were busy overseas this weekend with top-level athletes racing in at least four countries. Four Japanese athletes ran in Saturday’s Birell Prague Grand Prix 10 km . In a race that saw the women’s road 5 and 10 km world records fall to half marathon world record holder Joyciline Jepkosgei (Kenya), Asian area record holder Kayoko Fukushi (Wacoal) was almost five minutes out of the action, finishing 10th in 34:43. Fukushi told JRN post-race that she had stomach problems midway, but with a halfway split just under 17 minutes she was never really in the action. Four women cleared 31 minutes, the most in history. Yoroizaka and Murayama 18th and 19th at Birell Prague Grand Prix, both in 29:09. pic.twitter.com/0nyGT8wdoy — Japan Running News (@JRNHeadlines) September 9, 2017 Benard Kimeli (Kenya) took the men’s course...

Saturday night's Birell Prague Grand Prix 10 km looks set to be the biggest race of the weekend. Returning to Prague after both going under Paula Radcliffe 's 10 km world record of 30:21 en route to more world records at April's Prague Half Marathon, Joyciline Jepkosgei (Kenya) and Violah Jepchumba (Bahrain) will face off again in a race that organizers hope will produce the first-ever women's sub-30 clocking on the roads. In April Jepkosgei clocked 30:04 and Jepchumba 30:05 at the Prague Half, and with decent temperatures around 20˚C and moderate winds forecast for the evening race the chances look good. Fancy Chemutai (Kenya), Netsanet Gudeta (Ethiopia) and Kayoko Fukushi (Japan/Wacoal) have all cleared 31 minutes on the track or roads and could factor into the second pack with solid performances, but whether any is up for being paced by three men to go under 30 minutes is a question mark. Fukushi in particular has taken it relatively easy since the Rio Oly...