japan running news

Ethiopia is pretty far down the road to overtaking Kenya as the world's leading marathon nation, and its presence is heavy in both the women's and men's fields for the Olympic year 2020 Tokyo Marathon . Lacking London's star power the Tokyo fields won't win many nominations for best of 2020, but with loads of World Marathon Majors top three finishers and winners of next-tier gold label marathons they're still fields at a level most other races would love to be able to pull off. On the women's side, with PBs of 2:18:34 and 2:18:46 defending champ Ruti Aga and past winner Birhane Dibaba lead a main of twelve top-tier invited elites, of which nine were born in Ethiopia. The other three, Valary Jemeli Aiyabei , nationality transfer Lonah Chemtai Salpeter , and Selly Chepyego Kaptich , were all born in Kenya. With Tokyo not counting in last-chance Olympic qualification for Japanese women the top entrant from outside those two countries is Japan's Haru...

A training partner of disgraced Rio Olympics gold medalist Jemima Sumgong , Tokyo Marathon course record holder and Japan all-comers' record holder Sarah Chepchirchir of Kenya has been provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit for use of prohibited substances or methods. Chepchirchir's suspension follows the announcement last month of an eight-year suspension for Sumgong for doping-related offenses and an attempted coverup. Both Chepchirchir and Sumgong are represented by agent Federico Rosa , whose other Kenyan clients include two-time Commonwealth Games medalist Lucy Kabuu , suspended last month for two years for doping, former Boston Marathon course record holder Rita Jeptoo , who lost her title and record with a four-year doping suspension , and former Olympic 1500 m gold medalist Asbel Kiprop , found to have tested positive for EPO . Rosa is scheduled to have athletes including 2018 Abu Dhabi Marathon winners Marius Kipserem (Kenya) and  Ababel Yes...

This isn't going to be a race recap. Past Tokyo Marathon champs Dickson Chumba of Kenya and Birhane Dibaba of Ethiopia running smart races, working hard after 30 km to each score a second Tokyo title, Dibaba negative splitting her way to a 2:19:51 PB just 4 seconds off the course record and Chumba running away to win in 2:05:30. London World Championships bronze medalist Amy Cragg living up to her pre-race vow to make the top three in PB time, taking 3rd in 2:21:42. Cancer survivor Satoru Kasuya delivering his best performance since almost dying five years ago, an emotional 2:14:37 for 30th. What this is about is today, the day, the one that's been coming. Yuta Shitara getting it right, strong, unafraid, in control when he needed to be, finding what he needed when it counted, breaking the 16-year-old Japanese national record in 2:06:11 and winning a million dollar bonus for it. But not just him. Hiroto Inoue , just as strong, just as in control, never giving up e...

After stepping up to the big leagues last year with course records in the 2:03 and 2:19 range, the Tokyo Marathon hopes to go one better this year. Men's course record setter Wilson Kipsang (Kenya) is back, stepping up from a 2:03:50 prediction for Tokyo in January to a 2:02:50 world record prediction at Friday's pre-race press conference. In the unmentioned absence of women's course record breaker Sarah Chepchirchir the top-ranked woman is Ruti Aga (Ethiopia), coming in hot off a 1:06:39 win last month in Houston and turning heads at the press conference with a boldly mumbled 2:18:00 prediction. Management for both Kipsang and Aga were skeptical to JRN of their athletes' predictions, people from each camp saying times two minutes slower would be more likely, one minute slower in a best-case scenario. But whatever the prediction, Kipsang was clear to fellow past champs Feyisa Lilesa (Ethiopia) and Dickson Chumba (Kenya) about one thing: he wants a more conser...

by Brett Larner Very happy with my win in @tokyo42195_org Thank you everybody for supporting me. #adizero @adidasrunning pic.twitter.com/ObpuGzoFpW — Wilson Kipsang (@Kipsang_2_03_23) February 26, 2017 The Tokyo Marathon 's investment in a new course and top-class field to match paid off with the greatest race in Japanese marathoning history as Kenyans Wilson Kipsang and Sarah Chepchirchir delivered the fastest men's and women's marathons ever run on Japanese soil.  But not just them. Young Japanese runners rose to the challenge in both races, with 24-year-old  Hiroto Inoue (Team MHPS) and 19-year-old  Ayaka Fujimoto (Team Kyocera) making huge breakthroughs to take top Japanese honors. Conditions were cool enough that the race went out hot, the men's front group going through the first km around 2:46 and splitting 14:14 on the downhill first 5 km, 2:00:07 pace.  But it wasn't just them.  A small chase group including debuting Japanese men Yuta S...

by Brett Larner 2017 Tokyo Marathon top elites Wilson Kipsang, Dickson Chumba, Tsegaye Kebede, Amane Bersio, Amane Gobena, Birhane Dibaba, Masato Imai, Kazuhiro Maeda and Yuma Hattori. The Tokyo Marathon celebrates its eleventh edition as a mass-participation race this year on a new course with relocated hills to make it faster for the front end and a scenic finish for the masses.  To try to bring its event records more into line with the rest of the Abbott World Marathon Majors Tokyo has brought in some big guns, none bigger than former world record holder Wilson Kipsang (Kenya).  Fresh from a 2:03:13 PB at September's Berlin Marathon, Kipsang brought Friday's press conference to a boil when he predicted in writing a 2:02:50 world record on the new Tokyo course. Kipsang predicting a 2:02:50 world record. That may be a stretch, but looking at the depth and quality of the competition the 2:05:42 Tokyo record held by Dickson Chumba (Kenya) looks vulnerable, with...

by Brett Larner Japan's fastest-ever under-20 marathoner, Reia Iwade (Team Noritz) took 4th in a solo run behind winning Ethiopian trio Aberu Kebede , Birhane Dibaba and Ruti Aga  at Sunday's BMW Berlin Marathon .  With all three going under the 70 minute mark at halfway, the #3-ranked Iwade was alone in 5th, 20 seconds behind Kenyan Janet Ronoh .  Just before 40 km Iwade ran Ronoh down to move into 4th at almost the same time that Kebede took the win in 2:20:45.   Dibaba and Aga were over a kilometer behind in 2nd and 3rd, Iwade another 3 1/2 minutes further back in 2:28:16. Hopeful of breaking his 3-year-old PB of 2:08:14, Kawauchi ran with support from two pacers and company from Eritrea's Yohanes Gebregergish and France's Jean Habarurema .  In a classic race that saw greats Kenenisa Bekele and Wilson Kipsang front a lead pack that went through halfway in 1:01:11 on the way to Bekele's sprint finish 2:03:03 win, Kawauchi's group planned to hit h...

by Brett Larner photos by rikujolove and Dr. Helmut Winter, video by naoki620 Endeshaw Negesse and Birhane Dibaba scored the first-ever Ethiopian double at the Tokyo Marathon , both close to the course records as they won in 2:06:00 and 2:23:15.  Former Hakone Ekiden uphill star Masato Imai (Team Toyota Kyushu) made it a show for the home crowd with a 2:07:39 PB for 7th, making him the all-time #6 Japanese man and fastest-ever on the Tokyo course. With decent weather conditions the massive lead pack went out slower than the 1:02:35 first half planned to get them in range of Ethiopian Tsegay Kebede 's 2:05:18 Japanese all-comers' record, Kebede among those up front as they went through half in 1:03:08.  Early casualties included last year's top Japanese man and 2014 Asian Games silver medalist Kohei Matsumura (Team Mitsubishi Juko Nagasaki), 2012 Tokyo winner Michael Kipyego (Kenya), debuting great Tariku Bekele (Ethiopia), 2012 Fukuoka International Marathon...

by Brett Larner You couldn't ask for much better conditions than the Tokyo Marathon had today, and when you have fields with eight to eleven athletes with best times faster than your course records, those records are bound to fall.   Dickson Chumba  (Kenya) and Tirfi Tsegaye (Ethiopia) came through to beat the favorites, Chumba running a PB 2:05:42 to get the Tokyo men's course record and Tsegaye cutting more than three minutes off the women's record with the win in 2:22:23.  For Japanese men it was either the second or third-greatest marathon in history depending on your metric, five of them clearing 2:10, four for the first time, led by Kohei Matsumura  (Team Mitsubishi Juko Nagasaki) in 2:08:09. Daegu World Championships marathoner Mai Ito  (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) led the women's race through a relatively conservative first 10 km in 34:18 before the pace began to quicken.  Still in the lead at 20 km, she split 33:47 for the second 10 km before g...