japan running news

2017 London World Championships 5000 m and 10000 m runner Ayuko Suzuki (25, Japan Post) left from Narita Airport on Sept. 18 for altitude training in Boulder, Colorado. Two days earlier at a half marathon in Czech Republic, Yuta Shitara (25, Honda), like Suzuki born in 1991, broke the 10-year-old Japanese men's half marathon national record in a time of 1:00:17. "It's a big motivation to see an athlete the same age as me doing something like that," she said. Showing her determination to be one of her generation's leaders, she added, "I'll be 28 [at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics] , right in my prime mentally and physically. I want to run big too." In the leadup to the Tokyo Olympics Suzuki has the marathon in sight along with the track. "I need to run a half marathon and marathon somewhere once to check [how well they suit me] ," she said. "Coach and I will be talking about it." If everything goes according to plan, December...

http://www.nikkansports.com/olympic/rio2016/athletics/news/1688993.html translated by Brett Larner The three women of Japan's Rio de Janeiro Olympics marathon squad held a press conference at their training base at Princeton University in New Jersey on Aug. 3 local time, Aug. 4 Japan time. Kayoko Fukushi (34, Team Wacoal) arrived at the training base on Aug. 1 after training at altitude in Boulder, Colorado for the last month.  After experiencing pain in the fifth metatarsal on her right foot in June she cancelled plans to run in a tuneup half marathon, but, she said with a weary laugh, "Coach had me running plenty in Boulder.  I put in a truckload of training." Mai Ito (32, Team Otsuka Seiyaku) said, "I've run 11 marathons so far, and for all of them I prepared seriously.  This time is no different.  I think I'm ready." Tomomi Tanaka (28, Team Daiichi Seimei), looked relaxed from start to finish as she talked about her race plan, saying, ...

http://www.chunichi.co.jp/s/article/2013062101002337.html translated by Brett Larner 2013 Moscow World Championships women's marathon team members Mizuki Noguchi (Team Sysmex) and Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal) landed at Tokyo's Narita Airport on June 21, returning home after altitude training in Boulder, Colorado. Noguchi, 34, said, "This got me going at a nice pace for what comes next." Fukushi, 31, added, "Fatigue isn't bothering me. Everything's normal." According to Athens Olympics gold medalist Noguchi, the two of them did almost the same training.  Watching Fukushi, whose track credentials far outweigh her own, Noguchi said, "Her rhythmical way of moving is different from mine.  I learned a lot."  Including the third member of the World Championships training camp, Ryoko Kizaki (Team Daihatsu), Noguchi nodded as she said, "It was really motivating to be able to share advice and ideas with each other."

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20130522-OHT1T00091.htm translated by Brett Larner 2004 Athens Olympics women's marathon gold medalist and national record holder Mizuki Noguchi (34, Team Sysmex) left from Tokyo's Narita Airport on May 22 for altitude training in Boulder, Colorado. Interviewed prior to her departure, she said that she is aiming to make the 2016 Rio Olympics. Following her withdrawal from the 2008 Beijing Olympics Noguchi struggled with injuries for years, but after a 3rd-place finish at March's Nagoya Women's Marathon she made her first national team in ten years, qualifying for the Moscow World Championships marathon squad and signaling that she is well on her way to a complete return to form. "Last year I didn't have it in me [to make the Olympics], but since Nagoya I've felt the way I used to," she said. "My injury problems have finally gone away." Noguchi will be training in Boulder together with the...

2012 Bolder Boulder 10 km - Top Women's Results Boulder, CO, 5/28/12 click here for complete results 1. Mamitu Daska (Ethiopia) - 33:06 2. Janet Cherobon-Bawcom (U.S.A.) - 33:23 3. Deena Kastor (U.S.A.) - 33:28 4. Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal) - 33:32 5. Ashu Kasim (Ethiopia) - 34:03 6. Alemitu Abera (Ethiopia) - 34:16 7. Marisol Romero (Mexico) - 34:25 8. Genoveva Kigen (Kenya) - 34:43 9. Adrianna Nelson (U.S.A.) - 34:55 10. Benita Willis (Australia) - 34:58 ----- 19. Yuko Watanabe (Team Edion) - 36:01 30. Eri Okubo (Second Wind AC) - 39:59

http://sankei.jp.msn.com/sports/news/120122/oth12012219000029-n1.htm translated and edited by Brett Larner In the backdrop to west of Boulder, Colorado are the Rocky Mountains.  Looking at the line of snow tens of thousands of years old painted red by the post-workout evening light, the surge of unexpected feeling is almost enough to bring tears to the eye.  "I can train hard again now," says 2004 Olympic marathon gold medalist Mizuki Noguchi  (Team Sysmex).  "It's good to be back." The last time Noguchi put on a show of bravado in the marathon was at the Nov. 2007 Tokyo International Women's Marathon, where she set the course record of 2:21:37.  Overcoming a blank slate of four years, two months, Noguchi is now once again ready to stand on the start line and face the full 42.195 km.  This Sunday, Jan. 29 she will race the Osaka International Women's Marathon in search of a ticket to the London Olympics. Noguchi pulled out from her planned Olym...

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20111214-OHT1T00280.htm http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20111214/t10014642411000.html translated and edited by Brett Larner Click here for video of Noguchi training in Boulder and of her arrival at Kansai International Airport. Athens Olympics women's marathon gold medalist and national record holder Mizuki Noguchi  (33, Team Sysmex), arrived back in Japan at Kansai International Airport on Dec. 14 after training at 1600 m elevation in Boulder, Colorado.  As she prepares to make a comeback to the marathon at the Jan. 29 Osaka International Women's Marathon in a bid to make the London Olympic team, she declared herself fully fit and recovered.  "Everything has gone according to plan," she said.  "It was really cold [in Boulder] , but Osaka is in January so I think it was good mental training for the race. Noguchi left Japan on Nov. 1, and apart from a 15 km race in Holland she has spent the whole month and a half...

http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2011120900213 translated by Brett Larner Aiming to qualify for the Japanese women's marathon team for next year's London Olympics, Athens Olympics marathon gold medalist and national record holder Mizuki Noguchi  (Team Sysmex) talked about her marathon training on Dec. 8 at her base in Boulder, Colorado.  She appeared happy and optimistic as she said, "I'm running well.  I feel nearly as good and strong as I did before the Beijing Olympics." Aiming for January's Osaka International Women's Marathon, the second of Japan's domestic Olympic selection races, Noguchi began altitude training in November.  Her training has gone smoothly and she has gotten through all the key workouts on the menu, including days on which she has run nearly 60 km.  Before the Beijing Olympics, where she had hoped to defend her Olympic title, she suffered an injury to her upper left leg and was forced to withdraw.  The years since th...

http://www.sannichi.co.jp/kyodo/news2.php?genre=Sports&newsitemid=2011110101000535 translated and edited by Brett Larner Athens Olympics women's marathon gold medalist and national record holder Mizuki Noguchi  (Team Sysmex) left Nov. 1 from Osaka International Airport for an altitude training camp in Boulder, Colorado.  The goal of Noguchi's training camp is to strengthen her condition ahead of January's Osaka International Women's Marathon which she will run to earn a place on the London Olympic team.  "I'm excited to get away and focus," she said of her mental state before leaving Osaka.  "I want to build up a good distance base while I'm there." Noguchi made a successful return to racing at the West Japan Jitsugyodan Women's Ekiden late last month, ten months after her latest round of injuries.  She plans to run a race in Holland this month and to return to Japan before the end of the year.* * Translator's note: Source...

by Brett Larner A few months ago JRN had dinner with an executive member of an IAAF gold label overseas marathon.  "The World Championships marathon doesn't matter," this colleague told us.  "Nobody cares about it."  That may be true many places, but in Japan, where most athletes receive regular salaries and do not have agents pushing them into overseas big money races, patriotism still counts for more than the shot at a big payday and the country's best marathoners regularly line up for the chance to represent their country at the World Championships.  Even more so in years like this which precede an Olympics because if a Japanese athlete scores an individual marathon medal at Worlds their place on the Olympic team is secure.  The results speak for themselves.  In the last 20 years Japanese women have scored nine individual marathon medals at eight out of ten World Championships and the men at three along with team medals from both sides virtually every ...

http://ameblo.jp/redwing36/day-20110806.html by Shuhei Akaba, coach and husband of World Championships marathoner Yukiko Akaba translated and edited by Brett Larner Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren) training on Boulder's Magnolia Road. Click photo to enlarge and to see other pics from the workout. This is our fifth report from the 2011 Boulder training camp.  This time we'll be looking at Yukiko's long run on Magnolia Road.  Last year we took part in the federation's Boulder training camp and learned about this course, where a lot of athletes who train in Boulder do long runs.  The road is packed dirt and starts at over 2400 m altitude, going as high as 2600 m within the 11-mile stretch that people run.  Boulder itself is at around 1600 m, so when you go up to that kind of height even light exercise leaves you feeling out of breath. The course has a lot tough hills so it would be pretty rough even if it weren't at altitude, but having an average altitude of ...

http://www.topics.or.jp/localSports/122545398109/2011/07/2011_131199135585.html translated by Brett Larner There is less than one month to go to the first medals are handed out at the Daegu World Championships in the women's marathon.  Preparing for her national team debut, Mai Ito  (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) has been in focused training both domestically and abroad since mid-June, with everything going smoothly as she makes the final adjustments to her preparations.  "I want to show up in the best possible condition, and I'm doing everything I can to build up the base for a first-class body," she says, showing the determination which underlies her training. Beginning June 15, Ito trained at altitude for 20 days in Boulder, Colorado on a federation-sponsored training camp along with members of teams such as Wacoal and Tenmaya, which include Olympians and World Championships-level athletes among their ranks.  In severe conditions of over 35 degrees she ran a 30 km tr...

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2011/06/06/kiji/K20110606000971260.html translated by Brett Larner Teammates at both the Daiichi Seimei women's ekiden team and this summer's World Championships marathon in Daegu, Korea, Yoshimi Ozaki and Azusa Nojiri left from Tokyo's Narita Airport on June 6 for two months of altitude training in Boulder, Colorado. Ozaki, the defending World Championships silver medalist, plans to adjust to the change in environment by running the June 11 New York Mini 10 km and the June 18 Steamboat Classic 4-miler in Illinois. "I want to get the feeling of racing back while building up my mileage in training," she commented, saying that her target is to run 800 km per month. Both Ozaki and Nojiri went to Daegu in May to tour the World Championships course. "It's my kind of course," smiled Nojiri. "I'll be ready for it."

2011 Bolder Boulder 10 km Boulder, CO, 5/30/11 click here for complete results Women 1. Lineth Chepkurui (KEN) - 32:30 2. Mamitu Daska (ETH) - 32:35 3. Meseret Mengistubiru (ETH) - 34:06 ----- 10. Yuri Kano (JPN) - 35:17 11. Yuko Watanabe (JPN) - 35:20 17. Yumi Hirata (JPN) - 36:53

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20100905-OHT1T00267.htm translated by Brett Larner Nov. 27 Asian Games marathon team member Kiyoko Shimahara (33, Second Wind AC) has cancelled her planned altitude training camp beginning Sept. 5 in Boulder, Colorado due to illness. She has also withdrawn from her scheduled appearance in the Sept. 19 Philadelphia Half Marathon. Shimahara spent August training in Hokkaido, but after returning home to Nagano she came down with a fever. Exhibiting symptoms similar to those of dehydration, she was advised to spend at least a week allowing for total recovery. Departing for Boulder Sept. 5 with Shimahara's Asian Games teammate Yuri Kano (31) and other Second Wind runners, coach Manabu Kawagoe (48) commented, "Shimahara overtrained in Hokkaido. If she feels back to normal in time then she'll join us in Boulder (for the last part of the training camp)." He indicated that the situation is not a major setback for Shimahara's pr...

http://runningusa.org/node/58135#58136 Yuri Kano (Second Wind AC) was the top Japanese finisher, 10th in the women's race in 34:53.

http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2010050600753 translated by Brett Larner 2011 Asian Games women's marathon team member Kiyoko Shimahara (33, Second Wind AC) announced on May 6 that she is relocating her training base from Tokyo to the town of Saku in Nagano Prefecture. Last month Shimahara got engaged to Saku Chosei High School ekiden team coach Masaru Takamizawa (28). "I'm looking forward to training on the cross-country course the high school team uses and in all the great locations around Sugadaira," Shimahara said, promising that the new environment would be an excellent jumping-off point for the next stage of her career. With regard to her training, Shimahara will continue to be guided by Second Wind head coach Manabu Kawagoe. Apart from training in Nagano Shimahara will be going on the Rikuren-sponsored women's training camp in Boulder, Colorado in June. In July she plans to run the Sapporo International Half Marathon. "I'm not young an...

http://www.47news.jp/CN/201001/CN2010011901000781.html http://www.47news.jp/CN/201001/CN2010011801000967.html translated and edited by Brett Larner With an eye toward strengthening Japanese men's marathoning and distance running in the buildup to the 2012 London Olympics, Rikuren announced on Jan. 19 that it will sponsor a series of national training camps for promising marathoners in New Zealand and other overseas locations. Among the first to be named for the camps are Hakone Ekiden stars Ryuji Kashiwabara, who earlier this month led Toyo University to its second-straight Hakone win, and first year Akinobu Murasawa of Tokai University, who won October's Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai 20 km in a strong 59:08. Rikuren's Long Distance and Road Racing Special Committee revealed that the first camp will take place in New Zealand in March and April. Following June's National Track and Field Championships the camp's athletes will head to the United States for road racing and hig...

translated and edited by Brett Larner click photos for full-sized versions Team Asahi Kasei runner Tomoyuki Sato posted on the company's blog on Sept. 7 while at a Rikuren-sponsored training camp with Yusei Nakao (Team Toyota Boshoku), Yuko Matsumiya (Team Konica Minolta) and a group of younger runners. Sato, second from right in the above photo in pale blue, was a member of Japan's 2007 World Championships marathon squad. He holds a PB of 2:09:43 and ran 2:09:59 in both of his 2008 marathons. Right now I'm at Rikuren's training camp in Boulder, Colorado. We've been here since Sept. 1. In the early morning here it's pretty cold at ground level, but during the day it gets hot and the air is really, really dry. This is the first time I've ever done serious altitude training. Being my first time I think I'm going to gain a lot of new experience which will help me in my running career after this. I'm planning to run the Fukuoka International Marathon th...

Click here to enter JRN's World Championships marathon prediction contest for a chance to win a 2009 Japanese national team singlet. translated and edited by Brett Larner source articles below Marathoner Yoshimi Ozaki (28, Team Daiichi Seimei) will employ a secret weapon in this weekend's World Championships women's marathon in Berlin: the honey of the giant killer hornet suzumebachi . The honey, which Ozaki received from one of her trainers, has been produced by the Fujiwara bee farm in Iwate Prefecture for over 108 years. 500 g costs around $100. In addition to providing energy, the honey reduces the sensation of muscle fatigue during strenuous exercise. "It tastes very rich and is really nutritious," said Ozaki. "I'll be using it to give my body back its energy in the second half of the race. It was pretty effective in training." Ozaki will dissolve the honey into her sports drink and water bottles in hopes that it will convey the power of the suz...