japan running news

The Osaka International Women's Marathon 's 45th running is less than 2 weeks away on Jan. 25. Sub-2:20 trio Workenesh Edesa , Stella Chesang and Bedatu Hirpa make up the international component of the race, with veterans Mizuki Matsuda and Mao Uesugi the only ones close to them on paper, Matsuda with a 2:20:42 in Berlin 2 years ago and Uesugi 2:22:11 in Nagoya last year. Bringing the most upside to the race is Mizuki Nishimura , the next big thing from the Tenmaya corporate team that NR holder Honami Maeda calls home. Nishimura set a 1:41:42 CR at the Kumanichi 30 km last February, then tested the waters with a 2:25:54 debut for the win at the Hofu Yomiuri Marathon at the beginning of December. It's a quick turnaround since then, but chances are pretty good that she'll be the one to watch for the home crowd. There's also an interesting debut in the works from Mikuni Yada , a track runner who won bronze at last summer's Asian Championships with a 31:12....

After breaking the CR with a 2:18:51 win at last year's Osaka International Women's Marathon , Ethiopian Workenesh Edesa was back as one of exactly 2 non-Japanese women in the elite field at this year's race. Set up to try to get at least Paris Olympics 6th-placer Yuka Suzuki under the 2:20 barrier, Osaka went out slower than planned but still ground the field down, only Edesa, Suzuki, the debuting Nanaka Izawa and last month's Hofu Yomiuri Marathon winner Kana Kobayashi left when they hit halfway in 1:10:12. The pacers immediately picked it up after halfway to try to get it back on target, killing off Izawa and Kobayashi. Suzuki lasted through 25 km in 1:22:53, 2:19:53 pace, but that was as far as she could go. The gap never really grew that much, but for the rest of the way in Edesa pulled away from Suzuki, taking the win in 2:21:00 without ever being under threat again. But there was some excitement behind her. After losing 35 seconds on Suzuki between halfway an...

Japan's last major non-ekiden road race of the year happens Sunday in Okayama at the Sanyo Ladies Road Race half marathon and 10 km. Four women in the half marathon, Dolphine Nyaboke Omare (U.S.E.), Yuka Ando (Wacoal), Desta Burka (Denso) and Joanne Kipkemoi (Kyudenko) have recent sub-1:10 times, Omare leading the way with a 1:07:56 from her win at last year's National Corporate Half Marathon. Ando isn't far behind with a 1:08:13 in the same race, but at the Queens Ekiden three weeks ago she showed signs of heavy fatigue from October's Olympic marathon trials. Track specialist Margaret Akidor (Comodi Iida) is also in the race, only 1:11:19 in Sanyo last year but with potential to go a lot better. Eva Cherono (Toto) is the class of the 10 km field with a 30:33 road best from Lens two years ago. Agnes Mwikali (Kyocera) and Janet Nyiva (Panasonic) were both under 31:30 minutes in Sanyo in 2021, with Misaki Hayashida (Kyudenko) and Kaede Kawamura (Iwatani Sangyo)...

American women now own the course records at both Australia's ASICS Half Marathon and Gold Coast Marathon. With expert pacing from local great Ben St. Lawrence , former U.S. marathon NR holder Keira D'Amato negative split a 1:06:39 national record and Australian all-comers record to win the women's race in the half marathon Saturday. With a group of sub-elite men in town St. Lawrence took D'Amato through the first two 5 km splits in 15:52 and 15:55, just off pace for the 1:06:52 NR with a 1:07:03 projection. From there they incremented ever so slightly faster, with 15:49 and 15:45 splits to put D'Amato at 20 km in 1:03:22 and a 1:06:51 projected finish time. Just holding what she had would have put her under the record, but D'Amato went hard over the last 1.0975 km, covering it in 3:17, or 2:59/km pace. And with that, she had a new NR and the fastest-ever time by a woman on Australian soil to her name. "The crowd support was great," she said post-rac...

Australia's ASICS Half Marathon and Gold Coast Marathon are almost always big draws for elite-level Japanese runners, offering up better weather than to be found domestically this time of year, a faster course, and international racing experience without the jet lag. Saturday's half marathon has four Japanese women and three Japanese men on the entry list, plus a lot of familiar home-grown faces. Former U.S.A. marathon national record holder Keira D'Amato is the top name in the women's race with a best of 1:07:55. Australians Ellie Pashley and Isobel Batt-Doyle are regulars in Japan, Batt-Doyle having set her 1:09:27 PB at Marugame this year and Pashley having run her marathon best in Nagoya in 2019. D'Amato said at the pre-race press conference that she hopes to take a shot at the American record of 1:06:52, and Batt-Doyle said she would be giving it a PB effort. One step down from them in the 1:10-1:11 range are four Japanese women, Kaede Kawamura , Chiharu Ik...

https://goldcoastmarathon.com.au/2023/06/14/2023-asics-half-marathon-elite-field-reveal/

On Aug. 24 the organizing committee of Sunday's Hokkaido Marathon announced that elite women Mao Uesugi (Starts) and Chiharu Ikeda (Hitachi) have withdrawn from the race. Uesugi has tested positive for coronavirus, while Ikeda sustained an injury to her left ankle during training. Translator's note: This news follows last week's announcement that 2020 Olympic marathon trial winner Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) had withdrawn from Hokkaido with COVID-19. With a 2:22:29 in Osaka in January Uesugi was the fastest woman in the original field , with Maeda 3rd at 2:23:30 and Ikeda 5th at 2:26:50. Uesugi is also entered in November's New York City Marathon. Still on the women's list in Hokkaido, a major chance to qualify for next year's Olympic marathon trials, are: Natsumi Matsushita (Tenmaya) - 2:23:05 (3rd, Osaka Int'l 2022) Haruka Yamaguchi (AC Kita) - 2:26:35 (7th, Osaka Int'l 2020) Miharu Shimokado (SID Group) - 2:29:20 (12th, Tokyo 2022) Yui Okada (Otsuka Se...

Just about the only mass-participation race not to have canceled as Japan's COVID numbers hit record-breaking levels every day, the  Osaka Half Marathon happened Sunday alongside the Osaka International Women's Marathon . 3,572 people finished the half, making it the biggest in Japan so far this year. 2:06 marathoner Hiroto Inoue (Mitsubishi Juko) ran a PB to win the men's race in a 1:01:14 course record as part of his buildup for a shot at the 2:04:56 marathon national record at March's Tokyo Marathon, if it happens. Chugoku Denryoku corporate teammates Joseph Waweru Nganga , Takumi Kiyotani and Naoki Okamoto did most of the work leading the race, with Inoue not taking over until around 15 km, which he split in 43:22. When he made his break for it Kiyohito Akiyama (Aichi Seiko) was the only one to go with him, but Akiyama soon let go and settled back into a small chase group with Nganga, Okamoto and Akira Tomiyasu (Raffine). Inoue was unchallenged over the final...