japan running news

by Brett Larner photo by Martin Lever Coming in fit off a 1:08:59 win at March's National Corporate Half Marathon Championships, 2011 Daegu World Championships marathon 5th-placer Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren) ran a smart, steady and strong race at the Apr. 21 London Marathon, staying near 2:24 pace as the lead group of Kenyan and Ethiopia women fluctuated, sometimes far ahead, sometimes all around her, and on at least two occasions falling behind her. Initially working with Mai Ito  (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) to reach the Federation's sub-2:24 time goal for the Moscow World Championships team, Akaba slipped off track late in the race after Ito dropped behind but continued to press ahead, reeling in five of the seven Africans up front to take 3rd in 2:24:43, her third time running 2:24 in London. Ito, still hot from a 1:10:00 half marathon PB two weeks ago in Berlin, couldn't keep up with Akaba's bid for a 2:23 and landed 7th in 2:28:37.  The other three Japanese wome...

by Brett Larner The 2012 Osaka International Women's Marathon , the second of Japan's three-race domestic Olympic marathon team selection races, is on for this Sunday, Jan. 29.  Broadcast live on Fuji TV starting at noon Japan time, overseas viewers have the chance to catch the race via Keyhole TV .  Schedule permitting, JRN plans to cover the race via Twitter @JRNLive . The 2012 Osaka International Women's Marathon was to be about one thing: the return of marathon national record holder and 2004 Olympic gold medalist Mizuki Noguchi (Team Sysmex) in a showdown against half-marathon national record holder and ascendant marathoner Kayoko Fukushi  (Team Wacoal) for a place on the Olympic team.  Nobody else in the field stood a realistic chance of competing in Noguchi and Fukushi went at it full-strength.  With Noguchi's last-withdrawal after a reported injury to her left leg the race remains a single-plot story: how fast will Fukushi go? And that's it, reall...

http://www.iaaf.org/LRR11/news/newsid=62785.html

by Brett Larner With most of the country's top distance runners taking on 5000 m at Saturday's Golden Games in Nobeoka and a typhoon hitting the second day, the weekend's Nittai Univ. Time Trials meet was relatively low-key. The top result of the meet came in the men's 10000 m, where Nihon University's Yusuke Sato ran a strong solo 28:58.75 to win by nearly 30 seconds. Tomoya Yamaguchi (Team Kanebo) won the men's 5000 m A-heat in 14:04.83 with a well-executed race plan, overtaking Daegu World Championships marathoner Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref.) who surged into a wide lead midway through the race. The men's 5000 m also saw the return to competition of injury-plagued marathoner Arata Fujiwara (Remo System RC), who ran conservatively and advanced through the field from the rear of the pack to finish 13th in 14:17.44. The women's 5000 m A-heat was a match race between Azusa Saito (Niigata Albirex AC) and marathoner Chika Horie (Team Univ. Ent.). ...

by Brett Larner photo by Mika Tokairin 2011 Osaka top six, L-R Akaba, Ito, Horie, Incerti, Kizaki and Okunaga. On a near-freezing, windy day the top Japanese marathoner of 2010, Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren), took her first marathon victory with a 2:26:29 win at the 2011 Osaka International Women's Marathon . Second-time marathoner Mai Ito (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) ran a bold race, repeatedly surging to the lead in an unsuccessful effort to break Akaba and was rewarded with an over two-minute PB of 2:26:55. Both women fell short of the 2:25:59 requirement for an automatic spot on the 2011 World Championships team and thus must wait until March to hear the official team announcement, but each earned praise from notoriously critical Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki for their strong performances in difficult conditions. Regardless of the outcome, Akaba indicated that she plans to run April's London Marathon to go for a fast time prior to the World Championships. Along with Akaba and I...

by Brett Larner Update: Yumiko Hara (Team Univ. Ent.), Tomo Morimoto (Team Tenmaya), Adriana Fernandez (Mexico) and Tetyana Holovchenko have withdrawn with injuries . The 30th anniversary Osaka International Women's Marathon takes place this Sunday, Jan. 30. With a new course which aims to be flatter and faster by eliminating the old course's most famous feature, the twisting and hilly turn through the ground of Osaka Castle, organizers are hopeful of seeing outstanding times in the first of the major domestic selection races for this summer's World Championships. 2009 World Championships marathoner Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren) says she is going to deliver. Akaba, one of Japan's top track and half marathon runners in the last few years, came to last year's Osaka with a knee injury, but despite being less than 100% she led the race through a 1:10:45 in cold rain. Akaba ultimately DNF'd but said afterwards that she had just wanted to see what she could do in the ...

by Brett Larner On Dec. 20 the organizers of the Osaka International Women's Marathon announced the field for the 2011 edition. Celebrating the event's 30th anniversary with a new, faster course eliminating the famous hilly, twisting section through Osaka Castle and with the addition of female pacemakers, the field features a competitive cross-section of current top Japanese women and several aging overseas elites. Osaka is the first major domestic selection race for the 2011 World Championships team. The top Japanese woman meeting Rikuren's time goals will be automatically named to the team. If the race is slow then the top domestic finisher will have to wait until mid-March for the final selection announcement. It doesn't look likely to be slow, however. Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren) is the favorite, coming fresh from a sub-32 road 10k in Sunday's National Jitsugyodan Women's Ekiden in the midst of her marathon training. Akaba says she will be shooting for a f...

by Brett Larner It was a busy weekend across Japan, with six major ekidens taking place simultaneously. For professional men there were four regional qualifiers for the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden, while for women there was the Fukui Super Ladies' Ekiden featuring corporate, university, regional and amateur teams, and the regional East Japan Women's Ekiden. Among the highlights: Ritsumeikan University had a surprise win over rivals Bukkyo University and every corporate team in the Fukui Super Ladies' Ekiden. Four of the six Ritsumeikan runners took stage bests, leading the team to a course-record 1:34:56 for 30 km. Bukkyo was 2nd without a single stage best, while Team Denso took 3rd thanks to stage bests from aces Betelhem Moges and Kayo Sugihara . Chiba Prefecture prevented another Nagano Prefecture win at the East Japan Women's Ekiden, taking four of nine stage bests. Anchor Chika Horie , who runs for Team Universal Entertainment and is usually thought of as a marat...

by Brett Larner On a warm and windy day, 2007 World Championships 10000 m bronze medalist and 10 mile junior world record holder Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) performed up to expectations in his half marathon debut at the May 9 Sendai International Half Marathon . Already on his own after a quick 14:03 first 5 km, Mathathi ran a solo race. He was consistent through 15 km, clocking 14:04 from 5 to 10 km and 14:07 from 10 to 15 km, on pace at that stage to run 59:24. Only after 15 km did he slow, dropping to a 14:30 split from 15 to 20 km. Mathathi finished in 59:48, just 5 seconds off Samuel Wanjiru's 5 year-old course and Japanese all-comers record. His outstanding debut was a prelude to a planned marathon debut in the upcoming winter season. Still yet to regain his university form, runner-up Mekubo Mogusu (Kenya/Team Aidem) was nearly 2 minutes behind in 1:01:34. The top Japanese runner, Osamu Ibata (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) was another 2 minutes back in 1:03:39, fi...

by Brett Larner With six elite marathons in seven weeks, the crowded 2010 Japanese marathon season gets rolling this Sunday, Jan. 31 with the Osaka International Women's Marathon . With only an Asian Games spot at stake in a year without a major worldwide championships this year's Osaka has nevertheless attracted an interesting field containing a good number of relative newcomers and a few solid pros. Osaka has been the site of some very memorable marathon debuts. Last year it was the site of track and half marathon star Yukiko Akaba's first marathon, 2nd overall in a credible 2:25:40. The Team Hokuren runner has been one of the main forces in the domestic track and ekiden scene for the last two years but her shaky appearances at the Olympics, the World Half Marathon and especially her disastrous run in the World Championships marathon have all weakened Akaba's reputation. With some expecting her to become Japan's next sub-2:20 woman Akaba is returning to Osaka to g...

by Brett Larner The Osaka International Women's Marathon has announced the elite field for the 2010 edition of the race to be held on Jan. 31. The domestic field should prove to be quite interesting, headed by Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren), including talented veterans Mari Ozaki (Team Noritz) and Kayoko Obata (Team Acom) and featuring promising first-timers Ryoko Kizaki (Team Daihatsu) and Azusa Nojiri (Team Daiichi Seimei). An elite women's marathon in Japan wouldn't be complete without Sydney Olympics silver medalist Lidia Simon (Romania), and Simon is sure enough slated to be on the starting line again this time along with Olympian Olivera Jevtic (Serbia), 2009 Los Angeles Marathon runner-up Amane Gobena (Ethiopia) and others. 2009 Osaka International Women's Marathon - Elite Field click here for more detailed profiles and athlete photos Lidia Simon (Romania) - 2:22:54 (Osaka 2000) Mari Ozaki (Team Noritz) - 2:23:30 (Osaka 2003) Kayoko Obata (Team Acom) - 2:25:14 (Osa...

by Brett Larner Running her marathon debut at age 27, Yoshiko Fujinaga (Team Shiseido) won the 2009 Nagoya International Women's Marathon on Mar. 8, booking her first ticket to the World Championships since competing in the 5000 m in Seville 1999 as a high school student. Fujinaga was patient and tenacious, falling behind the lead pack of Caroline Cheptonui Kilel (Kenya), Bai Xue (China) and pre-race domestic favorite Hitomi Niiya (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) five times over the course of the race but gradually working her way back up each time before taking the lead from Niiya at 36.9 km. Fujinaga ran unchallenged over the final 5 km to win in 2:28:13 and take the third and final guaranteed spot on the five-member Berlin World Championships team. Niiya was likewise patient for the first two-thirds of the race, tailing early leaders Kilel and Xue when the foreign pair broke away after a slow first 5 km but ignoring Kilel's frequent surges. Rounding the 28.5 km turnaround Kilel mad...

by Brett Larner The final selection race for the 2009 Berlin World Championships women's marathon team takes place this Sunday, Mar. 8 at the 30th anniversary Nagoya International Women's Marathon . The top Japanese woman in Nagoya will automatically earn a place on the Berlin team, and with the almost complete absence of big-name domestic runners hopes are high that one of the younger, inexperienced runners will step up with a world-class performance. The chance is also there for one of the few veteran Japanese runners in the field to come back with a win. Winning times in Nagoya over the last ten years have averaged 2:25:18, with the fastest mark being Naoko Takahashi's course-record 2:22:19 in 2000 and the slowest Yasuko Hashimoto's 2:28:49 in 2007. No foreign runner has won Nagoya since Russia's Lyubov Morgunova took the 1999 race, but this year the hosts' streak may be broken. China's Xue Bai has the strongest recent credentials in the field, with a 2:2...

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/news/20090226-OYT1T00793.htm http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/general/track/news/20090227k0000m050029000c.html http://www.chunichi.co.jp/article/sports/news/CK2009022702000155.html translated and edited by Brett Larner On Feb. 26 Rikuren released the names of the elite field for the Mar. 8 Nagoya International Women's Marathon , a selection race for the Berlin World Championships women's marathon team. Eleven women make up the domestic elite field, among them 2007 Tokyo Marathon winner Hitomi Niiya (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) and 2003 Nagoya winner Takami Ominami (Team Toyota Shatai). The five elite foreign women include 2000 Sydney Olympics silver medalist Lidia Simon (Romania) and 2008 Beijing International Marathon winner Xue Bai (China). 303 runners make up the general division. In addition to Niiya and Ominami, the domestic elite field includes last year's 5th place finisher Chika Horie (Team Aruze) and 7th place finisher Yumi Hirata (Team Sh...

http://www.chunichi.co.jp/chuspo/article/sports/news/CK2009022002000136.html translated and edited by Brett Larner Naoko Takahashi stands between the two monuments in her honor on Tokunoshima island. Sydney Olympics women's marathon gold medalist and former world record holder Naoko Takahashi (36, Phiten), who retired from professional running last fall, began training on the island of Tokunoshima in Kagoshima Prefecture on Feb. 19 for what she has up until now called a 'thank-you run' at the Mar. 8 Nagoya International Women's Marathon . Q-chan has said her goal for her 'final run' is simply, "to break 3 hours." However, she recently commented, "I'm really afraid that when the starting gun goes off I might get excited and try to run up front [in the lead pack] instead of going out as planned," suggesting the possibility that Nagoya might become a 'real run.' Takahashi was quick to add, "I'm going to try to hold back as ...