japan running news

  On Feb. 21 the Toyota Kyushu corporate team announced that its longtime member Masato Imai , 39, known throughout Japan as the original God of the Mountain for his spectacular runs on the Hakone Ekiden's uphill Fifth Stage in college, will retire from competition. His final race will be Sunday's National Cross Country Championships in Fukuoka. After retirement Imai will remain with Toyota Kyushu and become part of its coaching staff. At Juntendo University , Imai won the Fifth Stage at the Hakone Ekiden in new course records in 2005, 2006 and 2007, taking the top spot in both 2006 and 2007. When he did it during his final Hakone his senior year in 2007, the late Nippon TV announcer Ryo Kawamura shouted the now-legendary words, "Right now, right here, the god of the mountain has descended! His name is Masato Imai!" Imai has been known by that moniker ever since, and the title has become a part of Hakone lore. Since his time it has been given to two other runners w...

The 9th Okukuma Road Race , a JAAF-certified half marathon, took place Jan. 15 across the towns of Mizukami, Yunomae and Taragi in rural Kumamoto. In its first edition in 3 years after pandemic-era cancelations in 2021 and 2022, a total of 364 people finished in the event's 6 categories. In the men's half marathon, Hiroko Hashimoto (SG Holdings) won in 1:02:19, the fastest time ever at the race by a Japanese athlete. Former Hakone Ekiden uphill star Daichi Kamino (Cell Source) also ran, finishing 23rd in 1:06:11. Tokyo Olympics women's marathon 8th-placer and course record holder Mao Ichiyama (Shiseido) won the women's half marathon in 1:12:34. "I want to keep getting back into good shape and to earn my ticket to the Paris Olympics," she said post-race. Rio Olympics 5000 m finalist Miyuki Uehara (Kagoshima Ginko) was 12th in 1:22:27. 9th Okukuma Road Race Half Marathon Kumamoto, 15 Jan. 2023 complete results Men 1. Hiroki Hashimoto (SG Holdings) - 1:02:19 ...

Pro runner Daichi Kamino (Cell Source) has an opinion on today's generation of thick-soled shoes that is getting attention. On Nov. 19 Kamino ran a 13.5 km uphill race on the Hakone turnpike as part of his training, finishing 7th in 54:18. Now 29, Kamino is famous for winning the Hakone Ekiden's legendary uphill Fifth Stage in 2015, earning him the nickname "God of the Mountain III." He has run professionally since 2018. After the Nov. 19 race Kamino tweeted, "I knew I was going to be running up a steep hill, and for that kind of uphill running thin shoes are better than thick ones." In recent years the long distance running world has been caught up in a whirlwind by the new style of thick shoes containing a carbon plate. Since the technology's introduction the Japanese men's marathon national record has been broken four times, and all ten individual stage records at the Hakone Ekiden have been broken at least once. Everyone knows the thick shoes p...

Former Hakone Ekiden uphill specialist and 2024 Olympic marathon trials qualifier Daichi Kamino , 28, revealed on his Youtube channel on Feb. 8 that he has suffered a stress fracture of his ribs. Kamino said that during training on Feb. 5 he felt sudden pain in his back. When the pain didn't go away after taking a day off, he went to the hospital on the 7th and was found to have sustained a fractured rib. "It's not a major fracture, so it should take too long to heal," Kamino said, indicating that he will take two weeks fully off and may not be able to run for up to a month. He said that doctors told him that his characteristic arm swing may have caused the fracture by repetitively compressing his chest cavity. "My first priority is to get healed," he said. "It's important to keep doing what training I can while injured, but to keep it to what I can do safely without overdoing it." Translator's note: Kamino was 2nd at the Dec. 19 Hofu Yomi...

Sunday had the last two big non-ekiden Japanese road races of the year, the 52nd Hofu Yomiuri Marathon and 40th Sanyo Ladies Road Race half marathon and 10 km. In Hofu, as expected the race was all about whether former Hakone Ekiden uphill star Daichi Kamino  (Cell Source), now coached by 2:07 Olympian and past Hofu winner Arata Fujiwara , could finally pull off a good marathon. Despite strong winds, pacers Titus Wambua  and Michael Githae , the winner in Fukuoka two weeks ago and Kamino's training partner under Fujiwara, did a stellar job through 30 km, their projected finish time never varying by more than a few seconds at each 5 km split and hitting halfway in 1:04:47. When they stopped, the debuting Dominic Nyairo  (NTT Nishi Nihon), winner of Hakone's most competitive stage in 2018 while at Yamanashi Gakuin University , went to the front. Kamino was the only one to go with him, and they stayed locked together until Nyairo made a break at 41 km. It looked over, but ...

This weekend sees the last big marathon of the year, the Hofu Yomiuri Marathon . A longtime lesser cousin to the dearly departed Fukuoka International Marathon, Hofu is set to step up in importance after the demise of both Fukuoka and the Saitama International Women's Marathon. The Kobe Marathon may come back, but especially for women Hofu should take on a bigger role on the calendar in the years to come. The women's race is still small at this stage but has some decent talent led by Japan's fastest woman of 2019, Reia Iwade  (Adidas). 7-time winner Hisae Yoshimatsu  (Shunan City Hall) is on the list but tells JRN that she is injured and will not run, instead refocusing on February's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon. The men's race, featuring pacing by Fukuoka winner Michael Githae  (Suzuki) is mostly about whether former Hakone Ekiden uphill great Daichi Kamino (Cell Source) can finally pull off a good marathon. Now coached by Olympian and 2:07 marathoner Arata Fuji...

by Mika Tokairin Held every Jan. 2 and 3, the Hakone Ekiden has become a bona fide New Year's tradition. The town of Miyanoshita on the steepest part of the winding mountain roads that make up the legendary Fifth and Sixth Stages has become famous for its massive crowds cheering "Miyanoshita style," chanting individual athletes' names in call-and-response form instead of their university's name. With organizers asking the public to help combat the coronavirus crisis by staying home and watching Hakone on TV, how are the people of Miyanoshita looking at this year's race? We talked to Koji Shima , owner of the Shima Photo Shop, a fixture on Miyanoshita's main street for four generations, and head of the Miyanoshita business association's Hakone Ekiden celebration event committee. What's the history of "Miyanoshita Style" cheering? Shima:  I think it's been going on for about 25 years. There was a movement to try to reinvigorate the to...

On Nov. 2 the management of the Kyudenko corporate men's team announced that Kazuma Kubota , 27, quit the team on Oct. 31 to devote himself to working for the Kyudenko corporation. The announcement effectively represented an announcement of Kubota's retirement. Kubota graduated from the national-level Kyushu Gakuin H.S. in 2012 and entered Aoyama Gakuin University . The same year, he won the most competitive stage at the Izumo Ekiden as a 1st-year, securing Aoyama Gakuin its first-ever win at one of the Big Three University Ekidens. At the 2015 Hakone Ekiden his third year, Kubota had a memorably intense First Stage duel with Komazawa University 's future Tokyo Olympics marathon trials winner Shogo Nakamura , losing to Nakamura by just 1 second. But Aoyama Gakuin rode the momentum that Kubota had generated, going on to win Hakone for the first time.  During his senior year in the 2015-16 season he won his stage at all three university ekidens. At Hakone Ekiden he won the...

https://worldathletics.org/news/report/asian-marathon-championships-2019-kamino-ri-k In addition to medalists Kamino, Matsuo and Uesugi, Japan's Mirai Waku took 4th in the women's race in 2:33:03 with Marie Imada 9th in 2:48:30.

Ryo Hashimoto age: 25 sponsor: GMO graduated from: Oita Nishi H.S., Aoyama Gakuin University best time inside MGC window: 2:09:29, 5th, 2019 Beppu-Oita Marathon PB: 2:09:29, 5th, 2019 Beppu-Oita Marathon other PBs: 5000 m: 13:57.91 (2016) 10000 m: 28:35.37 (2019) half marathon: 1:02:55 (2019) marathons inside MGC window (Aug. 1 2017 – April 30 2019) 5th, 2019 Beppu-Oita Marathon, 2:09:29 – PB 9th, 2018 Fukuoka International Marathon, 2:11:40 other major results: 7th, 2019 HDC Fukagawa Meet 10000 m B-Race, 28:35.37 – PB 4th, 2019 Sendai International Half Marathon, 1:02:55 – PB 4th, 2018 Year-End Half Marathon, 1:03:31 4th, 2017 Gold Coast Marathon, 2:10:19 20th, 2017 Tokyo Marathon, 2:13:29 1st, 2016 Hofu Marathon, 2:11:20 23rd, 2016 Tokyo Marathon, 2:14:38 Hashimoto is totally unique in the MGC men’s field, someone who went to a Hakone Ekiden champion university but never made its starting roster for Japan’s biggest race. A benchwarmer for four-time Hakon...

Daichi Kamino age: 26 sponsor: Cell Source graduated from: Chukyo H.S., Aoyama Gakuin University best time inside MGC window: 2:10:18, 18th, 2018 Tokyo Marathon PB: 2:10:18, 18th, 2018 Tokyo Marathon other PBs: 5000 m: 13:56.05 (2018) 10000 m: 28:17.54 (2016) half marathon: 1:01:04 (2017) marathons inside MGC window (Aug. 1 2017 – April 30 2019) 8th, 2019 Tokyo Marathon, 2:11:05 29th, 2018 Fukuoka International Marathon, 2:19:28 DNF, 2018 Berlin Marathon 18th, 2018 Tokyo Marathon, 2:10:18 13th, 2017 Fukuoka International Marathon, 2:12:50 other major results: 3rd, 2019 Shibetsu Half Marathon, 1:03:46 7th, 2019 Sendai International Half Marathon, 1:03:05 7th, 2018 Ageo City Half Marathon, 1:02:19 17th, 2018 Marugame Half Marathon, 1:02:35 2nd, 2018 New Year Ekiden Seventh Stage (15.5 km), 48:38 3rd, 2017 Ome 30 km Road Race, 1:31:33 5th, 2017 Marugame Half Marathon, 1:01:04 – PB 2nd, 2016 Kumamoto Kosa 10-Miler, 46:38 2nd, 2016 Hakone Ekiden Fifth St...

Kenyan Razini Lemeteki (Takushoku Univ.) and relative unknown Nanami Aoki (Iwatani Sangyo) took the top spots in hot and sunny conditions at the Shibetsu Half Marathon in Hokkaido. With Kenta Murayama (Asahi Kasei) doing early frontrunning in the men's race only to fade to a 20th-place finish in 1:06:40 Lemeteki had little competition for the win in 1:03:25. 2017 Shibetsu winner  Tsubasa Hayakawa (Toyota) was the top Japanese man at 2nd in 1:03:42, beating MGC Race Olympic marathon trials qualifiers Daichi Kamino (New Balance) and Naoki Okamoto (Chugoku Denryoku) - by 4 seconds and 11 seconds. Other MGC Race qualifiers Masato Imai (Toyota Jidoshokki), Yuji Iwata (MHPS) and Ryo Kiname (MHPS) all struggled, none of them breaking 66 minutes. Aoki won the women's race easily in 1:15:12 by almost a minute over Mai Nagaoka (Sysmex). MGC Race qualifiers Reia Iwade (Under Armour) and Keiko Nogami (Juhachi Ginko) were listed to start but apparently did not run. 33rd S...

At the May 12 Sendai International Half Marathon , Akito Terui (25, ND Software) finished 6th overall in 1:03:01. As a member of the Kanto Student Alliance team Terui ran the fastest time on the anchor stage at the 2017 Hakone Ekiden. Running for the Nanyo, Yamagata-based ND Software team, Terui embraces the slogan 'From the Northeast to the World.' In Sendai he beat a number of athletes who have qualified for September's MGC Race, the new trials event that will determine the marathon team for the Tokyo Olympics, marking him as a potential contender for future Olympic teams. In one of the nation's leading half marathons Terui made his presence felt among the elite competitors. Starting off in the third group, mid-race he began to move up through the field to finish as the 4th Japanese man. Three runners he beat in the final stages, 7th-place Daichi Kamino (New Balance), 8th-place Yoshiki Takenouchi (NTT Nishi Nihon) and 10th-place Masato Imai (Toyota Kyushu), w...

2018 Jakarta Asian Games marathon silver medalist Keiko Nogami (Juhachi Ginko) turned in one of the best performances of her career Sunday, taking almost two minutes off her half marathon best to win the Sendai International Half Marathon in 1:09:27. One of just fifteen women to have qualified for Japan's MGC Race 2020 Olympic marathon trials, Nogami quickly dropped the more accomplished Rei Ohara (Tenmaya), also an MGC qualifier, to run the last 3/4 of the race alone en route to the fastest winning time in Sendai since 2009. Ohara was next in 1:10:25, with 10000 m collegiate record holder Hikari Yoshimoto (Daihatsu) 3rd in a PB of 1:12:39. Locally-based Kenyan Alexander Mutiso (ND Software) won the men's race with the same kind of margin as Nogami, running 1:01:10 for the win, Sendai's fastest time since 2010. Back on the roads for the first time since his crash-and-burn shot at a 2:04 at March's Tokyo Marathon, Yuki Sato (Nissin Shokuhin) was 2nd in 1:02:30 ...

It's yet another busy mid-ekiden season weekend, but there's no question what its biggest race is. In a country packed with all of the world's deepest half marathons the Ageo City Half Marathon is the deepest of them all, universities targeting the legendary Hakone Ekiden transforming what would otherwise be an ordinary country town road race into something really special as each team's runner try to convince their coaches they belong on the Hakone A-squad. Since 2011 the New York Road Runners have thrown fuel on the fire by inviting the top two Japanese collegiate finishers to March's United Airlines NYC Half in a program conceived and coordinated by JRN. The first runner to earn an invite was Toyo University second-year Yuta Shitara , who went over and ran what was then the fastest time ever by a Japanese man on U.S. soil, 1:01:48, in his international road racing debut. Now the half marathon national record holder and a corporate leaguer for the Honda team, ...

With last week's Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai having changed from 20 km to the half marathon distance the Takashimadaira 20 km Road Race is now Japan's premier 20 km, four laps of a perfectly flat 5 km loop in Tokyo's northwestern suburbs. Working his way back from a DNF last month at the Berlin Marathon, independent Daichi Kamino (New Balance) went head-to-head this year with 2018 Boston Marathon winner Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't), a regular at Takashimadaira. After a slow 15:27 opening lap Kamino went to the front, picking up the pace to 15:18 for the second lap and cutting the lead group down from a dozen to six. 2014 Ageo City Half Marathon winner Koki Takada (Sumitomo Denko) and collegiate men Kotaro Hirata (Teikyo Univ.), Fuma Nakamur a (Teikyo Univ.) and Tomoya Yoneda (Tokai Univ.) hung with Kamino and Kawauchi through a 15:15 third lap until Kamino attacked again. Hirata and Kawauchi tried to follow, but Kamino was too much to keep up with. Runnin...

Lost in the luminosity of Eliud Kipchoge 's world record and Gladys Cherono 's women's course record at the Berlin Marathon were a score of Japanese results there and elsewhere overseas, ranging from the sparkling to the dull. Cherono and 2nd and 3rd placers Ruti Aga and Tirunesh Dibaba all broke Mizuki Noguchi 's Berlin Marathon course record of 2:19:12 which has stood since she set that national record mark in 2005. A kilometer behind Dibaba, Mizuki Matsuda (Daihatsu) followed up her 2:22:44 debut in Osaka in January with a 2:22:23 PB for 5th, making her just the fourth Japanese woman ever to break 2:23 twice in her career. 2:23:46 woman Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) ran 2:25:23 for 7th, beating Tenmaya teammate Rei Ohara whose 2:27:28 put her only 10th but qualified her for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics marathon trials, only the second athlete after 2018 Boston Marathon winner Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) to qualify for the trials under the two-race average ...

The Konica Minolta men's corporate team announced on April 26 that star runner Daichi Kamino , 24, will leave the team on April 30 to pursue a career as an independent. As a student at Aoyama Gakuin University Kamino earned the moniker "God of the Mountain" for his stellar performances on the Hakone Ekiden's uphill Fifth Stage. He joined Konica Minolta in April, 2016 following his graduation from Aoyama Gakuin. At this year's Tokyo Marathon he ran a PB of 2:10:18. source article:   http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/20180426-OYT1T50075.html translated by Brett Larner

Saturday was the first full day of the Japanese outdoor track season with two large time trial meets and university intramurals across the country. The top marks of the day came over 3000 m at Tokyo's Setagaya Time Trials meet. In the women's A-heat Japan-based Kenyan Grace Mbuthye (Starts) won in 8:58.55, while another Japan-based Kenyan Evans Yego (Sunbelx) took the men's A-heat in 7:58.50. Both times were the 2nd-fastest outdoor marks in the world so far this season. Other notable marks: Kei Fumimoto (Kanebo) turned in the fastest Japanese time of the day at 8:06.95 for 4th in the A-heat. Junior high school 1500 m, 3000 m and 5000 m national record holder Kosuke Ishida made his high school debut in the C-heat running for Tokyo Nogyo Daini H.S. , finishing 3rd in 8:22.85, about 5 seconds off his best. After taking 7th at last month's NYC Half, 2017 World University Games half marathon gold medalist Kei Katanishi (Komazawa Univ.) got back into action, warm...

Sunday's Fukuoka International Marathon has enough going on to make it one of the most exciting races in decades of its 71-year history. Olympic and world champ Stephen Kiprotich (Uganda). Heir apparent to the Wanjiru memory Bedan Karoki (Kenya/DeNA). Norwegian wonder Sondre Moen . Legend Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) against three scions of the next generation, Asian junior half marathon record holder Suguru Osako (NOP), former Hakone Ekiden uphill specialist Daichi Kamino (Konica Minolta), and Keita Shitara (Hitachi Butsuryu), twin brother of new half marathon national record holder Yuta Shitara . The withdrawal of three top-tier runners, 1:00:01 half marathoner Jake Robertson (New Zealand), two-time world XC medalist Teklemariam Medhin (Eritrea) and sub-2:10 man Fumihiro Maruyama (Asahi Kasei), hurts the depth a bit, but there are still enough story lines going on keep you guessing as to the ultimate plot. TV Asahi will broadcast the complete race live s...