japan running news

The Daiichi Life women's corporate team announced last week on its official site that Paris Olympics 10000 m runner Haruka Kokai and teammate Yuka Masubuchi left the organization as of July 31. Kokai was born in 2003. Kokai rose to the national level while at Sendai Ikuei H.S. , winning the first leg at the National High School Ekiden her 2nd year to lead them to the overall national title. After graduating she joined Daiichi Life, then called Daiichi Seimei, in 2021. In March, 2023 she was the gold medalist in the women's 10000 m at the Asian Championships, and in December the same year she took 3rd in the National Championships 10000 m in an all-time Japanese #7 30:57.67 to score a place on the Paris Olympics team. In Paris she placed 19th. In a statement released by Daiichi Life Kokai said, "I want to thank the team, who always put the athletes first as they shared this journey, and all my teammates for so many good times together. There were times I got really disco...

The top Japanese finisher in the 2024 Paris Olympics women's marathon at 6th, Yuka Suzuki , 26, announced this week on her social media that she has left the Daiichi Seimei corporate team to transfer to Kraftia . "I'm really grateful to everyone who's helped me get where I am, and I know it's a level not everyone can get to," she wrote. Suzuki joined Daiichi Seimei in 2022 after graduating from Daito Bunka University . "The last few years I came to realize how incredible the fan support is in the corporate leagues and at the Olympics," she wrote. "My memories of the MGC Race and Paris Olympics really stand out. Even when the weather wasn't great or the race was far away there were always people there to cheer for me. That's not something you should take for granted, and I want to take the time to put my thanks to all of you into words." Talking about what comes next, Suzuki wrote, "I had a lot of options, and I wanted to be in...

Championship ekiden season kicks off Sunday with the Queens Ekiden , the corporate women's national championship race in Sendai, 42.195 km in 6 legs with 24 teams competing to make the 8-deep podium. TBS has the live broadcast starting at 11:50 a.m. local time, with streaming starting on Youtube at 12:10 p.m. Japan Post won its 4th national title last year, running down 2023 winner Sekisui Kagaku and CR holder Shiseido over the 2nd half of the race to take the win. Its entire lineup from last year returns, with a new addition to its 10-runner entry roster in former Meijo University captain Nanase Tanimoto . Sekisui Kagaku is missing one of its strongest people from last year, First Stage winner Erika Tanoura , but has picked up 2023 World University Games 5000 m bronze medalist Risa Yamazaki from Nittai University . A surprise 3rd last year, Shimamura also returns its entire lineup led by Anna Suzuki and Yuna Takahashi . Shiseido ended up 8th last year, the last place earnin...

On Oct. 1 the Daiichi Seimei corporate team announced that executive advisor and special head coach Sachiko Yamashita had retired from the company at the end of October. Yamashita, 61, was born in 1964. After working as a teacher she joined the corporate leagues as an athlete, going on to take silver in the marathon at the 1991 Tokyo World Championships. A year later she was 4th in the Barcelona Olympics marathon. Yamashita joined Daiichi Seimei as an athlete and coach n 1994, and after retiring from competition in 1996 became the team's head coach. As the team's coach she developed Olympians Yoshimi Ozaki , Tomomi Tanaka , Miyuki Uehara and Yuka Suzuki , and led the team to two Queens Ekiden national titles. In 2024 she stepped back from her leadership role to focus on coaching Suzuki. "For 31 years I've had the opportunity to take on a wide range of challenges in this sport that I love so much, and that was thanks to the support of many people," she said in p...

Sunday is the first big race of championship ekiden season, the Queens Ekiden in Sendai, the season-ending national championship for corporate women. 24 teams race 42.195 km in 6 legs, with the top 8 scoring places for 2025. TBS' live nationwide broadcast starts at 11:50, with multi-camera streaming on Youtube above. Last year Sekisui Kagaku won by almost a minute and a half, and with Paris Olympian Yuma Yamamoto , 2023 World Championships marathoner Sayaka Sato on its entry list and collegiate 1500 m record holder Mizuki Michishita having come on board this season it looks like a contender for another win. But last year's runner-up Japan Post got a big boost this season with the addition of its first non-Japanese member, two-time double 1500 m and 3000 m high school champion Caroline Kariba . The Queens Ekiden limits non-Japanese athletes to a 3.8 km leg, so it'd be tough for Kariba to bridge a 1:25 gap by herself with that little ground to work with. But what she can...

Sunday's Queens Ekiden is the season-ending national championship race for corporate women's teams, 6 legs totaling 42.195 km through the Sendai countryside. It's a pretty interesting race up front this year. Last year Shiseido shook off revelations of a toxic team culture to win for the first time since 2006, with 2021 winner Sekisui Kagaku 2nd and 2020 champ Japan Post 3rd. Shiseido has had an exodus since then, including head coach Yoshitaka Iwamizu and star runner Tomoka Kimura , who jumped ship to go to Sekisui Kagaku. It still has at least half a quality team, including Olympic marathon trials runner-up Mao Ichiyama , Kenyan Judy Jepngetich , women-only half marathon NR holder Rino Goshima and veteran Yuka Takashima , but the win will be tough. Sekisui Kagaku has the lineup to win, although that's due more to its budget that head coach Hidenori Noguchi 's abilities. Most of its A-team was either poached from other teams, Kimura from Shiseido and Rina Ku...

Sunday is the first big women's ekiden of the season, the Princess Ekiden in Sendai, the qualifying race for November's National Corporate Women's Ekiden Championships. The top 8 teams from last year's Nationals are already qualified, and at the Princess Ekiden another 16 will join them. 31 teams will be competing over 42.195 km in 6 stages, with the race broadcast live by TBS starting at 11:50 local time. Streaming will happen on Youtube, live results will be here , and JRN will be covering it live @JRNLive . Up near the front third of the field , the teams that made Nationals last year, the top 12 or so teams look pretty secure for qualifying. 11th at Nationals last year, Edion is looking especially strong with track Olympian Kaede Hagitani , 2:21:42 marathoner Ai Hosoda and new transfer from the Denso team Mikuni Yada , a 15:19.67/31:34.39 runner, on its entry list. Daiichi Seimei also has two solid new recruits from Daito Bunka University , Yuka Suzuki and Na...

Coming back from a scandal earlier this year in which a non-Japanese former team member spoke out about abusive behavior by male coaches toward the team's female athletes,  Shiseido  was back with what looked like a more positive team culture, dominating Sunday's Princess Ekiden with a course record win. Shiseido didn't quite lead start-to-finish, but it came close. Tomoka Kimura got it rolling with a 21:44 stage record on the 7.0 km opening leg, 38 seconds under the old record.  Former national champ Daiichi Seimei 's Hibiki Sakuragawa  broke the course record on the Second Stage to put her team 5 seconds ahead of Shiseido, but it didn't last long as on the next stage Shiseido's Naruha Sato  retook the lead and built up a margin that Shiseido's last three runners held. Anchor Kain Maeda  brought the team home in 2:16:41 for the full 42.195 km distance, 21 seconds under the previous course record and securing the team's place at next month's Queen...

The qualifying race for the Nov. 22 National Corporate Women's Ekiden took place Oct. 18 in Munakata, Fukuoka , with Sekisui Kagaku winning the six-stage, 42.195 km race for the second year in a row in 2:17:03 and the top fourteen teams qualifying. Two-time national champion Daiichi Seimei 's 21-year qualification streak was broken as it finished 15th. As the first national-level road race to take place since the start of the coronavirus crisis, teams were asked not to have their cheering squads along the course and other COVID countermeasures were put in place. On the ekiden's 7.0 km opening stage, Kako Okada , an athlete with the Kyocera team, collapsed less than 100 m from the first exchange zone and was unable to continue. Okada went into full-body convulsions and on-site medical staff called an ambulance. Hearing the news from the First Stage supervisor, the race's chief referee quickly made the decision to officially stop Okada. Two years ago another athlete su...

The DeNA Running Academy announced on June 10 that it will add a women's U-15 group aimed at junior high school students to its program beginning in August. Outsourcing the coaching to the Daiichi Seimei women's corporate team, the Tokyo branch of the program will be led by 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics marathoner Tomomi Tanaka , with former 5000 m national record holder Yasuko Harada handling the Hiratsuka program branch. Tanaka, who just retired from competition in February, commented, "I want to help develop athletes who can believe in the growth they are making toward achieving their dreams, and who will have the courage to take on the big challenges. I hope that this experience will help me continue to grow alongside them." The program is targeted toward girls in the first and second year of junior high school. Participants will be selected from among online applicants. For more information please see the program's website . source article: https://h...

Miyuki Uehara age: 23 sponsor: Daiichi Seimei graduated from: Kagoshima Joshi H.S. best time inside MGC window: 2:24:19, 9th, 2019 Nagoya Women’s Marathon PB: 2:24:19, 9th, 2019 Nagoya Women’s Marathon other PBs: 5000 m: 15:21.40 (2015) 10000 m: 31:38.80 (2016) half marathon: 1:09:13 (2017) marathons inside MGC window (Aug. 1 2017 – April 30 2019) 9th, 2019 Nagoya Women’s Marathon, 2:24:19 – PB 9th, 2018 Berlin Marathon, 2:25:46 other major results: 6th, 2019 Hakodate Half Marathon, 1:12:07 6th, 2019 Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon, 1:11:03 21st, 2018 National Corporate Women’s Ekiden Third Stage (10.9 km), 37:17 5th, 2018 National Championships 5000 m, 15:36.33 2nd, 2017 Sanyo Ladies Half Marathon, 1:09:13 – PB 24th, 2017 London World Championships 10000 m, 32:31.58 3rd, 2017 National Championships 10000 m, 31:48.81 15th, 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics 5000 m final, 15:34.99 2nd, 2016 Bolder Boulder 10 km, 34:16 Just 20 at the time, Uehara became only the s...

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20130217-00000003-mai-spo translated by Brett Larner 2009 World Championships women's marathon silver medalist Yoshimi Ozaki  (31, Team Daiichi Seimei) announced Feb. 16 that she will retire from competitive running following the Feb. 24 Tokyo Marathon.  Ozaki realized her dream of making the Olympics, finishing 19th at last summer's London Olympics.  After that, she said, "I didn't have any goals left in the marathon."  She plans to leave the Daiichi Seimei team to take some time off. Ozaki joined Daiichi Seimei in 2000 after graduating from Soyo H.S. in Kanagawa.  She began running marathons in 2008, and in her second shot at the distance she won the 2008 Tokyo International Women's Marathon in what remained her PB, 2:23:30.  Of her nine marathons she won twice and finished 2nd four times, earning a reputation for consistency.  In addition to the Olympics she ran in the 2009 and 2011 World Championships.  ...

http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/athletics/news/f-sp-tp0-20120322-921519.html translated by Brett Larner A member of last summer's World Championships women's marathon team, Azusa Nojiri (29) is set to leave her sponsor Team Daiichi Seimei according to a statement from a connected party on Mar. 22.  Nojiri plans to leave the team at the end of March but will not retire from competition. According to Daiichi Seimei, Nojiri told the team management, "Now that my shot at the Olympics is over I want to take some time off.  I need to change my environment to keep becoming a more competitive athlete."  The team office accepted her resignation.  Nojiri does not yet have a new sponsor lined up but is exploring her options including the possibility of running as an independent. A native of Toyama prefecture, Nojiri was an international-level cross-country skiier who competed at the World University Games and a champion mountain runner before switching her focus to ...

by Brett Larner Less than a month after her disappointing loss at the Yokohama International Women's Marathon, 2009 World Championships marathon silver medalist Yoshimi Ozaki  bounced back to put Team Daiichi Seimei  ahead on the First Stage of the National Corporate Women's Ekiden Championships .  The team never relinquished its frontrunning position, riding the lead all the way to the end as rookie anchor Tomomi Tanaka  won her stage to bring Daiichi Seimei back in 2:17:17 in the Championships' first running in its new home of Sendai.  East Japan region teams dominated the day, taking the top three spots. Despite a challenging, uphill course with a prevailing headwind, the upper end of the field shaped up very closely to the pre-race rankings, with three of the top four running within 8 seconds of their times at the regional qualifiers.  Daiichi Seimei was 4 seconds faster, runner up Team Panasonic  was 8 seconds slower, and 4th-place Team T...

http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/news/20101219k0000m050023000c.html http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/flash/KFullFlash20101219100.html http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2010/12/19/06.html http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/101220/spg1012200504000-n1.htm translated and edited by Brett Larner Team Daiichi Seimei head coach Sachiko Yamashita has announced that 2009 World Championships marathon silver medalist Yoshimi Ozaki will run February's second edition of the Yokohama International Women's Marathon. Ozaki was absent from Sunday's National Jitsugyodan Women's Ekiden after falling and injuring her right kneecap during a workout in late November, but according to a member of Daiichi Seimei's coaching staff the injury was minor and has not had a lasting effect. Ozaki intends to go for a PB in Yokohama, which has seen a course change since its first edition in 2008 to minimize repetition of the bridges on the previous circuit course. In related news, Athens Olympics ...