japan running news

by Brett Larner photos by Dr. Helmut Winter This was one for everybody who has ever dreamed big. For its 70th running the Fukuoka International Marathon brought together a good 2:07~2:08 field with two-time champ and former world record holder Patrick Makau (Kenya), 2015 World Championships silver medalist Yemane Tsegaye (Ethiopia), debuting sub-60 half marathoner Paul Kuira (Kenya/Team Konica Minolta) and more, but for most viewers it was all about Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't). Kawauchi, the most famous Japanese marathoner of his time, having announced that this would be the last time he would run to try to make a Japanese national team, going for the London World Championships after having missed two Olympic teams.  An injury to his right calf three weeks ago after training too hard too soon after his runner-up finish at the Nov. 6 Porto Marathon , then a sprained left ankle yesterday in his last tuneup run. Everyone around him telling him not to run. ...

by Brett Larner For its first running following the launch of the new mass-participation Fukuoka Marathon on Nov. 9, the hallowed Fukuoka International Marathon has pulled in former world record holder Patrick Makau (Kenya) to make a go at a comeback against 2013 winner Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) and surprise 2012 winner Joseph Gitau (Kenya/Team JFE Steel) in its 68th edition on Dec. 7.  Until this summer Makau hadn't run at quality over any distance since 2012, but a sub-28 road 10k in the U.S.A. in August suggests he has been getting back toward full fitness, something he'll need to bring to compete against Mathathi and Gitau.  2:06:24 Ethiopian Raji Assefa is a potential darkhorse, #2 on paper but without a good marathon to his name since running his PB in 2012. Kentaro Nakamoto (Team Yasukawa Denki), 6th in the London Olympics and 5th in the Moscow World Championships, leads the domestic hopes alongside 2:08 Moscow teammate Masakazu Fujiwara (T...

http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2012111400668 http://www.asahi.com/sports/update/1114/SEB201211140011.html translated and edited by Brett Larner The Fukuoka International Marathon organizers announced Nov. 14 that three-time London Marathon winner Martin Lel (Kenya), with a best time of 2:05:15, and five other overseas athletes have been added to the elite field for the Dec. 2 race.  The other late additions include London Olympics marathoner Scott Overall (Great Britain), Canadian 10000 m national record holder Simon Bairu and Americans Tim Nelson ,  Ryan Vail , and Brent Vaughan . All six athletes were scheduled to run the New York City Marathon which was cancelled after a major hurricane hit the east coast of the United States. 2012 Fukuoka International Marathon Elite Field Fukuoka, 12/2/12 field listing includes select general division entrants Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) - 2:03:59 Martin Lel (Kenya) - 2:05:15 Dmytro Baranovskyy (Ukr...

by Brett Larner Domestic favorite Yuki Kawauchi declaring his readiness to go for a PB, at the Fukuoka pre-race press conference, Dec. 2. The 65th annual Fukuoka International Marathon is set for this Sunday, Dec. 4, an all-important Olympic selection race for Japanese men and the last chance of the year for the small international field to set an Olympic-standard time.  The race will be broadcast live and nationwide starting at noon Japan time on TV Asahi.  If you're not in Japan to see it you should still be able to watch live online via Keyhole TV.   Click here for more on getting and using the Keyhole player.   Local broadcaster KBC should also have live splits available on its Fukuoka website . What kind of race can we expect?  In the last five years Fukuoka has followed a consistent pattern of one marquee athlete (Haile Gebrselassie, Samuel Wanjiru, Tsegay Kebede, Jaouad Gharib), a small padding of second-tier foreign competition, and the domestic ...

by Brett Larner Race broadcaster KBC has published the sixteen-man elite field for the 65th anniversary of the Fukuoka International Marathon , scheduled for Dec. 4.  The first of the three domestic selection races for the Japanese men's marathon team for the London Olympics, Fukuoka's organizers have gone an unusual route in setting up the overseas field with not a single invited Kenyan or Ethiopian athlete.  2005 Fukuoka winner Dmytro Baranovskyy  (Ukraine) has run the fastest three times of his career in Fukuoka and returns to lead the foreign contingent along with Russian national record holder Aleksei Sokolov  and last year's runner-up Dmitriy Safronov , also Russian. Moroccan Ridouane Harroufi  is the lone African among the invited athletes.  Perhaps of greatest interest, Ireland's Alistair Cragg  will be looking to finish his first marathon with a mark that does justice to his excellent 1:00:49 half marathon from this past spring.   Fran...

by Brett Larner photos by Dr. Helmut Winter Jaouad Gharib wins the 2010 Fukuoka International Marathon. Click photo for video highlights of the race or click here to visit race broadcaster KBC's Fukuoka site for more photos. The top-seeded man in the field at the 2010 Fukuoka International Marathon , Beijing Olympics silver medalist and two-time World Champion Jaouad Gharib (Morocco) completed four straight years of Fukuoka domination by the Beijing medalists, running 2:08:24 to join Beijing gold medalist Samuel Wanjiru (Kenya) and Beijing bronze medalist Tsegaye Kebede (Ethiopia) in the Fukuoka winner's club. On a cloudless day with temperatures approaching 20 degrees most of the field wilted in the heat, but proven heat runner Gharib had little difficulty dispatching the competition even if he was not completely immune to the temperature effects. After a slower than planned first 5 km a ponytailed Kenta Oshima (Team Nissin Shokuhin) injected a bit of speed by running ahe...

by Brett Larner If it's the first Sunday in December then at last it's time for the last first-rate marathon of the year on the worldwide calendar, the Fukuoka International Marathon. Overseas viewers should be able to watch the live Japanese television broadcast on TV Asahi 12:00-2:30 p.m. Japan time on Dec. 5 via Keyhole TV by clicking here . Scroll down to the bottom of this article for a field listing with bib numbers and links to course maps. Long Japan's most respected elite men's marathon, Fukuoka has stayed relevant in recent years by investing significant capital in bringing in one or two marquee athletes to deliver the goods with a supporting cast of top Japanese runners and second-tier internationals. Culminating in Ethiopian great Tsegay Kebede 's 2:05:18 course record last year, the last four years have seen world record holder Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) and all three Beijing Olympics medalists, Samuel Wanjiru (Kenya), Jaouad Gharib (Morocco) and ...

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/flash/KFullFlash20101118070.html http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/news/20101119k0000m050060000c.html translated and edited by Brett Larner On Nov. 18 Rikuren announced the elite field for this year's Fukuoka International Marathon scheduled for Dec. 5, the first of the domestic selection races for the 2011 World Championships marathon in Daegu, Korea. Beijing Olympics silver medalist and two-time World Championships gold medalist Jaouad Gharib (Morocco) leads the overseas invited field while a large group of Japanese elites will vie for a World Championships berth. The domestic field includes 2005 World Championships marathon bronze medalist Tsuyoshi Ogata (Team Chugoku Denryoku), 2009 World Championships marathon team member Satoshi Irifune (Team Kanebo), 5000 m and 30 km national record holder Takayuki Matsumiya (Team Konica Minolta), and in his marathon debut 3000 mSC national record holder Yoshitaka Iwamizu (Team Fujitsu). Gharib will be run...

Kebede makes history. Click photo for video highlights of the 2009 Fukuoka International Marathon. Click here for lo-res version. by Brett Larner Beijing Olympics and Berlin World Championships double bronze medalist, defending champion and Japanese all-comers record holder Tsegaye Kebede of Ethiopia lived up to expectations and more with a history-making 2:05:18 win at the 2009 Fukuoka International Marathon . Kebede's time was a PB by two seconds and a new course and new Japanese all-comers record, no doubt pleasing race organizers and his accountant by keeping Fukuoka among the world's very best courses. Most significantly, though, Kebede's performance was the 10th of the year to break 2:06, the first time the top ten fastest times of the year have cleared this former barrier. Coming in the last first-rate marathon of the year worldwide, it seals 2009 as the start of a new era in men's marathoning. Kebede breaks the sound barrier. Click photo for more great pictures,...

http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/general/track/news/20091120k0000m050095000c.html translated and edited by Brett Larner On Nov. 19 the organizing committee for the 63rd annual Fukuoka International Marathon , a domestic selection race for next November's Asian Games in China, announced the elite field for this year's Dec. 6 race. The seven overseas invited elites are led by last year's winner, Beijing Olympics bronze medalist Tsegaye Kebede (Ethiopia). In Fukuoka last year Kebede set the course and Japanese all-comers' record of 2:06:10. In April he went on to finish 2nd in the London Marathon in a PB of 2:05:20, ranking him at #9 on the all-time list. Among those facing Kebede are 2008 Chicago Marathon winner Evans Cheruiyot (Kenya), 2005 Fukuoka winner Dmytro Baranovskyy (Ukraine) and top Eritrean runner Yonas Kifle. Japan-based Kenyan Mekubo Mogusu (Team Aidem), a popular Hakone Ekiden star while at Yamanashi Gakuin University, will be making his marathon debut off his...

by Brett Larner Updated 3/21/09 to reflect athlete withdrawals. The 2009 Tokyo Marathon is the first marathon in Japan to publicly announce significant prize money, the first A-level marathon to host both elite men's and women's fields, and the final domestic selection race for the 2009 World Championships men's marathon team. On paper the men's race has attracted a respectable field, with four runners posting best times under 2:07 and ten under 2:09. The reality is that almost all are aging veterans, with only four runners in the field having broken 2:10 within the last two years. The chance may be there for a first-timer or little-known name to step up for the win. Among the overseas entrants, most eyes will be on Sammy Korir (Kenya). Korir is the third-fastest man ever in the marathon with a PB of 2:04:56 from Berlin 2003. A past winner of the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, he ran the 2007 Tokyo Marathon but dropped out near 16 km, sitting out the rest of the year w...

http://www.shikoku-np.co.jp/sports/local/article.aspx?id=20080301000085 translated by Brett Larner For those who want to make the Beijing Olympics men's marathon team, Sunday's Biwako Mainichi Marathon is the last chance. Team Chugoku Denryoku's Tsuyoshi Ogata, who was 5th at last summer's World Championships, and Atsushi Sato, who was 3rd at December's Fukuoka International Marathon, are both likely to be picked for the team. After these runners remained 2 races to decide the 3rd man. At the Tokyo Marathon, Arata Fujiwara (Team JR East Japan) ran 2:08:40 to finish 2nd and make Biwako the object of intense observation. The favorite for top Japanese in Biwako is Satoshi Osaki (Team NTT West Japan). At the World Championships last summer he was 6th, leading some to advise him to sit out the selection races and hope for a slot. Having finished in the top 3 in 6 of his 8 marathons, Osaki was unsatsified with his World Championships result and went back into trainin...

http://www.asahi.com/sports/update/0219/OSK200802190031.html http://www.sponichi.co.jp/osaka/spor/200802/20/spor207728.html translated and edited by Brett Larner The organizing committee of final selection race for the Beijing Olympics men's marathon team, the Mar. 2nd Biwako Mainichi Marathon , on Feb. 19 announced the field for this year's race. Headlining the field with a 2:08:46 PB is Osaka World Championships 6th place finisher and 2006 Asian Games bronze medalist Satoshi Osaki (Team NTT Nishi Nihon). Joining him are Osaka World Championships teammates Tomoyuki Sato and Mitsuru Kubota, both of Team Asahi Kasei. Overseas competitors include Osaka World Championships silver medalist Mubarak Hassan Shami (Qatar) and 4th place finisher Yared Asmeron (Eritrea), as well as 2-time Biwako winner Jose Rios (Spain) and past Fukuoka International Marathon winner Dmytro Baranovsky (Ukraine) who holds a PB of 2:07:15. 2007 Fukuoka 3rd place finisher Atsushi Sato leads the standings to ...