japan running news

Real estate company Makes has announced on its team website that its men's corporate team will be disbanded at the end of March. The team was launched in April, 2021 with the twin missions of "becoming #1 in the world in the marathon" and "getting society excited." Based in Yoga in suburban Tokyo, Makes currently has 7 athletes on its roster. Its coaching staff includes head coach Tsukasa Endo , a 1988 Seoul Olympics 10000 m runner, and assistant coaches Julius Gitahi , a 2000 Sydney Olympian in the 5000 m, and former Meiji University and Konica Minolta standout Masato Kikuchi . Original team members included Tokai University grad Shota Onizuka , who later transferred to M&A Best Partners . Current member Ryosuke Harada took 6th at last May's East Japan Corporate Track and Field Championships, but despite success there and in other road races, Makes didn't run November's East Japan Corporate Ekiden, the regional qualifying race for the Jan....

The Night of the 10000 m PBs meet in the U.K. got most of the hype for good reason, but winner Paul Chelimo 's 27:12.73 wasn't the fastest time run worldwide this weekend. That belonged to fastest-ever 10-mile man Benard Koech (Kyudenko). who won the Kyushu Region Corporate Championships 10000 m in 27:07.71. Koech had already cleared the Budapest World Championships qualifying standard with a 26:55.04 PB last October at Nittai University, but his season best run in Kyushu was enough to rank him 4th globally this season. Between Kyushu, the Chugoku Region Corporate Championships and East Japan Region Corporate Championships , a total of six Japan-based Kenyans went sub-28. Ren Tazawa (Toyota) was the only Japanese man to do it, running a 27:40.40 for 5th at the Night of the 10000 m PBs that would have beaten everyone back home but Koech by 10 seconds or more. Corporate Half champ Dolphine Nyaboke Omare (U.S.E.) had the fastest women's 10000 m between the three meets at...

It's a busy weekend on the track across the country. In long distance action the main event is Sunday's 10000 m national championships , held this year a month and a half before the rest of the National Track and Field Championships in an effort to help people produce better performances to maximize their world rankings points. The 10000 m will be held in Osaka's Nagai Stadium just after the Golden Grand Prix Osaka meet, which maxes out this time around with the 3000 m steeplechase. 22 women are entered in the 10000 m including 6 of the 7 who have cleared the 31:50.00 Doha World Championships standard and the only one who has cleared the 31:25.00 Tokyo Olympics standard. That would be the currently world-ranked #3 Hitomi Niiya (Nike Tokyo TC), who lapped 2nd place the last time she ran Nationals back in 2013 en route to a still-standing championships record 31:06.67. #16-ranked Ayuko Suzuki (Japan Post), jointly #22-ranked Kaori Morita (Panasonic) and Mizuki Matsud...

by Brett Larner A second-straight weekend of regional track and field championship meets takes place across Japan this weekend. The highlight is the second half of Japan's most competitive university meet, the Kanto Regional University Track & Field Championships, featuring the men's and women's 5000 m and men's half-marathon.  Kanto is relatively weak for women's running, but four women entered in the 5000 m have bests under 16 minutes and another half-dozen are close so look for a quality race between defending champion Mai Shinozuka  (Chuo Univ.),  Nanaka Izawa  (Juntendo Univ.),  Azusa Kurusu  (Juntendo Univ.), twins Haruka  and Moe Kyuma  (Tsukuba Univ.),    Narumi Shirataki  (Hakuoh Univ.) and more. Having already won the Division 1 1500 m and 10000 m titles last weekend, Kenyan 1st-yr Enoch Omwamba  (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) will be looking to complete the triple crown in the D1 5000 m where he will face th...

by Brett Larner The corporate regional spring track championships wrapped up this weekend with the East Japan Jitsugyodan T&F Championships in hot, humid and windy Kumagaya, Saitama. The big news at the meet came in the women's 5000 m, where 10000 m junior national record holder Megumi Kinukawa (Team Mizuno) emerged from nearly four years of illness and injury to take her first competitive win in memory, running 15:37.50 to beat Kenyan Felista Wanjugu (Team Univ. Ent.) and World Championships marathon team leader Yoshimi Ozaki (Team Daiichi Seimei). Although still short of a World Championships B-standard, Kinukawa's run was her first time under 15:40 in almost four years and a large step in the right direction ahead of next month's National T&F Championships. After the race Kinukawa, who was a star at Sendai Ikuei H.S. at the same time as the late Samuel Wanjiru (Kenya), told journalist Tatsuo Terada , "I didn't think I was ready to run like this. ...

http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/p-sp-tp0-20090420-485059.html http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2009/04/20/08.html translated and edited by Brett Larner 2009 World Championships women's marathon team member Yoko Shibui (30, Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) has cancelled her planned spring track debut in the Apr. 26 Hyogo Relay Carnival 10000 m. Shibui returned to Japan on Apr. 19 following two weeks at a training camp in Kunming, China. Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo head coach Shigeharu Watanabe commented, "Yoko felt some discomfort on the back of her left thigh while training in Kunming on the 15th. She has cut back to just jogging. This is only a precautionary move and there is no serious injury." Shibui's spring debut will instead shift to the East Japan Jitsugyodan Track and Field Championships in Yamagata on May 16 and 17 where she plans to run the 5000 m and 10000 m. Translator's note: Shibui also sat out last month's Matsue Ladies Half Marathon as ...

http://www.sanspo.com/sports/top/sp200805/sp2008051808.html http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/olympic/2008/news/track/long/news/20080518-OYT1T00443.htm?from=nwla translated and edited by Brett Larner Translator`s note: I had previously posted the article about Shibui`s 10000 m performance but just came across the news of her impressive double in the next day`s 5000 m. Shibui is only the second Japanese woman to qualify for the 5000 m in Beijing, raising the possibility that she will double in the Olympics. On the first day of the East Japan Jitsugyodan Track and Field Championships, held May 17th and 18th at Kumagaya Sports Park`s Track and Field Grounds, women`s 10000 m national record holder Yoko Shibui (29, Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) ran a new meet record of 31:21.92 to break the Beijing Olympics A-standard (31:45.00) for the second time. On the second day of the meet, Shibui ran 15:20.13 to set another meet record in the women`s 5000 m. Her time also met the Olympic B-standard (15:24.00). ...