japan running news

by Brett Larner 2014 Incheon Asian Games marathoner Eri Hayakawa (Team Toto) ran Sunday's Rock 'n' Roll San Diego Half Marathon, finishing 3rd in 1:14:10 behind American Rio Olympics marathoners Shalane Flanagan and Amy Cragg .  Japan's Eri Okubo ran into trouble early at Saturday's Stockholm Marathon, dropping out just halfway through the race.  Okubo started slow, averaging around 4:00/km through 15 km, before dropping to slower than 6:00/km through 20 km and then dropping out.  Jane Moraa Onyangi (Kenya) won the women's race in 2:31:46, with countryman Stanley Kipchirchir Koech taking the men's race in 2:10:58. Ai Utsunomiya (Team Miyazaki Ginko) had more success in the Czech Republic, finishing 4th in the women's race at the Mattoni České Budějovice Half Marathon in 1:13:57.  Ashete Bekere (Ethiopia) won in 1:10:40.  Two of Japan's better male athletes, London Olympian Kentaro Nakamoto (Team Yasukawa Denki) and 2016 National XC Champi...

http://www.iaaf.org/news/report/nagano-marathon-2015-chirchir-toroitich

by Brett Larner An alternate for Aoyama Gakuin University 's course record-setting team at last week's Hakone Ekiden , 18-year-old Yuta Shimoda led the field with a 1:03:16 course record at the 42nd running of the Takanezawa Genki Up Half Marathon on Jan. 11 in Takanezawa, Tochigi.  Shimoda's time was a PB by over 3 minutes and was enough to beat fellow AGU first-year alternate Yuki Nakamura by more than 45 seconds.  AGU runners took the top four spots, with Hakone 6th-placer Tokai University alternate Ryunosuke Hayashi 5th in 1:04:28, also under the old course record.  Nami Iwahara (Gazelle AC) won the women's division in 1:23:22. Course records also fell at the Oita City Half Marathon in Kyushu.  2014 Kita-Kyushu Marathon winner Yuka Yano led a Canon AC Kyushu sweep of the top four spots in the women's race with a course record 1:13:41.  Ethiopian Melaku Aberu , a runner for the locally-based Kurosaki Harima team, outran Oita native and sub-2:1...

http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/athletics/news/f-sp-tp0-20141019-1384249.html translated by Brett Larner 1229 people ran in the 39th edition of the Takashimadaira Nikkan Sports Road Race Oct. 19 on a 5 km loop course in Takashimadaira, Tokyo.  In the men's open division, last year's winner Benjamin Ngandu (23, Team Monteroza) ran solo from the first lap to defend his title in 1:00:01.  His next race is the Dec. 7 Fukuoka Marathon, where he made an unsuccessful debut last year.  "This year I want to break 2:10," he said with conviction. 39th Takashimadaira Nikkan Sports Road Race Takashimadaira, Tokyo, 10/19/14 Men's 20 km 1. Benjamin Ngandu (Kenya/Team Monteroza) - 1:00:01 2. Shohei Hayakawa (Teikyo Univ.) - 1:00:14 3. Yuta Takahashi (Teikyo Univ.) - 1:00:21 4. Yusei Tsutsumi (Teikyo Univ.) - 1:00:22 5. Takayuki Tsuchiya (Tokai Univ.) - 1:00:29 6. Hiroki Takemoto (Teikyo Univ.) - 1:00:30 7. Kenta Ando (Tokai Univ.) - 1:00:38 8. Kodai Matsushit...

by Brett Larner The Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon leads this weekend’s Japanese road action, in just its fourth year already surpassing the long-running Sendai International Half Marathon as Japan’s leading late-spring half. With the withdrawal of 2011-2012 Gifu winner  Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC), who sat out the London Marathon with an injury following his 1:00:11 win at February’s Marugame Half, last year’s winner and world record holder Zersenay Tadese (Eritrea), 4th at this year’s World Half Marathon Championships in 59:38, returns to face #1-ranked Japan-based Kenyan  Bedan Karoki  (DeNA RC), winner of March’s Lisbon Half in 59:58 in his half marathon debut.  With the aggressive Karoki in the race and good weather the lead pack should have a good shot at bettering Tadese’s course record of 1:00:31. Making up that lead pack are last year’s 3rd, 5th and 6th-placers Jacob Wanjuki (Kenya/Team Aichi Seiko), Abayneh Ayele (Ethiopia/Team...

by Brett Larner The organizers of the Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon have put together one of the best men's fields in a Japanese half in recent memory for the race's fourth running on May 18.  World record holder Zersenay Tadese  (Eritrea) returns after running a course record 1:00:31 last year to beat 2011-2012 winner Martin Mathathi  (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC).  Mathathi is also back to go for a third title after sitting out the London Marathon with a minor injury.  The big addition to the mix is Bedan Karoki (Kenya/DeNA RC), who made a successful transition to longer distances with a 59:58 debut to win the 2014 Lisbon Half despite problems in the early going. Mekubo Mogusu (Kenya/Team Nissin Shokuhin) joins them under the hour mark as a top contender on paper, but with a recent best of only 1:01:54 it would take a pretty major return to form for him to compete with the three big names. Also notable is the debut of 27:13 man Edward Waweru  (Kenya/Tea...

http://www.iaaf.org/news/preview/ryoko-kizaki-2014-nagoya-womens-marathon-iaaf The last of Japan's major winter/early spring marathons, the Nagoya Women's Marathon kicks off at 9:00 a.m. Japan time on Sunday, Mar. 9.  JRN will cover the race live on Twitter @JRNLive .  Overseas viewers should be able to watch Fuji TV's live broadcast via Keyhole TV , for which a premium key is recommended for reliable quality.  Unofficial live streaming may be available on any of a number of overseas streaming sites . Also newsworthy is Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) in the mass-participation Nagoya Half Marathon that accompanies the women-only marathon.  Kawauchi entered the half through the regular online lottery and was among those who won places in the field. 2014 Nagoya Women's Marathon Nagoya, 3/9/14 click here for detailed field listing 1. Mariya Konovalova (Russia) - 2:22:46 (Chicago 2013) 2. Jelena Prokopcuka (Latvia) - 2:22:56 (Osaka Women's 2...

http://www.iaaf.org/news/report/fourth-japanese-marathon-victory-for-mayorova

by Brett Larner Yukiko Akaba  (Team Hokuren) and Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) lived up to pre-race talk as they won the women's and men's divisions at the 35th running of the Gold Coast Airport Marathon .  In a moderate headwind over the opening 15.5 km that grew in strength as the morning progressed, Akaba ran a characteristically controlled and steady race, ignoring the fast early pace set by Kenyans Alice Ngerechi and Helen Mugo  and going out at a steady 2:27 course record pace before picking it up over the second half of the race aided by the growing tailwind.  By 25 km she had overtaken Mugo, Ngerechi's turn coming just minutes later. Rounding the second turnaround at 36.5 km Akaba suffered in the now-stronger headwind and her pace dropped, but she was never in danger of missing the antique 2:29:29 course record set 20 years ago by Eriko Asai .  Akaba took more than two minutes off that record, setting a new mark of 2:27:17.   "I didn'...

by Brett Larner In its 35th edition the Gold Coast Airport Marathon makes its debut as an IAAF bronze label event, the first Australian race to earn an IAAF label.  Both the women's and men's races feature fields worthy of an even higher level, and on both sides course records look likely. The clear favorite in the women's race is this year's London Marathon 3rd-placer Yukiko Akaba  (Team Hokuren).  Having been left off the Japanese World Championships team in favor of two empty seats, Akaba told JRN that she came to Gold Coast to go for the 20 year-old 2:29:29 course record in a moderate mid-summer effort ahead of an ambitious fall. Speaking later at the press conference she commented, "The field is a lot better than I expected and so getting the win will be a challenge, but I'll be going for the course record either way and hopefully that will put me up front."  Asked whether the $20,000 bonus for clearing  Naoko Takahashi 's 2:23:14 Aus...

by Brett Larner photo courtesy of Gold Coast Airport Marathon The Gold Coast Airport Marathon has announced that it has recruited its best-ever lineup of elite Japanese athletes for this year's running on July 7.  Passed over for the Moscow World Championships despite running 2:24:43 for 3rd at April's London Marathon, Yukiko Akaba  (Team Hokuren) is a coup for organizers and should make short work of Eriko Asai 's twenty-year-old course record of 2:29:29.  Hoping to join her is Sydney Marathon course record holder  Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't), 4th in last year's race in 2:13:26 and looking to improve on both his placing and the 2:10:01 men's record in his last marathon before the World Championships.  If both are successful it will be the first Japanese sweep since 2007. Eri Okubo  set her best of 2:26:08 at last year's Tokyo Marathon and will be making her first major appearance since quitting the Second Wind AC team earlier this spring. ...

http://swac.jp/news.shtml http://sw-ac.jugem.jp/?eid=2656 translated by Brett Larner photo by Dr. Helmut Winter Our sincerest thank you to all of Second Wind AC's regular supporters.  Our club athlete Eri Okubo has decided to leave Second Wind AC at the end of March. Following her departure from Second Wind AC she plans to continue to pursue her own personal goals in a new environment.  Okubo has posted a personal statement about her decision to leave on the Second Wind AC blog.  We hope that all of you will continue to support and encourage her as she follows her dream and thank each of you for the encouragement you have given up to now. Okubo's statement: Thank you to everyone who has helped me and supported me. Unfortunately, I dropped out of Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon.  Thank you to all of my regular fans and to everyone who came out to cheer along the course.  I am truly sorry that I was not able to live up to your expectations and that I...

by Brett Larner Switching last year to a mass-participation format and billing itself as the world's largest women-only marathon, the Nagoya Women's Marathon returns this year as the final domestic selection race for the Moscow World Championships team.  Relative to its male counterpart, last weekend's Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Nagoya's domestic field is somewhat impoverished, all the more so with the regrettably foreseeable withdrawal of 2012 Osaka International Women's Marathon winner Risa Shigetomo  (Team Tenmaya) with injury, and with all but one of the Japanese women in the field coming in at the 2:26 level or above it is hard to see there being a serious bid for the Federation's 2:23:59 time requirement for automatic nomination to the Moscow team. That one person is of course national record holder and Athens Olympics gold medalist Mizuki Noguchi  (Team Sysmex), who for the second year in a row pulled out of Osaka in January and refocused on Nagoya...

by Brett Larner In its second year as a mass-participation women-only marathon the Mar. 10 Nagoya Women's Marathon released its elite field on Feb. 21.  For Japanese women it is the last chance to make the 2013 World Championships in a domestic race, with Boston and London remaining within in the qualifying window.  National record holder Mizuki Noguchi  (Team Sysmex) tops the list after having pulled out of the Osaka International Women's Marathon for the second year in a row.  She made a comeback to the marathon in Nagoya last year after her Osaka pullout.  Will she start in Nagoya this year?  Place your bets now.  London Olympians Risa Shigetomo  (Team Tenmaya) and Ryoko Kizaki (Team Daihatsu), both winners of other domestic women's marathons, and last year's Tokyo Marathon 4th-placer Eri Okubo  (Second Wind AC) round out the top end of the domestic field. The overseas field is strong.  Kenyan  Georgina Rono  looks lik...

A press release from the NYRR: New York, September 19, 2012 — Two-time champion Marilson Gomes dos Santos of Brazil and three-time Olympian Kayoko Fukushi of Japan will add fierce competition to the already stacked men’s and women’s fields in the 2012 ING New York City Marathon. Joining Gomes dos Santos in the men’s race will be Olympic marathoners Abderrahime Bouramdane of Morocco and Great Britain’s Scott Overall . 2011 runner-up Buzunesh Deba of Ethiopia and national record-holders Valeria Straneo of Italy and Adriana Da Silva of Brazil will add to the women’s field, it was announced today by New York Road Runners president and CEO Mary Wittenberg. 2011 winner Masazumi Soejima of Japan and runner-up Shelly Woods of Great Britain were announced for the men’s and women’s wheelchair races. Nationally, the telecast will be available on ESPN2, online at WatchESPN.com, and—for fans who receive their video subscription from an affiliated provider—on smartphones and tablets vi...

2012 Bolder Boulder 10 km - Top Women's Results Boulder, CO, 5/28/12 click here for complete results 1. Mamitu Daska (Ethiopia) - 33:06 2. Janet Cherobon-Bawcom (U.S.A.) - 33:23 3. Deena Kastor (U.S.A.) - 33:28 4. Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal) - 33:32 5. Ashu Kasim (Ethiopia) - 34:03 6. Alemitu Abera (Ethiopia) - 34:16 7. Marisol Romero (Mexico) - 34:25 8. Genoveva Kigen (Kenya) - 34:43 9. Adrianna Nelson (U.S.A.) - 34:55 10. Benita Willis (Australia) - 34:58 ----- 19. Yuko Watanabe (Team Edion) - 36:01 30. Eri Okubo (Second Wind AC) - 39:59

http://jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2012052000089 translated and edited by Brett Larner In the race's second running, held May 20, 2007 Osaka World Championships 10000 m bronze medalist Martin Mathathi  (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) won his second-straight Naoko Takahashi Cup Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon in a time of 1:01:29.  London Olympics marathon team member Arata Fujiwara  (Miki House) was the top Japanese finisher, 6th overall in 1:03:05, while civil servant runner Yuki Kawauchi  (Saitama Pref.) was 12th in 1:04:13. Both Fujiwara and Kawauchi ran last weekend's Sendai International Half Marathon as well, with Fujiwara marking a faster time in Gifu.  "Running consistently two weeks in a row makes me feel like I've got the risks involved with what I want to do [at the Olympics] under control," said Fujiwara of his performance, which confirmed that he is able to produce desired results even under unfavorable conditions.  To simulate the heat he is l...

by Brett Larner photos by Dr. Helmut Winter In ideal conditions verging on the cold side, the 2012 Tokyo Marathon played out to the patient, with top three women Atsede Habtamu (Ethiopia), Yeshi Esayias (Ethiopia) and Helena Loshanyang Kirop (Kenya) and top three men Michael Kipyego Kipkorir (Kenya), Arata Fujiwara (Tokyo T&F Assoc.) and Stephen Kiprotich (Uganda) all running down the early leaders in the final kilometers to finish on the podium. Habtamu ran 2:25:28 for the Tokyo women's course record, while 4th-place woman  Eri Okubo  (Second Wind AC) ran a PB of 2:26:08, faster than the winning time at the Yokohama International Women's Marathon Olympic selection race, after setting off alone at 2:22 pace.  Kipyego, Fujiwara and Kiprotich all ran under 2:08, Kipyego taking the win in 2:07:37 and Fujiwara becoming the all-time 7th-best Japanese man with a 2:07:48 PB, the fastest time by a Japanese man in over four years. Breakaway men's leaders Haile...

by Brett Larner all photos by Dr. Helmut Winter Update: Last year's 4th place finisher Yoshinori Oda (Team Toyota) has withdrawn with lower back pain problems. The most anticipated Japanese marathon in years is here.  The second of three Japanese men's selection races for the London Olympics, the 2012 Tokyo Marathon looks set to get them back on track with the fast times that have dried up since Beijing.  The women's race is competitive despite an almost total absence of elite Japanese women, and former marathon world record holder Haile Gebrselassie is slated to try for what would undoubtedly be his final Olympic appearance. It's going to be a big day, and the weather looks good at this stage. You can follow along with Nihon TV's broadcast via Keyhole TV or via JRN's live Twitter commentary @JRNLive , both beginning at 9:00 a.m. Japan time on Sunday. Going for 2:25, Eri Okubo (Second Wind AC). Looking first at the women's race, it seems s...