japan running news

The Ohtawara Marathon and 10 km took place Nov. 23 at DI Stadium in Ohtawara, Tochigi. 2803 people started the marathon at 10:00 a.m., with 2354 people finishing for a finisher rate of 84.0%. The race has a cutoff time of 4 hours, and all participants are able to use special drink tables. Most years there is a headwind blowing from the mountains of Nasu in the 2nd half of the race, but this year there was almost no wind and cloudy skies. Itto Otawa , a 23-year-old Tochigi local, won the men's marathon in a 2:13:04 course record. Otawa ran this year's Hakone Ekiden for Senshu University , placing 15th on the Ninth Stage. After graduating in March he was hired by the Shimotsuke Newspaper in Tochigi, where he works as a reporter. In August he ran a PB of 2:16:29 at the Hokkaido Marathon. "At work I'm mainly in charge of the Nikko beat," Otawa said. "My goal in Ohtawara this time was to break the course record. I've run a PB every time so far in the marathon...

The Kumanichi 30 km and Ome 30 km were the two big road races this past weekend, but there were at least 5 big mass-participation marathons with decent semi-elite results Sunday too. The Kyoto Marathon saw the fastest times of the weekend, with local boy Yuma Morii beating Yudai Fukuda 2:16:19 to 2:16:50 to win. Fuka Hirokawa won the women's race by over 3 minutes in 2:45:09, but 3rd-placer Miyu Fukada had a much faster net time, 2:41:09 versus her gun time of 2:50:16. It's not clear why she started so far back. The Kumamoto Castle Marathon had a great race up front between last year's winner and CR holder Hiroaki Furukawa and Hyuga Abe . Abe missed Furukawa's CR by 12 seconds but beat Furukawa by 14, going 2:16:26 to 2:16:40. Michiru Kato won out over the ageless Mai Fujisawa in the women's race, winning in 2:45:32 to Fujisawa's 2:47:11. Veterans dominated at the Kitakyushu Marathon , where Rio Olympian Hisanori Kitajima , now 40, beat another 40+ ru...

The National Women's Ekiden was the weekend's biggest race, but across the country four half marathons saw decently competitive men's action. At Tochigi's Takanezawa Genki Up Half Marathon , as in the last few years Hakone Ekiden runner-up Aoyama Gakuin University ran its B-team of Hakone non-starters, this year with company from the team that beat it, Tokai University . AGU swept the top ten, first-year Takayuki Iida taking the top spot in 1:03:10 with teammate Shuya Iwami also getting under 64 minutes. Tokai seemed to treat the day more as a workout, but head coach Hayashi Morozumi , 52, took the chance to get in on the action too,  running the 10 km division in 43:04. In Tokyo, the High Tech Half Marathon celebrated its 20th running with the edition of a marathon division. Independent Hideyuki Ikegami (Aminosaurus) won the men's half in 1:05:08. Club runner Eri Suzuki (Noshiro Yamamoto T&F Assoc.) ran the fastest women's time of the weekend,...

By Brett Larner Sunday was a break in the elite Japanese marathon calendar, but there were at least seven quality amateur marathons across the country, two with over 10,000 finishers ranking them among the world’s largest full marathons . Winning times were as fast as 2:20:32 for men and 2:38:51 for women, with one race featuring a rare European winner. A nationwide breakdown of the Feb. 19 marathons: Kyoto Marathon , Kyoto Total finishers: 15,714 Men: 1. Kosuke Murasashi 2:20:32 Women: 1.Yuria Ikuno 2:45:15 Kumamoto Castle Marathon , Kumamoto Total finishers: 10,944 Men: 1. Haruki Okayama 2:22:45 Women: Chigusa Yoshimatsu 2:56:20 Kochi Ryoma Marathon ,  Kochi Total finishers:  9,589 Men:  1. Daisuke Ikemoto 2:28:06 Women:  1. Chiho Matoba 2:58:51 Kitakyushu Marathon , Fukuoka Total finishers: 9,434 Men: 1. Shuji Tsukamoto 2:22:31 Women: 1. Marie Imada 2:38:51 Okinawa Marathon ,  Okinawa Total finishers:  8,303 Men: ...

by Brett Larner Following the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden and Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden , the year's first full weekend of road racing included at least four major half marathons across the country. きょう、げんきあっぷはーふまらそんはしりました! たいむべすとでました! pic.twitter.com/2fcLzcZCB1 — Stanley (@stanleysiteki) January 8, 2017 At Tochigi's Takanezawa Genki Up Half Marathon , Kenyan Stanley Siteki , a Tokyo Kokusai University teammate of Hakone anchor stage "phantom winner" Akito Terui , outran Hakone champion Aoyama Gakuin University 's alternates and B-team memeber to win in 1:03:20.   Last year's Takanezawa winner Aritaka Kajiwara was 4th in 1:03:45, exactly a minute slower than his 2016 course record. In Tokyo, the High-Tech Half Marathon , a rebranded version of the popular Mari Tanigawa Half Marathon, saw former JR Higashi Nihon runner Shusei Ohashi win the men's race in 1:05:29.   Eri Suzuki , at 5th the top Japanese woman in last month's Honolulu Marathon , ...

Lawrence Cherono 2:09:38 CR unoff at Honolulu Marathon. pic.twitter.com/BkL00DKGOy — Japan Running News (@JRNHeadlines) December 11, 2016 Honolulu Marathon Honolulu, HI, USA, 12/11/16 click here for complete results Men 1. Lawrence Cherono (Kenya) - 2:09:37 - CR 2. Wilson Chebet (Kenya) - 2:10:49 3. Deribe Robi (Ethiopia) - 2:13:39 4. Feyisa Lelisa (Ethiopia) - 2:15:56 5. Tatsuya Itagaki (Japan) - 2:19:22 Women 1. Brigid Kosgei (Kenya) - 2:31:10 2. Lindsey Scherf (U.S.A.) - 2:34:04 3. Buzunesh Deba (Ethiopia) - 2:35:33 4. Yingying Zhang (China) - 2:38:39 5. Eri Suzuki (Japan) - 2:48:37

http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/athletics/news/f-sp-tp0-20141215-1409335.html http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/athletics/news/f-sp-tp0-20141215-1409308.html translated and edited by Brett Larner click here for complete results Eri Suzuki ran a PB 2:47:00 for 9th as the top woman among the 13,000 Japanese finishers at the 42nd JAL Honolulu Marathon on Dec. 14, her second year in a row taking top Japanese honors in Honolulu.  Exhausted just after finishing, she managed to say, "The crowd support along the course was wonderful and kept me going."  Having run well again in Honolulu she was satisfied with her results, saying, "I met both of my goals of being the first Japanese woman and breaking my PB." Joyce Chepkirui (Kenya) won the women's race in 2:30:23.  In the men's race, Wilson Chebet (Kenya) took the top spot in 2:15:35, with Taku Harada the fastest Japanese man at 7th overall in 2:27:26.  In the wheelchair race, Wakako Tsuchida wo...

by Brett Larner video by akuy125 Domestic Japanese action this weekend focused on the annual National Sports Festival and on three competitive half marathons.  Women's 5000 m Japanese year leader Misaki Onishi  (Team Sekisui Kagaku) started the weekend off with a win in 15:43.03 in a close pack race at the National Sports Festival 5000 m.  2013 World University Games 10000 m gold medalist Ayuko Suzuki  (Nagoya Univ.) was next across the line in 15:46.30, with 3rd through 9th all finishing within less than two seconds of her.  Kenyan Charles Ndungu (Sapporo Yamanote H.S.) had an easier time in the junior men's 5000 m, winning by nearly 20 seconds in 13:56.27 over  Suguru Hirosue (Kobayashi H.S.). Course record holder Mekubo Mogusu  (Kenya/Team Nissin Shokuhin) enjoyed an even greater level of domination in winning his third Ichinoseki International Half Marathon , improving on his time last year in clocking 1:02:11.  Runner-up Yuta Koyama ...

http://www.sakigake.jp/p/akita/news.jsp?kc=20120916k translated and edited by Brett Larner The 27th Tazawako Marathon took place Sept. 16 on a course around Lake Tazawa in Senboku, Akita.  4869 runners from both inside and outside Akita prefecture took part in the race, which included 45 divisions over four different distances, 3 km, 10 km, 20 km and full marathon.  With temperatures climbing to 30 degrees under a cloudless sky 4198 runners succeeded in completing their races.   Koki Kawauchi  (Takasaki Keizai Univ.), younger brother of 2011 World Championships marathoner Yuki Kawauchi  (Saitama Pref.), took his first marathon win in 2:37:49, while Eri Suzuki  (Noshiro) won the women's race in 3:10:56. Translator's note:  Click here for complete results .  The same day as Koki Kawauchi's win, his brother Yuki Kawauchi won the Sydney Marathon in a course record 2:11:52 .