japan running news

Three Japanese athletes ran as part of Sunday's TCS New York City Marathon elite field. In the women's race, Mao Uesugi (Starts), 2nd in January's Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2:22:29, struggled with the quick turnaround from running the Princess Ekiden two weeks ago , finishing 17th in 2:32:56. Despite being over 10 minutes off her best, Uesugi's time was still the 5th-best ever by a Japanese woman in New York. Uesugi will run in the National Corporate Women's Ekiden in 3 weeks. 5000 m national record holder Suguru Osako (Nike) managed the 3rd-fastest Japanese men's time in New York history, running 2:11:32 for 5th. Close behind, in his first U.S. marathon since his winning 2:43:22 debut at the 2017 Maui Marathon Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Asahi Kasei) ran 2:12:12 for 6th, equalling Uesugi as the 5th-fastest Japanese man ever in New York. The debuting Sharon Lokedi (Kenya) won the women's race in 2:23:23. This year's Boston Marathon winner ...

Japan's 2020 Olympic marathon selection wrapped up in cold, rainy and windy conditions at simultaneous races at Lake Biwa and in Nagoya . The men at the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon had to break the week-old 2:05:29 national record set by Suguru Osako in Tokyo to replace him on the team, a pretty tough ask in any case but even more so given the conditions. After a starting gun malfunction delayed the start 10 minutes, virtually unheard-of in Japan, the pacers and a lead pack of nearly 50 gave it a go, slow through the first 5 km as they warmed back up but getting onto track for a sub-2:06 before too much time went by. Early casualties as the pace picked up included past winner Samuel Ndungu (Kenya) and Salah-Eddine Bounasr (Morocco), both DNFs. After 20 km it drifted back toward a 2:07 race, but even at that speed most of the Japanese favorites dropped away, leaving a relatively inexperienced domestic crew up against an international quintet when the last pacers stepped off ...

Even as question marks bubble to the surface about whether the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will go ahead as planned amid the worldwide spread of the novel coronavirus, Japan is preparing for what will really, honestly, be the end of qualification for its all-important home soil Olympic marathon teams this Sunday. It's been a long process, with a two-year qualification window for last September's MGC Olympic trials race, where the top two in the women's and men's races scored places on the 2020 teams while the 3rd-placer was put in a wait-and-see position pending the outcome of the Final Challenge. That was the name given to the usual winter 2019-20 circuit of domestic races, the Saitama International, Osaka International and Nagoya Women's Marathon for women, and Fukuoka International, Tokyo and Lake Biwa Marathon for men. If anyone at one of these races broke the fastest time run during the MGC qualifying window they'd replace the 3rd-placer at the MGC race on the ...

Coming right after the announcement of elite field for the Mar. 8 Nagoya Women's Marathon is the announcement for its male counterpart, the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon earlier the same day. Like Nagoya it's the last chance for someone to make the 2020 Olympic team. All they have to do is break the 2:05:50 national record, or whatever the fastest Japanese man runs at the Tokyo Marathon a week earlier if someone there goes better than 2:05:50. Basically it's not going to happen. Takuya Noguchi (Konica Minolta) is the only Japanese guy at Lake Biwa under 2:09 in the last three years, and he hasn't been himself since his 2:08:59 win at the 2017 Gold Coast Marathon. There's no shortage of people around the 2:09 to 2:10 level, but out of them the only one who could conceivably have the kind of breakthrough it would take to make the Olympic team is Kengo Suzuki (Fujitsu). At the MGC Race 2020 Olympic marathon trials last September Suzuki was the guy who played do...

by Brett Larner For its 11th running as a mass-participation race the Feb. 26 Tokyo Marathon sports a new and hypothetically faster course.  Gone are both the unpopular last 6 km through the bridge-heavy wastelands of Tokyo Bay and the old course's scenic highlight, the Imperial Palace.  In their places are a flatter course with a finish outside Tokyo Station and an additional 180' turnaround. On net it's likely to be a better course, and to celebrate that Tokyo is bringing in the great Wilson Kipsang to try to better both Dickson Chumba 's 2:05:42 course record and Tsegaye Kebede 's 2:05:18 Japanese all-comers record.  Both Chumba and Kebede are in the race, and with support from sub-2:06 men Evans Chebet and Tadese Tola , and a half-dozen 2:06-level athletes just behind they may just get there if the always-unpredictable February Tokyo weather cooperates. Tokyo is one of the main domestic selection races for the 2017 London World Championships men's mar...

by Brett Larner Japan's fastest-ever under-20 marathoner, Reia Iwade (Team Noritz) took 4th in a solo run behind winning Ethiopian trio Aberu Kebede , Birhane Dibaba and Ruti Aga  at Sunday's BMW Berlin Marathon .  With all three going under the 70 minute mark at halfway, the #3-ranked Iwade was alone in 5th, 20 seconds behind Kenyan Janet Ronoh .  Just before 40 km Iwade ran Ronoh down to move into 4th at almost the same time that Kebede took the win in 2:20:45.   Dibaba and Aga were over a kilometer behind in 2nd and 3rd, Iwade another 3 1/2 minutes further back in 2:28:16. Hopeful of breaking his 3-year-old PB of 2:08:14, Kawauchi ran with support from two pacers and company from Eritrea's Yohanes Gebregergish and France's Jean Habarurema .  In a classic race that saw greats Kenenisa Bekele and Wilson Kipsang front a lead pack that went through halfway in 1:01:11 on the way to Bekele's sprint finish 2:03:03 win, Kawauchi's group planned to hit h...