japan running news

One of the world's ten biggest marathons, in its six runnings to date the Osaka Marathon has continued to avoid the addition of a world-class elite field of the same caliber as at equivalently-sized races like Tokyo, Berlin and Boston. In place of doling out cash to pros, Osaka's women's field has developed into a sort of national championship race for amateur women. In the field this year are six, probably all six, of the amateur Japan women to have broken 2:40 in the last three years. Last year's top three, Yoshiko Sakamoto (F.O.R.), Yumiko Kinoshita (SWAC) and Hisae Yoshimatsu (Shunan City Hall) lead the way at the 2:36 +/- level, with a second trio of Marie Imada (Iwatani Sangyo), Mitsuko Ino (R2 Nishin Nihon) and Chika Tawara (RxL) all around the 2:39 level. Last year's winner Sakamoto and 3rd placer Yoshimatsu squared off in September at Germany's Volksbank Muenster Marathon , Yoshimatsu tying Sakamoto's Osaka winning time of 2:36:02 to tak...

by Brett Larner Cooler than usual temperatures meant a return to faster times at Sunday's Sendai International Half Marathon , where former Sera H.S. star Charles Ndirangu (Team JFE Steel) led the top six under last year's winning time to take the top spot for the first time in 1:01:44. Ritsumeikan University grad Hanae Tanaka (Team Daiichi Seimei) got her own first-time Sendai title, winning in 1:11:07. A world record-pace 2:46 opening km shook off most of the Japanese competition, quickly leaving the Kenyan quartet of Ndirangu, Paul Kuira (Team Konica Minolta), Muthoni Muiru (Soka Univ.) and Joseph Onsarigo (Team Nasu Kensetsu) up front tailed by newlywed Takuya Noguchi (Team Konica Minolta). In the chase pack, defending champ Masato Imai (Team Toyota Kyushu) and two members of Japan's London World Championships marathon squad, Kentaro Nakamoto (Team Yasukawa Denki) and Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't). Noguchi and Onsarigo were off the leaders near...

by Brett Larner This time of year there are multiple high-level races in Japan every weekend, this one being no exception.  Sunday's Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon is one of the main developmental races for Japanese men, the place where future Olympic marathoners including  Hisanori Kitajima , Kentaro Nakamoto , Shinji Kawajima and Shigeru Soh  made their marathon debuts. Last year's winner Ryoichi Matsuo (Team Asahi Kasei) returns to face debuting 1:01:25 half marathoner Shota Hattori (Team Honda) and teammates Kenta Matsumoto and Kenta Matsubara (Team Toyota), training partners of Minato Oishi whose successful debut at last Sunday's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon saw him land 4th in 2:10:39. In parallel to Nobeoka, Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) will run his first marathon of 2017 at the Ehime Marathon .  Kawauchi's goal is to run 2:13, three minutes under the current Ehime course record.  His main competition is Waseda University fourth-year ...

by Brett Larner Hot and windy across the country, it was a busy weekend on the corporate circuit with four regions holding their spring track championships, a high-level time trial meet and one decent result overseas. Felista Wanjugu (Kenya/Team Universal Entertainment) turned in the fastest women’s 10000 m of the weekend, running 32:04.11 to win the East Japan corporate region. Hisami Ishii (Team Yamada Denki) was next across the line, just missing the Rio standard in 32:16.60 but scoring the fastest Japanese time in the four corporate meets. Already on the Rio team in the marathon, Mai Ito (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) won the Kansai region women’s 10000 m in 33:02.94. The fastest women’s 5000 m also came in East Japan as Rosemary Wanjiru (Kenya/Team Starts) took the A-heat in 15:23.10. 4th-placer Sayaka Kuwahara (Team Sekisui Kagaku), returning from a solid 2:25:09 marathon debut in Nagoya in March, ran 15:44.99, topping the 15:46.40 time of Kansai region winner Mizuki Matsuda ...

http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/20160508/ath16050817510006-n1.html translated and edited by Brett Larner  The Sendai International Half Marathon took place May 8 in Sendai, Miyagi, starting and finishing at Sendai Municipal Field.  Masato Imai (Team Toyota Kyushu), a DNS with illness in last summer's Beijing World Championships marathon, won in 1:03:06, the first Japanese male to win in 12 years.  2014 Asian Games marathon silver medalist and two-time World Championships marathoner Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) was 5th in 1:04:35. Kenyan Felista Wanjugu (Team Universal Entertainment) won the women's race in 1:12:05, the first non-Japanese women's champion since 2005.  Honami Maeda (Team Tenmaya) was 2nd. 26th Sendai International Half Marathon Sendai, Miyagi, 5/816 click here for complete results Men 1. Masato Imai (Toyota Kyushu) - 1:03:06 2. Tomohiro Tanigawa (Konica Minolta) - 1:03:11 3. Yuki Oshikawa (Toyota Kyushu) - 1:03:34 4. Ezekie...

by Brett Larner James Mwangi 's 27:23.24 10000 m world leading time on day one of the Hyogo Relay Carnival lasted less than 24 hours as two-time World Championships bronze medalist Paul Tanui (Team Kyudenko) held off an Ethiopian challenge from Mamiyo Nuguse (Team Yasukawa Denki) to win Hyogo's day two Grand Prix 10000 m in a new world leader of 27:22.28.  Tanui led the entire way from a 2:42 opening 1000 m to the finish, Nuguse waiting to kick in true Ethiopian style but coming up short in 27:24.85 for 2nd.  2016 National cross-country champion Takashi Ichida (Team Asahi Kasei) outran a heavyweight domestic field to take the top Japanese spot, running 28:22.57 for 5th. Felista Wanjugu (Team Univ. Ent.) took the women's Grand Prix 10000 m in 32:11.68, running behind Yuka Ando (Suzuki Hamamatsu) through 9000 m before kicking away for the win.  Ando was 2nd in 32:16.34, well ahead of a Japanese trio including marathoner Rei Ohara (Team Tenmaya). Japan-based Afr...

by Brett Larner The National Corporate Half Marathon Championships are Japan's premier half, producing more quality times over its 43-year history than any other half marathon worldwide.  This year's 44th running on Feb. 14 counts as the final men's and women's selection race for the 2016 World Half Marathon Championships team and has fields as good as ever lined up.  The men's field includes last year's course record-breaking top two Charles Ndirangu (Team JFE Steel) and Macharia Ndirangu (Team Aichi Seiko), 2014 3rd-placer Sota Hoshi (Team Fujitsu), 2013 runner-up Johana Maina (Team Fujitsu) and 2012 winner Chihiro Miyawaki (Team Toyota), along with Rio Olympics marathon team contender Satoru Sasaki (Team Asahi Kasei) and fellow 2:08 marathoners Kentaro Nakamoto (Team Yasukawa Denki) and Ser-Od Bat-Ochir (Team NTN). The women's field is split between the half marathon and 10 km distances again this year, making for two smaller but equally comp...

by Brett Larner photos by @rikujolove 2013 winner and 2014 World Half Marathon Championships bronze medalist Sally Kaptich Chepyego (Team Kyudenko) returned to the Sanyo Ladies' Road Race half marathon today, breaking her own course record to win in 1:08:17.  A large pack of 15 including Chepyego, top-ranked Japanese women Rei Ohara (Team Tenmaya), Michi Numata (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) and Misaki Kato (Team Kyudenko) and 2015 Marugame Half winner Eloise Wellings (Australia) went out conservatively just over 1:10 pace.  The pack shrank to 6 as Chepyego pushed the pace into 1:07 territory approaching 10 km, and with a surge early into the second half she was away.  Chepyego ran free to the end, cutting 7 seconds off her 2013 CR and finishing just outside the top 10 in the world this year. Ohara, already with sub-1:10 credentials to her name, was left chasing Chepyego alongside the debuting Pauline Kamulu (Team Route Inn Hotels).  When Kamulu struggled i...

by Brett Larner Japan's major midsummer track series, the Hokuren Distance Challenge in four locations across Hokkaido, wrapped up July 16 with the Abashiri Meet.  For the second time in a week , 20 km race walk world record holder Yusuke Suzuki (Team Fujitsu) broke a national record held by teammate Eiki Takahashi , both times outgunning Takahashi to do it.  This time it was Takahashi's 10000 mRW national record, from which Suzuki lopped 8 seconds with a new record of 38:10.23.  12 more seconds to another world record. Other new came in the women's 10000 m, where National Championships 3rd-placer Rei Ohara (Team Tenmaya) finally succeeded in breaking the Beijing World Championships qualification standard of 32:00.00, taking 3rd in a new PB of 31:48.31 for which she is all but certain to be rewarded with a place on the Beijing team.  Riko Matsuzaki (Sekisui Kagaku) won in a solid PB of 31:44.86, with the top 4 breaking 32 minutes and the top 7 all clearing t...

by Brett Larner In just its second running the Okukuma Road Race continued to develop into Japan's leading January half marathon, with the Koichi Morishita -coached  Yuki Oshikawa (Team Toyota Kyushu) taking nearly a minute off teammate Hayato Ideue 's course record to win a tight pack race in 1:03:36.  In a lead group of nine including Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't), 2013 NYC Marathon 6th-place Masato Imai  (Team Toyota Kyushu), Hakone Ekiden runners Takahiro Gunji  (Komazawa Univ.) and Shota Kai (Nittai Univ.), 2013 Tamana Half Marathon winner Daichi Kato  (Team Toyota Kyushu) and more, Oshikawa pushed hard near the race's end to get away from Kawauchi and Gunji, opening a lead of 4 seconds over Kawauchi for the win. Kawauchi, 2nd at last weekend's Tanigawa Mari Half Marathon, was runner-up again in 1:03:40, taking some consolation from bettering Imai, Kato and 2014 New Year Ekiden anchor stage winner Ryuji Watanabe  (Team Toyota Kyushu), a...

by Brett Larner click here for video highlights courtesy of Sanyo Newspapers The world's last elite half marathon of the year took place Dec. 23 in Okayama, with a large group of elite Japanese and foreign women squaring off at the Sanyo Women's Road Race half marathon and 10 km. #1-ranked Japan-based Kenyan Sally Chepyego  (Team Kyudenko) was the class of the field in the half-marathon division, blasting a solo 1:08:24 course record to take the 2013 title.  Facing impending retirement, 2013 London Marathon 3rd-placer Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren) ran a race characteristically unmotivated to compete for the win, sitting far back in the pack until late in the race and then turning on her usual surge to move up through the field, ultimately taking 2nd a minute behind the highly motived Chepyego in 1:09:24.   Felista Wanjugu  (Kenya/Team Universal Entertainment) and Mai Ito  (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) ran up in the chase formation with Akaba early in the race before ...

http://www.sanyo.oni.co.jp/feature/sports/other/2013/11/30/20131130225458.html translated and edited by Brett Larner The invited athlete list for Japan's last major road race of the year, the 32nd Sanyo Women's Road Race on Dec. 23 in Okayama, was released by race organisers on Nov. 30. Coinciding with main sponsor Sanyo Newspapers' 135th anniversary, the Yuko Arimori Cup half marathon division at the Sanyo Women's Road Race will for the first time be a selection race for the World Half Marathon Championships national team, with next year's World Half due to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark next March. Targeting the first three-peat in Sanyo history, 2013 National Corporate Half Marathon champion Yukiko Akaba  (Team Hokuren) heads the invited field along with 2013 Hokkaido Marathon winner Yuko Watanabe  (Team Edion) and, from overseas, London Olympian Desiree Davila  (U.S.A.).  Others in the half  marathon include past World Championships marathoners Mai I...

by Brett Larner 2010 World Junior Championships men's 200 m gold medalist Shota Iizuka  (Chuo Univ.) and London 400 m hurdles Olympian Takayuki Kishimoto  (Team Fujitsu) joined the small ranks of athletes to earn guaranteed places on the Japanese team for the Moscow World Championships, winning their events with A-standard times on the final day of the 2013 Japanese National Track and Field Championships . Iizuka led five men under the 20.52 A-standard, winning in 20.31 (+0.9) to secure his position.   Yuichi Kobayashi (Team NTN) ran a PB 20.46 in 2nd and  Kei Takase (Team Fujitsu) clocked 20.48 for 3rd, both putting themselves into solid consideration for the team.  Kishimoto had a mid-race scare from the ascendant Yasuhiro Fueki  (Team Aima) who overtook him on the back curve only to fall victim to Kishimoto's closing speed.  Kishimoto took 1st in 49.08 with Fueki 2nd in an A-standard PB 49.31, like Kobayashi and Takase getting onto the shortli...

by Brett Larner videos by naoki620 and toyosina2008 Stanford University's Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational, home of both the Japanese men's and women's 10000 m national records, once again delivered big times.  In the men's 10000 m,  Suguru Osako  (Waseda Univ.) and Yuki Sato  (Team Nissin Shokuhin), both graduates of Nagano's Saku Chosei H.S. and perpetual rivals over the last two years, each got under the Moscow World Championships A-standard but came up just short of the 27:35.09 NR, Osako taking 2nd in 27:38.31 and Sato 3rd in 27:39.50.  Osako's time was the fastest ever by a Japanese collegiate and good for all-time Japanese #4 a fraction of a second behind Sato's all-time #3 mark of 27:38.25.   Tsuyoshi Ugachi  (Team Nissin Shokuhin) also got under 28 but was a distant afterthought in 27:55.27, while last year's top two 10000 m runner Chihiro Miyawaki  (Team Toyota) and Daisuke Shimizu  (Team Kanebo) both struggled.  Af...

http://www.excite.co.jp/News/sports_g/20121223/Jiji_20121223F725.html http://sankei.jp.msn.com/sports/news/121223/oth12122314090010-n1.htm http://sankei.jp.msn.com/sports/news/121223/oth12122317160013-n1.htm http://sankei.jp.msn.com/sports/news/121223/oth12122317380016-n1.htm translated and edited by Brett Larner At the Dec. 23 Sanyo Ladies Road Race in Okayama, defending champion Yukiko Akaba  (Team Hokuren) ran 1:09:56 to successfully claim her second-straight Yuko Arimori Cup Half Marathon title, breaking away at 18 km to redeem her disappointing 8th-place finish at November's Yokohama International Women's Marathon and bad performance at last week's National Corporate Women's Ekiden Championships.  "I didn't want to end the year with nothing but bad runs," she said with a smile.  "There was nothing good about this year, but with this run I make a fresh start."  Aiming for the Moscow World Championships team, she plans to run either Bo...

by Brett Larner In its second year on a new course in Sendai, the National Corporate Women's Ekiden Championships were again dominated by a team that led wire-to-wire.  #1-seeded Universal Entertainment  of the East Japan region fought off a stomach virus that swept through the team last week and headwinds at times upwards of 50 kph to lead the entire race, winning just off last year's course record in 2:17:35 as three of its six members set new individual stage records.  Central Japan's  Denso  took an expected 2nd place after a sensational stage record run by anchor Mai Ishibashi , while defending champion Daiichi Seimei  overcame the absence of 2009 Berlin World Championships marathon silver medalist  Yoshimi Ozaki  to run down West Japan champ Wacoal  for 3rd on the last lap of the track.  Despite the headwinds on the point-to-point course, five of the six stages saw new records, most with multiple women cracking last year's time...

by Brett Larner Less than a month after her disappointing loss at the Yokohama International Women's Marathon, 2009 World Championships marathon silver medalist Yoshimi Ozaki  bounced back to put Team Daiichi Seimei  ahead on the First Stage of the National Corporate Women's Ekiden Championships .  The team never relinquished its frontrunning position, riding the lead all the way to the end as rookie anchor Tomomi Tanaka  won her stage to bring Daiichi Seimei back in 2:17:17 in the Championships' first running in its new home of Sendai.  East Japan region teams dominated the day, taking the top three spots. Despite a challenging, uphill course with a prevailing headwind, the upper end of the field shaped up very closely to the pre-race rankings, with three of the top four running within 8 seconds of their times at the regional qualifiers.  Daiichi Seimei was 4 seconds faster, runner up Team Panasonic  was 8 seconds slower, and 4th-place Team T...