japan running news

by Brett Larner photo courtesy marumaruko1201 Record-breaking snowfall in eastern Japan all day Saturday meant the cancellation of virtually every Sunday race in the area, including the elite-level Chiba International Cross-Country Meet , and kept many Tokyo-region runners bound for races in the west at home. Of the races that did go off, in his marathon debut 2008 Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai 20 km winner Kazuki Tomaru  (Team Toyota) was the star of the day's most important race, the 52nd running of the Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon . With impeccable pacing from former Waseda University standout Yuki Yagi  (Team Asahi Kasei), who split 15:27, 15:26 and 15:26 for the first three 5 km segments, a large pack ran at around 2:10:30 pace, 45 seconds ahead of the event's course record.  The pace slowed slightly from 15 km to Yagi's departure at 25 km, but Tomaru quickly got to work with another 15:26 to get rid of the field.  Only Ryo Ishita  (SDF Academy) went aft...

by Brett Larner The Japanese National Corporate Half Marathon Championships have a long-standing relationship with overseas half marathons, the top domestic finishers being named to the Japanese team for the World Half Marathon and the next tier being sent to the Rock 'n' Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon and the Great Scottish Run Half Marathon.  This year's Corporate Half was cancelled in the wake of March's natural disasters and the World Half Marathon is likewise not being held, but Japanese athletes turned out as usual at both Rock 'n' Roll and the GSR. Yoko Miyauchi  (Team Kyocera), the top Japanese woman over the half marathon distance in 2010, won Rock 'n' Roll in 1:11:48 after a patient race in which she hung back while Kenyan Jane Kibil  battled with Olympian Yurika Nakamura  (Team Tenmaya) and newcomer Fumiko Hashimoto  (Team Shimamura).  Inaugural Gifu Half Marathon winner Mao Kuroda  (Team Yutaka Giken) was only 7th in 1:13:37 as ...

http://www.47news.jp/CN/201102/CN2011021301000297.html http://www.saga-s.co.jp/news/saga.0.1825468.article.html translated and edited by Brett Larner At the 51st Karatsu 10 Mile Road Race , Feb. 13 in Karatsu, Saga, Yuki Iwamoto (Team Mazda) ran 47:20 to take his first win at the race. Known as the "God of the Mountain" during his Hakone Ekiden days at Juntendo University, Masato Imai (Team Toyota Kyushu) was 3rd, while 2004 Athens Olympics 10000 m runner and 2008 Karatsu winner Ryuji Ono (Team Asahi Kasei) finished only 26th. In the women's 10 km, Fumiko Hashimoto (Team Shimamura) won in 33:18, while Athens Olympics marathon 7th placer Naoko Sakamoto (Team Tenmaya) finished 18th. Akira Iwasaki (Tosu Kogyo H.S.) won the high school boys' 10 km in a PB of 30:04, while Sayaka Nishimura (Kawatana H.S.) won the high school girls' 5 km in 17:18. 2011 Karatsu 10-Mile Road Race click here for complete results Men's 10 Miles 1. Yuki Iwamoto (Team Mazda) - 47:20...