japan running news

by Brett Larner The Nagoya Women's Marathon continues on in its new format as the world's largest women-only marathon, having added a mass-participation field to its longstanding small elite race to stay relevant in the booming Japanese amateur marathon market.  This year sports one of the better elite fields in Nagoya history, with five sub-2:24 women, a solid sub-2:30 second pack, and a small group of noteworthy first-timers. The #1 seed is Russian Mariya Konovalova  with a best of 2:22:46 Chicago 2013, and it looks pretty clear that she and Kenyan trio  Helena Kirop , Agnes Kiprop  and Agnes Barsosio  are there to pull Moscow World Championships 4th-placer Ryoko Kizaki (Team Daihatsu) along to something better than her 2:23:34 winning time from last year. There's a gap back to the next group at the 2:25-2:27 level, where Jelena Prokopcuka (Latvia), the eyebrow-raising  Zivile Balciunaite  (Lithuania), Miranda Boonstra (Netherlands) and Ashet...

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 The organizers of the 2012 Tokyo Marathon have announced the elite men's and women's fields for the Feb. 26 Olympic-year race, and on both sides the fields are the best since the Tokyo Marathon began in 2007.  Former world record holder Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) lines up alongside last year's winner Hailu Mekonnen (Ethiopia), 2010 winner Masakazu Fujiwara  (Team Honda), 2008 winner Viktor Rothlin  (Switzerland), 2:05 man Jafred Chirchir Kipchumba  (Kenya), 2:06 runners  Gilbert Kipruto Kirwa  (Kenya) and Michael Kipkorir  (Kenya), top-ranked Japanese man Yuki Kawauchi  (Saitama Pref.) and more.  For the Japanese men a spot or two on the London Olympic team is at stake, and vying for an Olympic ticket along with past winner Fujiwara and fan favorite Kawauchi are last year's 4th-placer Yoshinori Oda  (Team Toyota), two-time Tokyo runner-up Arata Fujiwara  (Tokyo T&F Assoc.), 2009 3rd-placer Kazuhiro Maeda ...

by Brett Larner photos by Mika Tokairin elite race video by Alberto Stretti running video by Brett Larner For the third straight year JRN was on-hand to cover the Venice Marathon, this year helping to host Courir Magazine editor-in-chief Yukiya Higuchi  who ran the race for a feature article in the November issue of Courir.  After several days of rain the entire race weekend saw excellent conditions on the cool side with sunny skies at the start outside Villa Pisani on the banks of the Brenta in Stra. The excellent weather was conducive to good times in the elite races, where Kenyan Helen Kirop took nearly four minutes off the Venice record with an outstanding 2:23:37 and Ethiopian Tadese Tolosa Aredo led three men under 2:10 with a 2:09:13 win. Defending champions Harun Makda Haji (Ethiopia) and Simon Mukun (Kenya) both finished 2nd. At last year's 25th anniversary race the Venice city council had for the first time granted permission for the race cours...