japan running news

With regard to the next running of the Himeji Castle Marathon , scheduled for Feb. 28, 2021, while it is very important to us that the race happen, in view of the continued spread of the coronavirus and in consideration of the health and safety of the runners, medical and safety personnel, volunteers, race staff and local fans along the course who together help make our event what it is every year, it is with great regret that we must announce that next year's marathon will not be held. We apologize deeply that we have to cancel the marathon for the second year in a row due to the coronavirus, and in particular we extend our apologies to everyone who had entered the 2020 race and been given priority for entry in 2021. To them, to everyone who had looked forward to the 2021 race, and to everyone involved in making the race happen, we can only ask for your understanding of the situation. Please rest assured that everyone on the priority list for 2021 will still have priority for ...

On June 19 the Himeji city government announced that it would make a decision by the end of August on whether or not the 2021 edition of the Himeji Castle World Heritage Site Marathon will go ahead as planned in late February next year. City officials are studying the status of the coronavirus crisis and the actions taken by major races in other cities. The Himeji Castle Marathon has been held every February since its launch in 2015, but in the early days of the coronavirus crisis this year's sixth running was canceled. Planning has been going ahead for next year's seventh edition, but no firm decisions have been made yet with regard to the event's schedule or field size. In its last running in 2019 it had a total of 6,938 finishers in its marathon division, with almost 2,000 more in its accompanying 5 km, family and kids' runs. The organizing committee met in Himeji on the 19th to discuss the current situation and outlook. No official decision was reached as to ...

In the wake of the Tokyo Marathon Foundation's cancelation of its Mar. 1 mass-participation race over coronavirus concerns , other races across Japan have begun to follow Tokyo's lead. After initially announcing that it would go ahead, the Feb. 23 Himeji Castle Marathon in Hyogo has now announced it will follow Tokyo's lead and cancel. The Neyagawa Half Marathon in Osaka announced that it will completely cancel its event the same day, which had 5,392 entrants supported by 1,350 volunteers this year. Entry fees will not be refunded, but all entrants will have the option to run next year's race for free. Also on Feb. 23, Saitama's Fukaya City Half Marathon announced it would cancel its race, saying that it would not return entry fees but would send entrants the program and entry goods and give them priority in entering next year, while Aichi's Inuyama Half Marathon canceled without specifying details, saying those will be posted on its website. The Miura Int...

The National Cross-Country Championships were the weekend's most competitive race, but half marathons were the main source of road action. Takumi Obara (Komazawa Univ.) ran the fastest time of the day to win the 41st Inuyama Half Marathon in 1:03:52, outrunning Shoya Kawase (Seigakkan Univ.) by two seconds. Kawase's run was a rare sub-64 from a university man outside the Kanto Region, holding off 3rd placer Shota Ezomori (Waseda Univ.) by four seconds. Honoka Sugiura (Chukyo Univ.) dominated the women's race by nearly a minute to win in 1:13:31. Daiji Kawai (Toenec) won Inuyama's 10 km division in a strong 29:01, with Honoka Wada (Nagano Higashi H.S.) the fastest woman at 33:50. At the 68th Kashima Yutoku Half Marathon , Ryuichi Hashimoto (Juntendo Univ.) won the men's race in 1:04:40, with Hiroko Yoshitomi (Memolead) taking the women's race in 1:15:01. Hikaru Kumagai (Raffine) ran almost the identical time to Hashimoto to win the 13th Fukaya City...

At least five major races fill the calendar this weekend across Japan. Potentially the biggest is the Karatsu 10-Miler , where half marathon national record holder Yuta Shitara (Honda) is slated to run in what many hope will be a shot at the antique national record. Over 30 seconds faster than the American national record, Hisatoshi Shintaku 's 45:40,has stood since 1984 and survived  over three decades of assaults including Shitara's 45:58 at December's Kumamoto Kosa 10-Miler. It translates to 42:34 for 15 km; at last weekend's Marugame Half Shitara went through 15 km in 42:39. Just two weeks out from a shot at the Japanese national record for the marathon will Shitara try to add another national record to his resume en route to Tokyo? Many of his corporate league brethren and sistren will be lining up at the National Corporate Half Marathon and 10 km Championships. Historically the world's deepest competitive men's half marathon and second-deepest women...

by Brett Larner It's another busy weekend in Japan, with at least six big races across the country and one important one overseas.  Saturday kicks off with the second of the two-meet Japanese cross country season as the Fukuoka International Cross Country Meet plays host to Japanese athletes hoping to join the National Team for this year's World Cross Country Championships.  With a total of four foreign athletes led by the Japan-based Jonathan Ndiku (Team Hitachi Butsuryu) in the senior men's 10 km there isn't much of an international component, but bigger Japanese names on the entry lists include #1-ranked collegiate runner Kenta Murayama making his last appearance in the Komazawa University uniform before his graduation next month and United Airlines NYC Half-bound Koki Takada (Waseda University) and Takashi Ichida (Daito Bunka University) in the senior men's 10 km, Chiba International XC runner-up Maki Izumida (Rikkyo Univ.) in the senior women's 6 k...

http://www.kobe-np.co.jp/news/shakai/201502/0007744581.shtml translated by Brett Larner At the first edition of the Himeji Castle World Heritage Site Marathon on Feb. 22, senior patrol officer Makoto Yukitomo , 33, of Suma Police Station Department 3 will run as an invited elite athlete.  In his student days at Senshu University Officer Yukitomo ran the most competitive stage at the prestigious Hakone Ekiden, the Second Stage, two years in a row.  As a rookie police officer living in the Himeji police dormitory his regular running course was around Himeji Castle.  "It's fun to run on familiar old ground," he said in anticipation of the starting gun. Officer Yukitomo was born in Yanai, Yamaguchi.  A member of his junior high school's kendo club, at a school sports day running event he caught the eye of the track coach who convinced him to become a long distance runner.  With a good track record of results in hard training he was recommended to and accepted...

by Brett Larner Yoshihiro Wakamatsu  (Team Nissin Shokuhin), a graduate of Hakone Ekiden course record holder  Toyo University , won the final running of the historic Himejijo Road Race men's 10 miler on Feb. 11. Throwing in a surge at 7 km he easily broke away from the field, which included London Olympics marathoner Ryo Yamamoto  (Team SGH Group Sagawa), two-time Himejijo winner Kazuyoshi Tokumoto  (Team Monteroza), and Norihisa Imai  of Toyo's 2014 Hakone-winning squad, to open a gap of 30 seconds and claim the win unchallenged in 47:38. Tsukasa Morita (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) was a solo 2nd in 48:08, his teammate Jun Shinoto , the 2006 national champion in the 3000 m steeplechase, winning a tight pack race for 3rd in 48:21. In the women's 5 km, Ritsumeikan Uji H.S.  went 1-2 with  Tomoka Iwai  winning in 16:24 over Tomoka Katada  in 16:28. The Himejijo Road Race is set to be transformed into a mass-participation marath...

http://www.kobe-np.co.jp/news/sports/201309/0006363197.shtml translated by Brett Larner A favorite of athletes from junior high to the corporate leagues, Hyogo prefecture's Himeji Castle Road Race is set to be discontinued after February's 54th running.  With a new Himeji Castle World Heritage Site Marathon set to be launched in 2015, the 10-miler's race organization committee will be dismantled and the event's long history of hosting many of the country's best athletes will come to an end. According to the Hyogo Prefecture Track and Field Association's 50th anniversary commemorative magazine, in 1948 there was a move to inaugurate a series of 10-mile road races in January in all the major cities of the country, but in 1960 the series came to a halt.  With Hyogo's event having been held at Himeji Castle since 1954 and having already developed a reputation as a fast course, it was relaunched in 1961 as the first Himeji Castle Road Race with a certified ...

by Brett Larner Takuji Morimoto  (Team Chugoku Denryoku) won a close Himejijo 10-Miler on Feb. 11, nearly clipped at the line by Daisuke Kumon  (Kanagawa Univ.) after frontrunning the entire race.  The relatively slow 47:58 winning time meant a large pack was together behind Morimoto until late in the game, when only Kumon, Yuya Taguchi  (Team Toyota Boshoku), 2011 Himejijo winner  Takahiro Aso  (Team Aisan Kogyo) and Hiroaki Inoue (Team Toenec) were able to remain in pursuit.  2009 winner Satoru Kitamura (Team Nissin Shokuhin) led the chase pack to take 6th, with 2006 and 2012 winner Kazuyoshi Tokumoto (Team Monteroza) an apparent DNS. Local Misaki Hayashida  (Himeji Shogyo H.S.) had a similarly close victory in the women's 5 km, outrunning a pack of four from 2012 National High School Ekiden champion Ritsumeikan Uji H.S.  to win by 1 second in 16:24.   Yuki Fujiwara  was Ritsumeikan Uji's top finisher a stride behind Hayash...

by Brett Larner Five races fill a busy long weekend in Japan.  First and foremost is the 51st running of the Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon in Kyushu .  A developmental race at the 2:11-2:15 level, Nobeoka has in the past produced athletes such as Koji Kobayashi  (Team Subaru), who debuted there in 2:12:52 last year before going on to run the fastest time of 2012 by a Japanese man overseas, 2:10:40 at the Chicago Marathon.  This year's field includes 2010 Asian Games silver medalist Yukihiro Kitaoka  (Team NTN), 2011 Nobeoka winner Kenji Takeuchi  (Team Toyota Kyushu) and the promising Etsu Miyata  (Team Fujitsu).  A large number of athletes will be making their marathon debuts, most noteworthy among them being defending 5000 m national champion  Kazuya Deguchi (Team Asahi Kasei) and sub-63 man Ayumu Sato  (Team Mitsubishi Juko Nagasaki).  2009 Ome 30 km winner Hirokatsu Kurosaki  (Team Konica Minolta) will also make a long-...

by Brett Larner Two of Japan's big spring 10-milers took place this weekend, the Himejijo Road Race on Saturday and the Karatsu Road Race on Sunday.  In Himeji, two-time 5000 m national champion Kazuyoshi Tokumoto  (Team Nissin Shokuhin) won his second road race of the year, outkicking Takuji Morimoto  (Team Chugoku Denryoku) to win the men's 10 mile race in 47:34.  It was also his second time winning Himejijo, having taken top honors at the 2006 race.  Tokumoto plans to run next month's Biwako Mainichi Marathon before leaving Nissin to take a university coaching position.  In the women's 5 km, Yoko Aizu  (Team Shikoku Denryoku) had an easy win in 16:17, 11 seconds ahead of teammate Yuka Tagahara . Sunday's Karatsu Road Race proved to be the bigger of the two.  In the men's 10 mile race, Komazawa University graduate Sota Hoshi  (Team Fujitsu) had the first big result of his pro career, outkicking double 1500 m and 5000 m national champion...

by Brett Larner On a cold day when snow blanketed most of the country, Takahiro Aso (Team Aisan Kogyo) ran 47:26 to win the 51st edition of the Himejijo 10-Miler on Feb. 11. Aso outran Meiji University graduate Masamichi Yasuda (Team Aichi Seiko) by 8 seconds to win in the fastest time since course record holder Terukazu Omori 's 46:34 at the 2007 race. Continuing with his post-Beijing injury comeback begun two weeks ago at the Chugoku Yamaguchi Ekiden, 2:08 marathoner Satoshi Osaki (Team NTT Nishi Nihon) ran a credible 47:46 to take 8th just 20 seconds off Aso's winning time. 2011 Himejijo 10-Miler click here for complete results 1. Takahiro Aso (Team Aisan Kogyo) - 47:26 2. Masamichi Yasuda (Team Aichi Seiko) - 47:34 3. Hironori Arai (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 47:39 4. Yoshiyuki Oseki (Team Aichi Seiko) - 47:42 5. Kazuo Ietani (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) - 47:43 6. Shinichi Watanabe (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) - 47:43 7. Takuji Morimoto (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 47:44 8. Sat...

by Brett Larner 22 year old Kensuke Takezawa (Team S&B) returned to his home ground of Hyogo Prefecture on Feb. 11 to win the 50th anniversary Himejijo 10 Mile Road Race . As a high school student Takezawa had won the high school division of the 2005 Himejijo 10 Miler, but today's win marks the first victory on the roads of his pro career. As in January's Interprefectural Ekiden duel with half marathon national record holder Atsushi Sato (Team Chugoku Denryoku), Takezawa stalked leader and course record holder Terukazu Omori (Team Shikoku Denryoku) throughout the race and beat him only in the last sprint. Both men clocked 47:33, over a minute off Omori's course record in cold and rainy conditions, with Toyo University grad Yoshihiro Wakamatsu (Team Tokyo Denryoku) just 2 seconds behind. It was Omori's second year in a row to lose at the line in Himejijo after last year's three-way photo finish with Sato and that year's winner Satoru Kitamura (Team Nissin ...

http://www.letsrun.com/2009/young0226.php Justin Young describes some of his training for this year's Tokyo Marathon here .

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/flash/KFullFlash20090211070.html translated and edited by Brett Larner Terukazu Omori, Satoru Kitamura and Atsushi Sato in a photo-finish at the 2009 Himejijo 10-Miler. Ten days after finishing two seconds behind half marathon Asian record holder Atsushi Sato (Team Chugoku Denryoku) at the Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon, the diminuitive Satoru Kitamura (Team Nissin Shokuhin) came out on top at the 49th Himejijo 10 Mile Road Race in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture on Feb. 11. The race came down to a sprint finish between the three runners with the fastest 10000 m times in the field after a slow early pace. Kitamura, Sato and Terukazu Omori (Team Shikoku Denryoku) all clocked times of 47:57, but the rookie Kitamura outleaned Beijing Olympics marathoner Sato and ekiden ace Omori to take the win. Sato was 2nd, with Omori taking 3rd. Sato is planning on running April's London Marathon but commented, "I'm still don't really know how it...

by Brett Larner Half marathon Asian record holder Atsushi Sato (Team Chugoku Denryoku) headlines the field at the 49th Himejijo 10 Mile Road Race on the national holiday of Feb. 11, just 10 days after finishing 3rd overall and as the top domestic runner at the Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon. As he prepares for the London Marathon Sato will face a wide range of challengers including the runner who finished just behind him in Marugame, Team Nissin Shokuhin's Satoru Kitamura, and 2:07:52 marathoner Tomoaki Kunichika (Team S&B), but his biggest competition is likely to be the only other sub-28 minute 10000 m runner in the race, Terukazu Omori (Team Shikoku Denryoku). The field also includes American Steven Crane, the lone foreigner among the elite runners. 2009 Himejijo 10 Mile Road Race Elite Field times listed are PB marks for 10000 m and half marathon Terukazu Omori (Team Shikoku Denryoku) - 27:43.94 / 1:02:14 Atsushi Sato (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 27:56.86 / 1:00:...

http://osaka.nikkansports.com/news/f-on-tp2-20080211-319855.html http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/flash/KFullFlash20080211030.html http://www.kobe-np.co.jp/news/sports/0000834508.shtml translated and edited by Brett Larner Japanese men's national marathon record holder Toshinari Takaoka (Team Kanebo) won the Himejijo 10 Mile Road Race in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture on Feb. 11, running a time of 47:40. Takaoka accelerated with 1.5 km to go, passing Takashi Toyota (Team Sanyo Tokusho Seiko) with 1 km left to take the lead for good. Kenji Noguchi (Team Shikoku Denryoku) took 2nd in 47:44, with Toyota 1 second back in 3rd. The 6th place finisher in last summer's Osaka World Championships marathon, Satoshi Osaki (Team NTT Nishi Nihon), was 4th in 47:46. "It's been a long time since I won something," Takaoka smiled after the race. He was scheduled to run last weekend's Ome Marathon 30 km road race until the race was cancelled due to heavy snow, but was able to negotiat...

http://www.kobe-np.co.jp/news/sports/0000826157.shtml translated by Brett Larner Japanese national full marathon record holder Toshinari Takaoka (Team Kanebo) will be running in the 10 mile (16.093 km) Himejijo Road Race on Feb. 11 in Himeji, sponsored in part by the Kobe Newspaper Group. Takaoka joined the Himejijo lineup on Feb. 4 following the cancellation of the Ome Marathon 30 km due to heavy snowfall . Takaoka had planned to run Ome as part of his preparation for a spring marathon . Originally from Kitsugawa in Kyoto Prefecture, Takaoka ran track events in the Atlanta and Sydney Olympics, finishing 7th in the men's 10000 m in Sydney. At the 2002 Chicago Marathon he set the Japanese national record of 2:06:16. He also holds the national record for 3000 m and 10000 m. Takaoka attempted to qualify for the Beijing Olympics at last December's Fukuoka International Marathon but finished 10th. Many have wondered where he would go next. Also scheduled to run Himejijo are Satoshi ...