japan running news

by Brett Larner
Apart from the Fukuoka International Cross Country Meet and Sunday's epochal Tokyo Marathon, three other significant races took place in Japan on Feb. 27.
Tomoyuki Morita (Team Kanebo) took the Kumanichi 30 km road race, winning in 1:32:14 by 18 seconds over Komazawa University's Akinori Iida. No women competed in this year's running.
At the 60th running of the venerable Kashima Yutoku Road Race, Hiroaki Koike (Toyo Univ.) won the men's half marathon in a modest 1:05:04, the only runner to break 66.
Korean university runner Seung Ho Baek beat Toyo University's Koshi Watanabe by 1 second to win the Inuyama Half Marathon in 1:03:47, while Mao Kuroda lead a near-sweep by Team Yutaka Giken runners in the women's division in a strong 1:12:21. Six women went under 35 minutes and six men under 30 in Inuyama's 10 km.
Kumanichi 30 km Kumamoto, 2/27/11 1. Tomoyuki Morita (Team Kanebo) - 1:32:14 2. Akinori Iida (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:32:32 3. Shota Yamaguch…

by Brett Larner

Ahead of this month's IAAF World Junior Championships, the 14th Asian Junior Athletics Championships got underway July 1 in Hanoi, Vietnam. Among the Japanese results on the meet's first day:

Hiroaki Koike won the boys' 3000 m steeplechase in 9:10.66, beating Kenyan-born Bahraini runner-up Isaac Kemboi Chelimo by over 20 seconds.Katsuki Suga was 2nd in the girls' 5000 m in 16:31.22, less than 10 seconds behind Ethiopian-born Bahraini winner Tejitu Daba Chalchissa. Eri Tayama finished 5th.Kazuki Baba and Farouq Ishimoto went 3-4 in the boys' 100 m, clocking 10.86 and 10.91.Mizuki Ito finished last in the girls' 100 m final, running 12.64.Both Japanese runners in the boys' 400 m qualified for the final, Kengo Yamasaki winning Heat 1 in 48.11 and Suguru Ito coming in 2nd in Heat 2 in 49.00.For complete results from the first day of competition, click here.

(c) 2010 Brett Larner
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