japan running news

In the first major road race held on public roads in Japan since the coronavirus crisis began, the Sekisui Kagaku team won its second-straight Princess Ekiden Sunday in Munakata, Fukuoka to lead the qualifiers for November's National Corporate Women's Ekiden Championships. 25 km national record holder Sayaka Sato took things out with a 22:22 CR for the 7.0 km First Stage, setting up a lead that last year's double 800 m and 1500 m national champ Ran Urabe held onto despite only running the third-fastest time on her 3.6 km leg. Urabe handed off to half marathon NR holder Hitomi Niiya , who took an incredible 1:15 off the record for the 10.7 km Third Stage. Niiya's time of 32:43 equated to 30:35 for 10 km, well under the track 10000 m NR, and singlehandedly took Sekisui Kagaku from a 10 second lead to 1:58 out front. Sekisui Kagaku's last three runners had it relatively easy, none of them in the top 8 on their stages but anchor Chikako Mori bringing them home saf...

On Jan. 16 the organizers of the Osaka International Women's Marathon  announced that invited elites Reia Iwade (Dome) and Hisami Ishii (Yamada Denki) have withdrawn from the Jan. 28 race with injuries. Iwade has developed discomfort in the rear of her right thigh, while Ishii has sustained a stress fracture in the left side of her pelvis. source article:   https://www.jiji.com/jc/article?k=2018011600538&g=spo translated by Brett Larner

All-time Japanese #4 in the marathon at 2:21:36 in her debut earlier this year in Nagoya, Yuka Ando (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) leads the elite field for the Jan. 28 Osaka International Women's Marathon . Hoping for a comeback after an ineffectual run at the summer's London World Championships, Ando faces former under-20 Japanese record holder Reia Iwada (Dome) and debuting 10000 m national champion Mizuki Matsuda (Daihatsu) as her main competition. Eunice Jeptoo (Kenya) and Fayesa Robi (Ethiopia) lead the small international field with the debuting Gotytom Gebreslase (Ethiopia) throwing in an element of unpredictability, but with bests of only 2:26:13 and 2:27:04 it will take a combination of a breakthrough from any of them and a breakdown from Ando and Iwade to have a shot at the win. Along with Matsuda's exciting debut, Osaka will again be putting heavy emphasis on first-timers and university student runners, Ayano Ikemitsu (Kagoshima Ginko) leading the former with a ...

by Brett Larner #名古屋ウィメンズマラソン 🥇キルワ 🇧🇭 2:21:17 =3連覇 🥈安藤 🇯🇵 2:21:36 #nagoyawomensmarathon pic.twitter.com/aVP3sVJg2Q — EKIDEN_MANIA (@ekiden_mania) March 12, 2017 Rio Olympics silver medalist, two-time defending champion and course record holder Eunice Kirwa (Bahrain) brought the race of her career to the Nagoya Women's Marathon .  And she needed to in order to win. Despite a fall at the start Kirwa was out strong, accompanied by the star first-timer of last year's Nagoya, Mao Kiyota (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC), her debuting teammate Yuka Ando , and the likewise debuting Hisami Ishii (Team Yamada Denki).  The 5 km split of 16:51 put them on track for 2:22:12, just under the JAAF's London World Championships auto-selection standard of 2:22:30, but when the pacers took it up to 16:25 for the next 5 km the pace got too hot for Kiyota and Ishii. Kiyota made a few brave attempts to get back on board but quickly lost touch for good.  Ando, 10th at last year's C...

by Brett Larner The Nagoya Women's Marathon is the largest women-only marathon in the world, with 19,112 finishers last year.  It was also the deepest elite women's marathon in the world next to the Rio Olympics, with more women sub-2:27 than in Rio and only three fewer under 2:30.  Many of the main people who made it what it was last year are set to return, led by course record holder and two-time defending champion Eunice Kirwa (Bahrain) who comes back to Nagoya as an Olympic silver medalist.  Japan's Rei Ohara (Team Tenmaya), Mao Kiyota (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC), Reia Iwade (Team Noritz), Sayaka Kuwahara (Team Sekisui Kagaku) and Shiho Takechi (Team Yamada Denki) all ran sub-2:26 PBs in Nagoya last year, Ohara's 2:23:30 just missing her a place on the Rio Olympic team.  Ohara is Kirwa's closest competition, but with a nearly two-minute difference in their recent half marathon wins Ohara will have a very tough battle facing her to stay in contact.  At sta...

by Brett Larner After outperforming their men for over a decade, Japanese women have been on a downward trend for much of the last 8 years even as depth and quality improved dramatically among the men.  In 2016 the trend reversed again, with the men's depth and quality dropping somewhat and the women's fortunes improving.  The good: Half marathon national record holder Kayoko Fukushi breaking through with an all-time Japanese #7 mark of 2:22:17 in Osaka . Team bronze  at the World Half Marathon Championships. A 12 km national record  by  Risa Takenaka . An 8 km national record by Tomomi Tanaka . A course record win over solid competition at the Gold Coast Airport Marathon by Misato Horie . Confident frontrunning  from  Miyuki Uehara  to make the 5000 m final at the Rio Olympics. First-time national titles by relatively young, innovative teams Matsuyama University and Japan Post at the National University Women's Ekiden and Nation...

by Brett Larner The third installment in Japan's midsummer Hokuren Distance Challenge time trials series took place July 11 in Abashiri, Hokkaido, the last day for athletes to turn in qualifying times for next month's Rio de Janeiro Olympics.  With the long distance squads already mostly set the only events with people seriously contending for Rio were the women's 3000 m steeplechase and men's 800 m, where National Championships runners-up Chikako Mori (Team Sekisui Kagaku) and Masato Yokota (Team Fujitsu) tried a final time to get under the 9:45.00 and 1:46.00 standards.  Both came up well short, Mori running 10:00.23 to win the steeple and Yokota just 1:49.28 for 4th in the 800 m. Which is not to say that the day was slow overall.  With ideal conditions the distance events were fast across the board, and in both the women's 5000 m and men's 10000 m there were new year-leading Japanese marks.  Risa Yokoe (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) won the women's 5000...

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 ...

by Brett Larner Two big two-day meets got started Saturday, turning out two world-leading times.  At the Hyogo Relay Carnival the Asics Challenge events serve as the B-heats ahead of Sunday's Olympic selection Grand Prix races, but there was nothing second-tier in the men's 10000 m as James Mwangi (Team NTN) ran a world-leading 27:23.04 to lead six men, all Kenya, under 28 minutes.  Mwangi's time took more than 9 seconds off the meet record set in way back in 2005 by the late great Samuel Wanjiru .  Fabiano Sulle (Tanzania) was the top non-Kenyan at 7th in 28:01.76. Second-year Dominic Nyairo (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) led the collegiate results in 3rd in 27:56.47.  Tokai University dominated Heat Two of the 10000 m with three runners, two of them first-years, going sub-29 led by first-year Hayato Seki with the win in 28:48.63.  Toyo University first-year Sota Watanabe also cleared 29, just, running 28:59.77 for 10th.  Many more university men broke...

by Brett Larner Japan is sending one of its better teams in recent World Half Marathon Championships history to Saturday's race in Cardiff.  20-year-old Keijiro Mogi , a training partner of 10000 m national record holder Kota Murayama at the Asahi Kasei corporate team, leads the men's roster with a 1:00:54 best.  Hakone Ekiden powerhouse Komazawa University features heavily, with current Komazawa runners Keisuke Nakatani and Naoki Kudo and 2015 graduate Shogo Nakamura (Team Fujitsu) making up the core of the men's team.  The women's team includes three sub-70 runners led by Miho Shimizu (Team Hokuren) with support from Yuka Ando (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) and Mirai Waku (Team Univ. Ent.).  With the exception of Mizuki Matsuda (Team Daihatsu), all will be making their international road debuts. World Half Marathon Championships Cardiff, U.K., 3/26/16  click here for timetable and complete rosters Men Keijiro Mogi (Asahi Kasei) - 1:00:54 (Marugame ...

http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXLSSXK40674_Y6A210C1000000/ translated and edited by Brett Larner On Feb. 18 the JAAF named the five men and five women on the Japanese team for the Mar. 26 World Half Marathon Championships in Cardiff, U.K.  Additionally, they also announced the lineup for the Feb. 29 Asian Cross-Country Championships in Manama, Bahrain, with Shuho Dairokuno (Team Asahi Kasei) leading the senior men's team. The World Half Marathon Championships team: Men Keijiro Mogi (Asahi Kasei) - 1:00:54 (Marugame Half 2016) Keisuke Nakatani (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:01:21 (Marugame Half 2016) Naoki Kudo (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:01:25 (Marugame Half 2016) Shogo Nakamura (Fujitsu) - 1:01:53 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2016) Minato Oishi (Toyota) - 1:02:06 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2013) Women Miho Shimizu (Hokuren) - 1:09:41 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2016) Yuka Ando (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 1:09:51 (Sanyo Ladies Half 2015) Mirai Waku (Universal Entertainment) - 1:09:56 (Sanyo Ladies Ha...