japan running news

The Hitachi women's corporate team has announced that Maya Fukushima has retired effective the end of November. Fukushima joined Hitachi last year after graduating from Josai University and Eda H.S. In high school she ran a best of 9:24.93 for 3000 m and won her stage at the prefectural ekiden championships. At Josai she grew into one of its best runner, running a PB of 15:44.90 for 5000 m and the longest stage at both the Morinomiyako Ekiden and Mt. Fuji Women's Ekiden university championships. Her 4th year she was 2nd in the 10000 m at the Kanto Region Championships and 5th on the Morinomiyako's Fourth Stage. But Fukushima was diagnosed with task-specific dystonia, a disorder that causes abnormal postures during particular motions and prevented her from racing after joining Hitachi. "As the days passed and I couldn't run like before the mental stress got worse and worse," she wrote in the Hitachi announcement. "But I'm really grateful to everyon...

Sunday is the Princess Ekiden , the official qualifying race for November's Queens Ekiden, the season-ending national championship race for corporate women's teams. The top 8 placers at last year's Queens Ekiden, Sekisui Kagaku , Japan Post , Panasonic , Shiseido , Daihatsu , Daiichi Seimei , Tenmaya and Iwatani Sangyo , auto-qualified for 2024, leaving the rest of the league's teams to line up in Fukuoka at the Princess Ekiden in hopes of joining them. 30 teams will compete for 16 places at the Queens Ekiden, each with a team of 6 running a total of 42.195 km. TBS is broadcasting the race live starting at 11:50, with streaming on Youtube. 16th at Queens last year, Kyudenko has scratched from Sunday's race due to athlete injuries preventing them from having enough people ready to run. 22nd at Queens, Yamada Holdings is also out because it couldn't field 6 runners, one reason being the transfer of one of its star runners, Sakiho Tsutsui , to Universal Entertai...

The Princess Ekiden , the official qualifying race for November's Queens Ekiden national corporate women's championships, happens Sunday in rural Fukuoka. 31 teams of 6 women will be racing 42.195 km in pursuit of 16 places at Queens alongside the top tier of podium placers from last year's national championships. TBS will be streaming the race live on Youtube starting at 12:10 p.m., and if you've got a VPN you should be all set. Live results will be posted here . There's a general sense that Japanese women aren't where they used to be, but counter to that trend are a lot of new women's ekiden teams trying to get off the ground. Along with some of the long-established powers like past national champions Universal Entertainment , Tenmaya and Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo , there are relatively young teams like Nitori , Senko and Tokyo Metro trying to qualify for the first time, and newcomers like Bears Camellia making their debuts. Next year expect to see at leas...

On April 19 the Hitachi women's corporate team announced that its athlete Cynthia Mbaire had passed away on April 14. A statement from head coach Satoru Kitamura said that Mbaire had been suffering from an unspecified illness since last year, and that she had faced it with strength and had fully expected to make a comeback. "She was always kind and considerate of those around her, and she brightened the mood on the team and gave us all courage," Kitamura wrote. "She made us all smile, and we are saddened to the depth of our hearts." Mbaire attended Kamimura Gakuen H.S. in Kagoshima. She was best known for her 8:49.72 meet record in the 2019 South Kyushu High School Championships 3000 m at age 16. Mbaire went on to win both the 1500 m and 3000 m at the National High School Championships that year, then won the 1500 m at the 2021 East Japan Corporate Championships her first season with Hitachi. Her best performance following that was a 9:01.66 for 3000 m in ...

Coached by JAAF Long Distance and Marathon Development Project team leader Toshihiko Seko , 62, the DeNA men's corporate team announced on Sept. 28 that it will no longer run ekidens. Last year it placed 3rd at the East Japan Corporate Ekiden, qualifying for the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden national championships where it placed a competitive 6th. However, this year it did not submit an entry for the Nov. 3 East Japan race, meaning it will not run the New Year Ekiden either. An official statement is expected to be released early next week. The DeNA team was founded in 2013. Including Seko, the majority of its staff and athletes came from the historic S&B corporate team following its dissolution. Prior to its termination S&B also stopped running ekidens. Led by 2012 London Olympics 10000 m 5th-placer Bedan Karoki of Kenya, the current team members will focus on their individual pursuits on the track and in the marathon in the coming seasons. The DeNA news followed shortly ...

http://sankei.jp.msn.com/sports/news/120215/oth12021519530022-n1.htm translated by Brett Larner With twenty-five New Year Ekiden national championship appearances to its ekiden team's name, the Hitachi Cable company announced on Feb. 15 that due to a decline in its business revenues and other reasons, effective April 1 it would transfer the team to its sister company, Chiba-based Hitachi Logistics, where it will become a marathon team.  The coaching staff of three and all fourteen current Team Hitachi Cable members plan to make the move together.  Team Hitachi Cable was founded in 1970.  In its tenth-straight New Year Ekiden appearance this year it finished 27th. Translator's note: The Hitachi Cable team includes 2010 Hokkaido Marathon winner Cyrus Njui  and two-time World Junior 3000 mSC champion Jonathan Ndiku  of Kenya among its members.