japan running news

Record-breaking temperatures around 30 degrees prevented the kinds of times organizers hoped a new course would deliver for the Stockholm Marathon 's 40th running, with Mikaela Larsson (Sweden) and Lawi Kiptui (Kenya) proving the toughest in the heat with wins in 2:40:28 and 2:13:30. Defending women's champ Konjit Tilahun Biruk was part of an Ethiopian trio that went out on 2:35 pace, Larsson holding back with seven-time winner Isabellah Andersson (Sweden) at a slightly more conservative 2:37 pace. The front group soon stalled, and just past 15 km the Sweden pair made contact. For the next 10 km the new lead group stuck together, but as the race wore on the heat proved too much and they dropped away one by one. By 30 km Larsson had a clear lead and ran on alone to take the top spot in front of a delighted home crowd inside Stockholm's 1912 Olympic Stadium. Beji Bekelu (Ethiopia) held on to 2nd in 2:43:55, but Andersson was run down by another Swedish runner, C...

Amateur winners of two of the world's biggest marathons, 2016 Osaka Marathon champ Yoshiko Sakamoto (YWC) and 2018 Boston Marathon winner Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) return to Sweden to run the Stockholm Marathon for the second year in a row this Saturday with support from JRN. For its 40th running Stockholm features a new course designed to cut most of the hills out of the first half of the race, but with temperatures expected to peak at 27C the quality elite field may not be able to take full advantage of the new configuration. 5th last year, Sakamoto is fresh off a 2:35:40 PB at February's Tokyo Marathon. She faces defending champion Konjit Tilahun Biruk (Ethiopia), seven-time winner Isabellah Andersson (Sweden) and #1-ranked Kumeshi Sichala (Ethiopia), the only woman in the field with a current sub-2:30 time. The 2:28:24 event record set way back in 1988 by the great Grete Waitz (Norway) will be a stretch, but however fast it goes Sakamoto hopes to ...

by Brett Larner Most of the running world will be focused on the London Marathon, where among others Japanese track and ekiden great Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin) will be trying again to get the marathon right, but there's at least one other good race this weekend.  Last year Yoshiko Sakamoto (YWC), an unknown amateur runner and mother of three , seemed to come out of nowhere to win Switzerland's Zurich Marathon , with the popular Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) taking 2nd in what ended up being his fastest race of an injury-prone 2015.  This year both Sakamoto and Kawauchi return to Zurich for Sunday's race with support from JRN. Sakamoto faces at least two strong rivals this year.  It has been a while since Kenyan-born Swede Isabellah Andersson 's 2:23:41 PB in Dubai 2011 or even since she broke 2:30, but with a 2:30:02 in Tokyo in February she is still the best in the field.  A stroke against her: Andersson only joined the Zurich field after a DN...

Dubai, 1/25/13 click here for complete results 1. Tirfi Tsegaye Beyene (Ethiopia) - 2:23:23 2. Ehitu Kiros Reda (Ethiopia) - 2:23:39 3. Amane Gobena Gemeda (Ethiopia) - 2:23:50 4. Aheza Kiros Abeye (Ethiopia) - 2:24:30 5. Belaynesh Olijira Jemama (Ethiopia) - 2:25:01 6. Shitaye Bedasa Ordofa (Ethiopia) - 2:25:47 7. Isabellah Andersson (Sweden) - 2:26:05 8. Abebech Afework Bekele (Ethiopia) - 2:27:08 9. Beata Naigambo (Namibia) - 2:27:54 10. Misaki Katsumata (Team Daiichi Seimei) - 2:30:42 photo (c) 2013 Dr. Helmut Winter all rights reserved

2011 Stockholm Marathon Stockholm, Sweden, 5/28/11 click here for complete results Men 1. Shumi Gerbaba (Ethiopia) - 2:14:07 2. Dominic Pius Ondoro (Kenya) - 2:14:23 3. Kenneth Korir (Kenya) - 2:15:09 Women 1. Isabellah Andersson (Kenya/Sweden) - 2:37:28 2. Eri Okubo (Second Wind AC) - 2:38:58 3. Irina Permitina (Russia) - 2:39:44