japan running news

click photo for complete video of race 3rd two years ago and runner-up last year, Joel Mwaura (Kurosaki Harima) finally got the better of two-time champ Jeremiah Thuku Karemi (Toyota Kyushu), breaking away inside the first 5 km to solo a 1:00:44 for the win and taking more than 30 seconds off Karemi's course record at the Okukuma Road Race  half marathon.  Hiroshi Ichida (Asahi Kasei) led a small group of Japanese men who tried to follow Mwaura's move, while Karemi initially hung back. Once Karemi caught back up, he and Ichida ran past halfway together before he put on a surge at a water station to drop Ichida and try to close the gap to Mwaura. But a third-straight title in his last race in Japan wasn't to be, as Karemi finished just over a minute behind Mwaura in 1:01:49. Ichida held on to the top Japanese spot at 3rd in a 3-second PB of 1:02:21. The women's race initially played out as a head-to-head between duos from the Wacoal and Kyocera corporate teams,...

For the second year in a row Japan-based Kenyan Jeremiah Thuku Karemi (Toyota Kyushu) broke the course record at Kumamoto's Okukuma Half Marathon . Coached by 1992 Barcelona Olympics marathon silver medalist Koichi Morishita , Karemi took 27 seconds off his winning time last year to win by over a minute in 1:01:21. Joel Mwaura (Kurosaki Harima) was a distant 2nd in 1:02:40, with Karemi's teammate Yuki Oshikawa (Toyota Kyushu) taking the top Japanese spot at 3rd in 1:03:13. Yuki Kawauchi  (Saitama Pref. Gov't) was 9th in 1:04:04 a week after running the Ibusuki Nanohana Marathon. In the women's race, Anna Matsuda (Kyocera), coached by former men's half  marathon national record holder Atsushi Sato , took 26 seconds off the course record to win in 1:13:10. Not far off, Kotomi Tsubokura (Wacoal) was a clear 2nd in 1:03:27 with Maki Saito (Higo Ginko) improving on her 10th-place finish last year to take 3rd in 1:14:46. Also Sunday, up in Tokyo the Akabane Ha...

In his second pro season, junior and collegiate men's 10000 m racewalk national record holder Daisuke Matsunaga (Fujitsu) stepped up with his biggest performance yet, becoming the first Japanese man to break 38 minutes and coming in with a near miss on the world record to win the 10000 m racewalk in a national record 37:58.08 at Saturday's Hokuren Distance Challenge Kitami meet . A 2017 graduate of Toyo University, throughout the race Matsunaga had support from younger Toyo athletes Koki Ikeda and Masatori Kawano who ended up 2nd and 3rd 40 to 50 seconds back. Currently ranked 4th in the world over 20 km, Matsunaga may be just what Japan needs for Tokyo 2020: a legit gold medal contender in athletics. Speaking of Tokyo 2020, the JAAF is desperate to get some women under 15 minutes for 5000 m before, something only national record holder Kayoko Fukushi (Wacoal) has ever done. As a step toward that objective, for the second year in a row the Hokuren Distance Challenge fe...

As championship ekiden season wraps up Japan’s athletes have started the transition to the winter road season, with four decently competitive half marathons highlighting the first half of January. At the hilly Okukuma Half Marathon , locally-based Africans Jeremiah Thuku Karemi (Toyota Kyushu) and Melaku Abera (Kurosaki Harima) duked it out one-on-one, Karemi through in a series of surges in the last 5 km before breaking away decisively with 1 km to go. Crossing the finish line in 1:01:48, Karemi took nearly two minutes off the course record with Abera just under 62 for 2nd. 2nd on the Hakone Ekiden’s Seventh Stage less than two weeks ago, Masanori Sumida (Nittai Univ.) outran corporate league competition Taku Fujimoto (Toyota) and Shohei Kurata (GMO) to take the top Japanese spot at 4th in 1:03:11. Spending most of the race behind a pack led by 2015 National Univeristy Half Marathon champion Tadashi Isshiki (GMO) and 2:07:39 marathoner Masato Imai (Toyota Kyushu), Yuki Ka...

In a year that saw him deliver one of the most memorable debut marathons in history, a half marathon national record, 10000 m and marathon PBs and more, Yuta Shitara (Honda) ended 2017 on a high note, beating three-time defending champion Jeremiah Thuku Karemi (Toyota Kyushu) to win the 42nd Kumamoto Kosa 10-Miler . Shitara, Karemi, London World Championships marathoner Hiroto Inoue (MHPS), Ethiopian Abayneh Degu (Yasukawa Denki) and track ace Shuho Dairokuno (Asahi Kasei) ran together in a lead group through the early going, but Shitara was just too much for the others to handle. Shitara broke the tape in 45:58, only the fourth Japanese man to ever clear 45 minutes. Karemi was well under last year's winning time but nowhere close to catching Shitara, finishing 2nd in 46:10 and Inoue only 2 seconds behind him. With many corporate and university teams using Kosa to tune up for the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden and Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden, it regularly produces the deepest 10 mile r...

http://www.daily.co.jp/general/2016/11/28/0009704327.shtml translated and edited by Brett Larner 11/27 熊本甲佐10マイル 国際・一般男子10マイル(通過順) カレミ ズク選手(トヨタ自動車九州) 神野大地選手(コニカミノルタ) エドワード ワウエル選手(NTN) pic.twitter.com/WFUYrgjIFy — manamin (@kinokonoko0916) November 29, 2016 The 41st running of the Kumamoto Kosa 10 Mile Road Race took place Nov. 27 on a course starting and finishing in front of Kosa Town Hall.  Two-time winner Jeremiah Karemi Thuku (Team Toyota Kyushu) made it three-straight wins as he braved cold and rainy conditions to break the tape in 46:19. All three of the Hakone Ekiden uphill Fifth Stage's superstar "Gods of the Mountain" raced, with the most recent of the troika, 2016 Aoyama Gakuin University graduate Daichi Kamino (Team Konica Minolta) outrunning the first runner to bear that title, Masato Imai (Team Toyota Kyushu), by 8 seconds for 2nd.  Toyo University graduate Ryuji Kashiwabara (Team Fujitsu) dropped out partway. The showdown went to the younge...

by Brett Larner photos by @t_tsuki Less than 24 hours after world record-setting 10000 m depth in Hachioji , another record fell at the 40th anniversary Kumamoto Kosa 10-Miler .  Expectations were high that the talented Kenta Murayama (Team Asahi Kasei) would follow up on his twin brother Kota's 10000 m national record in Hachioji by breaking the 45:40 Japanese 10 mile national record set back in 1984, almost a decade before the Murayamas were born. Murayama came out swinging, running side-by-side with defending champion Jeremiah Thuku Karemi (Team Toyota Kyushu) through a 2:47 opening km, 44:47 pace.  Karemi pushed on but Murayama soon let go and dropped back behind another Kenyan, Charles Ndungu (Team Komori Corp.), picking up company from teammate Kenjiro Mogi . Running alone Karemi couldn't sustain his course record pace but had no trouble taking a second-straight win.  His time of 45:19 was 32 seconds better than last year and the seventh-best winning ti...

by Brett Larner It’s another big weekend of racing in Japan with the main action split evenly between track, road racing and ekiden. Saturday’s Hachioji Long Distance meet in western Tokyo is the pick of the weekend, with 22 men with sub-28 minute bests and another half dozen a few seconds off or debuting in the 10000 m A-heat, the Africans in prep for the New Year Ekiden and the Japanese runners taking a shot at Rio Olympic marks and the Japanese national record. 2013 World XC Jr. silver medalist Leonard Barsoton (Team Nissin Shokuhin) leads the way with a 27:20.74 best with Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Team Asahi Kasei), all-time Japanese #5 over 10000 m at 27:38.99, heading the Japanese contingent off a 5000 m national record-breaking 13:12.63 this summer. Ekiden fans will be most closely watching 5000 m national university champion Hazuma Hattori who is targeting sub-28 in hopes of making next year’s Olympic team during his senior year at 2015 National University Ekiden champion Toy...

by Brett Larner Coached by Koichi Morishita , the Barcelona Olympics marathon silver medalist who turned Samuel Wanjiru into a world-beater, Jeremiah Thuku Karemi (Kenya/Team Toyota Kyushu) had a solid debut over ten miles as he won the 39th Kumamoto Kosa 10-Miler in 45:51, one of the fastest times in the world this year.  Karemi beat a massive chase pack containing many of Japan's best current track runners and marathoners by more than 40 seconds, setting both himself and Morishita's Toyota Kyushu corporate team up for a big day at next month's New Year Ekiden national championships. In the chase pack, rookie pro Natsuki Terada (Team JR Higashi Nihon), famous for taking a wrong turn in the last 200 m of the Hakone Ekiden anchor stage as a first-year at Koku Gakuin University , showed the strength of the kick that got him back into position at Hakone by winning an at least nine-way sprint finish for 2nd in 46:33.  Yuya Konishi led three other Toyota Kyushu runners ...

by Brett Larner The 28th Fukuoka International Cross Country Meet played host to this year's Asian Cross Country Championships, the international championship races held within Fukuoka's regular senior men's 10 km, senior women's 6 km, junior men's 8 km and junior women's 6 km races.  In the senior men's 10 km, Japan-based Kenyan Jeremiah Karemi  (Team Toyota Kyushu), two-time winner of Fukuoka's junior race, ran tough against an all-African Bahraini squad, outkicking its Aweke Yimer  by 9 seconds for the win in 28:43.  Karemi's continuing development over the last year is especially noteworthy given that the last time Toyota Kyushu head coach Koichi Morishita , the Barcelona Olympics marathon silver medalist, took on a Kenyan it was future Beijing Olympics gold medalist Samuel Wanjiru . 2nd overall, Yimer took the Asian Championships gold medal with teammates Isaac Korir  and Alemu Bekele  taking silver and gold.  2010 5000 m national champion Y...

by Brett Larner photo by Kazuyuki Sugimatsu 2013 World Cross-Country Championships junior silver medalist Leonard Barsoton (Kenya/Team Nissin Shokuhin) made a solid debut over 10000 m on June 29 at the Hokuren Distance Challenge Fukagawa meet, narrowly winning the A-heat in 27:33.13 after leading much of the race. Less than a stride behind, former Sera H.S. star Jeremiah Karemi (Team Toyota Kyushu) took nearly a minute off his best as he finished in 27:33.38.  Now coached by Barcelona Olympics marathon silver medalist Koichi Morishita , Karemi is one of two Kenyans to pick where late Beijing Olympics marathon gold medalist Samuel Wanjiru left off at the Toyota Kyushu team. 21-year-old Chihiro Miyawaki  (Team Toyota), in the all-time Japanese top ten over both 10000 m and half marathon, was 7th in 28:02.36 to lead the Japanese contingent in the unusually deep heat, where 26 men broke 29 minutes.  Miyawaki raised eyebrows by announcing post-race that he plans ...

by Bret Larner Sera H.S.  grad Charles Ndirangu  (Kenya/Team JFE Steel) followed up his win two weeks ago at the Chiba International Cross-Country Meet with another win Feb. 23 at the Fukuoka International Cross-Country Meet , narrowly outrunning #1-ranked Japanese collegiate Suguru Osako  (Waseda Univ.) in the senior men's 10 km, 29:47 to 29:50 with Australian 10000 m national record holder Ben St. Lawrence  3rd in 30:21.  With Fukuoka a selection race for Japan's World Cross-Country teams, Osako and 4th and 5th place finishers Yuki Matsuoka  (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) and Wataru Ueno  (Komazawa Univ.) threw their hats into the ring for team consideration.  The top Japanese man from Chiba, Keigo Yano  of 2013 Hakone Ekiden champion Nittai University , was 6th as Ueno just got him at the line. In the senior women's 6 km race London Olympian Hitomi Niiya  (Team Univ. Ent.) took yet another Fukuoka title by a sweeping margin, clocking 20:0...

by Brett Larner The first of Japan's two selection races for its World Cross-Country Championships team took place under beautiful sunny skies Feb. 10 in Chiba.  Former Sera H.S. standout Charles Ndirangu  (Kenya/Team JFE Steel) had no trouble taking the senior men's 12 km, winning by a margin of nearly 30 seconds over newcomer Miliyon Zewdie (Ethiopia/ Team Yachiyo Kogyo).  Close behind, Keigo Yano  and Takumi Honda of 2013 Hakone Ekiden champions Nittai University  went 4-5 to take the top two Japanese positions and all but assure themselves places on the Worlds team.  Last weekend's Marugame International Half Marathon winner Collis Birmingham  (Australia) was only 7th in 36:07. High schooler Rosemary Wanjiru  (Kenya/Aomori Yamada H.S.) won the senior women's 8 km with the largest margin of victory of the day, running 26:08 to beat pros Susan Wairimu (Kenya/Team Denso),  Hanae Tanaka  (Team Daiichi Seimei) and Yukari Abe (Team...

by Brett Larner The 67th running of the Meigi Ekiden joined other races across the country in being blessed with good weather on Feb. 3, the kind of weather that produces course records. In the 6-stage, 52.6 km open men's division Team Toyota Boshoku  unseated defending champion and course record holder Team Toyota  for the win in 2:31:17, just 32 seconds off Toyota's 2012 record.  Toyota Boshoku started slow, its opening man Yoshiaki Shiota only 7th, but steadily advanced through the field until Kenyan ace Patrick Mutunga ran down Toyota's Chihiro Miyawaki  to put Toyota Boshoku ahead by 10 seconds.  Both Toyota Boshoku and Toyota's fifth men Yuya Taguchi  and Kenta Matsubara broke the stage record, Matsubara closing to within 1 second as he fought desperately to retake the lead, but on the anchor stage his teammate Minato Oishi  was no match for Toyota Boshoku anchor Yoshihiro Yamamoto , who ran a stage best 34:14 for the 11.8 km leg to secure...

by Brett Larner Toyokawa H.S. wins the 2012 National High School Boys Ekiden title in 2:02:55, the all-time #4 time. Click photo for video highlights courtesy of broadcaster NHK. #1-ranked Toyokawa H.S.  blew apart the 2012 National High School Boys Ekiden Championships  in its national debut, taking the lead on the third stage and never looking back.  With Third Stage runner Jeremiah Karemi  missing the great Samuel Wanjiru 's stage record of 22:40 by just 7 seconds and star members of Wanjiru's alma mater Sendai Ikuei H.S.  having transferred to Toyokawa in the spring the team took the national title in 2:02:55, the fourth-fastest time in Nationals history and the first time in 50 years that a school won in its first appearance.  #2 seed Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.  presented no challenge, down by more than two minutes before rallying for 2nd in a quality 2:04:46.  #4-ranked Iga Hakuho H.S.  anchor Takumi Kawato  ran down defending cha...

by Brett Larner With a live nationwide commercial-free TV broadcast, the National High School Ekiden Championships take to the air this Sunday, Dec. 23.  The top teams from each of Japan's 47 prefectures square off in Kyoto, boys over seven stages and 42.195 km, girls over five stages and 21.0975 km.  In-country fans can catch the action on NHK, the girls starting at 10:05 a.m. and the boys at 12:15 p.m.  Overseas viewers can give it a go on Keyhole TV or follow @JRNLive for race coverage. Why should you care about a Japanese high school race?  Well, they're pretty good.  Take a look at the top ten boys' and girls' teams. As reader Bruce Carrick   pointed out earlier this year , a lot of the boys' teams would do pretty well in NCAA DI.  Top-ranked Toyokawa H.S.  and #2 Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.  have better seven-man 5000 m averages than 2012 NCAA DI cross-country 3rd-place University of Colorado .  The top nine high school...

by Brett Larner Bolstered by an injection of seven transferring boys and three girls from Sendai Ikuei H.S.  to its already champion-level ekiden teams, Toyokawa H.S.  got the high school ekiden season off with a bang with wins in the both boys' and girls' races at the Nihonkai Ekiden in Kurayoshi on Sept. 30.  As Toyokawa's first major race with its full complement of transferred talent following a post-transfer suspension , the results spoke for themselves.  Toyokawa's boys started off in the lead, but after falling seven seconds behind rival Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.  on the 3 km Second Stage, transfer student Tadashi Isshiki , the anchor stage winner for Sendai Ikuei at last year's National High School Ekiden Championships, got Toyokawa back into the lead by three seconds on the 8.1075 km Third Stage.  Kenyan ringer Jeremiah Karemi  widened the lead by over a minute, and despite lukewarm runs on the remaining three stages Toyokawa won easily over Nish...

by Brett Larner Summer heat couldn't stop the fast times in the 5000 m final on the fourth day of the 2012 National High School Track & Field Championships Aug. 1 in Niigata.  After a Kenyan-dominated round of qualifying heats, #1 seed Charles Ndungu  (Kenya/Sapporo Yamanote H.S.), #2 Jeremiah Karemi  (Kenya/Toyokawa H.S.), #4-ranked Kazuma Taira  (Toyokawa Kogyo H.S.) and four others took the final out hard, starting at 13:07 pace and gradually slowing.  As the rest of the field faded away, first-year Ndungu and the experienced Karemi battled for the lead as top-ranked Japanese Taira struggled to stay with them.  Over the last kilometer Taira fell behind, and in the final sprint down the home straight Karemi emerged a fraction of a second ahead of Ndungu to take the 2012 national title in a solid 13:46.30 to Ndungu's 13:46.56.  Taira held on to 3rd in 13:55.64, just outrunning #3 seed John Maina  (Kenya/Aomori Yamada H.S.).  1500 m cha...