japan running news

interview by Brett Larner translated by Brett Larner and Mika Tokairin Running in miserable conditions at the 2010 Tokyo Marathon, Arata Fujiwara  came 2nd for the second time in his career. The next day, a badly limping Fujiwara generously met with JRN at a favorite bar of his to talk about the race, training, future, and what went wrong and right. Part one of the post-race interview focused on this year's race. Part two, below, talks about Fujiwara's motivations, his training for Tokyo, and the Japanese corporate running system compared with the situation in Africa, Europe and the United States. Click here for Fujiwara's three-part pre-race interview. In 2008 Tokyo didn’t have prize money, so this was your first time really running for it. Did it make a difference? Yeah, when there’s prize money you have more guts. This time, in the last 2 km there was a negotiation between my legs and the prize money. (laughs) I got the ‘go’ sign. Having prize money encoura...

interview by Brett Larner translated by Brett Larner and Mika Tokairin Part four of a five-part interview . Running in miserable conditions at the 2010 Tokyo Marathon,  Arata Fujiwara  came 2nd in Tokyo for the second time in his career. The next day, a badly limping Fujiwara generously met with JRN at a favorite bar of his to talk about the race, training, future, and what went wrong and right. Part four of the interview below focuses on this year's race. Part five talks about Fujiwara's motivations, his training for Tokyo, and the Japanese corporate running system compared with the situation in Africa, Europe and the United States. Congratulations on your first marathon in the 2:10’s. (laughs) Thanks, yeah, I broke through the wall. Having seen your last four marathons, when I watched the video of this year’s Tokyo Marathon I felt that it was the first time you had run like a marathoner, like you really understood the marathon. Compared to your last five mara...

by Brett Larner What a day. With 6 degree temperatures at the start, strong winds, rain turning to snow as temperatures fell, and a tsunami warning for the waterfront finish area, this year's Tokyo Marathon had the worst conditions in the event's four-year history. That is saying quite a bit after the cold rain in 2007 and the gale-force winds last year. Times were never on the table as runners fought simply to survive. Injury-plagued debut marathon national record holder Masakazu Fujiwara (Team Honda) staged a major comeback, gutting it out over a pack of nine with a surge at 2:52/km over the last 2.195 km to win the men's race in 2:12:19, the first Japanese man to win Tokyo. 2008 Tokyo runner-up Arata Fujiwara (Team JR Higashi Nihon), no relation, won out a great sprint finish for 2nd against half marathon national record holder Atsushi Sato (Team Chugoku Denryoku) and amateur Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't). Time aside, the day was a big one for Masakazu Fuj...

http://www.47news.jp/CN/201002/CN2010020701000181.html http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2010020700109 translated and edited by Brett Larner Hakone Ekiden Second Stage winner Daniel Gitau (Kenya/Nihon Univ.) took his first win at the 2010 Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon on Feb. 7, running a PB of 1:01:08. Defending champion and course record holder Mekubo Mogusu (Kenya/Team Aidem) was 2nd in 1:01:43. Yuichiro Ogawa (Team Kanebo) was the top Japanese man, 4th overall in 1:01:53. In the women's race, Australian Nicole Chapple ran a sizeable PB of 1:08:37 to beat defending champion Mara Yamauchi (U.K.). Identical twins Yoko and Hiroko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera) were 2-3 in 1:09:51 and 1:10:01. Yamauchi finished 6th. Translator's note: A big day for Australia! The Marugame Half will be broadcast from 2:38 to 3:33 a.m. on Wed., Feb. 11 on Fuji TV. Overseas viewers should be able to watch online for free using Keyhole TV . 2010 Kagawa Marugame International Hal...

by Brett Larner Last weekend's Osaka International Women's Marathon and this weekend's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon and Meigi Ekiden mark the transition from ekiden season to Japan's short but dense late-winter marathon season. Six elite marathons are crammed into a seven-week span, but there is more. In February and March Japan hosts an array of competitive 10 milers, half marathons and 30 km road races both as marathon tune-ups and target races for those focusing on the intermediate distances. While the pointy ends of these races may often be somewhat blunted relative to smaller but wealthier races in Europe and the Arabian peninsula, many of the Japanese races top the worldwide lists in overall quality and depth. The conclusion of the Kyoto City Half Marathon last year as Kyoto prepares to host a large-scale full marathon means other races stand to benefit, as was clear at last weekend's Osaka Half Marathon where six men broke the course record. Feb. 7 sees tw...

by Brett Larner With three weeks to go until the 2010 Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon race officials announced the complete elite men's and women's fields on Jan. 18. Last year's Japan-based winners Mara Yamauchi (U.K.) and Mekubo Mogusu (Kenya) are scheduled to return to defend their titles. Yamauchi has been out of competition since an injury kept her away from August's Berlin World Championships and is making a welcome return to the scene. The popular Mogusu is likewise making a miniature comeback after his abortive marathon debut last month in Fukuoka. The elite women's field includes 24 invited athletes along with 25 general division elites. 2004 Tokyo International Women's Marathon winner Bruna Genovese (Italy) and 2009 Great Australian Run winner Nicole Chapple (Australia) are Yamauchi's main overseas competition, while the Japanese runners are led by the Ominami twins Hiromi and Takami (Team Toyota Shatai) and 2008 Shanghai Half M...

http://www.hokkaido-np.co.jp/news/sports/191179.html translated and edited by Brett Larner At the 2009 Hakodate Half Marathon in Hakodate, Hokkaido on Sept. 27, Joseph Mwaniki (Team Konica Minolta) ran the Rikuren-certified course in a time of 1:01:57 to take his third-straight win and become Hakodate's first-ever three-time winner. Mwaniki aggressively took the lead from the start, beating runner-up Satoru Sasaki (Team Asahi Kasei) by over two minutes. Keiko Nakasu (Team Noritz) won the women's race in 1:17:12, her first win. Nakasu ran the race in a dead heat with last year's runner-up Mizuho Kishi (Team Yamada Denki) before dropping Kishi on the final loop of the track in Hakodate's Chiyoda Park stadium. 1768 people including 305 women started Hakodate's 19th edition race with 1711 reaching the finish, 294 of them women. Temperatures at the start were a warm 18.5 degrees.

http://www.hokkaido-np.co.jp/news/sports/120400.html http://www.nissinfoods.co.jp/culture/sports/athlete/result/ translated and edited by Brett Larner Joseph Mwaniki (Team Konica Minolta) defended his title at the 2008 Hakodate Half Marathon in Hakodate, Hokkaido Prefecture on Sept. 28, covering the Rikuren-certified course in 1:02:08. Mwaniki took the lead at the seaside 11 km turnaround, finishing over a minute ahead of 2nd place finisher Kenta Oshima (Team Nissin Shokuhin), who ran 1:03:29. Nissin runners Bene Zama and Kazuyoshi Tokumoto took 3rd and 4th, both clocking PBs. Azusa Nojiri (Team Daiichi Seimei) won the women's race in 1:14:12, her first victory in the Hakodate Half. Nojiri attacked over a hilly section of the course near the 5 km point, breaking apart rival Mizuho Kishi (Team Yamada Denki) to win by a wide margin. 1545 entrants including 218 women took part in the 18th edition of the race. Temperatures at the start were 15.5 degrees.

by Brett Larner On May 8, the Sendai International Half Marathon released the names of the invited runners for this year`s 18th edition, to be held May 11 in Sendai. Headlining the field are Japanese national marathon record holders Mizuki Noguchi (Team Sysmex) and Toshinari Takaoka (Team Kanebo). Noguchi will be using Sendai as a tune-up for the Beijing Olympics after a spring season which saw her drop out of her other preparatory races after a series of minor setbacks. She is the defending champion, having won last year`s Sendai in a strong 1:08:54, and is also the overwhelming favorite in a somewhat limited women`s field which includes only one other Japanese runner with a PB under 1:10. Her strongest competition will likely come from Yuko Machida (Team Nihon ChemiCon), a member of Japan`s team at last year`s World Road Running Championships, and Kei Terada (Team Tenmaya), 2nd place finisher at last year`s Universiad Half Marathon Championships. Machida`s teammate Hiroko Shoi a...