japan running news

The 36th Ichinoseki International Half Marathon took place Sept. 17 in Ichinoseki, Iwate. 25-year-old Joseph Onsarigo (Nasu Kensetsu) won the men's race in 1:04:34, with Kanae Shimoyama (Noritz) winning the women's race in 1:16:10, both of them taking the top position for the first time. A total of 2824 people started in the half marathon, 10 km and 5 km divisions, with 2652 finishing. The men's race developed into a battle between two natives of Kenya, with Onsarigo having what it took to prevail as the overall winner. Invited athlete Cyrus Njui (Cebu Sports) took the early lead. Surging at the 6 km turnaround point at Hiraizumi, he turned the race into a one-on-one duel. Around 12 km near Ruinohashi Onsarigo thought to himself, "Let's break away all at once," and surged, but Njui was able to answer and stayed in contact. The pair continued to test each other, looking for an opportunity. The key to the win came on the uphills late in the race. Last ...

http://yamagata-np.jp/news/201503/13/kj_2015031300287.php translated by Brett Larner ND Software, makers of nursing and wellness-related software based in Nanyo, Yamagata, have announced the formation of the ND Software AC men's running team.  Alongside a core lineup of runners transferring in from strong corporate league teams, a number of athletes are transferring to ND Software from the Nanyo City Hall team which qualified for the last two straight New Year Ekiden national championships.  As a corporate team they are set on making the New Year Ekiden. According to a company spokesperson, the new team was officially launched on April 1.  Plans call for a team of around 10 runners including those who have run the New Year Ekiden with other corporate teams and recent graduates who have experience at the Hakone Ekiden.  Team members will work alongside regular company workers, and recruitment offers have already gone out to top-level athletes across the countr...

by Brett Larner Ekiden season got off to an early start with the 66th running of Akita's Towada Hachimantai Ekiden on Aug. 7.  The Honda  corporate team, less Moscow World Championships marathoner Masakazu Fujiwara  and other A-list members, outran rival Yakult  for the win after a slow start.  The Yakult A team led for the first three of the day's five stages thanks in part to a superb stage record of 36:12 on the 13.4 km Second Stage by new Kenyan ace Bernard Kimani , while Honda fell as low as 4th.  On the 16.4 km Fourth Stage new Honda recruit Wataru Ueno , a graduate of Komazawa University and Sendai Ikuei H.S., had a strong corporate ekiden debut as he made up the 30-second gap to leader Yutaro Fukushi  of Yakult before opening a lead of nearly two minutes. With Fukushi having fallen to 3rd behind Komori Corporation , Yakult anchor Soji Ikeda , another Komazawa alum, did his best to run down Honda's Hayato Saito  on the tough uphil...

The first of JRN's four-part series interviews in the weeks following Samuel Wanjiru 's death with the people in Japan who knew him best and made him what he was. For an explanation of the origin of these interviews please click here . In this interview, Stephen Mayaka , the first Kenyan to run in Japan all the way from high school through university and on to a pro career and a mentor to Wanjiru and other Japan-resident Kenyans, talks about his experiences with Wanjiru. Tomorrow's interview will be Wanjiru's coach at the Toyota Kyushu corporate team, Barcelona Olympics marathon silver medalist Koichi Morishita . Stephen Mayaka interviewed by Brett Larner in Takasaki, Gunma, 6/23/11 © 2011 Brett Larner All rights reserved No part of this interview may be reproduced or quoted without express written permission. photo  © 2011 Daniel Seite All rights reserved To start with, could you talk about the early stages?  Wanjiru’s discovery, his life in Kenya before he c...