japan running news

by Brett Larner Following up on a disappointing showing at last weekend's Great North Run and Prague Grand Prix 10 km, Japan's corporate league runners underwhelmed again at Sunday's Köln Marathon and Usti nad Labem Half Marathon.  In a race won by Kenya's Anthony Maritim in 2:10:26 in Köln, 2:09:18 marathoner Yuko Matsumiya (Team Hitachi Butsuryu), the twin brother of 5000 m and 30 km national record holder Takayuki Matsumiya (Team Konica Minolta), could do no better than 2:18:41 for 3rd.  2:15:05 man Kenta Iinuma (Team Sagawa Group) fell well below the professional level, running only 2:23:12 for 4th.  Formerly Japan-based Kenyan Julia Mumbi took the women's race in 2:28:00. Further east, Japanese results at the Czech Republic's Usti nad Labem mirrored those at the Great North Run, with 1:02 half marathoners Yuya Ito (Team Toyota) and Masamichi Yasuda (Team Aichi Seiko) and their 1:03 counterpart Atsushi Yamazaki (Team Subaru) all clocked leisurel...

http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/other/athletic/marathon/osaka/2012/headlines/20121125-00000004-spnavi-spo.html http://www.daily.co.jp/newsflash/general/2012/11/25/0005553103.shtml translated and edited by Brett Larner In their second editions the Osaka Marathon and Kobe Marathon moved to the same day, Nov. 25, meaning that one greater metropolitan area held two large-scale marathons simultaneously with combined fields of 50,000. In Osaka, men's winner Serod Batochir  (Mongola) ran 2:11:52 to set a new course record.  The top Japanese finisher, Yasuyuki Nakamura  (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC), was 2nd in a PB 2:15:37, while half-marathon national record holder Atsushi Sato  (Team Chugoku Denryoku) was 3rd in 2:16:26.  Defending men's champion  Elijah Sang  (Kenya) faded badly after running the first part of the race in the lead pack, finishing 8th in 2:33:33. Defending women's champion Lidia Simon  (Romania) won in 2:33:12 by more than one minute ...

2010 Amsterdam Marathon - Top Finishers click here for complete results Men 1. Getu Feleke (Ethiopia) - 2:05:44 - PB 2. Wilson Chebet (Kenya) - 2:06:12 - debut 3. Chala Dechase (Ethiopia) - 2:07:23 4. Cherkos Feleke (Ethiopia) - 2:07:29 5. Hailu Mekonnen (Ethiopia) - 2:07:37 6. Shadrack Kiplagat (Kenya) - 2:07:56 7. Daniel Kosgei (Kenya) - 2:08:45 8. Jackson Kotut (Kenya) - 2:08:59 9. Kentaro Nakamoto (Team Sagawa Express) - 2:12:38 10. Thomas Chemitei (Kenya) - 2:13:14 ----- 11. Masashi Hayashi (Team Yakult) - 2:13:23 13. Naoya Hashimoto (Japan) - 2:15:01 20. Yuko Matsumiya (Team Konica Minolta) - 2:17:24 Women 1. Alice Timblili (Kenya) - 2:25:03 - PB 2. Eyerusalem Kuma (Ethiopia) - 2:27:04 3. Robe Guta (Ethiopia) - 2:27:44 4. Woinshet Girma (Ethiopia) - 2:27:51 5. Shitaye Bedaso (Ethiopia) - 2:29:48 6. Miranda Boonstra (Netherlands) - 2:34:24 7. Julia Mumbi (Kenya) - 2:34:37 8. Ayelech Worku (Ethiopia) - 2:35:09 9. Inge de Jong (Netherlands) - 2:38:00 10. Christiana Das Changas (Braz...

by Brett Larner In the absence of any serious competition, Madoka Ogi (Team Juhachi Ginko) won the women's race at the Rock 'n' Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon Sept. 5. Ogi's time of 1:14:17 was unremarkable but good enough to win by a margin of nearly a minute and a half over a field which included Beijing Olympics marathon gold medalist Constantina Dita (Romania) and world trail running champion Fiona Docherty (New Zealand). Along with Seattle winner Mari Ozaki (Team Noritz), Ogi is the second Japanese woman to win a Rock 'n' Roll-brand half marathon this year. Japanese men also fared decently in Virginia Beach, taking five of the top ten spots led by 5000 m and 30 km national record holder Takayuki Matsumiya (Team Konica Minolta) in 1:03:57 for 4th behind Kenyan Yusuf Songoka 's 1:02:46 winning performance. Click here to read the official press release on Songoka and Ogi's wins. Across the ocean, formerly Japan-based Africans took both of the t...

http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/091123/spg0911231501002-n1.htm translated by Brett Larner Defending champion Gideon Ngatuny (Team Nissin Shokuhin) won his second-straight Nagoya Half Marathon on Nov. 23, breaking his own course record with a new PB of 59:50 at the 25th anniversary edition of the Rikuren-certified event. Yoshiki Otsuka (Team Aichi Seiko) was the top Japanese finisher, 6th overall in 1:03:29. Julia Mombi (Team Universal Entertainment) had an easy victory in the women's race, running 1:10:35 to take the win over Maho Matsuno (Chukyo Women's Univ.) who was 2nd in 1:19:12. 2009 Nagoya Half Marathon - Top Finishers Men - click here for complete results 1. Gideon Ngatuny (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 59:50 - CR, PB 2. Jacob Wanjuki (Team Aichi Seiko) - 1:01:30 3. Samuel Ndungu (Team Aichi Seiko) - 1:01:32 4. Mekubo Mogusu (Team Aidem) - 1:02:01 5. James Mwangi (Team NTN) - 1:02:35 6. Yoshiki Otsuka (Team Aichi Seiko) - 1:03:29 7. Kiyokatsu Hasegawa (Team JR Higashi Nih...

http://www.eastandard.net/sports/InsidePage.php?id=1144020990&cid=39

http://iaaf.org/LRR09/news/newsid=50068.html Yoshio Koide-coached Julia Mombi (Team Aruze) was 5th in Sunday's Paris Marathon. Although her time of 2:29:10 fell fall short of her PB of 2:26:00, it was her 2nd-best mark ever. The 4th-best time of the year thus far by a Kenyan woman, it also gives her an outside chance of making the Kenyan team for August's World Championships.

http://www.kahoku.co.jp/news/2008/11/2008112401000237.htm http://www.kahoku.co.jp/news/2008/11/2008112401000231.htm translated and edited by Brett Larner Running in cool, rainy conditions on Nov. 24, Julia Mumbi of Team Aruze won the Kobe All-Japan Women's Half Marathon for the 2nd straight year, covering the course stretching from the HAT Kobe Center to Kobe Harborland in a time of 1:09:45. Team Toyota Jidoshoki's Akane Wakita was 12 seconds behind in 2nd place, with Team Kyocera's Maki Suzawa a distant 3rd in her half marathon debut. Right from the start it was a match race between Mumbi and Wakita, but when Mumbi attacked at 15 km she was easily able to pull away for the win. Somewhat overshadowing Mumbi's victory was the surprise appearance of Athens Olympics marathon gold medalist Mizuki Noguchi (Team Sysmex) as a guest runner in the 10 km race, her first public run since withdrawing from the Beijing Olympics marathon with an injury. Noguchi was scheduled to appear...

by Brett Larner For the Japanese entrants in Sunday's Osaka International Women's Marathon far more is at stake than the race itself. Osaka is the 2nd of Japan's qualification races for the Beijing Olympics. One slot on the three-member Olympic marathon team has already been assigned to Reiko Tosa for her bronze medal performance at the Osaka World Championships last summer. Defending Olympic champion Mizuki Noguchi is an almost certain choice for the team thanks to her resounding course record victory at the first of the selection races, last November's Tokyo International Women's Marathon. One slot remains to be decided between the winners of the Osaka and Nagoya International Women's Marathons. Nagoya competitors, including Sydney Olympic marathon gold medalist Naoko Takahashi, will have the advantage of knowing the Osaka winner's time, the mark they must beat to make the team. Osaka contestants cannot afford any kind of slow, tactical race or a finish b...