japan running news

At the 48th Kanagawa Half Marathon at Yokohama's Nissin Olio Group's Isogo Plant, Jinya Ozaki (Teikyo Univ.) outran tough competition from National University Ekiden champion Komazawa University and Hakone Ekiden winner Aoyama Gakuin University to take 1st in the men's race in 1:02:04. AGU's Sho Fukutomi was 2nd in 1:02:07, with Komazawa's Rinta Muta 3rd in 1:02:08. High schooler Nichika Maeda (Miura Gakuen H.S.) took the women's race in 1:16:30. But it was another high schooler who made headlines. 3rd-year Koki Matsuo (Shiritsu Funabashi H.S.) ran 1:02:47, taking 28 seconds off the fastest half marathon time ever run by a Japanese-born high school student. Last summer Matsuo ran the 5000 m at the National High School Track and Field Championships, and in November he went under 14 minutes for 5000 m, his time of 13:55.07 putting him into the top class of high school running. At last fall's Chiba Prefectural High School Ekiden Matsuo set a new CR of 2...

After the Osaka International Women's Marathon and Osaka Half Marathon last weekend Japan's winter road season rolls on with 3 big races Sunday. The Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon has a good field up front in the women's race with 5 runners, Eilish McColgan , Dolphine Omare , Isobel Batt-Doyle , Charlotte Purdue and Yuka Ando , with sub-1:09 bests and the debut of #1 collegiate runner Sarah Wanjiru of Daito Bunka University . 3 men in Marugame have recent sub-60 times, Emmanuel Maru , Richard Etir and Kotaro Shinohara leading the way. Shinohara was one of 2 Japanese men to break 60 at Marugame last year and missed the NR by 3 seconds in 59:30. After a 42:53 CR on his 15.3 km leg at the New Year Ekiden on Jan.1, 45:06 pace for 10 miles, he's looking to pick up at least another 4 seconds this time around. 14 other men in the field are at the 60-minute level, and Chuo University 's sub-28 10000 m runner Yamato Hamaguchi is making a highly anticip...

  The 47th Kanagawa Half Marathon took place Sunday in Yokohama on a course starting and finishing outside the Nissin Oil Group's Isogo factory. First across the finish line was the winner of December's Fukuoka International Half Marathon and Aoyama Gakuin University  alumnus  Yuya Yoshida  (GMO), who clocked 1:02:12. Aoyama Gakuin 3rd-year  Shunya Udagawa  was next in a 1:02:20 PB, with Yusei Tomita  of Nihon University  3rd in 1:02:20 and  Yumiki Kunigo  setting a Heisei Kokusai University  school record 1:02:24 for 4th. Last year's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon runner-up Yuta Shimoda , another Aoyama Gakuin graduate running for GMO, ran 1:02:43. Fresh off a 32:08 win in last week's Katsuta Marathon 10 km, Hakuho Joshi H.S.  3rd-year Jecinta Nyokabi  won the women's 10 km here too in 31:53. Elsewhere, Jun Kojima  of Ryutsu Keizai University  won the Moriya Half Marathon in Ibaraki in 1:03:48. Kana Numata ...

A large number of universities that raced last month's Hakone Ekiden competed in the 46th Kanagawa Half Marathon Feb. 4 in Yokohama, with Chuo University 3rd-year Kazusa Takanuma taking the win in a PB 1:02:19. A graduate of Shizuoka's Fujieda Meijo H.S. , Takanuma has never made Chuo's starting roster for any of the major university ekidens, his main achievement to date having been a 22nd-place finish in last May's Kanto Regionals half marathon. Before Kanagawa his best was a 1:03:35 from the 2022 Ageo City Half Marathon, and with another 63-minute time last year he showed the potential he has over long distances. His PB in Kanagawa showed the realization of that potential. 2nd in 2023, Chuo had a disappointing 13th-place finish at Hakone this year. Next month star seniors Yamato Yoshii , Shota Nakano and Jin Yuasa will all graduate. On Jan. 30 Takumi Sano was named captain of Chuo's 2024-25 team, and 3rd-years without ekiden experience like Takanuma are expe...

Four big races happen Sunday, and it's looking like only one of them might escape the cold rain that's forecast to hit most of the country that morning. That would be Kyoto's Biwako Cross Country meet, the lesser cousin of Fukuoka's National Cross Country Championships three weeks later but still filling an important hole in the calendar left by the demise of the Chiba Cross Country meet. Biwako attracts a few corporate teams and top high schools like Wacoal and Toyokawa H.S. , but its main claim to fame is as the National Junior High School Cross Country Championships. Complete entry lists here . In the heart of Yokohama's industrial zone Sunday is one of two big half marathons, the Kanagawa Half Marathon and 10 km . Top-tier collegiate runners will be headed for Marugame, on which more later, but a lot of the schools that ran last month's Hakone Ekiden will send big contingents from their rosters of alternates and B-tier runners, and that always makes it one...

Sunday features three big races on the early post-ekiden calendar. In Yokohama, the Kanagawa Half Marathon always hosts dozens and dozens of university runners from top Hakone Ekiden schools like Aoyama Gakuin University and Komazawa University on its fast if spectacularly unscenic industrial zone course. Kanagawa also features a high-level 10 km that usually attracts some of the better university women. The top college guys will opt for the Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon , where they'll face off against national record holder Yuta Shitara (Honda), 2017 winner Callum Hawkins (Great Britain), sub-60 men Zane Robertson (New Zealand/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) and Kelvin Kiptum Cheruiyot (Kenya) and more. Spots on the World Half Marathon Championships are on the line for the top finishers. The women's race has three sub-1:09 women up front including Sanyo Half winner Charlotte Purdue (Great Britain), last month's Okukuma Half winner Mao Ichiyama (Wacoal) an...

With championship ekiden season a wrap this weekend gets Japan's winter road racing season up to full steam. The main race of the weekend is Sunday's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon . Everything is about qualification for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics more-or-less one-shot trials right now, and that's obvious with a look at what's probably the strongest-ever Beppu-Oita entry list. Ten men in the field have broken 2:10 in the last three years, five of them Japanese, with last year's top two Desmond Mokgobu (South Africa) and Hayato Sonoda (Kurosaki Harima) leading the way. Sonoda, Daisuke Uekado (Otsuka Seiyaku) and 2018 Hokkaido Marathon winner Naoki Okamoto (Chugoku Denryoku) have already qualified for September's MGC Race trials event, but anyone else in the 2:10 to 2:11 range will have a shot. With a 2:09:36 in Tokyo last year Kohei Ogino (Fujitsu) only needs to run 2:12:24 to qualify, making him the probable favorite to qualify, but the field also features t...

It's another busy weekend on the roads across Japan. Two-time marathon world champion Edna Kiplagat (Kenya) and men's half marathon world record holder Zersenay Tadese (Eritrea) top the bill at Sunday's  Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon . Kiplagat is the fastest woman in the field, her main competition coming from Sara Hall (U.S.A.) and the Japanese trio of Mao Ichiyama (Wacoal), Michi Numata (Toyota Jidoshokki) and Mai Ito (Otsuka Seiyaku). In something of a slump since the Rio Olympics, Japanese national record holder Kayoko Fukushi (Wacoal) is also on the entry list. The somewhat grizzled Tadese is the only man in the field with a recent time under 60 minutes, but just back is a thick group of nine sub-61 men led by Japan-based Kenyan Bernard Kimani (Yakult) and Japanese national record holder Yuta Shitara (Honda). Along with Shitara, all five of the other still active Japanese men to have broken 61 are entered, making it the greatest Japanese hal...

by Brett Larner Japan's short post-ekiden road season gets up to full speed this weekend.  The second of four selection races for the three spots on the London World Championships men's marathon team happens at the Sunday's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon .   Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) is the leading contender for the team after a 2:09:11 for 3rd at December's Fukuoka International Marathon, a time that puts a bullseye on his back for the best men in Beppu-Oita and the other races to come. It's rare to see someone make a national team from Beppu-Oita, but a win there in a time better than Kawauchi's would probably put someone ahead of him in priority for the team.  With a 2:09:39 debut last year at Lake Biwa the talented but injury-prone Fumihiro Maruyama (Team Asahi Kasei) is the favorite to do just that, but Kentaro Nakamoto (Team Yasukawa Denki), Ryo Kiname (Team MHPS), Kento Otsu (Team Toyota Kyushu) and debuting Toyota teammates Minato O...

http://www.hochi.co.jp/sports/etc/20160208-OHT1T50020.html translated and edited by Brett Larner Two-time Hakone Ekiden champion Aoyama Gakuin University 's star third-year Tadashi Isshiki , last year's National University Half Marathon champion and World University Games half marathon silver medalist, won Sunday's Kanagawa Half Marathon in 1:03:03, just two seconds short of his own course record.  In training to make his marathon debut at age 21 at the February 28 Tokyo Marathon in a shot at the Rio Olympic team, Isshiki ran a full marathon time trial just four days before his Kanagawa win, making his time truly top-class for a university athlete.  Aoyama Gakuin head coach Susumu Hara , 48, was full of optimism post-race, saying, "Rio has come into sight." The first thing Isshiki said after his solid win was, "That was a nice jog out there today."  On Wednesday, Feb. 3 in Futtsu, Chiba he ran a 42.195 km marathon time trial in 2:31:02.  With a 1...

by Brett Larner Great conditions meant fast times across the board including three national records at the first major Japanese half marathon of the season, the Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon . A large pack including internationals Goitom Kifle (Eritrea), Fabiano Sulle (Tanzania) and Japan-based 18-year-old Dominic Nyairo (Kenya/Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.), Hakone Ekiden stars Keisuke Nakatani and Naoki Kudo (both Komazawa Univ.), corporate runners Keijiro Mogi and Shuho Dairokuno (both Asahi Kasei) and Taku Fujimoto (Toyota) went out slightly slower than expected, hitting 5 km in 14:27 on track to just crack 1:01.  20-year-old Kudo, a second-year at Komazawa, pushed the next 5 km faster, on 1:00:50 pace at 10 km in 28:50.  Mogi, also just 20 after going straight into the corporate leagues post-high school, took over after 10 km and dropped the fastest 5 km yet, shaking down the leaders to just himself, Kifle, Nyairo and Sulle as he took them through 15 km...

by Brett Larner It's a big weekend of racing across Japan.  The 70th Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon leads the way with a shot at the Japanese men's national record as Konica Minolta teammates Masato Kikuchi , Keita Shitara and Tsuyoshi Ugachi , all 1:00:32 to 1:01:12 for the half marathon, line up with support from past winner Collis Birmingham (Australia), Goitom Kifle (Eritrea), track star Yuki Sato (Nissin Shokuhin) in his serious half marathon debut, and more.  2014 Asian Games marathon gold medalist Eunice Kirwa (Bahrain) leads a women's field that includes 2015's top Japanese woman Rei Ohara (Team Tenmaya), last year's winner Eloise Wellings (Australia), Canadian record hopeful Natasha Wodak and many more. Likewise celebrating an anniversary year is the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon in its 65th running.  Not counting in the qualifying for the Rio Olympic team the home field is weaker than usual, Kenichi Shiraishi (Team Asahi Kasei) ...

by Brett Larner click photo for finish footage Japan-based Kenyan Paul Kuira (Team Konica Minolta) and Kenya-based Kiwi Zane Robertson made some history Sunday as they pushed each other just under the 59:48 course record at the Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon . Kuira, along with Samuel Wanjiru and Daniel Njenga a graduate of Sendai Ikuei H.S. , and Robertson, both debuting, ran in a lead pack that included favorite Bernard Koech (Kenya), Juan Luis Barrios (Mexico), Benjamin Ngandu (Kenya/Team Monteroza) and Jacob Wanjuki (Kenya/Team Aichi Seiko), Kuira's Konica teammates Masato Kikuchi and Keita Shitara and collegiates Ken Yokote (Meiji Univ.) and Daichi Kamino (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) through a solid 28:10 first 10 km, on track for 59:25.  Kamino, the star of the 2015 Hakone Ekiden with a brilliant course record on its uphill Fifth Stage, was the first to fall off Japanese national record pace, with the rest following by 15 km. A surge from Ngandu sh...

by Brett Larner It's a busy and snowy weekend across Japan with at least three major races leading the way. On the southernmost main island of Kyushu, defending champion Abraham Kiplimo (Uganda) returns to the 64th running of the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon as the probable favorite after the withdrawal of top domestic contender Kentaro Nakamoto (Team Yasukawa Denki) with injury earlier this week.  In Nakamoto's absence Kiplimo's main competition is Fekadu Lema (Ethiopia), but with a solid pack of 2:09-2:12 Japanese men there could be a surprise.  Relevant debuts include 1:01:31 half marathoner Yusuke Takabayashi (Team Toyota) and sub-63 Moroccan Abdelmajid El Hissouf . In the women's race, 2014 100 km World Championships silver medalist Chiyuki Mochizuki (Canon AC Kyushu), a three-time Beppu-Oita winner, returns to face last year's winner Haruka Yamaguchi (Kita AC).  Click here for a complete elite field listing , and follow @JRNLive for live coverage...

by Brett Larner While many of the top Hakone Ekiden stars were lining up in Shikoku at the Marugame Half, a half dozen of the top Hakone teams had their first and second-years just south of Tokyo for the 36th running of the Kanagawa Half Marathon .  A large pack ran at course record pace through 15 km before Hakone 5th-placer Aoyama Gakuin University 's star first-year  Tadashi Isshiki  took off.  Relative unknowns  Daisuke Nakamura  (Kokushikan Univ.) and Takuya Maeda  (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) went after him, but over the last 3 km Isshiki built a 20-second lead that never cracked.  On track for Kanagawa's first sub-63 clocking, just after the final left turn Isshiki followed a course marshall's flag directing the lead police motorcycle and briefly ran off the course.  He quickly realized the error and recovered but lost precious seconds and had to be content with a 1:03:01 course record in his half marathon debut. Nakamura outran Maed...

by Brett Larner Another busy weekend is on the way, with the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon and Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon leading at least five elite road races nationwide. Despite a padding of aging veterans and the withdrawal yesterday of two A-list athletes, Beppu-Oita still sports what may be the best field in its 63-year history, from a domestic standpoint at least as good as what Tokyo has put together this year.  The fastest Japanese marathoner of 2013 with a 2:08:00 in Tokyo and a vocal critic of Beppu-Oita course record holder  Yuki Kawauchi  (Saitama Pref. Gov't), Kazuhiro Maeda  (Team Kyudenko) is back in Beppu for the first time since 2011 looking to eclipse the 2:08:15 record Kawauchi set last year.  His best competition comes form Mongolian national record holder Ser-Od Bat-Ochir , a high-volume marathoner who beat Kawauchi to win the Hofu Yomiuri Marathon in 2:09:00 seven weeks ago.  If things go well and Bat-Ochir is full...

by Brett Larner A big weekend of racing is ahead in Japan with three major races and a handful of other events on the calendar for Sunday.  First and foremost is the 67th Kagawa Marugama International Half Marathon , where London Olympic marathon medalists Tiki Gelana (Ethiopia) and Abel Kirui  (Kenya) bring the most prestige.  Women's gold medalist Gelana is challenged by #1-ranked Kim Smith  (New Zealand) and 2010 Marugame winner Nicole Chapple  (Australia) from south of the equator, with 2012 Sanyo Ladies Half Marathon winner Yukiko Akaba  (Team Hokuren) making up the domestic challenge.  All three challengers hold faster PBs than Gelana, setting up for an exciting race.  Other top-level entrants include Marisa Barros  (Portugal) and Hiroko Miyauchi  (Team Kyocera). Men's silver medalist Abel Kirui  (Kenya) is the fastest man in Marugame, where last year's men's field set new world records for depth .  His strongest com...

by Brett Larner Enjoying ideal weather conditions along with most of the rest of the country, the 34th Kanagawa Half Marathon saw one of the fastest winning times in its history.  Running alone through much of the race, sophomore Ikki Takeuchi  rode the momentum of Aoyama Gakuin University 's best-ever 5th-place finish at last month's Hakone Ekiden to win by a margin of 40 seconds  in 1:03:25, one of the fastest winning times in Kanagawa history and nearly a  minute faster than team ace Takehiro Deki 's winning time last year.   Senshu University 's Shunsuke Miyasaka  won out in a tightly-grouped pack race for 2nd in 1:04:05, with Takeuchi's teammate Yuki Kawasaki  3rd in 1:04:12. In the men's 10 km, Shoin University  leader Aritaka Kajiwara  won in a relatively conservative 30:10 over Kokugakuin University 's Fumihiro Miyake . 2012 Kanagawa Half Marathon Yokohama, 2/5/12 Men's Half Marathon 1. Ikki Takeuchi (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) -...

http://news.kanaloco.jp/localnews/article/1102070020/ translated by Brett Larner In the men's division at the Feb. 6 Kanagawa Half Marathon, Aoyama Gakuin University sophomore Takehiro Deki had the kind of result you would expect based on his abilities as he dominated the field to take his first Kanagawa win. Having played a major role in Aoyama Gakuin's second-straight seeded finish at Hakone last month, the 20-year old crossed the Kanagawa finish line with both arms stretched wide in a new PB of 1:04:16. A Nagasaki native, Deki was a no-name at the national level in high school, but, he says, "I wanted to run Hakone all the same." Enrolling in Aoyama Gakuin, he began averaging 30 km a day in training and showed remarkably quick development. As a first-year he was 9th on Hakone's First Stage, and this year he was 4th on the ace Second Stage, Hakone's most competitive. "I understand how to run now," is his simple self-evaluation of his results. Aoya...

by Brett Larner 17 year old high school junior Minami Yamanouchi , who turned heads in November by breaking the women's course record at the Nishi-Kanasa 14 km by 9 minutes and then running a 2:56:04 marathon two days later, showed up running well in two Kanto-area races in the last week and a half. On Jan. 30 she was 2nd overall in the Katsuta Marathon in a PB of 2:52:54. One week later she finished 5th at the Feb. 6 Kanagawa Half Marathon in 1:20:54. A prefectural 800 m champion in junior high school and now self-coached at a high school without a track program, you can't help but wonder what Yamanouchi could be capable of with a good coach behind her. (c) 2011 Brett Larner all rights reserved