japan running news

http://mainichi.jp/sports/news/m20140311k0000m050012000c.html translated and edited by Brett Larner On Mar. 10, Beijing Olympics women's marathoner Yurika Nakamura , 27 announced her intent to retire at the end of March.  The announcement came via her corporate team sponsor Tenmaya.  Following her retirement she plans to focus on her work at the company. Nakamura is a native of Hyogo prefecture.  After graduating from Nishinomiya H.S. she joined the Tenmaya team in 2004.  She won her marathon debut at the 2008 Nagoya International Women's Marathon to qualify for the Beijing Olympics where she placed 13th, the only Japanese woman to finish the race.  In the 2009 Berlin World Championships 10000 m she placed 7th, the top Japanese finisher.  After her last race in January, 2013 she took a leave of absence from competition to rest and recuperate.  "After re-examining myself I came to the conclusion that it was time to retire," she said in her stateme...

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/news/20110223-OYT1T00809.htm translated by Brett Larner On Feb. 23 Rikuren announced that the nine athletes and six support staff members training in Christchurch, New Zealand at the time of the major Feb. 22 earthquake will leave New Zealand the evening of Feb. 24 and arrive back in Japan the morning of Feb. 25. Yurika Nakamura (Team Tenmaya), Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren), Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal), Azusa Nojiri (Team Daiichi Seimei) and five staff members will fly to Sydney before transferring to a Narita-bound flight. The other five athletes and remaining staff member will fly to Auckland and continue on to Kansai International Airport. The Rikuren-sponsored training camp was scheduled to run from Feb. 7 through the 27th, but to ensure the safety of all participants in the wake of the earthquake the decision was made to cut it short. The extensive damage to the roads and surrounding area make running outside impossible, and the hotel to which th...

by Brett Larner You can't keep a great champion down. Mostly absent from competition with injuries and motivation issues for the two years since winning the 2009 Osaka International Women's Marathon, 10000 m national record holder Yoko Shibui (Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) looked well on her way to staging the nth comeback of a career full of ups and downs Jan. 23 at the Kita-Kyushu Women's Invitational Ekiden , the last major women's ekiden of the season. Starting the 11.7 km anchor leg 47 seconds back from leader Yurika Nakamura of 2010 National Jitsugyodan Women's Ekiden winners Team Tenmaya, Shibui virtually singlehandedly won the race as she finished the stage 48 seconds ahead in 1st. Although she was far from the stage record, Shibui also took the best time on the stage by 15 seconds over 2010 Nagoya International Women's Marathon winner Yuri Kano (Second Wind AC), clocking 37:12. Before Shibui's outstanding performance Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo was ...

by Brett Larner As the year draws to a close the last major non-ekiden road race of the Japanese calendar, the Sanyo Women's Road Race 10 km and half marathon, took place Dec. 23 in Okayama. With the cancellation of the National University Women's Invitational Ekiden Bukkyo University put many of its best runners into both races, resulting in one of the most competitive 10 km fields in Sanyo history. Kenyan ace Sally Chepyego Kaptich (Team Kyudenko) dueled with 2010 National University 5000 m champion Kasumi Nishihara (Bukkyo Univ.) before pulling away to win in 32:13. Nishihara outran teammate and collegiate 10000 m national record holder Hikari Yoshimoto to take 2nd in 32:26, a new collegiate 10 km road national record and the second-fastest time ever by a Japanese woman on the Sanyo course. Yoshimoto in turn held off pros Hiroko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera) and Risa Shigetomo (Team Tenmaya) for 3rd in 32:34. Shigetomo, who had an outstanding race just four days ago to put T...

by Brett Larner Thanks in part to outstanding runs from rising stars Risa Shigetomo and Kaori Urata and a return to form by ailing ace Yurika Nakamura , Team Tenmaya took its first-ever win at the National Jitsugyodan Women's Ekiden Championships on Dec. 19. Tenmaya runners cruising mid-pack on the first two stages, Nakamura moved the team into a three-way tie for 3rd on the 10,0 km ace Third Stage. Little changed for the team on the Fourth Stage, but Shigetomo had a superb performance, moving up from 4th to overtake leader Azusa Nojiri (Team Daiichi Seimei) and claim the stage best title by the largest margin of any runner in the entire ekiden. Kicking off with a 2:57 first km, anchor Urata likewise took the stage best title and was never threatened as she brought the team home in 2:14:35 for the 42.195 km course. Looking at the overall race, it was a relatively even field as many teams came to the championships with at least one key member having had a problem-plagued season....

http://svr.sanyo.oni.co.jp/feature/sports/road/2010/12/01/20101201095337.html translated by Brett Larner The organizing committee of the 29th Sanyo Women's Road Race , to be held Dec. 23 in Okayama, have announced the fields for this year's running. 88 women are entered in the Yuko Arimori Cup Half Marathon and 220 in the Kinue Hitomi Cup 10 km, making for the race's largest-ever overall field, 308. A large number of experienced international-level athletes will wrap up their 2010 on Okayama's local streets. Headlining the half marathon are defending champion Yumi Hirata (Team Shiseido) and 2009 World Championships marathon 7th placer Yuri Kano (Second Wind AC). Locally-based Team Tenmaya will supply Athens Olympics marathoner Naoko Sakamoto , 2010 Berlin Marathon 3rd place finisher Tomo Morimoto and last year's runner-up Kaori Urata . Other top women include Noriko Matsuoka and Kaori Akagawa (both Suzuki Hamamatsu AC), Mika Okunaga (Team Kyudenko) and this ye...

by Brett Larner 2009 World University Games 10000 m gold medalist and 5000 m silver medalist and 2010 National University 5000 m champion Kasumi Nishihara (Bukkyo Univ.) took another step toward the top with a 15:27.94 PB to finish 1st in the final women's 5000 m at the 2010 Nighter Time Trials in Marugame on Oct. 9. With runner-up Rei Ohara (Team Tenmaya) over 15 seconds behind, Nishihara's solo effort makes her the third-fastest Japanese woman of the year over 5000 m behind national record holder Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal) and Nishihara's younger teammate Hikari Yoshimoto (Bukkyo Univ.). Nishihara's progression since high school has been impressively consistent: 2006: 15:47.52 2007: 15:41.54 2008: 15:36.72 2009: 15:32.89 2010: 15:27.94 Yoshimoto was also scheduled to run but was a DNS, raising concerns about her condition after several weak performances earlier this fall season. With Bukkyo runners Mai Ishibashi and Rika Kawashima also under 16 minutes in heat...

by Brett Larner The spring regional corporate track and field championship season began May 8 with the first day of the Chugoku Jitsugyodan Track and Field Championships, the regional meet for central Japan. Each of the regional meets throughout the country is spread over two consecutive weekends, with the Chugoku region's men's and women's 5000 m the first events to take place. Many of the biggest names sat the races out in favor of the May 9 Sendai International Half Marathon and next weekend's 10000 m, leaving easy wins for Kenyans Joseph Gitau (Team JFE Steel) and Danielle Filomena Cheyech (Team Uniqlo). 2010 Chugoku Jitsugyodan T&F Championships - Top Finishers click here for complete results Men's 5000 m 1. Joseph Gitau (Kenya/Team JFE Steel) - 13:49.85 2. Takuya Ishikawa (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 13:50.70 3. Akihiko Tsumurai (Team Mazda) - 13:50.94 4. Naoki Okamoto (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 13:52.30 5. Tetsuya Sasaki (Team Chudenko) - 14:04.15 Women's...

http://www.chugoku-np.co.jp/sports/Sp201003170188.html translated and edited by Brett Larner The men's and women's National Jitsugyodan Half Marathon Championships take place this Sunday, Mar. 21 in Yamaguchi. A selection race for the national team for October's World Half Marathon Championships, the Jitsugyodan Half wraps up the road season as athletes head to track in April. Leading the way in the women's race is the star of Team Daiichi Seimei, 2009 World Championships marathon silver medalist Yoshimi Ozaki , running her last major tuneup race before April's London Marathon. Her main competition will come from teammate Misaki Katsumata , who had a brilliant victory at last month's Chiba International Cross Country Meet, and defending champion Danielle Filomena Cheyech (Team Uniqlo). National Jitsugyodan Women's Ekiden Championships Sixth Stage winner Kaori Urata (Team Tenmaya) could also be a threat. 2009 World Championships marathoners Kazuhiro Maeda ...

http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/general/track/news/20100125k0000m050090000c.html translated by Brett Larner At the last major women's ekiden of the season, the 21st Kita-Kyushu Women's Invitational Ekiden on Jan. 24 in Kita-Kyushu, Team Tenmaya won the five-stage, 32.8 km open division for the first time in 15 years. Top-ranked Kojokan H.S. took its first win the six-stage, 32.8 km high school division. Both teams hail from Okayama Prefecture and carried over the momentum from Okayama's win at last week's National Interprefectural Women's Ekiden. Tenmaya's Second Stage runner Yuka Izumi took the lead which Third and Fourth Stage runners Yoshie Kurisu and Kaori Urata lengthened with stage best runs. Tenmaya's anchor, Beijing Olympian Yurika Nakamura , was never seriously threatened as she cruised home for the win. Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo took 2nd after advancing in the later stages, while early leader Team Juhachi Ginko fell to 3rd. Team Acom, which w...

by Brett Larner click here for JRNLive's detailed race commentary Yurika Nakamura scores Okayama Prefecture's first win at the National Interprefectural Women's Ekiden Jan. 17 in Kyoto. Click photo for video highlights. An Okayama Prefecture team made up primarily of members of the pro Team Tenmaya and the elite Kojokan H.S. derailed hometown hosts Kyoto Prefecture's bid for a sixth-straight National Interprefectural Women's Ekiden win on Jan. 17. Okayama took its first-ever national title, winning the nine-stage, 42.195 km event in 2:16:24 thanks to stage best runs by members Kaori Urata and Katsuki Suga and a new stage record by Kojokan H.S. first-year Mahiro Akamatsu. Okayama's anchor, Olympic marathoner and World Championships track runner Yurika Nakamura, was only 8th on stage time but had a big enough lead to hold off Chiba Prefecture anchor Hitomi Niiya by 15 seconds. Chiba's best-ever 2nd place showing was a surprise and came thanks in large part t...

http://sankei.jp.msn.com/sports/other/091223/oth0912231444004-n1.htm http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2009122300218 translated and edited by Brett Larner complete results will be added when available Yumi Hirata (Team Shiseido) took the win in the Sanyo Women's Road Race Half Marathon on Dec. 23 in Okayama. Hirata, who finished 6th in last spring's Nagoya International Women's Marathon and will run January's Osaka International Women's Marathon, clocked 1:11:13. In 2nd place in 1:12:02 was Kaori Urata (Team Tenmaya), who took the stage best on the 6th leg of the National Jitsugyodan Women's Ekiden Championships on Dec. 13. Kaori Akagawa (Team Suzuki) was 3rd. In the 10 km race, Nanae Kuwashiro (Team Sysmex) won in 32:27 over November's Yokohama International Women's Marathon 9th placer Hiromi Ominami, who was 7 seconds back in 32:34. World Championships marathoners Yuri Kano (Second Wind AC) and Yoshiko Fujinaga (Team Shiseido) were 7th a...

by Brett Larner Shibui rides again. Click picture for sanspo.com's National Jitsugyodan Women's Ekiden photo gallery. Despite not taking a single stage best title, six-time national champion Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo returned to the top of the six-stage marathon distance 2009 National Jitsugyodan Women's Ekiden Championships on Dec. 13 in Gifu with another win to make it seven. The team's chances depended largely on whether its star Yoko Shibui had recovered from the stress fracture that kept her out of the 2009 World Championships marathon. She had. Although she was far from her normal condition, Shibui's stage-4th 32:13 for the 10 km Third Stage was good enough to keep the team in position after a strong stage-2nd performance by First Stage runner Ikuyo Yamashita . Fresh from last month's Yokohama International Women's Marathon, Miki Ohira ran the 2nd-best time on the Fifth Stage to take the lead and anchor Chisato Osaki likewise was 2nd on her stage...

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/news/20090212-OYT1T00998.htm http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/090213/spg0902130502000-n1.htm http://www.asahi.com/sports/update/0212/TKY200902120294.html http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/p-sp-tp0-20090213-460245.html translated and edited by Brett Larner Click photo for a preview video of the 2009 Yokohama International Women's Ekiden (viewing area may be limited). On Feb. 12 the Yokohama International Women's Ekiden organizing committee held a press conference to announce the lineup of the Japanese national team for this year's 27th and final running scheduled for Feb. 22. Leading the team are Beijing Olympians Yoko Shibui (Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) and Yuriko Kobayashi (Team Toyota Jidoshokki). Shibui, who will compete in the marathon at this summer's World Championships in Berlin, set a stage record the last time she ran Yokohama in 2002. Kobayashi has run the 1st leg for the last three years, winning the stage in 2008. Join...

http://iaaf.org/news/kind=100/newsid=48966.html Scroll to the bottom of the above article for Ken Nakamura's brief report. Along with Nakamura's comments a few things are worth pointing out. -Team Toyota Jidoshokki's Yuriko Kobayashi broke Yoko Shibui's 7-year old 1st stage record by 7 seconds, clocking 12:59 for the 4.2 km leg. Kobayashi is banned from regular jitsugyodan races due to her status as both a student and professional, so it was a rare moment to see her in an ekiden with Toyota Jidoshokki. -Toyota Jidoshokki anchor Hitomi Niiya, the 2007 Tokyo Marathon winner, followed up her stage-best anchor run at last week's National Interprefectural Women's Ekiden with another stage-best anchor performance, beating Beijing Olympic marathoner Yurika Nakamura (Team Tenmaya) and 2008 Tokyo International Women's Marathon runner-up Yuri Kano (Second Wind AC) among others. -Team Shiseido defectors Second Wind AC made an extremely rare ekiden appearance, fielding ...