japan running news

Ugandan Jackson Kiprop and Ethiopian Meskerem Hunde won Sunday's 21st edition of the Nagano Marathon . Running a steady and well-paced race that went out near 2:10:30 pace and sped up slightly to a 1:04:58 halfway split, Kiprop wore down the competition until there were only four left at 30 km. Ethiopian Deresa Geleta stayed with him until the very end, but Kiprop had the finish in him to open 3 seconds on Geleta to become Nagano's first-ever Ugandan winner in 2:10:39. Geleta's 2:10:42 was good for a PB, with Japan's Naoya Sakuda (JR Higashi Nihon) also dropping a big PB of 2:11:21 for 3rd over Kenyan Alfred Kering . #1-ranked Asuka Tanaka (Hiramatsu Byoin) was one of the first to drop off Kiprop's early pace but rallied late in the race to take 5th in 2:14:35, his best performance since a stress fracture following his breakthrough in Tokyo last year. Hunde pulled off an equally evenly-paced run to win the women's race, projected to run 2:33:44 after ...

Japanese marathoners who haven't qualified for the Sept. 15 MGC Race 2020 Olympic marathon trials have until Apr. 30 to try to squeeze out one more fast time to make the grade, sub-2:08:30 or two races inside the window averaging under 2:11:00, and sub-2:24:00 or a sub-2:28:00 average for women. Most of the people trying one last time will be headed overseas, but for a few the Nagano Marathon is their last chance to make it. Asuka Tanaka (Hiramatsu Byoin) is the fastest man in the field with a 2:10:13 in Tokyo last year as an amateur runner. A stress fracture later in the year left him struggling in his few races since then, but after a tentative step back at Tokyo this year he is shooting for the 2:11:47 he needs in Nagano to make the cut. Shoya Osaki (Chudenko) ran a strong 2:10:48 in Beppu-Oita this favorite and will be trying to double back with a 2:11:12 in Nagano. They're the only two people male or female who might realistically make it, the rest of the field fo...