japan running news

Even as question marks bubble to the surface about whether the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will go ahead as planned amid the worldwide spread of the novel coronavirus, Japan is preparing for what will really, honestly, be the end of qualification for its all-important home soil Olympic marathon teams this Sunday. It's been a long process, with a two-year qualification window for last September's MGC Olympic trials race, where the top two in the women's and men's races scored places on the 2020 teams while the 3rd-placer was put in a wait-and-see position pending the outcome of the Final Challenge. That was the name given to the usual winter 2019-20 circuit of domestic races, the Saitama International, Osaka International and Nagoya Women's Marathon for women, and Fukuoka International, Tokyo and Lake Biwa Marathon for men. If anyone at one of these races broke the fastest time run during the MGC qualifying window they'd replace the 3rd-placer at the MGC race on the ...

Coming right after the announcement of elite field for the Mar. 8 Nagoya Women's Marathon is the announcement for its male counterpart, the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon earlier the same day. Like Nagoya it's the last chance for someone to make the 2020 Olympic team. All they have to do is break the 2:05:50 national record, or whatever the fastest Japanese man runs at the Tokyo Marathon a week earlier if someone there goes better than 2:05:50. Basically it's not going to happen. Takuya Noguchi (Konica Minolta) is the only Japanese guy at Lake Biwa under 2:09 in the last three years, and he hasn't been himself since his 2:08:59 win at the 2017 Gold Coast Marathon. There's no shortage of people around the 2:09 to 2:10 level, but out of them the only one who could conceivably have the kind of breakthrough it would take to make the Olympic team is Kengo Suzuki (Fujitsu). At the MGC Race 2020 Olympic marathon trials last September Suzuki was the guy who played do...

On Jan. 17 the organizers of the Kumanichi 30 km Road Race announced the elite field of 15 men and 5 women for this year's 64th running on Feb. 16. 2020 Olympic women's marathon team member Ayuko Suzuki (Japan Post) and half marathon national record holder Yuta Shitara (Honda) are scheduled to lead the women's and men's fields. Suzuki won the 10000 m at the 2013 World University Games and ran the 5000 m at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. In just her second marathon she finished 2nd at last September's MGC Race 2020 Olympic marathon trials to secure her place on the Olympic team. Kumanichi will be a key part of her pre-Olympic preparations. Other women in the race include last year's 3rd-placer Chika Ihara (Higo Ginko) and 6th-place Minori Goto (Canon AC Kyushu). Both are aiming for the win. Shitara ran the 10000 m in Rio, set the half marathon national record in 2017, and broke the marathon national record for the first time in 16 years with a mar...

Kohei Ogino age: 29 sponsor: Fujitsu graduated from: Chiben H.S., Koku Gakuin University best time inside MGC window: 2:09:36, 12th, 2018 Tokyo Marathon PB: 2:09:36, 12th, 2018 Tokyo Marathon other PBs: 5000 m: 14:14.12 (2011) 10000 m: 28:56.00 (2010) half marathon: 1:03:18 (2011) marathons inside MGC window (Aug. 1 2017 – April 30 2019) 9th, 2019 Hamburg Marathon, 2:10:15 DNF, 2019 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon 18th, 2018 Fukuoka International Marathon, 2:16:04 12th, 2018 Tokyo Marathon, 2:09:36 41st, 2017 Fukuoka International Marathon, 2:24:55 other major results: 10th, 2019 Niigata Half Marathon, 1:03:27 16th, 2017 Beppu-Oita Marathon, 2:15:10 21st, 2016 Lake Biwa Marathon, 2:17:14 3rd, 2015 Nagano Marathon, 2:11:42 3rd, 2015 Ome 30 km Road Race, 1:33:42 Repping Shibuya's Koku Gakuin University , Ogino’s marathon career started off well enough with a 3rd-place finish at the 2015 Ome 30 km as a tune-up for that year’s Nagano Marathon, where he w...

Kengo Suzuki age: 24 sponsor: Fujitsu graduated from: Uwajima Higashi H.S., Kanagawa University best time inside MGC window: 2:10:21, 19th, 2018 Tokyo Marathon PB: 2:10:21, 19th, 2018 Tokyo Marathon other PBs: 5000 m: 13:57.88 (2016) 10000 m: 28:30.16 (2016) half marathon: 1:01:36 (2017) marathons inside MGC window (Aug. 1 2017 – April 30 2019) 13th, 2019 Hamburg Marathon, 2:11:36 DNS, 2019 Tokyo Marathon 19th, 2018 Tokyo Marathon, 2:10:21 other major results: 4th, 2018 Hakone Ekiden Second Stage (23.1 km), 1:07:26 3rd, 2017 Taipei Universiade Half Marathon, 1:06:56 1st, 2017 National University Half Marathon, 1:01:36 – CR 1st, 2017 Hakone Ekiden Second Stage (23.1 km), 1:07:17 3rd, 2016 Hakone Ekiden Qualifier 20 km Road Race, 58:43 3rd, 2016 National University Half Marathon, 1:03:08 Suzuki’s breakthrough to the top level of Japanese distance running came early in 2017 with a win on the Hakone Ekiden’s most competitive stage and two months later with a 1:...

It's one year until the women's marathon at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. For the second year in a row I went out to run about 31 km of the course at the exact time that the women will be racing it. As with last year , I started outside the Olympic Stadium in Sendagaya, ran up to the 15 km turnaround in Asakusa and back to the 20 km point near Nihonbashi, then cut out the out-and-back sections to 24.5 km and 33 km and instead headed back the 10 km or so to the stadium. Starting at 6:00 a.m. sharp, I ran a steady pace just under 5:00/km and made it back to the stadium a little after 9:15 a.m. with about 45 minutes of time lost to red lights, shooting video and live Tweeting, buying drinks and the odd pit stop. Every half hour I stopped to take temperature and humidity readings to get an idea of what kind of conditions the women will probably be facing a year from now. It's been a relatively cool summer so far in Tokyo with an extended rainy season that kept things fro...

Yesterday was the last chance for Japanese men and women to qualify for the Sept. 15  MGC Race , Japan's new more-or-less one-shot 2020 Olympic marathon trials. Since August, 2017 they've had to meet tough standards, 2:08:30 or two races averaging 2:11:00 for men and 2:24:00 or two races averaging 2:28:00 for women with slightly easier marks in the traditional selection races like Tokyo and Nagoya. With yesterday's Hamburg and London marathons on the books a total of 34 men and 15 women made the cut. Of the 34 men, 20 ran sub-2:10 within the qualifying window. When Kohei Ogino (Fujitsu) and Tadashi Isshiki (GMO) qualified in Hamburg yesterday it meant all 9 men who broke 2:10 at last year's Tokyo Marathon had made it. Tokyo was the race where the most qualifiers ran their fastest mark in the window, 14 between 2018 and 2019, with Beppu-Oita next at 5 and Lake Biwa 3rd with 4. The MHPS , Toyota , Fujitsu and GMO teams each qualified 3 runners, with Nissin Shoku...

15 Japanese men and 6 Japanese women lined up at overseas marathons Sunday to try one last time to qualify for the MGC Race, Japan's new 2020 Olympic trials marathon event, ahead of its Apr. 30 deadline, or to try to get under the Olympic standard before the Sept. 15 MGC Race. For men the needed marks were 2:08:30 or two races inside the qualifying window averaging 2:11:00 or better. For women, 2:24:00 and 2:28:00. Already in, Kentaro Nakamoto (Yasukawa Denki) ran the Krakow Marathon in hopes of clearing the 2:11:30 men's standard. Running steadily and under control on 2:10:20 pace, Nakamoto lasted until a final move by eventual winner Cyprian Kotut (Kenya) around 37 km put him away. As Kotut took off to win in 2:09:18, Nakamoto began to fade, holding on the 2nd place but just missing the Olympic standard in 2:11:34. The Hamburg Marathon saw the largest number of Japanese athletes, with 4 women and 13 men. Among the women Yuka Takashima (Shiseido) had the easiest task,...

After an exciting head-to-head last year that saw them race each other to sub-2:10 PBs, Desmond Mokgobu (South Africa) and Hayato Sonoda (Kurosaki Harima) return to the Feb. 3 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon . The pair face not only each other but recent sub-2:10 men Hicham Laqouahi (Morocco), Abdela Godana (Ethiopia), Hiroyuki Yamamoto (Konica Minolta),  Daisuke Uekado (Japan/Otsuka Seiyaku), Justus Kiprotich (Kenya), Takuya Fukatsu (Asahi Kasei)  Kohei Ogino (Japan/Fujitsu) and Yihunilign Adane (Ethiopia) and sub-62 half marathoners Keijiro Mogi (Asahi Kasei), Charles Ndirangu (JFE Steel) and Shuho Dairokuno (Asahi Kasei), setting up a better-than-average pack by Beppu-Oita standards. For the Japanese men Beppu-Oita counts toward qualification for the MGC Race , Japan's 2020 Olympic Trials. Sonoda and Uekado have already made it along with fellow entrants Naoki Okamoto (Chugoku Denryoku) and Tomohiro Tanigawa (Konica Minolta), but for Ogino and others it wil...

http://www.iaaf.org/news/report/nagano-marathon-2015-chirchir-toroitich

by Brett Larner Kenyans Jairus Chanchima and Henry Chirchir top the men's entry list for the Apr. 19 Nagano Marathon , with Beatrice Jepkemboi joining them in hope of becoming just the second Kenyan women's champion in Nagano's 17-year history.  Kiflom Sium (Eritera) and Bayron Piedra (Ecuador) round out the small international men's field, 2:11 man Taiga Ito (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) and debuting 1:01:25 half marathoner Takuya Fukatsu (Team Asahi Kasei) looking like the domestic Japanese favorites. The women's race features good old-time names like Catherine Ndereba (Kenya), Kiyoko Shimahara (Second Wind AC), Eri Okubo (Miki House) and Chihiro Tanaka (Athlec AC), but with Russian women having taken 7 of the last 10 Nagano titles it's safe to say that Nadezhda Leonteva is likely to be Jepkemboi's toughest competition in the women's race despite a difference of over 4 minutes in their bests.  Shoko Mori (Team Otsuka Seiyaku), a training partn...

http://www.ohme-marathon.jp/news/2015/01/27/3284 translated by Brett Larner We are pleased to announce the elite athletes for the 49th running of the Ome 30 km Road Race on Feb. 15. 30 km Division - Men Nicholas Arciniaga (U.S.A.) D.O.B.: June 30, 1983 (31 yrs old) height/weight: 177 cm / 63 kg bib number: 1 PBs marathon: 2:11:30 half-marathon: 1:03:22 10000 m: 28:29.71 5000 m: 14:13.14 Major Accomplishments 2014 NYC Marathon: 10th 2014 Boston Marathon: 7th 2009 Ome 30 km: 5th 2008 Boston Marathon: 10th Kiyokatsu Hasegawa (JR Higashi Nihon) D.O.B.: Apr. 2, 1983 (31 yrs old) height/weight: 174 cm / 57 kg bib number: 2 PBs marathon: 2:15:15 half-marathon: 1:02:26 10000 m: 28:45:23 5000 m: 14:05.93 Major Accomplishments 2012 Nagano Marathon: 5th 2011 Lake Saroma 100 km: 1st 2010 Tokyo Marathon: 10th 2009 Ome 30 km Road Race: 6th Kohei Ogino (Fujitsu) D.O.B.: Dec. 8, 1989 (25 yrs old) height/weight: 174 cm / 58 kg bib number: 3 ...

by Brett Larner With just over a week to go the organizers of the Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon have seen fit to release the elite field for the 52nd edition of their event on Feb. 9.  A developmental race with a focus on first-timers and men at the 2:12 to 2:16 level, Nobeoka has seen the debuts of the likes of Moscow World Championships marathon 5th-placer Kentaro Nakamoto  (Team Yasukawa Denki) and serves as a selection race for the annual corporate league junket to the Chicago Marathon.  Last year's winner Hiroaki Sano (Team Honda) debuted in Nobeoka in 2:12:14 before going on to dip under gold label status with a 2:10:29 in Chicago, showing that Nobeoka success can lead to bigger things. Kohei Ogino  (Team Fujitsu) is the fastest man in the field with a 2:13:12 best seven weeks ago at the Hofu Yomiuri Marathon.  If his recovery has gone smoothly he is the favorite, but look for possible challenges from Tadashi Suzuki  (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) and Ya...

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20131215-00000021-nksports-spo http://www.asahi.com/articles/SEB201312150013.html translated and edited by Brett Larner Mongolia's Serod Bat Ochir  ran 2:09:00 to win his third Hofu Yomiuri Marathon title on Dec. 15, running side-by-side in a duel with civil servant runner Yuki Kawauchi  (Saitama Pref. Gov't) from 6 km until 32 km before kicking away for the win in his first-ever sub-2:10.  In his eleventh marathon of 2013 Kawauchi finished in 2:09:15 for 2nd. Fourteen days ago at the Fukuoka International Marathon Kawauchi was 3rd in 2:09:05, vowing "to go where nobody has gone before" in Hofu.  With a second sub-2:10 just fourteen days after Fukuoka he took twenty-eight days off his own world record for the shortest time ever between sub-2:10 marathons. Kohei Ogino  (Team Fujitsu) took 3rd in 2:13:12.  In the women's race defending champion  Hisae Yoshimatsu  (Shunan City Hall) set a four-second cours...

by Brett Larner Just three weeks after winning the Sapporo International Half Marathon, 2012 World Half Marathon Championships team member Mai Ito  (Team Otsuka) returned to add another half marathon title to her collection, winning the 26th running of Hokkaido's Shibetsu Half Marathon in 1:11:20 over the Miyauchi  twins Yoko  and Hiroko  of Team Kyocera.  Although her time was 28 seconds slower than her Sapporo time it was still the third-best in Shibetsu history.  Independent men's World Half Marathon team member Yuki Kawauchi  (Saitama Pref.) likewise took the win, prevailing over a tight pack of corporate and collegiate runners in 1:05:00 in another of the fourteen half marathons he plans to race this year. In the women's 10 km, Ai Igarashi  (Team Sysmex), one of the year's leading Japanese women, had an an easy win in 33:38.   Click here for a collection of photos of the race via the Shibetsu city government site. 26th Shibet...

by Brett Larner photos by Daniel Seite Takushoku University frosh John Maina , one of two Kenyans joining the team this season, led Takushoku to a surprise team win at the 87th Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai 20 km qualifier Oct. 16 in Tokyo's Showa Kinen Park. Despite hotter than usual temperatures and a course change which added challenging hills and several sharp corners in the final two km, Maina won overall in 58:23 to become only the third man to ever break 58:30 at the Yosenkai. John Maina and Benjamin Gando at 6 km. After a slow first km in 3:03, Maina effortlessly pressed the pace as Nihon University's Benjamin Gando struggled to maintain contact. Gando attacked just past 10 km but faded in the final quarter to a 58:43 runner-up spot. In Maina Takushoku may have found a deep talent. With him, fellow Kenyan recruit Duncan Mozay and new head coach Toru Okada , who previously coached Asia Univ. to the 2006 Hakone Ekiden win, Takushoku could be one of the surprises of January...