japan running news

Primarily known for his work in women's long distance, coach Manabu Kawagoe passed away suddenly on Aug. 22 after suffering a stroke. He was 63. A native of Kagoshima, in his days as an athlete Kawagoe ran at Kagoshima Minami H.S. and Waseda University . He was a member of 2 Hakone Ekiden champion teams at Waseda and won both the 5000 m and 10000 m at the National University Championships. After graduating from Waseda Kawagoe joined Shiseido , going on to serve as assistant coach and then head coach. He coached top female athletes like 2008 Chicago Marathon 3rd-placer Kiyoko Shimahara , 10000 m national champion Yoshiko Fujinaga and marathoners Yuri Kano and Akemi Ozaki , and in 2006 led Shiseido to its first National Corporate Women's Ekiden victory. In 2007 he left. Shiseido to form the Second Wind pro team, a new model that brought together his top pro women together with amateurs and junior athletes. In 2011 he became head coach of the Edion corporate team, and in 201...

interview and translation by Brett Larner photos by Mika Tokairin Kiyoko Shimahara  set course records at the Hokkaido and Katsuta marathons. A silver medalist at the 2006 Asian Games, she finished 6th at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka. After a few years in a rut she returned to form in the fall of 2009 with a PB and two other sub-2:30 runs in just over 100 days. Shimahara talked to JRN before her race at the 2010 Nagano Marathon. In part one of her interview she talked about her background and her outstanding fall season. Here in part two she talks further about her training and about the problems facing the next generation of Japanese women. At the press conference last September announcing that Yuri Kano would run New York, Coach Manabu Kawagoe talked a little about Second Wind’s training. People overseas have the impression that Japanese marathoners do a lot of slow mileage, but from what he said it sounds like Second Wind takes a different approach, with much l...

interview and translation by Brett Larner photos by Mika Tokairin Kiyoko Shimahara  set the course records at the Hokkaido and Katsuta marathons. A silver medalist at the 2006 Asian Games, she finished 6th at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka. After a few years in a rut she returned to form in the fall of 2009 with a PB and two other sub-2:30 runs in just over 100 days. Shimahara talked to JRN before her race at the 2010 Nagano Marathon. You ran at Kokushikan University and joined Shiseido after graduating. What drew you to Shiseido? I was really slow when I was in university, but I knew that I still wanted to run for a corporate team somewhere. I talked to different teams and was a bit lucky with the timing, and Shiseido was the one that offered to pick me up. Did you already know coach Manabu Kawagoe before that? When I was a student? No, not at all. The first year I was at Shiseido it was a different coach. Coach Kawagoe came in during my second year there. ...

Born Dec. 22, 1976 in Yamaguchi. Graduated from Kokushikan University and joined the Shiseido corporate team. Left Shiseido in 2007 with head coach Manabu Kawagoe and three teammates to form the independent Second Wind AC. Hot-weather specialist. After a good marathon debut off the beaten path at the 2003 Katsuta Marathon, Shimahara had a remarkably consistent run of 2:26 performances from 2004 to 2006. The streak ended with her silver medal performance at the hot 2006 Asian Games, and for the next three years she was more consistently in the 2:30-2:31 range. In August, 2009 Shimahara ran a PB of 2:25:10 at the Hokkaido Marathon, her first sub-2:30 in three years, a new course record, and faster than the winning time at the previous week's World Championships in tougher conditions. In just over 100 days following Hokkaido Shimahara went on to break 2:30 twice more, both in warm weather. In part one of her interview with JRN Shimahara talked about that fall season, what went...

http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/20161216/ath16121617340001-n1.html translated by Brett Larner The Shiseido corporate women's team announced on Dec. 16 that Manabu Kawagoe , 54, will return to his former position as head coach in January next year.  "I want to bring the team together to target winning the National Corporate Women's Ekiden Championships and to inspire women everywhere through their running," Kawagoe commented. Currently leading the Edion corporate women's team, Kawagoe was head coach of Shiseido for three years beginning in 2004.  A native of Kagoshima, in 2007 he resigned from Shiseido to found the club team Second Wind AC .  In 2011 he moved again to become head coach at Edion.  Kawagoe will leave Edion to return to Shiseido.  In March this year Shiseido head coach Toshitaka Anyoji resigned to take over the top position at the Panasonic corporate women's team.  Shiseido assistant coach Masahiro Inoguchi has been serving as inter...

http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/general/track/news/20110922k0000m050021000c.html translated by Brett Larner The Shiseido corporation announced on Sept. 21 that marathoner Yuri Kano , who left the Second Wind AC  running club and longtime coach Manabu Kawagoe  at the end of August, will return to its corporate running team on Oct. 1.  She is targeting the marathon at next year's London Olympics.  The 32-year-old Kano originally joined the Shiseido team in 2001 but followed Kawagoe in quitting the team in 2007 to found Second Wind.  Her achievements at the marathon distance include a 7th place finish at the 2009 World Championships and a win at last year's Nagoya International Women's Marathon.  Kano commented, "I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to run.  Running has given me the opportunity to live as an athlete and to grow as a person, now I want to let this tremendous flower bloom."

http://www.sw-ac.com/news.shtml#news110827 translated by Brett Larner Thank you very much for your continued support of Second Wind AC.  It is extremely unfortunate that I must announce that club member Yuri Kano will be leaving Second Wind AC effective August 31. Kano had been planning to run the Yokohama International Women’s Marathon in November in a bid to make the London Olympics but has been taking time off since July due to a leg injury. A few days ago I received notice from her that she wished to leave the club; in meeting with her face-to-face she said that she wishes to be in a new environment as she pursues a place at the Olympics. Despite the great generosity of the Second Wind Supporters Club members, each of our sponsors, and the many people who have offered their support up until now, I offer my deepest apologies that the situation came to the point that I must give you this bad news. I ask that each of you continue to give her your sincere support as she pur...

http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/athletics/news/f-sp-tp0-20110531-783713.html translated and edited by Brett Larner On May 31 an official with the Chugoku Jitsugyodan Track and Field Association announced that Manabu Kawagoe , 48, head coach of the Second Wind AC club team, has taken over as head coach of the Hiroshima-based Edion corporate women's team. Kawagoe, who previously coached at Team Shiseido before leaving with four of the team's elite women to found Second Wind, is not leaving Second Wind but will be the head coach of both teams. Kawagoe is an accomplished women's marathon coach, having trained both members of the last fall's Asia Games women's marathon team, Yuri Kano and Kiyoko Shimahara , both of Second Wind. In addition to Kawagoe, Edion, which changed its name this season from Deodeo, has tapped Tetsuhiko Kin , 47, a former teammate of Kawagoe's at Waseda University and now a popular race broadcast announcer, to be the team's general ma...

http://www.plus-blog.sportsnavi.com/kmanabu/article/449 translated by Brett Larner 2010 Nagoya International Women's Marathon winner Yuri Kano 's coach Manabu Kawagoe (Second Wind AC) posted this notice of Kano's withdrawal from the Apr. 17 London Marathon this morning, just hours after the official announcement that the nine domestic elite women originally scheduled to run Nagoya have been added to the London Marathon field following the cancellation of both Nagoya and its domestic replacement as a World Championships selection race, the Nagano Marathon, in the wake of the series of disasters to hit Japan in the last two weeks. The Nagano Marathon World Championships selection race, a replacement for the cancelled Nagoya International Women's Marathon selection race, has now also been cancelled. Yuri Kano has been targeting the World Championships and planned to run the overseas selection race subsequently designated by the Japanese federation Rikuren, but after cons...

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20100905-OHT1T00267.htm translated by Brett Larner Nov. 27 Asian Games marathon team member Kiyoko Shimahara (33, Second Wind AC) has cancelled her planned altitude training camp beginning Sept. 5 in Boulder, Colorado due to illness. She has also withdrawn from her scheduled appearance in the Sept. 19 Philadelphia Half Marathon. Shimahara spent August training in Hokkaido, but after returning home to Nagano she came down with a fever. Exhibiting symptoms similar to those of dehydration, she was advised to spend at least a week allowing for total recovery. Departing for Boulder Sept. 5 with Shimahara's Asian Games teammate Yuri Kano (31) and other Second Wind runners, coach Manabu Kawagoe (48) commented, "Shimahara overtrained in Hokkaido. If she feels back to normal in time then she'll join us in Boulder (for the last part of the training camp)." He indicated that the situation is not a major setback for Shimahara's pr...

http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2010050600753 translated by Brett Larner 2011 Asian Games women's marathon team member Kiyoko Shimahara (33, Second Wind AC) announced on May 6 that she is relocating her training base from Tokyo to the town of Saku in Nagano Prefecture. Last month Shimahara got engaged to Saku Chosei High School ekiden team coach Masaru Takamizawa (28). "I'm looking forward to training on the cross-country course the high school team uses and in all the great locations around Sugadaira," Shimahara said, promising that the new environment would be an excellent jumping-off point for the next stage of her career. With regard to her training, Shimahara will continue to be guided by Second Wind head coach Manabu Kawagoe. Apart from training in Nagano Shimahara will be going on the Rikuren-sponsored women's training camp in Boulder, Colorado in June. In July she plans to run the Sapporo International Half Marathon. "I'm not young an...

http://www.globerunner.org/blog/?p=306 An article by Pat Butcher about interesting Tokyo-based club Second Wind. One thing worth noting with regard to Mari Hirata is that the English word 'coach' is used in Japanese more in the sense that we would use 'trainer.' The word 'kantoku' denotes what we think of as the 'coach.' Manabu Kawagoe is the coach, while Hirata is one of the club's trainers. By contrast, 1991 World Championships women's marathon silver medalist Sachiko Yamashita is the coach of Team Daiichi Seimei and its star runner, 2009 World Championships women's marathon silver medalist Yoshimi Ozaki, the younger sister of Second Wind runner Akemi Ozaki.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/e-japan/tokyotama/news/20091123-OYT8T00946.htm translated by Brett Larner The 32nd Fuchu Tamagawa Half Marathon took place Nov. 23. Featuring three events, a 5 km, 10 km and half marathon, this year's Fuchu Tamagawa hosted a total of 2908 runners. Starting from the baseball grounds in Fuchu's Kyodonomori Park, runners ran through the cheers of courseside supporters along the banks of Tokyo's Tama River. Athletes from Aoyama Gakuin University took the top four places. Team member Atsushi Suzuki (20, 3rd yr.) clocked 1:06:37 to take the win. "I need to get my pace down faster to get picked for the [Hakone Ekiden] team," Suzuki commented after the race. "Winning was a good experience." Translator's note: This may not seem very noteworthy, but Fuchu Tamagawa is a long-standing, celebrated race with past winners including Toshihiko Seko, Atsushi Sato, Komazawa Univ. head coach Hiroaki Oyagi and Second Wind AC head coach Manabu Ka...

translated and edited by Brett Larner The New York Road Runners held a press conference at Tokyo's Conrad Hotel on Sept. 28 to formally announce the ING New York City Marathon debut of World Championships women's marathon 7th place finisher Yuri Kano (Second Wind AC). Kano, her coach Manabu Kawagoe and, via conference call, NYRR CEO and NYCM race director Mary Wittenberg took part in the press conference with JRN editors Brett Larner and Mika Tokairin serving as the interpreters between Wittenberg and Kano, Kawagoe, and the Japanese media. Below is a transcript of comments and responses. For clarification of the questions regarding Second Wind AC, most Japanese teams are corporate-sponsored and exist largely removed from and invisible to the everyday world of amateur runners and running fans. Second Wind is trying to operate on a new model in which amateurs can run in the same club with elite athletes such as Kano and 2009 Hokkaido Marathon 1-2 finishers Kiyoko Shimahara and Ak...

http://www.nikkei.co.jp/kansai/news/news005972.html http://sports.nikkei.co.jp/index.aspx?n=SSXKC0474%2021042009 http://www.plus-blog.sportsnavi.com/kmanabu/ translated and edited by Brett Larner Having already secured a place on the national team for August's World Championships in Berlin, Yuri Kano (30, Second Wind AC) will get an advance taste of world-class competition when she lines up among most of the world's best women for the first time at the Apr. 26 London Marathon. Kano thought she would win last November's Tokyo International Women's Marathon but she was 2nd after being outrun by Yoshimi Ozaki (27, Team Daiichi Seimei), the younger sister of her Second Wind teammate Akemi Ozaki. Following the final domestic selection race last month, Kano's place on the World Championships team was announced on Mar. 23. "I felt like, 'Finally!'" Kano says. Now, as she faces her first overseas marathon, she is confident. "My training hasn't gon...

http://www.plus-blog.sportsnavi.com/kmanabu/article/167 by Manabu Kawagoe, head coach, Second Wind AC translated by Brett Larner Kaori Yoshida racing in Albuquerque, NM. Photo by John Schrup. Kaori Yoshida, a member of Second Wind AC since its founding in April, 2007, has left the club following her appearance as a guest runner at the Mar. 15 Kusunoki Marathon. I would like to thank her from my heart for the help she has given SWAC over the last two years and for her competitiveness and dedication in her own running. Yoshida has taken a position with Amino Vital AC and, while working with that club, hopes to continue on as one of the top distance running women. We're all looking forward to seeing the new Kaori Yoshida! While we're sad that Yoshida has resigned from the club, Second Wind is still looking forward toward our future goals. We remain an organization dedicated both to supporting world-class athletes capable of reaching the Olympics, World Championships, and other m...

http://www.plus-blog.sportsnavi.com/kmanabu/article/128 translated and edited by Brett Larner Seki Kimura, a member of Tokyo-based Second Wind AC, had a tough day in the Dec. 7 Singapore Marathon, finishing 10th in 2:52:25. Second Wind AC head coach Manabu Kawagoe commented, "Kimura experienced some stomach trouble during the race, but this too is part of the marathon. I hope that she can learn from this experience and use it to help her move up to the next level." Kimura's teammates Kiyoko Shimahara, 3rd at this year's Chicago Marathon, and Kaori Yoshida, winner of the inaugural Casablanca Marathon earlier in the fall, are scheduled to compete in Sunday's Honolulu Marathon.

http://www.plus-blog.sportsnavi.com/kmanabu/article/98 translated by Brett Larner photo by Manabu Kawagoe On October 5th, Yuri Kano (Second Wind AC) won the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in San Jose, California. With an early morning start at 8:00 a.m. temperatures were low. Kano ran a comfortable first half, treating the second half of the race as a practice run for next month's Tokyo International Women's Marathon. Running together with Ethiopia's Masresha Azalech until the 10 km mark, Kano sustained a higher pace over the second half, launching a final spurt to seal her lead with 2 miles to go. For Kano, her finishing position in this race was the most important thing. Splits: 5 km: 16:36 10 km: 33:17 10 miles: 53:35 finish: 1:10:03 Translator's note: Kano won June's Sapporo International Half Marathon in a PB of 1:08:57 and finished 3rd in July's New York City Half Marathon.

by Brett Larner The 27th running of the All-Japan Jitsugyodan Women`s Ekiden takes place this Sunday, Dec. 16. in Gifu Prefecture. 26 teams will race the marathon-length 6-stage course. Course record holders Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo (2:13:17, 2004) are fielding a strong team including Osaka World Championships marathon bronze medallist Reiko Tosa and former marathon national record holder Yoko Shibui and look set to retake the title from defending champions Team Shiseido who suffered a major blow early this year when their coach Manabu Kawagoe and much of the top talent on last year`s team left Shiseido to form the independent Second Wind AC . The All-Japan Jitsugyodan Women`s Ekiden has 3 regional qualification races, all full marathon distance courses. At the East Japan Jitsugyodan Women`s Ekiden in Saitama Prefecture on Nov. 3, Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo swept the field for the 8th straight year, winning in 2:13:09. Team Daiichi Seimei were 2nd in 2:15:03 and Team Hokuren 3rd...