japan running news

Mao Ichiyama (Wacoal) and Yuta Shitara (Honda) topped JRN's 2019 Japanese distance rankings as the overall female and male athletes of the year despite neither succeeding in qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic team.

Just 21 years old, Ichiyama debuted at March's Tokyo Marathon in 2:24:33, then came back the next month with a 2:27:27 in London to qualify for the MGC Race Olympic marathon trials. En route to the MGC Race she won July's Hakodate Half Marathon in an all-time Japanese #8 time of 1:08:49 before taking the Olympic trials out at national record pace. She fell short of making the team, but after bouncing back in time for ekiden season she wrapped the year with a PB of 31:34.56 at December's National Corporate Time Trials meet.

Struggling with injury ever since his marathon national record at the 2018 Tokyo Marathon, Shitara returned with a 1:01:36 tuneup at April's Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon before dropping the fastest Japnaese 10000 m of the year, 27:53.6…

Just two weeks after her 19th birthday, Ririka Hironaka, star rookie for 2019 National Corporate Women's Ekiden champions Japan Post, ended the year in style with a nearly 18-second PB of 15:05.40 to break the great Kayoko Fukushi's U20 national record by 5 seconds and become just the second Japanese woman so far to break the 2020 Olympic standard in the 5000 m.

Running at Yamaguchi's National Corporate Women's Time Trials, after Kenyans Martha Mokaya (Canon AC Kyushu) and Hellen Ekarare (Toyota Jidoshokki) led the pack through opening splits of 3:01, 3:04 and 3:03, Hironaka took off in pursuit of the 15:10.00 Olympic standard, covering the next two 1000 m splits in 2:59 and 2:58. Along with breaking Fukushi's 2001-era junior record and clearing the Olympic standard, Hironaka moved up to all-time Japanese #5, following Nozomi Tanaka's all-time #2 15:00.01 at October's Doha World Championships to make this a pretty good year for the 5000 m by Japanese women…

After an almost two-year qualification period that made it the most difficult marathon in history to get into, Japan's Marathon Grand Championship 2020 Tokyo Olympics marathon trials went off perfectly Sunday in warm and sunny conditions. Shogo Nakamura (Fujitsu), 4th in Berlin last year, and 2018 Fukuoka winner Yuma Hattori (Toyota) went 1-2 in a 3-way sprint finish against national record holder Suguru Osako (Nike Oregon Project) to score places on the Olympic team, with 2017 Hokkaido Marathon winner Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) taking the women's race and 2018 Hokkaido winner Ayuko Suzuki (Japan Post) holding off Rei Ohara (Tenmaya) to join Maeda in the Tokyo lineup.

It was a sign of the level of commitment that this generation brought, of what next summer's Olympics are going to be like, that both the women's and men's races went out at national record pace, but the two couldn't have been more different. In the women's race, 9 of the 10 starters went out fas…

Honami Maedaage: 23
sponsor: Tenmaya
graduated from: Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.

best time inside MGC window:
2:23:48, 2nd, 2018 Osaka International Women’s Marathon

PB: 2:23:48, 2nd, 2018 Osaka International Women’s Marathon

other PBs:
5000 m: 15:38.16 (2018) 10000 m: 32:13.87 (2018) half marathon: 1:09:12 (2018)

marathons inside MGC window (Aug. 1 2017 – April 30 2019)
12th, 2019 Tokyo Marathon, 2:31:42
7th, 2018 Berlin Marathon, 2:25:23
2nd, 2018 Osaka International Women’s Marathon, 2:23:48 – PB
1st, 2017 Hokkaido Marathon, 2:28:48

other major results:
3rd, 2019 Hakodate Half Marathon, 1:10:23
3rd, 2019 National Women’s Ekiden Ninth Stage (10.0 km), 31:49
1st, 2018 Sanyo Ladies Half Marathon, 1:09:12 – PB
5th, 2018 National Corporate Women’s Ekiden Third Stage (10.9 km), 35:15
35th, 2018 Valencia World Half Marathon Championships, 1:12:09
7th, 2017 Sanyo Ladies Half Marathon, 1:10:22
12th, 2017 Osaka International Women’s Marathon, 2:32:19
2nd, 2016 Sendai International Half Marathon,…

Mao Ichiyamaage: 22
sponsor: Wacoal
graduated from: Izumi Chuo H.S.

best time inside MGC window:
2:24:33, 7th, 2019 Tokyo Marathon

PB: 2:24:33, 7th, 2019 Tokyo Marathon

other PBs:
5000 m: 15:24.17 (2017) 10000 m: 31:49.01 (2017) half marathon: 1:08:49 (2019)

marathons inside MGC window (Aug. 1 2017 – April 30 2019)
15th, 2019 London Marathon, 2:27:27
7th, 2019 Tokyo Marathon, 2:24:33

other major results:
1st, 2019 Hakodate Half Marathon, 1:08:49 – PB
6th, 2019 National Women’s Ekiden Ninth Stage (10.0 km), 32:12
3rd, 2018 National Corporate Women’s Ekiden First Stage (7.0 km), 22:20
1st, 2018 National Corporate Women’s Ekiden Qualifier Third Stage (10.7 km), 34:23
19th, 2018 World Half Marathon Championships, 1:11:02
3rd, 2017 Sanyo Ladies Half Marathon, 1:09:14
39th, 2017 World Cross Country Championships, 35:53

The next big thing? Part of the Wacoal group with MGC Race qualifiers Kayoko Fukushi and Yuka Ando, Ichiyama took to the longer distances almost right out of high school, running 3…

MGC Race finalist Mao Ichiyama (22, Wacoal) took 22 seconds off her PB to win the Hakodate Half Marathon in 1:08:49, moving up to all-Japanese #8 in the record books. Also MGC Race-bound, her teammate Yuka Ando, 25, was 2nd in 1:09:47 to give the Wacoal team a 1-2 finish. Men's MGC Race finalist Ryu Takaku (26, Yakult) was the top Japanese man overall at 2nd in 1:02:43.

The Wacoal team seems to thrive at northern latitudes. Ichiyama secured her place at the MGC Race at April's London Marathon. "I've been feeling better and better since London and I want to keep taking chunks off my time," Ichiyama said. Ando was cool and professional after having been beaten by her younger teammate by 58 seconds. In June she had suffered a bit from overtraining, but, she said, "I'm doing the workouts in our training camp and bit by bit things are getting more responsive."

Along with Ichiyama and Ando, the Wacoal team also has veteran half marathon national record h…

Just over 2 months out from Japan's 2020 Tokyo Olympic marathon trials, the Sept. 15 MGC Race, 13 of the 34 men and 9 of the 15 women to have qualified for the trials will be tuning up the first weekend of July.

In Australia, 7 male qualifiers will run the Gold Coast Marathon and Asics Half Marathon. Half marathon national record holder and former marathon national record holder Yuta Shitara (Honda) leads the way in the marathon, a surprising step in what has so far been a solid recovery season from the injuries that held him back for most of last year following his 2:06:11 marathon national record. Yuma Hattori (Toyota), 2:07:27 for the win in Fukuoka last December, and Taku Fujimoto (Toyota), 2:07:57 two months earlier in Chicago, head the list in the half, where 3 of their Toyota teammates with sub-62 bests including Minato Oishi, the fastest Japanese man so far this year in the half marathon, are likewise entered.

3rd in the marathon last year on the Gold Coast, Jo Fukuda (Ni…

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, only n…

Headwinds in the last 6.5 km and cold rain throughout kept the really fast times from happening as scheduled, but the 2019 Tokyo Marathon still brought plenty of surprises.

#1-ranked Birhanu Legese (Ethiopia) winning the men's race wasn't one of them. The lead pack blasted most of the first half sub-2:04 pace, only breaking up after rounding the 20 km turnaround. Early casualties included last year's 4th-place Gideon Kipketer (Kenya) and Asian record holder El Hassan El Abbassi (Bahrain), but just after the turnaround national record holder Suguru Osako (Nike Oregon Project) and 2018 Berlin Marathon 4th-placer Shogo Nakamura (Fujitsu) dropped back, Osako stopping shortly thereafter.

The remaining six split into two trios. In the front group, defending champ Dickson Chumba (Kenya) fell back from Legese and Bedan Karoki (Kenya/DeNA) approaching 30 km before Legese took off after the final pacer said goodbye. On the way down to the 35.8 km turnaround Legese's pace approa…

It was one of those magical Marugame days when everything, almost everything, went right, when despite an uphill second half everyone, almost everyone, ran a PB they'll probably never touch again. Defending Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon winner Betsy Saina (Kenya) taking over a minute off her best to beat the debuting Ayuko Suzuki (Japan Post) to the line 1:07:49 to 1:07:55, Suzuki's time landing her at all-time #3 on the Japanese charts. 41-year-old 3rd-placer Sinead Diver (Australia) running a masters' world record 1:08:55. And more down the line.

And on the men's side, Abdi Nageeye (Netherlands) knocking almost two minutes off his best to outrun former Ageo City Half Marathon course record holder Simon Kariuki (Nihon Yakka Univ.) over the last 5 km for a national record 1:00:24 to Kariuki's 1:00:43 PB. 3rd-placer Jack Rayner (Australia) narrowly holding off a fast-closing pack of five Japanese collegiate and corporate men in 1:01:36 with all five b…

Last year's winners Betsy Saina and Edward Waweru, both of Kenya, return to the Feb. 3 Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon, but in both cases they have tough competition. Ranked #1 in the women's race is Mao Ichiyama (Wacoal) with a 1:09:14, 3 seconds better than Saina's winning time last year. 3 seconds slower is Sinead Diver (Australia) with a 1:09:20 on home ground last year. Sara Hall (U.S.A.) isn't far behind, and with track star Ayuko Suzuki (Japan Post) making her debut off a brilliant run at last weekend's National Women's Ekiden it should be a solid pack up front.

In the men's race, 2017 marathon world champion Geoffrey Kirui (Kenya) leads the way, his best recent time a 1:00:04 in New Delhi two years ago. Only 2 seconds behind is Shadrack Kiplagat (Kenya), with Evans Cheruiyot (Kenya) and the Japan-based Waweru just over 20 seconds back. Waweru's condition is a question mark after an injury at the New Year Ekiden. Kenta Murayama (Asah…

The Ageo City Half Marathon, which saw new men's and women's course records and a Swedish national record, was the biggest race of the weekend, but across the country and abroad were a half dozen other events with quality Japanese athletes.

Saturday morning in Kyoto was the Tango University Ekiden, the 80th edition of the Kansai Region's university men's ekiden championships. Last year's runner-up Ritsumeikan University finished up a strong season with a decision win, leading start to finish to cover the 8-stage, 84.1 km course in 4:16:00. 2017 winner Kwansei Gakuin University got off to a slow start, 44 seconds behind Ritsumeikan in 5th after the first stage and spending the rest of the race trying to catch up. After six stages it was only 26 seconds behind, but a 35:00 stage record for the 11.7 km anchor leg by Ristumeikan's Shinji Koiwa meant the end of Kwansei Gakuin's hopes. Kyoto Sangyo University was 3rd, briefly threatened mid-race by Hyogo Gakuin …