japan running news

by Brett Larner Two of the three quality Japanese marathons this weekend saw their course records fall, with the third featuring an Eastern European sweep.  At the Nagano Marathon , cross-country great Serhiy Lebid  (Ukraine) staged a head-to-head battle with Japan-based Mongolian national record holder Ser-od Bat-Ochir  (Team NTN), only pulling away in the final two km to get the win in 2:13:56 to Bat-Ochir's 2:14:04. 2:11 man Taiga Ito  (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) was 3rd in 2:15:20.  In the women's race Japanese hopeful Rika Shintaku  (Team Shimamura) tried to match Russian Alina Prokopeva  but fell short.  Prokopeva pushed on steadily at 2:30 pace with only Shintaku for company before pulling away early in the second half for the win in 2:30:56.  Shintaku faded badly to 2:36:02, nearly run down by Shoko Shimizu (Team Aichi Denki) who took 3rd in 2:37:21 off a far more conservative first half. Kawauchi's silent one-man show at the Toku...

by Brett Larner Updated 1/29/13: Masashi Hayashi (Team Yakult) and Takehiro Arakawa (Team Asahi Kasei) have withdrawn. The Feb. 3 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon announced on Jan. 16 that London Olympics marathon 6th-placer and 2:08:53 man  Kentaro Nakamoto  (Team Yasukawa Denki) will head the elite field for its 62nd running.  Japan's most stable and successful current male marathoner, Nakamoto said in pre-race comments that he hopes to score his first marathon win on home Kyushu ground in Beppu-Oita, and with the race's results counting toward 2013 World Championships team selection the win would strengthen the position his strong Olympic showing has already given him.  Nakamoto's toughest domestic competition will come from the ever-popular Yuki Kawauchi  (Saitama Pref.) in his second marathon of the year, and from Masashi Hayashi  (Team Yakult) who broke 2:10 for the first time at last spring's Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon just over a minute behind Nak...

http://news.runnersworld.com/2012/03/05/5-japanese-break-210-in-one-marathon/

by Brett Larner This year's Hokkaido Marathon is set for Sunday, Aug. 28, directly opposite the Daegu World Championships.  With a 12:10 start time Hokkaido is always hot and has some of the most strategic racing on the Japanese calendar.  The men's race features both defending champion Cyrus Njui  (Kenya/Team Hitachi Cable) and 2009 winner Daniel Njenga  (Kenya/Team Yakult) along with sub-2:12 domestic men Seiji Kobayashi  (Team Mitsubishi Juko Nagasaki), Masaya Shimizu  (Team Asahi Kasei) and Masashi Hayashi  (Team Yakult).  Njui is in good shape to defend his title after his second-straight win at last month's Sapporo International Half Marathon.  A number of competitive men are also entered in the general division, the best among these being 2:11:44 marathoner Kenichiro Setoguchi  (Team Asahi Kasei) and  Yu Mitsuya  (Team Toyota Kyushu),  Samuel Wanjiru 's main training partner during Wanjiru's pro years in Japan. ...

by Brett Larner Wilson Kipsang wins in a CR 2:06:13. Click here for video highlights courtesy of NHK. Like last weekend's Tokyo Marathon, the 2011 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon , Biwako for short, was blessed with excellent conditions. The final domestic selection race for this summer's World Championships, Biwako played out as largely according to script as Kenyan Wilson Kipsang broke aggressive Ethiopian rival Deriba Merga over the final kilometers to win in a world-leading course-record 2:06:13, while a young Japanese marathoner, 24 year-old Hiroyuki Horibata (Team Asahi Kasei), stepped up with a PB of nearly 2 1/2 minutes to crack the 2:09:30 time requirement for a guaranteed spot on the Worlds team, finishing 3rd in 2:09:25. Despite none of them having a PB under 2:11 versus all six invited foreign elites having PBs under 2:09, the top contingent of Japanese athletes brought A-game, taking seven of the top ten spots, four under 2:11, five with PBs, one in a debut, and ...

http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/athletics/news/f-sp-tp0-20110305-744913.html http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/news/20110306k0000m050070000c.html translated by Mika Tokairin and Brett Larner Wilson Kipsang (Kenya): "It's going to be a tough race but I'll do my best. I'm going for the course record [2:07:34]. 2:05 is my target." Deriba Merga (Ethiopia): "[Kipsang] is definitely strong, but the marathon is not the same every time." Satoshi Yoshii (Team Sumco): "I also have a chance [to run a fast time like Kawauchi at last week's Tokyo Marathon]. I want to take it." Kentaro Nakamoto (Team Yasukawa Denki): "[Although I only have a 29 minute 10000 m best like Kawauchi,] I do better in big races over longer distances." Masato Imai (Team Toyota Kyushu): "I'm running Biwako, not Tokyo [against Kawauchi]. I don't have to be so tense." Kensuke Takahashi (Team Toyota): "When I was [at the Berlin World Champs...

by Brett Larner The 66th running of the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon , known throughout Japan simply as Biwako, takes place this Sunday, Mar. 6. The final selection race for the Japanese men's marathon team for this summer's World Championships, Biwako's elite field this year highlights the disparity in elite Japan's men's marathoning over the last two years. On the one side is the overseas field of six, without a doubt the best Biwako's organizers have assembled to date. All six have PBs under 2:09, four of them set last year and none older than 2008. Kenyan Wilson Kipsang leads the way with a stellar 2:04:57 mark set at last fall's Frankfurt Marathon. Kipsang is here for one purpose: to do what Ethiopian Olympic medalist Tsegaye Kebede did for the Fukuoka International Marathon in 2009 and give the race a course record on par with the world's best. Kipsang is the heavy favorite, but he faces tough competition from Ethiopia's Deriba Merga , fr...

by Brett Larner The organizers of the 2011 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon announced their elite field today for this year's 66th running on Mar. 6, and they have done an outstanding job of assembling a world-class overseas field. All six foreign elites hold sub-2:09 PBs, four set last year and none older than 2008. Wearing bib #1 will be Kenyan Wilson Kipsang , who ran a stunning 2:04:57 to win last fall's Frankfurt Marathon. With the trend in Japan moving away from small, elite-only marathons and toward the big city marathon format there is no doubt that Biwako, as the race is universally called within in Japan, is bringing Kipsang in hopes of a 2:04 clocking to stay competitive in the arms race with Fukuoka, with a 2:05:17 course record courtesy of Beijing Olympics and Berlin WC bronze medalist Tsegaye Kebede (Ethiopia), and Tokyo, which has called upon world record holder Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) to summon up a course-record run later this month. Kipsang should have a s...

2010 Amsterdam Marathon - Top Finishers click here for complete results Men 1. Getu Feleke (Ethiopia) - 2:05:44 - PB 2. Wilson Chebet (Kenya) - 2:06:12 - debut 3. Chala Dechase (Ethiopia) - 2:07:23 4. Cherkos Feleke (Ethiopia) - 2:07:29 5. Hailu Mekonnen (Ethiopia) - 2:07:37 6. Shadrack Kiplagat (Kenya) - 2:07:56 7. Daniel Kosgei (Kenya) - 2:08:45 8. Jackson Kotut (Kenya) - 2:08:59 9. Kentaro Nakamoto (Team Sagawa Express) - 2:12:38 10. Thomas Chemitei (Kenya) - 2:13:14 ----- 11. Masashi Hayashi (Team Yakult) - 2:13:23 13. Naoya Hashimoto (Japan) - 2:15:01 20. Yuko Matsumiya (Team Konica Minolta) - 2:17:24 Women 1. Alice Timblili (Kenya) - 2:25:03 - PB 2. Eyerusalem Kuma (Ethiopia) - 2:27:04 3. Robe Guta (Ethiopia) - 2:27:44 4. Woinshet Girma (Ethiopia) - 2:27:51 5. Shitaye Bedaso (Ethiopia) - 2:29:48 6. Miranda Boonstra (Netherlands) - 2:34:24 7. Julia Mumbi (Kenya) - 2:34:37 8. Ayelech Worku (Ethiopia) - 2:35:09 9. Inge de Jong (Netherlands) - 2:38:00 10. Christiana Das Changas (Braz...

by Brett Larner click here for JRNLive's detailed race commentary Click photo for a gallery of images from the 2010 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon. In a tactical race of few surprises, Jonathan Kipkorir (Kenya), the strongest man of '09 in the field, took the 2010 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon on Feb. 7 in a sprint finish over the final 500 m against aging 2:06:16 runner Daniel Njenga (Kenya/Team Yakult), holder of the fastest PB in the field. Japanese debutant Atsushi Ikawa (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) had a good race, 4th overall in 2:11:04 after repeatedly attacking the lead pack of eight over the final 10 km. Track darling Yu Mitsuya (Team Toyota Kyushu) performed below expectations in his own marathon debut, 9th in 2:12:59. However, the biggest news of the race was Australian Jeffrey Hunt . Debuting at the marathon, Hunt spent the early parts of the race far back in the third pack while the leaders ran on track for 2:08. Despite a fast new course and good conditions, the pacema...

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/flash/KFullFlash20100118119.html http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2010011800601 http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/general/news/20100119k0000m050076000c.html translated and edited by Brett Larner On Jan. 18 the organizing committee for the 59th Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon announced the elite field of 15 for this year's Feb. 7 running. At the top of the list of ten Japan-based athletes is Kenyan Daniel Njenga (Team Yakult), who won last summer's Hokkaido Marathon and holds a PB of 2:06:16. Lining up against Njenga in his marathon debut is 2007 World Championships track runner Yu Mitsuya (Team Toyota Kyushu). Athens Olympics marathon 6th place finisher Toshinari Suwa (Team Nissin Shokuhin) is also in the field, and 2:08 man Tadayuki Ojima (Team Asahi Kasei) will be running as his final race before retirement. The 5 overseas invited athletes are led by Kenyan Jonathan Kipkorir , who set his PB of 2:07:31 last year at the Paris Marathon. Jo...

http://www.iaaf.org/LRR09/news/newsid=54705.html Japanese men in Beijing: 8. Masashi Hayashi - 2:12:39 11. Tomonori Onitsuka - 2:13:00 12. Masaki Shimoju - 2:13:08 14. Koichi Sakai - 2:14:29 Click here for complete results.