japan running news

by Brett Larner The 67th running of the Meigi Ekiden joined other races across the country in being blessed with good weather on Feb. 3, the kind of weather that produces course records. In the 6-stage, 52.6 km open men's division Team Toyota Boshoku  unseated defending champion and course record holder Team Toyota  for the win in 2:31:17, just 32 seconds off Toyota's 2012 record.  Toyota Boshoku started slow, its opening man Yoshiaki Shiota only 7th, but steadily advanced through the field until Kenyan ace Patrick Mutunga ran down Toyota's Chihiro Miyawaki  to put Toyota Boshoku ahead by 10 seconds.  Both Toyota Boshoku and Toyota's fifth men Yuya Taguchi  and Kenta Matsubara broke the stage record, Matsubara closing to within 1 second as he fought desperately to retake the lead, but on the anchor stage his teammate Minato Oishi  was no match for Toyota Boshoku anchor Yoshihiro Yamamoto , who ran a stage best 34:14 for the 11.8 km leg to secure...

by Brett Larner A big weekend of racing is ahead in Japan with three major races and a handful of other events on the calendar for Sunday.  First and foremost is the 67th Kagawa Marugama International Half Marathon , where London Olympic marathon medalists Tiki Gelana (Ethiopia) and Abel Kirui  (Kenya) bring the most prestige.  Women's gold medalist Gelana is challenged by #1-ranked Kim Smith  (New Zealand) and 2010 Marugame winner Nicole Chapple  (Australia) from south of the equator, with 2012 Sanyo Ladies Half Marathon winner Yukiko Akaba  (Team Hokuren) making up the domestic challenge.  All three challengers hold faster PBs than Gelana, setting up for an exciting race.  Other top-level entrants include Marisa Barros  (Portugal) and Hiroko Miyauchi  (Team Kyocera). Men's silver medalist Abel Kirui  (Kenya) is the fastest man in Marugame, where last year's men's field set new world records for depth .  His strongest com...

http://www.tonichi.net/news/index.php?id=27076 http://www.fnn-news.com/news/headlines/articles/CONN00239441.html translated and edited by Brett Larner Translator's note: Click here and here for background on this story.  Toyokawa Kogyo's head coach is Masaaki Watanabe . Despite an ongoing scandal involved allegations of the repeated use of corporal punishment by Toyokawa Kogyo H.S. 's 50-year-old male ekiden head coach against team members, principal Yoshihisa Takemoto  has confirmed that the team is continuing to train and is scheduled to run in the Feb. 3 Meigi Ekiden . Over the weekend the school grounds were quiet and empty without the usual club activities.  The streets around the school have been crowded with local residents peering into the school grounds as they pass by.  A group of men calling themselves alumni of Toyokawa Kogyo H.S. have been gathered near the front gate of the school's grounds, shouting at members of the media and telling them g...

by Brett Larner 2011 New Year Ekiden national champion Team Toyota  added another win to its resume, running 2:30:45 to set the course record at the 66th running of the six-stage, 52.6 km  Meigi Ekiden , Feb. 5 in Nagoya.  Runner-up Team Toyota Boshoku  also went under the old course record, recording a time of 2:31:58.   Suzuki Hamamatsu AC , featuring the superb Martin Mathathi  and Toyota Boshoku's former ace Yusei Nakao , had an improvement over last year's performance thanks to the addition of Nakao, finishing 3rd in 2:32:34.  Defending champion Team Aichi Seiko  was only 4th in 2:33:55. Nakao led off strongly for Suzuki, winning the first stage with a few seconds to spare.   Nicholas Makau  (Kenya) put the small Team Yachiyo Kogyo  into the lead with a course record 20:51 for the 7.3 km Second Stage, but Toyota's Yuya Ito  responded with a course record of his own on the 6.0 km Third Stage, clocking 16.58 to put Toyot...

by Brett Larner Japan's 2010-2011 ekiden season wrapped Jan. 30 with two high-level men's races, the 65th Meigi Ekiden and the 74th Chugoku Yamaguchi Ekiden . At the Meigi Ekiden in Nagoya and Gifu, Team Aichi Seiko staged a thrilling come-from-behind victory over Team Aisan Kogyo , spending the first five stages in 5th place before winning by one second thanks to a sensational run from rookie anchor Mahoro Ikeda . 2011 New Year Ekiden national champion Team Toyota , running a mostly JV squad, was only 6th despite a 20:56 stage record run by Chihiro Miyawaki on the 7.3 km Second Stage and a stage best by Fifth Stage man Takamasa Uchida . 2007 World Championships 10000 m bronze medalist Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC), who had previously announced plans for a marathon debut this winter, won the 9.8 km Fourth Stage by 37 seconds, running a solid 26:31 but short of his own record from last year's race. Further south at the Chugoku Yamaguchi Ekiden, Team Chugoku...

by Brett Larner This weekend kicks off the busiest period of the year for Japanese distance running, with Sunday's Osaka International Women's Marathon leading seven straight weekends of elite marathons in this World Championships qualifying season. It's busier than ever thanks to last fall's APEC conference in Yokohama, which forced the second running of the Yokohama International Women's Marathon to shift from November to February. A quick guide to the upcoming marathons, all of which except Nobeoka will be broadcast live nationwide and viewable overseas. Jan. 30: Osaka International Women's Marathon Feb. 6: Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon Feb. 13: Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon Feb. 20: Yokohama International Women's Marathon Feb. 27: Tokyo Marathon Mar. 6: Biwako Mainichi Marathon Mar. 13: Nagoya International Women's Marathon It's not just marathons, either, as the world's two most competitive 30 km races , four of its most competitive half mar...

by Brett Larner 2007 World Championships 10000 m bronze medalist and 10 mile junior world record holder Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Team Suzuki) set a stunning new stage record at the 64th Meigi Ekiden on Feb. 7, the last major ekiden of the season. On a day of ideal conditions Mathathi covered the 9.8 km Fourth Stage, a point-to-point leg with a net elevation loss of 1 m, in 25:55. With a flat conversion to 10 km Mathathi's time would be a stunning 26:27, well ahead of the road 10 km world record of 27:01 set last year by Kenyan Micah Kogo. Mathathi also held the previous Fourth Stage record of 26:19 set in 2007. Takeshi Kumamoto (Team Toyota) likewise set a new stage record, running 17:20 for the 6.2 km Fifth Stage. Despite Mathathi's sensational run, which advanced Team Suzuki to 3rd place, Suzuki finished only 4th. Team Toyota took the win, never lower than 2nd place but battling the entire way against Team Aichi Steel. Kumamoto's stage record run put Toyota into position...