japan running news

A woman who received cash from scam victims as part of a swindling group was arrested by the Metropolitan Police Department after attempting to defraud an elderly woman. The arrested woman was a former member of one of the top corporate league women's ekiden teams. Miho Shimada , 20, an unemployed resident of Gotemba, Shizuoka, was arrested on suspicion of calling an 80-year-old woman in Taito-ku, Tokyo and telling her, "I lost a check for funds to set up a company. I need 3 million yen," in an attempt to steal the elderly woman's cash. "I did it because I wanted money," she said in admitting to the charges. Translator's note: A star member of the Yamanashi Gakuin High School girls' ekiden team who ran times of 9:01.23 for 3000 m and 15:43.35 for 5000 m while still in high school, Shimada joined the Toyota Jidoshokki corporate women's team after her graduation in 2016. The 2nd-place team at the National Corporate Women's Ekiden Champi...

by Brett Larner 【クイーンズ駅伝】 スタート！💨🏃👧💨🏃 上位８位までがシード権！ 頑張れーーー💪(^o^) pic.twitter.com/8uhtPo7WIS — NOBUKI T&F (@hagechabin123) November 27, 2016 In just its third year of existence the Japan Post Group team swept to the top of Japan's corporate women's league, winning the 36th running of the National Corporate Women's Ekiden Championships Sunday in Sendai, Miyagi.  Featuring Rio track Olympians Ayuko Suzuki and Hanami Sekine , Japan Post was in it from the start.  Lead runner Kyoka Nakagawa got the team off in 4th as she covered the 7.0 km First Stage in 22:01, 11 seconds off leader Mao Ichiyama 's 21:50 course record and 9 seconds under the old course record.  Still on the mend from the injury that hit her just before Rio, Suzuki was 5th on time on the 3.9 km Second Stage but still improved Japan Post's position to 3rd.  Sekine and fourth runner Rina Iwataka held steady in 3rd before fifth runner Rina Nabeshima got to work. Covering 10.0 km o...

by Brett Larner videos by Ekiden News Just over a week after breaking into both the all-time Japanese junior and high school girls’ 3000 m top ten with a 9:01.23 best at Saitama’s Heisei Kokusai University Time Trials, 2015 National High School Championships 3000 m runner-up Miho Shimada (Yamanashi Gakuin Prep H.S.) was back with another big run to cap the 2015 National Sports Festival at Wakayama’s Kimiidera Park Field on Oct. 6. After a slow 3:10 opening 1000 m Shimada effortlessly pulled away, dueling with Kenyan Monica Margaret (Aomori Yamada H.S.) as she pushed the pace well under 3:00/km.  Shimada's relentless attack was enough for the win in 9:01.87 just off her fresh new best, Margaret dropping nearly 3 seconds behind for 2nd in 9:04.55. National High School Championships 4th-placer Shinobu Koyoshigawa (Sera H.S.) moved up one spot to take 3rd in 9:14.34, while National High School champion Nana Kuraoka (Kagoshima Joshi H.S.) could manage only 10th in 9:24.72. ...

by Brett Larner videos by naoki620 After a National High School Track and Field Championships packed with new records including two junior and high school national records, three more meet records capped the final day of competition, hot temperatures in the mid-30's notwithstanding. Nao Kanai (Kawasaki Tachibana H.S.) got things started in the boys' 110 m hurdles with a record 13.85, the only boy to go under 14 seconds despite a strong +1.4 m/s tailwind.  Chihiro Nozaki (Rakunan H.S.) followed up in the boys' triple jump with a 15.80 m meet record jump to win by almost 75 cm.  Shinichi Yukinaga (Seiko Gakuen H.S.) rounded out the action in the boys' discus throw with a mark of 55.59 m for the win, like Kanai short of his PB but enough for a new National High School Championships record. The girls' 3000 m had an unexpected turn of events when favorite Nozomi Musembi Takamatsu (Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.), the 2014 Youth Olympics 3000 m gold medalist,...

by Brett Larner videos by naoki620 and aoshin0507 #1-ranked Haruko Ishizuka (Keiai Higashi Osaka Prep H.S.) turned in the performance of the day on the opening day of the National High School Track and Field Championships, setting a meet record 53.30 to win the girls' 400 m.  After dominating the semifinals in 53.92, the only girl in the field to break 54, Ishizuka had no trouble at all running away from closest competitor Yuna Iwata (Niijima Gakuen H.S.) in the final, winning by more than a second over Iwata's 54.37 PB.  2015 World Youth Championships team member Rin Aoki (Soyo H.S.) also ran a PB of 54.74 for 3rd.  The boys' 400 m final saw Daisuke Funato (Higashi Fukuoka H.S.) unexpectedly win with a 47.06 PB, taking down favorites Manato Sasaki (Morioka Minami H.S.) and Sho Someya (Seibudai Chiba H.S.) who took only 4th and 5th. Another highlight came in the first heat of the boys' 1500 m, where a strong surge from Kakeru Nakamura (Saigyo H.S.) at ...

by Brett Larner videos by Ekiden News and 01moroya Over the last ten days high schools across Japan having been gearing up for next month's National High School Track and Field Championships at ten major regional meets.  Many saw meet records fall in middle and long distances, with the boys' 1500 m in particular seeing an uptick in quality.  Takumi Yokokawa (Nakanojo H.S.) set a 3:48.74 meet record at the North Kanto Region meet, one of two regional winners to break 3:50 along with the Kinki Region's Yuya Nakamura (Osaka Toin H.S.), who ran 3:49.01.  Records also fell in the Chugoku Region, where Kakeru Nakamura (Saikyo H.S.) ran 3:50.58, and the Shikoku Region, where Taku Tomihara (Jinsei Gakuen H.S.) ran 3:51.01.  Results compared well to the weekend's top national-level U.S.A high school meets, where the winning boys' mile times, 4:07.97 by Paul Ryan (Logos Christian School) at the Brooks PR meet and 4:09.23 by Matthew Novak (Deep Run H.S.) at the Ne...