japan running news

Four and a half years ago JRN published a look at 20 years' worth of the Hakone Ekiden and the relationship between development at the university level on Japan's Hakone circuit and later success in the marathon . There are a lot more important things going on right now, but, since we've got some time on our hands, let's follow up on where things have gone since then and what might still be ahead. In the original article I wrote, "In the next 4-6 years we are going to see a lot more Japanese marathoners running fast times, the first really significant overall change in Japanese men's marathoning since Barcelona ('92).....Once that ball gets rolling we should see an impact on the all-time marathon lists and when that happens you are talking real times. There's nothing to suggest Japanese men are going to start running 2:03 or 2:04 marathons, but given the numbers involved 2:07 and 2:08 should become normal, with 2:06 in range of the top men the wa...

The Final Challenge Tokyo Olympics marathon qualification series ended with a Cinderella story come true. Indifferent to the cold rain falling around her, 22-year-old Mao Ichiyama (Wacoal) ran the fourth-fastest time ever by a Japanese woman, 2:20:29, to win the Nagoya Women's Marathon . Beating the 2:21:47 that Mizuki Matsuda (Daihatsu) ran to win January's Osaka International Women's Marathon, Ichiyama was named to the final spot on the Japanese women's marathon team for this summer's Tokyo Olympics. She also broke both national record holder Mizuki Noguchi 's 17-year-old record for the fastest time by a Japanese woman on Japanese soil, and the course record held by the now-suspended Eunice Kirwa , a Kenyan-born Bahraini, by nearly a minute. Up to 30 km Ichiyama sat in the pack. "It'd be too much to say I was jogging for the first 30 km, but I was running with plenty to spare," she said. The only runner in the lead group wearing Nike'...

On Jan. 27, Osaka International Women's Marathon winner Mizuki Matsuda (24, Daihatsu) received a 10 million yen [~$92,000 USD] bonus for her 2::21:47 time. The bonus was paid by the National Corporate Federation as part of its Project Exceed program. Along with Matsuda receiving 10 million yen for breaking 2:22, her coach Miwako Yamanaka received a 5 million yen bonus  [~$46,000 USD] . When asked what she plans to do with the money, Matsuda smiled as she answered, "Save it. That's what everyone around me is telling me to do. And," she added with a laugh, "to watch out for guys coming after my money." While she may not intend to use the money for herself, Matsuda does plan to use some of it for her ultra-supportive mother Akemi. "I told her that I'd like to pay for her to get her teeth fixed. That costs about 700,000 yen [~$6500 USD] , so she was super happy and said 'Thank you very much.'" Matsuda also plans to go visit a friend...

In his first race since finishing 14th at the Sept. 15 MGC Race Olympic marathon trials , former marathon national record holder Yuta Shitara (Honda) ran the Nov. 3 East Japan Corporate Men's Ekiden, finishing 2nd on its Third Stage. "Even if you're tired, that's no excuse," he said. "I went to the starting line with confidence and ran the best I could according to how I'm feeling right now." There's a lot of attention right now on the last remaining spot on the 2020 Olympic marathon team. The first two spots were secured by the 1st and 2nd-placers at the MGC Race, Shogo Nakamura (Fujitsu) and Yuma Hattori (Toyota). To claim the last remaining spot, someone has to break the Japanese national record and run at least 2:05:49 at this winter's Fukuoka International Marathon, Tokyo Marathon or Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon. If nobody succeeds, the spot will go to MGC 3rd-placer and current national record holder Suguru Osako (ex-Nike Oregon ...

Just over seven months since Yuta Shitara broke Toshinari Takaoka 's longstanding 2:06:16 national record from the 2002 Chicago Marathon with a 2:06:11 in Tokyo in February, U.S.-based Suguru Osako  brought the record back home to Chicago with a 3rd-place finish in 2:05:50. Running the same pattern as in his first two marathons, Osako sat back in the lead men's pack, never exerting himself as it whittled down to the core members. Just past the turn into Chinatown near 35 km his Nike Oregon Project teammate and 2017 Chicago winner Galen Rupp fell off the front group to leave Osako in contention with former NOP member Mo Farah , 2:04 Ethiopian Mosinet Gemerew , former Asahi Kasei runner Kenneth Kipkemoi and 2017 world champion Geoffrey Kirui . As in Boston and Fukuoka last year, when the real move came, this time in the form of a surge by Farah and Gemerew, Osako was left behind to battle it out for 3rd. While Farah kicked away for the win by 13 seconds in a European rec...

Since Yuta Shitara 's national record-breaking 2:06:11 yesterday at the Tokyo Marathon I've been getting a lot of questions about the 100 million yen bonus he received for doing it. The bonus comes via Project Exceed , an initiative launched in 2015 by the National Corporate Federation to try to produce new men's and women's marathon national records ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Under the plan, any Japanese citizen, whether a registered corporate league athlete or not, who broke the men's national record of 2:06:16 or the women's record of 2:19:12 on a record-legal course would receive 100 million yen, roughly 760,000 Euro or $937,000 USD at today's exchange rate. The athlete's coach or team would also receive a separate 50 million yen (380,000 Euro or $468,000 USD) bonus for their role in having made the record happen. If more than one athlete broke the record in the same race, the other athletes breaking the record would receive 10 million y...

https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20170405-01802669-nksports-spo translated and edited by Brett Larner Will a man born in the marathon kingdom of Kenya be the one to save the sadly depleted Japanese marathon scene???  On April 4 Benjamin Ngandu (25, Team Fujitsu), well-rememberd for passing 12 people on the way to winning the Hakone Ekiden's ultracompetitive Second Stage his senior year at Nihon Univesity, revealed that he is exploring obtaining Japanese citizenship. Speaking about the 2020 Tokyo Olympics during an interview in Chiba on the occasion of his joining the Fujitsu corporate team, Ngandu, a longtime Japan resident, said, "I'm thinking about whether to run for Kenya or the Japanese team."  He plans to make a final decision by 2018.  If he chooses Japan he could become a totally outside-the-box catalyst that nobody could have foreseen for the revitalization of Japanese men's marathoning. Translator's note: With the Project Exceed million dol...

【マラソン】福士、初代表へ「リオ決定だべ」　両足激痛に「折れちまえ！」 https://t.co/ySnaPXJFF4 pic.twitter.com/5zrUkIyU3e — スポーツ報知 (@SportsHochi) January 31, 2016 http://www.sankei.com/west/news/160201/wst1602010035-n1.html translated by Brett Larner A day after winning the Jan. 31 Osaka International Women's Marathon in an outstanding time of 2:22:17 , Kayoko Fukushi (33, Team Wacoal) took part in a press conference at the New Otani Osaka Hotel.  "It was a long road, but it was good to deliver the results," she said with a wide smile.  "If the results are good, it's all good." Fukushi was too excited to sleep during the night.  "It must have been all the adrenaline," she laughed.  Her place on the Rio Olympics team is virutally certain, but Fukushi has to wait for the results of March's Nagoya Women's Marathon for it to be formalized.  "My next race will probably be in Rio," she said.  "I'll wait to see what the word is in March." As t...

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2015/03/30/kiji/K20150330010082020.html translated by Brett Larner The Japan Industrial Track and Field Association (JITA) national corporate federation held a press conference on Mar. 30 in Tokyo to announce the establishment of its "Project Exceed" marathon development project.  Targeting the ultimate goal of marathon medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, new Japanese marathon national record bonus and corporate league Japanese marathon national record attempt incentive policies were revealed at the press conference.  With the Japan Business Federation coming on board in a sponsorship capacity, the JITA is looking widely to recruit a broad spectrum of sponsors.  Project Exceed is expected to get off the ground with as much of the necessary funding as possible in place following the JITA's general assembly in July and to run until the end of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. A 100 million yen bonus [~$1 million USD at normal exchange rate...