japan running news

by Brett Larner The southern hemisphere's only IAAF gold label race, Australia's Gold Coast Airport Marathon returns this weekend with solid fields in both the men's and races.  Nine men and four women come to the race with gold label credentials, times under 2:10 for men and 2:28 for women, within the last three years, and with good weather forecast for Sunday morning more than a few could replicate those times on Australian soil. The top 10 leading female contenders for this Sunday's #GCAM16 ! #thisisqueensland pic.twitter.com/NakKa6HDYy — Gold Coast Marathon (@GCMarathon) July 1, 2016 Japanese women have dominated Gold Coast in recent years, winning the last four years straight and sweeping the top five last year.  They'll have a tougher time of it this year.  Ethiopians Gulume Chala , last year's Frankfurt Marathon winner in 2:23:12, and Meseret Biru , last year's Paris Marathon winner in 2:23:26, lead the way, with Kenyan Leah Kiprono , win...

by Brett Larner Australia's Gold Coast Airport Marathon has released the men's and women's elite fields for this year's race on July 3.  Cementing its position as a significant IAAF gold label event, the race features nine men and five women with recent times under the gold label standards of 2:10 and 2:28.  Peter Some of Kenya leads the men's field with a 2:07:05 at the 2014 Tokyo Marathon and should give the 2:08:42 Australian all-comers' record set last year by returning champion Kenneth Mungara a scare.  Yuki Kawauchi is the top-ranked Japanese man with a 2:09:05 from the 2013 Fukuoka International Marathon, his domestic competition including corporate runner Chiharu Takada and Kawauchi's longtime rival and sometimes training partner Arata Fujiwara . The women's all-comers' record is Naoko Takahashi 's mighty 2:23:14 gold medal run from the 2000 Sydney Olympics.  Ethiopians Gulume Chala and Meseret Biru both have recent times under...

http://www.iaaf.org/news/report/ottawa-marathon-2015-mekuria-birhanu Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon Ottawa, Canada, 5/24/15 click here for complete results Women 1. Aberu Zennebe (Ethiopia) - 2:25:30 2. Rebecca Chesir (Kenya) - 2:25:41 3. Abebech Afework (Ethiopia) - 2:25:53 4. Agnes Kiprop (Kenya) - 2:26:12 5. Meselech Melkamu (Ethiopia) - 2:26:45 ----- 11. Rika Shintaku (Japan/Shimamura) - 2:33:34 DNF - Zivile Balciunaite (Lithuania) Men 1. Girmay Birhanu (Ethiopia) - 2:08:14 2. Philip Kangogo (Kenya) - 2:09:56 3. Chele Dechase (Ethiopia) - 2:09:59 4. Rachid Kisri (Morocco) - 2:10:18 5. Peter Kirui (Kenya) - 2:10:23 ----- DNF - Deriba Merga (Ethiopia)

by Brett Larner The Gold Coast Airport Marathon saw the expected surpassing of Rob de Castella 's 1982 Australian all-comers' record of 2:09:18 to commemorate its graduation to the rank of an IAAF gold label race, but despite having the course, the weather, the goal and the field it was close, and little else about the race went as expected. None of the pre-race favorites factored up front, 2:06 men Nicholas Manza (Kenya) and Gebretsadik Adihana (Ethiopia) dropping out and the hoped-for duel between defending champion Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) and London Olympian Arata Fujiwara (Miki House) never materializing after Fujiwara lost contact early in the second half with cramping. Instead, virtual unknown Silah Kipkemboi Limo (Kenya), debuting off a 1:01:26 half marathon best last year in Singapore, went to the front near 20 km with pacer Isaac Macharia (Kenya) and went it alone at 25 to shake off his Kenyan competition and front-running Japanese man Ch...

by Brett Larner photos by Mari Tanigawa With a shiny new IAAF gold label to its name, Sunday's Gold Coast Airport Marathon has put together fields worthy of its distinction as the only Australian race to have achieved the honor.  The 2:27:17 women's course record is a definite possibility, the men's 2:10:01 record all but a certainty with most of the top end of the field talking about times that would put them under Rob de Castella 's prehistoric 2:09:18 Australian all-comers' record dating back to 1982.  The race will be streamed live worldwide starting at 5:45 a.m. local time with the gun going off at 7:20, giving fans worldwide the chance to catch a potential piece of history.  For the first time, JRN will be part of the broadcast alongside hosts Ian Eckersley and Steve Moneghetti to help cover the stellar Japanese component of the elite field. The withdrawal of #1-seeded Mulu Seboka (Ethiopia) means Naoko Takahashi 's 2:23:14 Australian all-comers...

by Brett Larner For its first edition as an IAAF gold label race, the July 6 Gold Coast Airport Marathon has put together men's and women's elite fields worthy of the distinction, and especially in the men's race with the multiple story lines that make a good race worth watching.  Three 2:06 men, Gebretsadik Abraha Adihana (Ethiopia), Stephen Tum (Kenya) and course record holder Nicholas Manza Kamakya (Kenya) lead the way.  Facing them is defending champion and joint CR-holder Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't).  In the race to ruin the day for Kawauchi are his arch-rival independent Arata Fujiwara (Mika House) and new training partner Cyrus Njui (Kenya/Arata Project), appearing with support from JRN.  Gunning for both Kawauchi and Fujiwara is the pride of the corporate leagues, Hirokatsu Kurosaki of two-time New Year Ekiden national corporate champion Team Konica Minolta . What more could you want?  The 2:10:01 course record?  Done.  Rob ...

by Brett Larner The organizers of the Apr. 20  Nagano Marathon  released the names of this year's elite field on Apr. 1.  2010 Nagano winner  Nicholas Chelimo  (Kenya), 2013 Hofu Yomiuri Marathon champion  Serod Batochir  (Mongolia/Team NTN) and 2012 Nagano runner-up Silas Sang  (Kenya) lead the international field, while 2008 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon winner Tomoya Adachi  (Team Asahi Kasei) headlines the Japanese men's field with a best of 2:10:22. The semi-retired Kiyoko Shimahara  (Second Wind AC) and Mika Okunaga (Yufuin Hammock AC) have the fastest bests in the women's field followed by 2:29 Kenyan Hellen Koskei , but with a 2:31:15 best for 8th at this year's Tokyo Marathon  Rika Shintaku (Team Shimamura) may be the favorite for the win.  Look also for a challenge from Shoko Shimizu  (Team Aichi Denki), 4th at last month's Wanjinshi New Taipei City Marathon. 16th Nagano Marathon Elite Field Nagano, ...

by Brett Larner You couldn't ask for much better conditions than the Tokyo Marathon had today, and when you have fields with eight to eleven athletes with best times faster than your course records, those records are bound to fall.   Dickson Chumba  (Kenya) and Tirfi Tsegaye (Ethiopia) came through to beat the favorites, Chumba running a PB 2:05:42 to get the Tokyo men's course record and Tsegaye cutting more than three minutes off the women's record with the win in 2:22:23.  For Japanese men it was either the second or third-greatest marathon in history depending on your metric, five of them clearing 2:10, four for the first time, led by Kohei Matsumura  (Team Mitsubishi Juko Nagasaki) in 2:08:09. Daegu World Championships marathoner Mai Ito  (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) led the women's race through a relatively conservative first 10 km in 34:18 before the pace began to quicken.  Still in the lead at 20 km, she split 33:47 for the second 10 km before g...

by Brett Larner Just a week after running one of the fastest 10000 m of the year, 2008 World XC Jr. Champion Ibrahim Jeilan (Ethiopia/Team Honda) ran a solid 13:21.29 to win the men's 5000 m A-heat at the Saitama Prefecture Time Trials on Oct. 2. It was a completely solo performance as second-placer Makoto Iwase (SDF Academy) was over a minute behind in 14:23.73. Despite neither being a PB, Jeilan's two solid efforts show he is adapting to life and training in Japan and will be a major factor in the upcoming jitsugyodan ekiden season. In other results from the meet, Atsushi Yamazaki (Team Subaru) led three under 29 minutes in the men's 10000 m A-heat, while Josai University runners Hiromi Katakai and Miki Yamada went 1-2 in the women's 5000 m A-heat. 2010 Saitama Prefecture Time Trials click here for complete results Men's 10000 m A-Heat 1. Atsushi Yamazaki (Team Subaru) - 28:52.06 2. Keita Baba (Team Honda) - 28:55.16 3. Hiroaki Sano (Team Honda) - 28:57.75 Me...