japan running news

On a windier than usual race morning the 2023 Gold Coast Marathon was kind of a throwback to ancient pre-pandemic history, 2019 to be specific. In the women's race, 2019 winner Rodah Jepkorir Tanui was the last woman left standing after a CR-pace 1:12:19 first half, fading the least in the strong headwinds after the turnaround point near 36.5 km and coming to the line in 2:27:10, 46 seconds better than when she won last time. 2018 winner Ruth Chebitok lost touch with Tanui around 25 km but held on for 2nd in 2:28:17. In 3rd, Australian Genevieve Gregson moved up through the field after a more conservative 1:14:19 first half, executing her debut perfectly with a 5-second negative split to finish in 2:28:33. In her first race since 2019, two-time world champion and two-time winner of both the Chicago and Berlin marathons Florence Kiplagat was 6th in 2:36:29. "I wished only to finish," she told JRN. "This was a start to again have something to my name." Top Jap...

Australia's ASICS Half Marathon and Gold Coast Marathon are almost always big draws for elite-level Japanese runners, offering up better weather than to be found domestically this time of year, a faster course, and international racing experience without the jet lag. Saturday's half marathon has four Japanese women and three Japanese men on the entry list, plus a lot of familiar home-grown faces. Former U.S.A. marathon national record holder Keira D'Amato is the top name in the women's race with a best of 1:07:55. Australians Ellie Pashley and Isobel Batt-Doyle are regulars in Japan, Batt-Doyle having set her 1:09:27 PB at Marugame this year and Pashley having run her marathon best in Nagoya in 2019. D'Amato said at the pre-race press conference that she hopes to take a shot at the American record of 1:06:52, and Batt-Doyle said she would be giving it a PB effort. One step down from them in the 1:10-1:11 range are four Japanese women, Kaede Kawamura , Chiharu Ik...

For the third year in a row Ausralia's Gold Coast Marathon saw its women's course record fall, with this year's Barcelona Marathon winner Ruth Chebitok of Kenya taking down favorite Agnes Barsosio and local Jessica Trengove for the win in 2:24:49. Consistent and in control despite extremely high humidity, Chebitok kept the race moving just under 2:25 pace the entire way, at times talking to the male pacers to get them to stay on track. 1:12:15 at halfway in a trio with Barsosio and Trengove, Chebitok covered the back half in 1:12:37 for the win, the course record, and a new PB. Trengove, aiming to go under 2:28 to share in a $40,000 bonus offered by organizers for fast times by Australian athletes, was the first to drop off, but maintaining her speed well she overtook Barsosio almost as soon as the Kenyan faded. Holding on for a 30-second PB, Trengove finished in 2:26:31 to take 2nd and pick up the time bonus. Barsosio was 3rd in 2:27:46, holding off Japan's...

This weekend Australia's Gold Coast Marathon celebrates 40 years with a race that should see new course records in both the women's and men's races. On the women's side, favorite Agnes Barsosio of Kenya was quietly confident at the pre-race press conference, saying that she thought a time under last year's 2:25::34 course record was a probability and that a 2:23 wouldn't be surprising if the weather conditions were good enough. The forecast looks to be in her favor, so the main question will be how much support she can get from her strongest competition, fellow Kenyan Ruth Chebitok , local Jessica Trengove and the 2:27 Japanese duo of Ayaka Fujimoto and Miharu Shimokado . Chebitok's 2:25:49 best from earlier this year in Barcelona puts her in range if she can repeat the same quality of performance. Trengove has the motivation of a $40,000 bonus from organizers for a time under 2:28. Coached by former men's half marathon national record holder At...

For its 40th anniversary running Australia's Gold Coast Marathon has brought in a woman capable of giving the event a course record worthy of its gold label status, and maybe of taking a swing at the fastest marathon ever run on Australian soil, Naoko Takahashi 's 2:23:14 gold medal run at the Sydney Olympics. Runner-up at last year's Paris Marathon in 2:20:59, Kenyan Agnes Jeruto Barsosio is the class of the field, almost five minutes faster than her strongest competition, fellow Kenyan Ruth Chebitok . Despite a scarcity of results this year it's Barsosio's race to lose. That said, the long travel to Australia often takes a toll on the top competitors, leaving the top of the podium accessible to women in the 2:25-2:27 range. Along with Chebitok, Australia's Jessica Trengove and Japan's Ayaka Fujimoto (Kyocera) and Miharu Shimokado (Nitori) are positioned at exactly that level and should contend for top three at the worst. The 2015 Melbourne Maratho...