japan running news

The Tokyo Marathon delivered on quality and exciting races, if not the record-breaking depth its entry lists promised. Swiss power duo Manuela Schar and Marcel Hug broke the course records in the wheelchair races, Schar soloing a 1:36:43 CR to win the women's race by more than 6 minutes over Japanese NR holder Tsubasa Kina . Hug worked together with Japanese men's NR holder Tomoki Suzuki for the first 25 km before hammering on the bridge over the Sumida River just before 30 km to put him away. Hug opened more than 3 1/2 minutes on Suzuki from there to the finish, winning in a new CR of 1:20:57. Based in Japan since 2010, first at Aomori Yamada H.S. and then at the Starts corporate team, Rosemary Wanjiru came to the Tokyo Marathon women's race ranked #2 in the field after a 2:18:00 debut for 2nd in Berlin last fall. Running a lead quartet with Ethiopians Tsehay Gemechu , Worknesh Edesa and last year's runner-up Ashete Bekere , Wanjiru was calm and relaxed until th...

The 2020 Queens Ekiden , the season-ending national championships race for Japan's corporate women, was about as good an example as you could ask for of why it takes an entire team to win a top-level ekiden, not just a couple of star runners. Princess Ekiden qualifying race winner Sekisui Kagaku hoped that the addition of middle distance national champion Ran Urabe and half marathon national record holder Hitomi Niiya to its roster would be enough to knock out defending champ Japan Post and take its first-ever national title. Over the first half of the six-stage, 42.195 km race things went according to plan, leading runner Sayaka Sato putting Sekisui Kagaku in 3rd, Urabe moving them up to 2nd, and Niiya delivering a 33:20 course record for the 10.9 km Third Stage, splitting 30:31 for 10 km en route, taking 1:10 off the CR and putting Sekisui 55 seconds out front. Japan Post stayed steady after losing the leading position that its first runner Ririka Hironaka had given it, st...

by Brett Larner Despite windy conditions on the hilly seaside course Kenyan Eliud Kiplagat Bargnetuny celebrated the New Taipei City Wanjinshi Marathon's first edition as an IAAF bronze label by taking more than 4 minutes off the year-old course record to win in 2:13:14, with countrywoman Gladys Kipsoi winning a leisurely women's race just under 2:40. After a slow start over the uphill first 5 km, Kenyans Josphat Chobei and Hosea Kosgei took off on low-2:14 pace, breaking up the large lead pack in the process.  Barngetuny and the race's other Kenyan entrant Samuel Kayla caught up by halfway to make it a four-man lead group in 1:06:00.  The group stayed together to fight headwinds over the second half before Barngetuny broke free on the downhills near the end of the race to take the win.  Chobei was next in 2:15:51, also more than a minute under the old course record.  Kalya was the only other athlete to break 2:20, taking 3rd in 2:18:30 as Kosgei faded to ...

by Brett Larner Sendai Ikuei H.S. graduate Ruth Wanjiru (Kenya) and 2:06:46 man Eshetu Wendimu (Ethiopia) headline the international field at Sunday's New Taipei City Wanjinshi Marathon , where with good weather in the forecast the 2:17:17 and 2:34:52 course records are bound to fall.  Special guests in attendance to celebrate Wanjinshi's first edition as an IAAF bronze label race, the first label race in Taiwan, include include former pole vault world record holder and IAAF vice president Sergey Bubka . Wanjiru at the pre-race press conference. Wanjiru leads the small women's field of seven, the only woman there to have broken 2:30 in her career with a 2:27:38 at the 2009 Osaka International Women's Marathon.  In the absence of last year's winner Ji Hyang Kim (North Korea), Wanjiru's main competition look to be her countrywoman Rose Kosgei (Kenya) and Aregu Lechisa Awaki (Ethiopia). Miyata and Bubka. His 2:06:46 in Dubai in 2010 makes Wen...

http://www.plus-blog.sportsnavi.com/kmanabu/article/167 by Manabu Kawagoe, head coach, Second Wind AC translated by Brett Larner Kaori Yoshida racing in Albuquerque, NM. Photo by John Schrup. Kaori Yoshida, a member of Second Wind AC since its founding in April, 2007, has left the club following her appearance as a guest runner at the Mar. 15 Kusunoki Marathon. I would like to thank her from my heart for the help she has given SWAC over the last two years and for her competitiveness and dedication in her own running. Yoshida has taken a position with Amino Vital AC and, while working with that club, hopes to continue on as one of the top distance running women. We're all looking forward to seeing the new Kaori Yoshida! While we're sad that Yoshida has resigned from the club, Second Wind is still looking forward toward our future goals. We remain an organization dedicated both to supporting world-class athletes capable of reaching the Olympics, World Championships, and other m...

by Brett Larner Click here for an extensive set of photos from the ekiden and after-party courtesy of NTV. To the surprise of none, a crack Japanese national team made up of most of the country's best current distance runners easily dispatched six foreign and seven regional domestic teams to win the final edition of the Yokohama International Women's Ekiden on Feb. 22. Among the foreign teams, on paper only the Kenyan and Russia squads stood a chance of competing with the hosts' loaded national team, which covered the six-stage, 42.195 km course in 2:15:05 to take its 10th win in the ekiden's history. Kenya was a distant 2nd in 2:16:58, while Russia fell victim to two of the regional Japanese teams, finishing 5th in 2:19:20. The Japanese national team's three big guns, Yuriko Kobayashi (Team Toyota Jidoshokki), Yuri Kano (Second Wind AC) and Yoko Shibui (Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) all took stage best titles, while Japan's other three runners were all 2nd on t...

JRN co-editor Mika Tokairin ran the 2009 Osaka International Women's Marathon. Below are some photos and videos she shot on race day. A 360' shot inside the stadium before the start. Yoko Shibui and the other top eight finishers at the award ceremony. The award ceremony continued. Shibui with the award ceremony MCs. Shibui, Akaba, Hara, Ohira, Simon, Okunaga and Wanjiru at the post-race party.

by Brett Larner Yoko Shibui celebrates her first marathon win in over four years. Yoko Shibui said she was going to run Osaka like an adult and she kept to her words. After running her last two marathons with 1:10-1:11 first halves only to fall apart each time, Shibui (Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) sat in the pack for nearly 30 km before going on the offense to take the win in the 2009 Osaka International Women's Marathon , her third victory in eleven attempts. Enduring a 1:13:01 first half, Shibui ran 16:11 between 30 and 35 km and clocked splits as fast as 3:08/km in the final quarter of the race, running a 1:10:41 second half while laughing to supporters along the course to finish in 2:23:42. Shibui covered her final 2.195 km in 7:02; at last month's elite men's Fukuoka International Marathon only winner Tsegaye Kebede (Ethiopia) ran a faster finish, 6:25, as second-fastest finishing man Arata Fujiwara (Team JR Higashi Nihon) clocked 7:03. Shibui's first win at the 200...

http://iaaf.org/news/kind=100/newsid=48966.html Scroll to the bottom of the above article for Ken Nakamura's brief report. Along with Nakamura's comments a few things are worth pointing out. -Team Toyota Jidoshokki's Yuriko Kobayashi broke Yoko Shibui's 7-year old 1st stage record by 7 seconds, clocking 12:59 for the 4.2 km leg. Kobayashi is banned from regular jitsugyodan races due to her status as both a student and professional, so it was a rare moment to see her in an ekiden with Toyota Jidoshokki. -Toyota Jidoshokki anchor Hitomi Niiya, the 2007 Tokyo Marathon winner, followed up her stage-best anchor run at last week's National Interprefectural Women's Ekiden with another stage-best anchor performance, beating Beijing Olympic marathoner Yurika Nakamura (Team Tenmaya) and 2008 Tokyo International Women's Marathon runner-up Yuri Kano (Second Wind AC) among others. -Team Shiseido defectors Second Wind AC made an extremely rare ekiden appearance, fielding ...

http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/general/news/20090107k0000m050022000c.html http://www.47news.jp/CN/200901/CN2009010601000557.html translated and edited by Brett Larner On Jan. 6, 20 year old Maki Suzawa (Team Kyocera) won the 29th Yamazaki Women's Road Race half marathon, breaking her PB by 1:07 to take her first victory in 1:11:22. 46 elite women ran the course from the Prefectural Office building in Miyazaki city along Kusunamiki Street to the Miyazaki Prefectural Sports Park . With 200 m to go Suzawa broke from the lead pack of four to win a sprint finish. Madoka Ogi (Team Juhachi Ginko) and Ruth Wanjiru (Second Wind AC), both in training for the Jan. 25 Osaka International Women's Marathon, were 2nd and 3rd, with Hiroko Miyauchi (Team Oki) coming in 4th. Yukari Soh, daughter of marathon great Takeshi Soh, who now coaches her at Team Asahi Kasei, was 10th in her half marathon debut. Temperatures at the start were 15 degrees with 43% humidity and northerly winds at 0.7 m/s. 20...

http://www.plus-blog.sportsnavi.com/kmanabu/article/133 translated and edited by Brett Larner Team Kyudenko's Pauline Kiragu Wanguru won a five-way sprint finish at the 2008 Sanyo Women's Road Race half marathon to win in a PB of 1:10:54. A hilly course, cold temperatures and strong winds in the second half made for an overall tactical race. Five runners remained together with 400 m to go, meaning the race would go to the strongest kicker. Wanguru pulled ahead by a step to beat Team Sysmex's Megumi Seike, who came fresh from winning the Nov. 30 Shanghai Half Marathon, and Second Wind AC newcomer Ruth Wanjiru. Team Tenmaya's Yuka Izumi was 4th in a PB of 1:10:58, with Wanjiru's teammate Akemi Ozaki a short distance behind in 5th. Second Wind AC head coach Manabu Kawagoe commented that the race was excellent preparation for Ozaki and Wanjiru's planned run in next month's Osaka International Women's Marathon, but that Ozaki was feeling in top condition and ...