japan running news

by Brett Larner Sunrise over Japan's northeast coast, 1/1/14. Photo by Mika Tokairin. For the second year in a row Konica Minolta came out on top of the corporate men’s circuit, winning the 58th running of the seven-stage, 100 km New Year Ekiden national championships in Maebashi, Gunma by a margin of nearly a minute and a half over last year’s runner-up Toyota Kyushu and by more than three minutes over 2012 national champion and course record holder  Nissin Shokuhin . Things started slowly for Konica Minolta as 5000 m and 30 km national record holder Takayuki Matsumiya , winner of last year’s anchor stage, was only 15th on the 12.3 km opening leg and 17 seconds back from stage winner Tomoya Onishi (Team Asahi Kasei), who led start to finish except for brief challenge late in the stage by Ryo Kiname (Team Mitsubishi Juko Nagasaki). Kenyan ringer Paul Kuira craftily moved Konica Minolta up to 3rd behind leaders Edward Waweru (Team NTN) and Leonard Barsoton (Team Nis...

by Brett Larner In what appears to have been his final ekiden appearance, 5000 m and 30 km national record holder and former 30 km world record holder Takayuki Matsumiya  brought pre-race favorite Team Konica Minolta  home to its first New Year Ekiden title since 2008, winning the seven-stage, 100.0 km national corporate men's championship event in 4:51:32 by a margin of over a kilometer.  After a relatively slow start Konica Minolta took the lead on the race's longest stage, the 22.0 km Fourth Stage with a stage-second run by captain Tsuyoshi Ugachi , and with stage wins on the remaining three legs its lead was never threatened.   Samuel Wanjiru 's former team Toyota Kyushu  was an unexpected 2nd, its best-ever finish, thanks to three strong middle-stage runs including a Fourth Stage record by Masato Imai  and a superbly-timed kick by anchor Takuya Sakai  to win a seven-way sprint finish for the remaining podium spots behind Konica.  Runn...

http://kumanichi.com/fsports/marathon/2011/kiji/20120218002.shtml translated and edited by Brett Larner The 56th edition of the Kanaguri Memorial Kumanichi 30 km road race takes place at 9 a.m. on Feb. 19th in Kumamoto, Kyushu.  It's the race where the best future prospects of Japanese long distance running gather to get their first experience battling over the longer distances, one where countless Olympians and World Championships team members have run.  Two world records have been run at Kumanichi, but with a new course this year featuring 20 m hills the race has taken on a tougher, up-and-down character. Among the eight invited men and two invited women, the favorite is the leading candidate for Japan's 10000 m squad at the London Olympics, Tsuyoshi Ugachi  (Team Konica Minolta).  What kind of race will he deliver before he shifts his focus to track season?  His strong rival Takuya Ishikawa  (Team Chugoku Denryoku) has withdrawn with injury to his...

by Brett Larner American Jason Lehmkuhle in a sprint finish against Toyoyuki Abe meters before winning the 2011 Ome 30 km. Jason Lehmkuhle won a tight sprint finish over Team NTT Nishi Nihon's Toyoyuki Abe at the 2011 Ome 30 km Road Race to become the first American to win the prestigious race since Greg Meyer 's 1983 victory. Lehmkuhle was aggressive throughout the race, leading the field of over 15000 through the early kilometers and remaining at the head of the pack over the difficult ups and downs through the middle 20 km. The pack, initially nine-strong, whittled down to a core of five by halfway. With roughly 5 km to go Lehmkuhle surged, first dropping eventual 4th-placer Atsushi Ikawa (Team Otsuka Seiyaku), then frequent leader Ryotaro Nitta (Team Konica Minolta). Local boy Daisuke Shimizu (Team Kanebo) was the next to fall, leaving only Abe at Lehmkuhle's side. The pair rounded the final righthand corner together with Lehmkuhle on the inside, and in the last sp...

http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/general/news/20110206k0000e050020000c.html http://sankei.jp.msn.com/sports/news/110206/oth11020617280011-n1.htm http://www.47news.jp/CN/201102/CN2011020601000204.html http://sankei.jp.msn.com/sports/news/110206/oth11020617300012-n1.htm http://www.shikoku-np.co.jp/sports/local/article.aspx?id=20110206000201 translated and edited by Brett Larner Last year's National Corporate Half Marathon Championships winner Samuel Ndungu (Kenya/Team Aichi Seiko) won the 2011 Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon on Feb. 6, clocking a PB of 1:00:55. Tsuyoshi Ugachi (Team Konica Minolta), the 12th-placer at last year's World Half Marathon Championships, was 2nd in a PB of 1:00:58, the all-time 3rd-fastest Japanese mark. Course record holder Mekubo Mogusu (Kenya/Team Aidem) was 3rd after slowing dramatically in the final kilometer of the race. Times were fast overall as eight of the top ten recorded new PBs. Beijing Olympics marathoner Tsuyoshi Ogata (Tea...

2010 Hachioji Long Distance Meet Kamiyugi Koen Track, Hachioji, Tokyo, 11/24/10 click here for complete results Women's 5000 m 1. Betelhem Moges (Ethiopia/Team Denso) - 15:24.53 2. Kayo Sugihara (Team Denso) - 15:24.66 3. Hiromi Koga (Team Denso) - 15:50.45 4. Yuko Mizuguchi (Team Denso) - 15:52.70 5. Yuka Takashima (Team Denso) - 15:54.89 Men's 10000 m - Heat 5 1. Yusuke Takabayashi (Team Toyota) - 28:10.19 2. Samuel Kariuki (Kenya/Team Konica Minolta) - 28:16.85 3. Yoshinori Oda (Team Toyota) - 28:19.73 4. Chihiro Miyawaki (Team Toyota) - 28:29.40 5. Hiroyuki Yamamoto (Team Konica Minolta) - 28:34.54 Men's 10000 m - Heat 4 1. Shingo Mishima (Team Toyota) - 28:51.03 2. Takeshi Kumamoto (Team Toyota) - 29:13.80 3. Tsubasa Maeda (Team YKK) - 29:14.51 Men's 10000 m - Heat 3 1. Ryotaro Nitta (Team Konica Minolta) - 28:56.88 2. Takanobu Otsubo (Osaka City Hall AC) - 29:07.51 3. Noriyuki Nabetani (Osaka City Hall AC- 29:14.71 Men's 10000 m - Heat 2 1. Wataru Yamaguchi (T...