japan running news

by Brett Larner This Sunday's 19th National Men's Ekiden in Hiroshima brings Japan's 2013-2014 national championship ekiden to a close with one of the most entertaining races of them all. Teams from each of Japan's 47 prefectures made up of junior high school, high school, university and pro runners race over 7 stages and 48 km, one of the few chances of the year to see the best of the corporate league's New Year Ekiden men duel with the university circuit's Hakone Ekiden stars and often the first glimpse of upcoming stars running young.  It's all broadcast live nationwide and commercial-free on NHK starting at 12:30 p.m.  As usual, JRN will cover the race live on Twitter @JRNLive . This year university runners seem to outweigh the pros, with many of the Hakone stage winners and upper-echelon men taking the top positions on a number of teams.  That may in part be due to this year's World Half Marathon Championships being held in March and the Nati...

http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo&k=2014011500595 translated and edited by Brett Larner On Jan. 15 the organizers of the 63rd Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon on Feb. 2 announced the names of this year's elite field.  On the domestic men's list are the fastest Japanese marathoner of 2013, Kazuhiro Maeda  (Team Kyudenko), 2013 New York City Marathon 6th-place finisher Masato Imai  (Team Toyota Kyushu) and Kenichi Shiraishi  (Team Asahi Kasei), winner of last weekend's Oita City Half Marathon.  Their top foreign competition comes from 2013 Hofu Yomiuri Marathon winner and 2012 Beppu-Oita runner-up Ser-Od Bat-Ochir  (Mongolia) and 2:07:37 Kenyan Jason Mbote . 63rd Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon Elite Field Oita, 2/2/14 click here for complete field listing Men Daniel Njenga (Kenya/Team Yakult) - 2:06:16 (Chicago 2002) Jason Mbote (Kenya) - 2:07:37 (Seoul 2008) Kazuhiro Maeda (Team Kyudenko) - 2:08:00 (Tokyo 2013) Ser-Od Bat-Ochir (Mongolia) - 2:09:00...

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 Saturday's 2013 edition of the International Chiba Ekiden tops this weekend's list of international long distance action, with thirteen mixed men's and women's teams from around the world competing over Chiba's six stage, 42,195 km course.  Two-time defending champion Kenya  returns with a team led by 2010 and 2013 World XC women's gold medalist Emily Chebet Muge  and 2010 World XC men's gold medalist Joseph Ebuya .   Japan  provides the toughest competition, with a team including all three men from the Moscow World Championships 10000 m, Suguru Osako  (Waseda Univ.), Yuki Sato  (Team Nissin Shokuhin) and Tsuyoshi Ugachi  (Team Konica Minolta) along with their Moscow women's 5000 m teammate Misaki Onishi  (Team Sekisui Kagaku).  2012's 3rd-placer U.S.A.  returns a quality squad of domestic talent but should again face tough challenges for the podium from the team it beat to get there last year, Russia , the 2008...

http://www.nishinippon.co.jp/nsp/ekiden/2013/all/kiji/20131103/20131103_0004.shtml translated and edited by Brett Larner results coming shortly The eighth, final and sweetest of the eight days making up the 62nd running of the Grand Tour Kyushu ekiden took place Nov. 3, the day's six stages spanning 83.8 km from the Yuhata Nishi Ward Offices in Kita-Kyushu to the Nishi Nippon Newspaper building in Fukuoka.  The hometown Fukuoka team won the day, its third individual day win of the tour, to make up a 3:42 deficit at the end of the seventh day and overtake Miyazaki for its second-straight overall win by a margin of just 2 1/2 minutes over the full 739.9 km distance, the 26th overall title in its history.  It was a perfect ending to bring the Grand Tour Kyushu's long and celebrated history to a close. Fukuoka trailed Miyazaki through the Fourth Stage until Fifth Stage man Shuji Yoshikawa (Team Kyudenko) moved into first.  Fukuoka's anchor, Moscow World Championships...

http://www.nishinippon.co.jp/nsp/ekiden/2013/all/kiji/20131101/20131101_0004.shtml translated and edited by Brett Larner Running on home ground on Nov. 1 the Miyazaki Prefecture team won the sixth day of the 62nd running of the Grand Tour Kyushu ekiden.  Showing the hometown crowd its fire, Miyazaki lead over the six legs and 86.7 km from the Miyazaki Prefectural Government building to Nobeoka City Hall to claim its third individual day win so far in the eight-day ekiden.  Fukuoka Prefecture was close behind in 2nd, with Nagasaki Prefecture a distant 3rd. Aiming to return to the top for the overall win in the Grand Tour Kyuhsu's final running, Miyazaki overtook Fukuoka early in the day to take over the top position.  Miyazaki runners won the first five of the day's stages, building a commanding lead of over seven minutes by the start of the Sixth Stage.  After his teammates struggled throughout the day, Fukuoka anchor Ryuji Watanabe  (Team Toyota Kyushu) ...

by Brett Larner Two weeks after finishing 4th and 6th in 1:02:44 and 1:02:58 at the Great North Run half marathon, London Olympian Arata Fujiwara  (Miki House) and the Koichi Morishita -coached Ryuji Watanabe  (Team Toyota Kyushu) scored wins on the roads at opposite ends of Japan. Running at Hokkaido's Hakodate Half Marathon  against a strong domestic field including perennial rival Yuki Kawauchi  (Saitama Pref. Gov't) who was 8th at the Great North Run, Fujiwara bided his time in hot conditions before attacking 2008 World Half Marathon 5th-placer  Yusei Nakao  and Taiga Ito  of Suzuki Hamamatsu AC with 1.5 km to go and taking the win in 1:04:19.  "It was quite hot out there, so it ended up being a slow day," Fujiwara told JRN post-race.  After not having raced domestically since last December, though, he added, "Everyone made it a great race and I'm really happy to have gotten the win."  It was only the third road race vi...

by Brett Larner The 2013 Great North Run lived up to expectations with thrilling races up front on both the men's and women's sides.  Battling strong crosswinds through the first half of the race and benefitting from an equally strong tailwind through the middle stages, 5000 m and 10000 m world record holder Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia) made a successful transition to longer distances with a 1:00:09 win by one second over favorite Mo Farah  (Great Britain) and the great Haile Gebrselassie  (Ethiopia) who took nearly two minutes off the existing 40+ world record in 1:00:41, while London Marathon winner Priscah Jeptoo  (Kenya) mopped the soaking wet roads with Moscow World Championships 5000 m and 10000 m gold medalists Meseret Defar  (Ethiopia) and Tirunesh Dibaba  (Ethiopia) to win in a smoking 1:05:45.  The JRN-supported Japanese contingent brought its A-game, six of the seven of them making the top eight led by Arata Fujiwara  (Miki House) w...

by Brett Larner Scratches from the upper end of the entry lists for tomorrow's Great North Run include Koen Raymaekers  (Netherlands) and Andy Vernon  (Great Britain) in the men's race and #1-ranked Brit Gemma Steel , Irene Jerotich  (Kenya), Jen Rhines  (U.S.A.), Laura Whittle  (Great Britain) and Abigail Bayley  (Great Britain) in the women's race. 2013 Great North Run Start List Highlights Newcastle-South Shields, U.K., 9/15/13 Men Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia) - debut Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) - 58:55 (Phoenix, 2006) Mo Farah (Great Britain) - 1:00:22 (New York 2011) Collis Birmingham (Australia) - 1:00:56 (Marugame 2013) Daniele Meucci (Italy) - 1:01:06 (New York 2013) Arata Fujiwara (Japan/Miki House) - 1:01:34 (Marugame 2012) Tomohiro Tanigawa (Japan/Team Konica Minolta) - 1:02:17 (Marugame 2013) Yuki Kawauchi (Japan/Saitama Pref. Gov't) - 1:02:18 (Marugame 2012) Jonathan Mellor (Great Britain) - 1:02:59 (New York 2012) Ryota Mat...

by Brett Larner Sunday's Great North Run  features men's and women's races bound to go down in history, with the winners of the last five Olympic 10000 m gold medals, Kenenisa Bekele  (Ethiopia), Mo Farah  (Great Britain) and now-veteran Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) slated to go head-to-head in the men's race and London Olympics marathon silver medalist Priscah Jeptoo  (Kenya) going after Moscow World Championships 5000 m and 10000 m gold medalists Meseret Defar  (Ethiopia) and Tirunesh Dibaba (Ethiopia).  Even though there may be doubts as to whether Bekele will really start what would be his half marathon debut, what more could you ask for? But beyond the big stars both races feature deep quality fields.  The men's race features 2013 Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon winner Collis Birmingham (Australia), top Europeans Daniele Meucci  (Italy) and Koen Raymaekers  (Netherlands), and five Japanese men appearing with support...

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/great-north-run-citizen-runner-5817853 Along with Kawauchi, London Olympian Arata Fujiwara  (Miki House) will run his first race of 2013 at the Great North Run after recovering from a long injury following December's Fukuoka International Marathon.  Among the other Japanese men competing at the Great North Run,  Ryuji Watanabe  (Team Toyota Kyushu) and Tomohiro Tanigawa  (Team Konica Minolta) both beat Kawauchi at July's Shibetsu Half Marathon, making for an interesting race-inside-a-race.   Ryota Matoba  (Team Komori Corp.) and female athletes Ayaka Hitomi  (Team Shimamura) and Misaki Kato  (Team Kyudenko) round out the Japanese contingent appearing at the Great North Run with support from JRN.

http://kumanichi.com/lsports/kiji/20121128001.shtml translated by Brett Larner The 37th Kumamoto Kosa 10-Miler takes place this Sunday, Dec. 2.  In the main race of the day, the Japanese-only open division, there is no shortage of exciting competition on tap with top corporate and university runners squaring off over 10 miles (16.093 km). 133 Japanese men make up the open division.  Among the major contenders for the victory are 2010 winner Ryuji Watanabe  (Team Toyota Kyushu) fresh from winning three stages at the Grand Tour Kyushu ekiden, and this year's 5000 m national champion Kazuya Deguchi  (Team Asahi Kasei).  Invited athletes  Kazuharu Takai  (Team Kyudenko), Tomohiro Shiiya  (Team Toyota Boshoku) and Yusuke Hasegawa  (Team S&B) are also likely to be caught up in the action. Noteworthy locals include defending champion Yuki Iwai  (Team Asahi Kasei), 2:08:38 marathoner Kazuhiro Maeda  (Team Kyudenko), 2012...

by Brett Larner With a commanding lead after six days of racing, the Fukuoka Prefecture  team came into the final two days of the eight-day, fifty-stage, 732.3 km Grand Tour Kyushu 2012 with little doubt of the outcome but no lack of effort.  Preceded by three Fukuoka stage wins on the seventh day's first seven stages, anchor Kentaro Nakamoto , 6th place in the London Olympics men's marathon, won the second of his two 2012 Tour runs, blasting a 52:47 course record for the 17.9 km Eighth Stage.   Nagasaki Prefecture  anchor Yuki Mori  was also under the old record, but Nakamoto's run was so dominating that he was a full 29 seconds faster than Mori.  Nagasaki, 3rd overall on total time, won two stages to finish the day just over a minute behind leader Fukuoka and almost 9 minutes ahead of overall 2nd-place Miyazaki Prefecture , whose lone stage win of the day came courtesy of veteran marathoner Tomoyuki Sato  on the 18.0 km Fourth Stage. Miyazaki st...

by Brett Larner Having been runner-up in the Fukuoka Prefecture Road Race Championships 10-miler twice, the popular Masato Imai (Team Toyota Kyushu) finally took the win in the 2012 edition, Sept. 30 in Omuta, Fukuoka. Despite tough conditions at the tail end of the passing typhoon that stuck Japan over the weekend, Imai outpaced teammates Ryuji Watanabe and Yuki Oshikawa over the latter stages of the race to win in 47:53, the second-fastest known time in the Championships' 66-year history behind only Beijing Olympics marathon gold medalist Samuel Wanjiru 's 46:18 course record from 2005 and the first Japanese man to break 48 minutes on the challenging Omuta course since 2003. As his best performance since his 2:10:32 PB at last year's Fukuoka International Marathon, Imai's run bodes well for the upcoming season and his bid to make the Moscow World Championships marathon team after missing out on London. 66th Fukuoka Prefecture Road Race Championships Omuta, F...

by Brett Larner Team Asahi Kasei  dominated the final regional qualifier for the New Year Ekiden men's national corporate ekiden championships, leading wire-to-wire to set a course record of 3:50:53 at the seven-stage, 78.8 km Nov. 23 Kyushu Corporate Ekiden Championships.  Asahi Kasei runners won the first four stages, with Daegu World Championships marathon 7th-place finisher Hiroyuki Horibata  outrunning Team Toyota Kyushu  ace Masato Imai  to take the 12.2 km Fourth Stage in 34:38.  Fifth Stage Asahi Kasei runner Takehiro Arakawa  was beaten on time by Africans Paul Tanui  (Team Kyudenko) and Alemu Desta  (Team Yasukawa Denki) but had a big enough lead that he was in no danger of being run down.  Asahi Kasei's sixth runner Kenichi Shirashi  ran a stage best to further widen the team's lead, with anchor Yuki Iwai  bringing the team in for the course record win and a place at the New Year Ekiden.  With several of its b...

by Brett Larner Junior 10-mile world record holder Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) became the first man to break the 45 minute barrier three times at the Dec. 5 Kumamoto Kosa 10-Miler, taking his fifth win with a time of 44:59. His nearest competitor, John Thuo (Kenya/Team Toyota) was a fair way back in 45:47. Among Japanese competitors, who have a separate start from foreign runners, Ryuji Watanabe (Team Toyota Kyushu) was the top finisher in 47:21, the promised field of top-ranked young elites being entirely absent. All told 37 men broke 49 minutes. 2010 Kumamoto Kosa 10-Mile Road Race click here for complete results International Men's 10-Miler 1. Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 44:59 2. John Thuo (Kenya/Team Toyota) - 45:47 3. Micah Njeru (Kenya/Team Toyota Boshoku) - 46:45 4. Alex Mwangi (Kenya/Team YKK) - 47:48 Japanese Men's 10-Miler 1. Ryuji Watanabe (Team Toyota Kyushu) - 47:21 2. Daisuke Matsufuji (Team Kanebo) - 47:37 3. Yuya Konishi (Tea...

by Brett Larner With the top Japanese men's 10000 m and half marathon times of the year and a 9th-place finish at the World Half Marathon Championships under his belt within the last month, Miyazaki Prefecture's Tomoya Onishi , 23, delivered another big run with a 43:55 stage record for the 15.3 km Fourth Stage on Day Three of the 2010 Kyushu One-Circuit Ekiden , Oct. 31 on Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu. Onishi's time broke the existing stage record by 1:12, 5 seconds per km, and was equivalent to a solid 46:11 10-miler. Stage runner-up Ryuji Watanabe of Fukuoka Prefecture also broke the old Fourth Stage record with a 44:16 clocking. As with the first two days of the ten-day Kyushu One-Circuit Ekiden, the Miyazaki Prefecture team dominated the early stages of Day Three. A weak run from Third Stage runner Noritaka Yokoyama put Miyazaki 59 seconds behind rivals Fukuoka prefecture at the start of the Fourth Stage, and the team spent the next four stage edgin...

by Brett Larner After a string of runner-up placings, Team Toyota Kyushu ace Yu Mitsuya took his second win Oct. 3 at the Omuta Road Race 10 Miler , site of the annual Fukuoka Prefectural Road Championships. Mitsuya easily handled the competition, runner-up Shuji Yoshikawa (Team Kyudenko) finishing 16 seconds back. Defending champion Kentaro Nakamoto (Team Yasukawa Denki) was only 10th in 49:04. In the women's 5 km, Kenyan Sally Chepyego (Team Kyudenko) outkicked Fukuoka University's Rina Hidaki for the win in a modest 16:23. Local boy Atsushi Yamasaki (Omuta H.S.) took the high school boys' 10 km in 32:59. 2010 Fukuoka Prefectural Road Championships Omuta, Fukuoka, 10/3/2010 click here for complete results Men's 10 Miler 1. Yu Mitsuya (Team Toyota Kyushu) - 48:23 2. Shuji Yoshikawa (Team Kyudenko) - 48:39 3. Ryuji Watanabe (Team Toyota Kyushu) - 48:42 4. Teruo Taneno (Team Yasukawa Denki) - 48:48 5. Hayato Ideue (Team Toyota Kyushu) - 48:48 6. Yuki Oshikawa (Tea...