japan running news

#1-ranked Kaleab Ghilagabr became the first Eritrean winner in the Osaka Marathon 's short seven-year history, leading 29,359 finishers across the line Sunday in a PB 2:12:03, while club runner Yumiko Kinoshita (SWAC) had to run a minute-plus PB 2:34:38 to win an exciting battle between Japan's six best amateur women by 1 second. Ghilagabr set off accompanied by unsponsored amateur Hideyuki Ikegami , an unusual independent who got attention by beating Yuki Kawauchi in a half marathon in 2014 and went on to be mentored by 2:07:48 Olympian Arata Fujiwara . In April this year Ikegami made his marathon debut at the Hannover Marathon but finished in a disappointing 2:30:15 that didn't reflect the quality suggested by his 1:03:09 half best and 1:31:53 PB for 30 km.  The pair ran 2:10:30 pace through 15 km, PB pace for both, before Ikegami began to slip. Ghilagabr pushed on alone, holding on to 2:10 pace until well into the second half before beginning to slow. Ikeg...

One of the world's ten biggest marathons, in its six runnings to date the Osaka Marathon has continued to avoid the addition of a world-class elite field of the same caliber as at equivalently-sized races like Tokyo, Berlin and Boston. In place of doling out cash to pros, Osaka's women's field has developed into a sort of national championship race for amateur women. In the field this year are six, probably all six, of the amateur Japan women to have broken 2:40 in the last three years. Last year's top three, Yoshiko Sakamoto (F.O.R.), Yumiko Kinoshita (SWAC) and Hisae Yoshimatsu (Shunan City Hall) lead the way at the 2:36 +/- level, with a second trio of Marie Imada (Iwatani Sangyo), Mitsuko Ino (R2 Nishin Nihon) and Chika Tawara (RxL) all around the 2:39 level. Last year's winner Sakamoto and 3rd placer Yoshimatsu squared off in September at Germany's Volksbank Muenster Marathon , Yoshimatsu tying Sakamoto's Osaka winning time of 2:36:02 to tak...

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20160104-00000008-mai-spo translated and edited by Brett Larner Having overcome serious illness, one runner has made a comeback to the top levels of the corporate leagues after almost three years away.  On Jan. 1 32-year-old Satoru Kasuya (Team Toyota Boshoku) ran the New Year Ekiden national corporate men's championships having survived a diagnosis of malignant lymphoma blood cancer two and a half years ago.  At the New Year Ekiden he ran strongly on its longest stage, the 22.0 km Fourth Stage against other teams' best runners, saying, "I want people to know that you can still come back even after suffering a disease as serious as this." At Komazawa University Kasuya ran the Hakone Ekiden during his 2nd through 4th years in 2003-05.  In 2006 he joined the Toyota Boshoku team where he excelled as a star athlete.  But in June, 2013, he said, "Something starting to feel wrong, like the way you feel when you run when you ha...

by Brett Larner Wilson Kipsang wins in a CR 2:06:13. Click here for video highlights courtesy of NHK. Like last weekend's Tokyo Marathon, the 2011 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon , Biwako for short, was blessed with excellent conditions. The final domestic selection race for this summer's World Championships, Biwako played out as largely according to script as Kenyan Wilson Kipsang broke aggressive Ethiopian rival Deriba Merga over the final kilometers to win in a world-leading course-record 2:06:13, while a young Japanese marathoner, 24 year-old Hiroyuki Horibata (Team Asahi Kasei), stepped up with a PB of nearly 2 1/2 minutes to crack the 2:09:30 time requirement for a guaranteed spot on the Worlds team, finishing 3rd in 2:09:25. Despite none of them having a PB under 2:11 versus all six invited foreign elites having PBs under 2:09, the top contingent of Japanese athletes brought A-game, taking seven of the top ten spots, four under 2:11, five with PBs, one in a debut, and ...

2010 Nagoya Half Marathon Nagoya, 11/23/10 - final running click here for complete results Men 1. Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 1:00:29 2. Jacob Wanjuki (Kenya/Team Aichi Steel) - 1:00:32 - PB 3. Mekubo Mogusu (Kenya/Team Aidem) - 1:01:12 4. Satoru Kasuya (Team Toyota Boshoku) - 1:03:50 5. Munehiro Sugaya (Team Toyota) - 1:04:05 Women 1. Noriko Matsuoka (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 1:11:13 - PB 2. Hiromi Ominami (Utic AC) - 1:14:50

2010 Nagoya Half Marathon Elite Athlete Field final running - 11/23/10 click here for complete listing Men Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 59:48 Mekubo Mogusu (Kenya/Team Aidem) - 59:48 Gideon Ngatuny (Kenya/Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 59:50 Jacob Wanjuki (Kenya/Team Aichi Seiko) - 1:01:07 Samuel Ndungu (Kenya/Team Aichi Seiko) - 1:01:17 Munehiro Sugaya (Team Toyota) - 1:02:22 Yoshiki Otsuka (Team Aichi Seiko) - 1:03:29 Hiroaki Inoue (Team Toenec) - 1:03:32 Satoru Kasuya (Team Toyota Boshoku) - 1:03:33 Satoshi Abe (Team Toenec) - 1:03:34 Yoshihiko Asaba (Team Toenec) - 1:03:35 Women Hiromi Ominami (Yutic AC) - 1:08:45 Noriko Matsuoka (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 1:11:46 Kaori Akagawa (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 1:12:28

by Brett Larner Kentaro Ito of Team Kyowa Hakko Bio outlasted an international cast of rivals at the 39th Hofu Yomiuri Marathon on Dec. 21, running 2:16:01 in stormy conditions to score his first win in the race where he set his PB back in 2001. 2008 Asian Marathon Champion Koichiro Fukuoka (Team Mitsubishi Juko) ran as the designated pacemaker, taking the lead pack of 22 through 5 km in 15:42. Just before 10 km, 2008 Beijing Olympics Test Marathon winner Batochir Serod (Mongolia) lost patience and set off on his own, reaching 10 km in 31:14, 7 seconds ahead of Fukuoka and the pack. At 15 km he was 44 seconds up in 46:26, and at 20 km was 1:06 ahead in 1:01:54. Halfway came for Serod in 1:05:16, well ahead of the pace he ran in his 2:14:15 PB win in Beijing. Fukuoka brought the pack, now down to 11, through the half in 1:06:26. Fukuoka bowed out after reaching 25 km in 1:18:51, at which point only 7 runners remained in pursuit of Serod who was all but invisible and now 1:37 ahead. Ser...

by Brett Larner 2007 winner Kazuya Nakamori (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) returns to defend his title as the favorite in the 2008 Hofu Yomiuri Marathon field. Hofu is part of Japan's elite men's marathon circuit. A 2nd-tier competition following shortly after the 1st-tier Fukuoka International Marathon, Hofu is a development race for young marathoners but has nevertheless attracted the likes of Ethiopian greats Turbo Tumo and Hailu Neggusie, the latter of whom set the course record of 2:08:16 in a battle against future World Championships and Olympic marathon team member Satoshi Osaki (Team NTT Nishi Nihon) in 2002. Nakamori, who races sockless, won last year's Hofu in 2:15:40 after overtaking and then dropping Mitsuru Irifune (Team Kanebo) in the final kilometers despite severe blistering on his feet. His strongest competition includes Batochir Serod (Mongolia), who set his PB of 2:14:15 earlier this year in Beijing, along with Japanese runners Manabu Nishida (Team NTT Nishi Niho...

http://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/3912832/ https://www.nissinfoods.co.jp/csr/social/sports/athlete/blog/index.html?ym=2008-11&id=773 translated and edited by Brett Larner photo courtesy of Nissin Shokuhin Kenyan Gideon Ngatuny (Team Nissin Shokuhin) won the Nov. 24 Nagoya Half Marathon, setting a new course record of 1:00:11 for the 21.0975 km race beginning at Nagoya's Mizuho Park Track and Field Grounds. Satoru Kasuya (Team Toyota Boshoku) was the top Japanese finisher, 3rd overall. Hiromi Ominami (Team Toyota Shatai) won the women's race in 1:09:31, with her identical twin sister Takami (Team Toyota Shatai) finishing 2nd. Translator's note: Nagoya was Gideon Ngatuny's half marathon debut. Satoru Kasuya is running his marathon debut at the Dec. 21 Hofu Yomiuri Marathon. 2008 Nagoya Half Marathon Top Finishers Men 1. Gideon Ngatuny (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 1:00:11 - new course record 2. Samuel Ndungu (Team Aichi Steel) - 1:01:17 3. Satoru Kasuya (Team Toyota ...

by Brett Larner December will see two of Japan's elite marathons take place in the country's deep south, the A-list Fukuoka International Marathon on Dec. 7 and the developmental Hofu Yomiuri Marathon on Dec. 21. Official entry lists for the two races have not been released, but a number of athletes have declared their intentions to compete in either or Fukuoka or Hofu. This year Fukuoka is particularly significant in that it is the first of the domestic selection races for the 2009 Berlin World Championships men's marathon team. Headlining Fukuoka thus far is Arata Fujiwara, who finished 2nd at last February's Tokyo Marathon and was selected as the alternate for the Beijing Olympics men's marathon team. Fujiwara ran an atrocious race at October's Chicago Marathon and will run Fukuoka to make up for his failed international debut. His chief competition thus far is Yuko Matsumiya, the slightly less talented identical twin brother of Beijing Olympian Takayuki Mats...