japan running news

Part three of three in JRN's interview with Tsutomu Akiyama , one of the people responsible for first bringing Kenyan athletes to run in Japan. Read part one and part two. Stephen Mayaka told me that jitsugyodan teams want Kenyans mostly for the New Year Ekiden. In the last few years they’ve restricted foreign runners to one stage, the “International Stage,” and have dramatically shortened it to 8 km. Do you think this is going to result in fewer opportunities for Kenyans to find a place on a Japanese team? With regard to that, my opinion is this: At the Olympics, the World Championships or major marathons they don’t say, “You are faster so you have to run 43 km or 44 km.” It’s the same for everyone. Everyone has the same start line and finish line. In these Japanese corporate ekidens, where they tell fast foreigners that they can only run a particular stage, the only Japanese runners who run that same stage are the slowest ones. It makes it so that you can’t really tell ho...

In a Summer Marathon, Even World-Class Athletes' Lives Are at Risk from Heat Stroke In order to prevent incidences of heat stroke among athletes and spectators alike at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, work is progressing at a fevered pitch to develop countermeasures against the heat in the stadium environs and along the marathon course. Local municipal governments are focusing their efforts on increasing the number of large trees along the course to improve shade, and on implementing road surface materials with heat shielding properties. In past Olympics and World Championships there have been cases of athletes suffering from dehydration and heat stroke, and the issue represents a major challenge for the Tokyo Games. Late July on Sotobori Avenue in Tokyo's Kanda neighborhood. Under the peak strength of the summer sun helmeted workers hoisted by cranes cut back the branches and leaves of trees lining the street by hand. It looks like ordinary pruning work, but...

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/running/feature/20140919-OYT8T50064.html translated and edited by Brett Larner The official 2014 Osaka Marathon theme song "42.195 km" by Kobukuro. The organizing committee of the 4th Osaka Marathon on Oct. 26 have announced this year's 23-member elite field.  The men's race features all three champions crowned so far in race history led by last year's winner Jackson Limo (Kenya), who improved his PB to 2:09:06 at this year's Paris Marathon.  Seeking to stop him from become the first man in Osaka history to defend his title are Osaka's first winner Elijah Sang (Kenya) and second winner Ser-Od Bat-Ochir (Mongolia/Team NTN), who won last year's Hofu Yomiuri Marathon in a PB 2:09:00. Japan's hopes lie with Satoshi Osaki (NTT Nishi Nihon), holder of a 2:08:36 best, and 2012 runner-up Yasuyuki Nakamura (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC).  2009 World Championships marathon 7th-place finisher Yuri Kano (Kyoto T&F Assoc.) le...

http://www.iza.ne.jp/news/newsarticle/sports/other/631195/ translated by Brett Larner 2008 Beijing Olympics men's marathon team member Satoshi Osaki  (36, Team NTT Nishi Nihon), has announced that he plans to retire following the Mar. 3 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon .  Following his retirement from competition he will continue on as a coach with NTT. A native of Osaka, Osaki attended Yamanashi Gakuin University.  He placed 6th at the 2007 World Championships and followed up with a 2:08:36 for 3rd overall and the top Japanese position at Lake Biwa in 2008 to make the Beijing team, but shortly before the Olympics he was forced to withdraw with hip problems.

by Brett Larner The Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon , Biwako for short, has finally announced the elite field for this year's 68th running.  While it lacks the sub-2:05 punch that Tokyo was able to pull in this year as a fledgling major, Biwako has put together the deepest field of any domestic Japanese marathon in the 2012-2013 season.  Up front, a small but high-quality international group including 2:05 man Vincent Kipruto  (Kenya), 30 km world record holder Peter Kirui  (Kenya) and 2012 Houston Marathon winner Tariku Jufar (Ethiopia) to go up against Wilson Kipsang 's 2:06:13 course record. In pursuit of both them and the Federation's sub-2:08 time requirement for a guaranteed spot on the 2013 World Championships is a solid field including four of the five Japanese men to break 2:10 at last year's Biwako, namely London Olympian Ryo Yamamoto  (Team Sagawa Express), Tomoyuki Morita  (Team Kanebo), Takashi Horiguchi  (Team Honda) and Masashi Hayashi ...

by Brett Larner On day one of the first Nittai Univ. Time Trials meet of the season, marathoner Satoshi Osaki (Team NTT Nishi Nihon) continued the comeback from the injury that knocked him out of the Beijing Olympics, finishing 3rd in 29:19.31. The biggest results of the day, however came in the women's 800 m and 3000 m. Running against a field of pro, university and high school competitors, unior high school student Ayaka Nakagawa (Asaka Daisan J.H.S.) started the day off with a win in the 800 m A-heat in 2:10.61, nearly 1 1/2 seconds ahead of her closest rival. 2 1/2 hours later Nakagawa returned to take 6th in the 3000 m A-heat, clocking 9:31.18. Nittai Univ. Time Trials Top Results Nittai Univ., Yokohama, 4/16/11 click here for complete results Men's 10000 m Heat 5 1. Yuki Takamiya (Team Yakult) - 29:17.67 2. Yuta Shitara (Toyo Univ.) - 29:19.00 3. Satoshi Osaki (Team NTT Nishi Nihon) - 29:19.31 4. Sho Matsueda (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 29:23.77 5. Tomohiro Hayakawa (...

by Brett Larner On a cold day when snow blanketed most of the country, Takahiro Aso (Team Aisan Kogyo) ran 47:26 to win the 51st edition of the Himejijo 10-Miler on Feb. 11. Aso outran Meiji University graduate Masamichi Yasuda (Team Aichi Seiko) by 8 seconds to win in the fastest time since course record holder Terukazu Omori 's 46:34 at the 2007 race. Continuing with his post-Beijing injury comeback begun two weeks ago at the Chugoku Yamaguchi Ekiden, 2:08 marathoner Satoshi Osaki (Team NTT Nishi Nihon) ran a credible 47:46 to take 8th just 20 seconds off Aso's winning time. 2011 Himejijo 10-Miler click here for complete results 1. Takahiro Aso (Team Aisan Kogyo) - 47:26 2. Masamichi Yasuda (Team Aichi Seiko) - 47:34 3. Hironori Arai (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 47:39 4. Yoshiyuki Oseki (Team Aichi Seiko) - 47:42 5. Kazuo Ietani (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) - 47:43 6. Shinichi Watanabe (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) - 47:43 7. Takuji Morimoto (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 47:44 8. Sat...

by Brett Larner Japan's 2010-2011 ekiden season wrapped Jan. 30 with two high-level men's races, the 65th Meigi Ekiden and the 74th Chugoku Yamaguchi Ekiden . At the Meigi Ekiden in Nagoya and Gifu, Team Aichi Seiko staged a thrilling come-from-behind victory over Team Aisan Kogyo , spending the first five stages in 5th place before winning by one second thanks to a sensational run from rookie anchor Mahoro Ikeda . 2011 New Year Ekiden national champion Team Toyota , running a mostly JV squad, was only 6th despite a 20:56 stage record run by Chihiro Miyawaki on the 7.3 km Second Stage and a stage best by Fifth Stage man Takamasa Uchida . 2007 World Championships 10000 m bronze medalist Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC), who had previously announced plans for a marathon debut this winter, won the 9.8 km Fourth Stage by 37 seconds, running a solid 26:31 but short of his own record from last year's race. Further south at the Chugoku Yamaguchi Ekiden, Team Chugoku...

http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/news/20081218k0000m050058000c.html translated by Brett Larner The Jitsugyodan Track and Field Federation released the entry lists on Dec. 17 for the upcoming 53rd New Year Ekiden , the championship event for Japan's professional male runners. This year's roster is packed with Beijing Olympians. Defending champion Team Konica Minolta's squad includes 5000 m and 10000 m runner Takayuki Matsumiya. 2007 winner Team Chugoku Denryoku will field marathoners Tsuyoshi Ogata and Sato Atsushi. The third Beijing marathoner, Satoshi Osaki, who withdrew from the Olympic marathon with an injury, is back in form to lead Team NTT Nishi Nihon. Team Fujitsu's lineup features 3000 m steeplechaser Yoshitaka Iwamizu, a newcomer to the team in 2008. Team Kanebo is led by Satoshi Irifune, who was the top Japanese finisher and 2nd overall at the Fukuoka International Marathon earlier this month, becoming the first man to be named to the Japanese national marathon ...

http://sankei.jp.msn.com/life/trend/081113/trd0811130131001-n1.htm translated by Brett Larner Kyoto-based electronics company Rohm announced on Nov. 12 that it will end its long-standing sponsorship of the elite Biwako Mainichi Marathon after next March's edition of the race. The Shiga Prefecture Track and Field Association, which administers the marathon, issued a statement saying, "We want this event to continue and are looking for a new sponsor," but the shock of losing the source of half its funding has race organizers reeling. The operating costs for the Biwako Mainichi Marathon stand at approximately $1,840,000 per year, of which about $920,000 comes from Rohm's financial support. The remainder is funded by the Shiga prefectural government, the Otsu municipal government, and other sources. In making the announcement of Rohm's withdrawal from sponsorship next year, the Shiga Prefectural Track and Field Association went on to further say, "The withdrawa...

by Brett Larner NTT Nishi Nihon runner Toshiya Katayama, teammate of Beijing Olympics men's marathon team member Satoshi Osaki, ran the 2008 New York City Marathon on Nov. 2. Katayama, who holds a PB of 2:10:12 from the 2005 Biwako Mainichi Marathon, ran in the lead pack throughout the first half of the race but was left behind by Moroccan Abderrahim Goumri's surge at the halfway point. Katayama slowed in the second half of the race, struggling to the finish in a career worst 2:24:45. Katayama's time was 49 seconds slower than that of women's winner Paula Radcliffe. First Name: Toshiya Last Name: Katayama Age: 35M Team: NNT State/Country: Japan Place: 29 Gender Place: 28 Age Place: 14 Runner No.: 26 Official Time: 2:24:45 5K Time: 0:16:21 10K Time: 0:31:42 15K Time: 0:47:19 20K Time: 1:02:59 1/2 Mar. Time: 1:06:31 25K Time: 1:20:02 30K Time: 1:37:20 35K Time: 1:56:24 40K Time: 2:16:05 Pace/Mile: 0:05:32 (c) 2008 Brett Larner all rights reserved

by Brett Larner It's hard not to get excited about Arata Fujiwara 's upcoming appearance in the 2008 Chicago Marathon. Fujiwara started the year as an unknown mid-tier corporate runner whose only notable achievement was a 1:02:17 PB at the 2006 National Corporate Half Marathon Championships which yielded an invitation to the 2006 Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon. His one try at the marathon had been a miserable 2:38:37 crash-and-burn debut at the 2007 Biwako Mainichi Marathon. Everything changed at the 2008 Tokyo Marathon. In Tokyo, one of Japan's three selection races for the Beijing Olympics, Fujiwara fearlessly outran domestic competitors with Olympic, World Championships, and sub-2:08 credentials. He was the only Japanese runner to go with eventual winner Viktor Rothlin of Switzerland when Rothlin broke away from the pack, and stayed under control even when joined up front by Kenyan Julius Gitahi. If you haven't seen video of this year's Tokyo Marathon it...

by Brett Larner Arata Fujiwara (Team JR Higashi Nihon), who finished 2nd in a time of 2:08:40 behind 2007 World Championships bronze medalist Viktor Rothlin (Switzerland) in this past February's Tokyo Marathon, is scheduled to make his international marathon debut at October's Chicago Marathon. Fujiwara was an unknown in Tokyo but delivered an inspiring performance in only his second marathon, running a personal best by thirty minutes and holding off Kenyan Olympian Julius Gitahi (Team Nissin Shokuhin) in the final kilometers despite leg cramps which almost forced him to stop. Fujiwara's time in Tokyo appeared to give him an excellent chance for the Beijing Olympics team, but he was reduced to alternate status a few weeks later after Satoshi Osaki (Team NTT Nishi Nihon) ran 2:08:36 at the Biwako Mainichi Marathon. Fujiwara is training at altitude in Kunming, China throughout September in preparation for Chicago. His motivation to make a mark will be high after not making ...

http://beijing2008.nikkansports.com/athletics/p-sp-tp0-20080826-401299.html translated by Brett Larner Satoshi Osaki (32, Team NTT Nishi Nihon), who withdrew from the Beijing Olympics men's marathon, arrived at Kansai International Airport on Aug. 25 after returning to Japan from Beijing. Osaki withdrew from the marathon on Aug. 23 due to pain in his left hip joint. Breaking his silence for the first time since pulling out, Osaki apologized, saying, "I'm very, very sorry that I didn't take a chance by starting the race." Osaki watched the Olympic marathon on television in his room in Beijing. Asked whether he'll try again four years from now, Osaki responded, "I can't think about that yet, but that kind of feeling is probably there deep down somewhere. I don't want things to end this way."

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20080823-00000173-jij-spo translated by Brett Larner An injury is an accident and therefore something unavoidable. This is the viewpoint of Rikuren, the governing body of Japanese track and field. Everyone understands that Olympic marathon representatives need to push their bodies to the limit and drag themselves through incredible extremes of distance to be Olympic material, but at the same time it must be called abnormal when first women's marathoner Mizuki Noguchi (Team Sysmex) and then men's marathoner Satoshi Osaki (Team NTT Nishi Nihon) pull out of the Olympic marathon at the last moment. These withdrawals and other problems illustrate the lack of crisis management ability in the current Japanese system. Rikuren did not get control of Noguchi's situation before her injury became a serious fact. Both the men's and women's team alternates were omitted from the final Olympic team roster, meaning that neither was elligible to fill...

by Brett Larner Following the disastrous performance of the Japanese team in the Aug. 17 Beijing Olympics women's marathon, in which defending gold medalist Mizuki Noguchi withdrew from the race with a last-minute injury, alternate Tomo Morimoto had not been entered on the final official team roster, team member Reiko Tosa had training problems and failed to finish the race, and remaining runner Yurika Nakamura finished a disappointing 13th place, the men's team experienced an uncannily parallel serious of upsets in the Aug. 24 Olympic men's marathon. The bad news began in mid-June when doubts surfaced about team ace Atsushi Sato's fitness following a dismal performance at the Sapporo International Half Marathon and the cancellation of a planned training camp in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Sato relocated to Hokkaido and promptly disappeared from the media until just before the Olympic marathon. At the official press conference he was understated and dark, exuding a lack of...

http://www.chugoku-np.co.jp/NewsPack/CN2008082301000765_Sports.html http://www.daily.co.jp/general/2008/08/23/0001366258.shtml NHK News broadcast, 8:55 p.m., 8/23/08 translated and edited by Brett Larner The JOC announced on the evening of Aug. 23 that Beijing Olympics men's marathon team member Satoshi Osaki, 32, of Team NTT Nishi Nihon, has suffered an injury to his left hip and has withdrawn from the Aug. 24 competition. Osaki began to experience discomfort in his left hip during his final training session on Aug. 20, the day before he travelled to Beijing. The pain became progressively worse, and while jogging on Aug. 22 it developed to the point at which he could no longer run. Osaki made the decision to withdraw early in the day on Aug. 23. In the women's marathon, defending gold medalist Mizuki Noguchi of Team Sysmex withdrew from the race shortly beforehand leaving only two team members to compete. Osaki's withdrawal leaves the men in the same position, with only Ts...

http://www.47news.jp/CN/200808/CN2008082201000744.html http://www2.asahi.com/olympic2008/news/TKY200808210258.html http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/080821/spg0808211244007-n2.htm http://www.47news.jp/CN/200808/CN2008081901000508.html translated and edited by Brett Larner Japan's three entrants in the Aug. 24 Beijing Olympics men's marathon, Atsushi Sato and Tsuyoshi Ogata of Team Chugoku Denryoku and Satoshi Osaki of Team NTT Nishi Nihon, arrived in Beijing on Aug. 21 after leaving from Osaka's Kansai International Airport. The next day, the team appeared at an official press conference in Beijing. Ogata, the 5th place finisher at last year's Osaka World Track and Field Championships marathon, confidently assured reporters, "I've done what I needed to do and I can't wait to run." Sato, who holds the fastest qualifying time of the three athletes after running 2:07:13 at last December's Fukuoka International Marathon, was more subdued, saying, ...

by Brett Larner Men`s Marathon Atsushi Sato Born: May 8, 1978, Fukushima Prefecture Team Affiliation: Chugoku Denryoku Olympic Event PB: 2:07:13, 12/2/07 Season Highlights: -35th place, Sapporo Int’l Half Marathon: 1:04:01, 6/15/08 -2nd place, Central Japan Pro T&F Championships 10000m: 28:16.94, 5/17/08 -winner, Central Japan Pro T&F Championships 5000m: 13:47.13, 5/11/08 -3rd place and all-time Japanese 4th best, Fukuoka Int’l Marathon: 2:07:13, 12/2/07 Career Highlights: -NR and AR, half marathon: 1:00:25, 2007 -Former Univ. NR, marathon: 2:09:50, 2000 -World T&F Championships Marathon, 2003 -World Road Running Championships, 2007 -World Half Marathon Championships, 2002 -Nat’l T&F Championships 10000m, 2000-2002, 2004-2005, 2007 -Nat’l T&F Championships 5000m, 2002 Atsushi Sato is Japan`s best current male marathoner. An ekiden runner of incredible intensity, he set the previous university national record in the marathon while at Waseda University, going on t...

http://www.hokkaido-np.co.jp/news/olympic2008/102477.html translated by Brett Larner Beijing Olympic men`s marathon competitor Satoshi Osaki (Team NTT Nishi Nihon) held a practice session with four teammates at Abashiri`s civic track on July 1st as part of his Olympic training camp in Abashiri, Hokkaido. Practicing for a tactical race situation with varying pace, Osaki and his teammates covered 20 km in one hour of surges and periods of respite. Osaki has been training in Abashiri since June 16th. Looking ahead, he offered, "I think the Olympics are going to awaken something unfamiliar. I`m training for the gold medal, period. I`ve been doing a great deal of mileage and my stamina has never been better." Team NTT Nishi Nihon coach Koji Shimizu commented, "We want to see him arrive in Beijing in the best shape possible." Osaki will remain in Abashiri until August 19th, when he will tavel to Beijing for the main event.