japan running news

by Brett Larner It was a big day for records at Australia's Gold Coast Airport Marathon , high-quality fields and the relative absence of the Gold Coast's infamous winds combining for a day to remember.  Japan's Takehiro Deki (Team Chugoku Denryoku) got things started in the men's half marathon, running alone after just 7 km to drop a 1:02:11 PB for the win, the 5th-fastest winning time in the event's 32-year history.  A very likeable former Hakone Ekiden star who as a complete unknown in college ran a 58:51 CR at the Takashimadaira 20 km and a 2:10:02 marathon debut without specific marathon training his junior year, Deki helped set Aoyama Gakuin University on the road to its course-record Hakone Ekiden win this year. "It was a little tough being out there on my own," he said post-race, "but I ran the way I wanted. This was a big step toward making the Rio Olympics team in the marathon."  Deki's coach Yasushi Sakaguchi , who previo...

by Brett Larner Taking on increased importance as the Japanese Federation focuses on hot weather racing in the lead-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics men's and women's marathons, the Hokkaido Marathon featured one of its deepest men's fields in memory.  The women's field was smaller but featured at least three good up-and-coming talents.  Getting the better of them all in the mid-20s temperatures was former pro-XC skier and mountain running champion Azusa Nojiri (Hiratsuka Lease), a 2:24:57 marathoner while at the Sachiko Yamashita -coached Daiichi Seimei corporate team but mostly unsuccessful since leaving to follow an Arata Fujiwara -inspired route of independent sponsorship.  In Hokkaido Nojiri easily dropped the rest of the field to win in 2:30:26, a quality mark in a typically hot race that rarely sees sub-2:30 winning times.  Debuting runner-up Shoko Mori (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) was nearly five minutes back in 2:35:10, just beating pre-race favorite Yuka Yano (C...

by Brett Larner With Japan's premier summer marathon bringing back its elite field this year, corporate league runners Koji Gokaya  (Team JR Higashi Nihon) and Yuko Watanabe  (Team Edion) scored their first marathon wins, taking the men's and women's Hokkaido Marathon titles in 2:14:26 and 2:29:13 on Aug. 25 in Sapporo. Following an early break by Shingo Igarashi  (Team Subaru) and by 2010 Nobeoka Marathon winner  Masaki Shimoju  (Team Konica Minolta), Gokaya, who finished 7th at the 2011 Chicago Marathon in 2:12:15, ran in a dense lead pack through 35 km before turning it on, grinding down Shigeki Tsuji  (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) to open a margin of 19 seconds before crossing the finish line.  Tsuji, the only runner to try to stay with Gokaya, was a comfortable 2nd in 2:14:45, 30 seconds ahead of the rest of the pack led by Shimoju, who held off past Gold Coast Marathon winner Dickson Marwa (Tanzania) in the last sprint for 3rd in 2:15:1...

by Brett Larner In his fifth marathon to date this year, 2011 World Championships marathon team member Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref.) added the second marathon win to his resume as he took the Aug. 26 Hokkaido Marathon in 2:18:38. Osaka-based amateur Yuri Yoshizumi (Osaka Nagai AC) came from behind to win the women's race in 2:39:06. Long one of Japan's peak elite summer races, this year saw Hokkaido all but eliminate its elite field this year, and as a result 2:08:37 man Kawauchi's win was never in serious doubt.  After a five-man lead pack went through halfway in 1:08:18, Kawauchi powered away to open a one-minute lead over his nearest competition. Although Kawauchi faded to a 1:10:20 second half in the rising temperatures, his competition faded more dramatically. Kawauchi's final margin of victory was more than three minutes over runner-up Shigeki Tsuji (Team Otsuka Seiyaku), who clocked 2:21:49. In the women's race Yoshizumi started far behind sub-2:3...

http://runningusa.org/node/58135#58136 Yuri Kano (Second Wind AC) was the top Japanese finisher, 10th in the women's race in 34:53.

by Brett Larner As the Japanese academic year comes to a close this month, many of this year's talented group of graduating university seniors prepare to enter the corporate team world of jitsugyodan running while others bid goodbye to their days of serious running. Below is a listing of some of the best runners in this year's graduating class and their destinations next month. Tsuguya Asahi (Waseda Univ.) - Team Kyudenko Soji Ikeda (Komazawa Univ.) - Team Yakult Kenta Kawasaki (Kokushikan Univ.) - Team Suzuki Yuki Kawauchi (Gakushuin Univ.) - Saitama Prefectural Government Masato Kihara (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - Team Kanebo Mekubo Mogusu (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - Team Aidem Kazuki Onishi (Toyo Univ.) - Team Kanebo Tomoya Onishi (Toyo Univ.) - Team Asahi Kasei Hiroyuki Ono (Juntendo Univ.) - Team Nissin Shokuhin Yukinori Ota (Komazawa Univ.) - Team Mazda Takuma Sasaya (Nihon Univ.) - Team JR Higashi Nihon Yuki Sato (Tokai Univ.) - Team Nissin Shokuhin / Tokai Graduate School Tsuyo...

by Brett Larner Mekubo Mogusu in the lead. Click image for video of the race. One week after winning his third titles in the 1500 m and 10000 m events, setting a PB, meet record and Japanese university record of 27:27.64 in the latter, Yamanashi Gakuin University senior Mekubo Mogusu of Kenya broke his own course record to win the half marathon on the final day of the Kanto Regional University Track and Field Championships at Tokyo`s National Stadium. The half marathon was contested over a ten-loop course. Beginning in the National Stadium, runners completed 1 km on the track before exiting the stadium for a hilly, twisting section on the roads. Runners then re-entered the stadium before beginning the next iteration of the road loop. The course is notoriously difficult; last year Mogusu set the course record of 1:03:10 in the midst of a year in which he broke one hour for the half marathon three times. This year competitors faced the additional challenge of rain and wind brought by th...