japan running news

by Brett Larner Update: Current forecast as of 7:00 p.m. on Mar. 6 is for light rain, moderate wind and temperatures of 6-7 degrees at the start. The 2010 Biwako Mainichi Marathon , known as Biwako in Japan and Lake Biwa overseas, takes place this Sunday, Mar. 7. One of the oldest marathons in Japan, Biwako has taken steps in the last two years to ensure its continued prominence in the elite marathon circuit including securing Japan's first IAAF gold label despite not meeting any of the published criteria. This year's race unveils a new and purportedly faster course, a new main sponsor, and a good field with some top overseas talent. The race will probably come down to one between the two men with the best recent times, 2009 World Championships 4th placer Yemane Tsegay of Ethiopia and 2009 Chicago Marathon 4th placer Charles Munyeki of Kenya, but should weather intervene or incentive be lacking quite a few people have a chance of stepping up and presenting a challenge in even...

by Brett Larner On Feb. 15 the Biwako Mainichi Marathon , also called the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon for the convenience of non-Japanese speakers, announced the complete field for this year's 65th anniversary edition to be held Mar. 7. Biwako, as the race is universally abbreviated within Japan, survived a scare last year with the loss of main sponsor Rohm and comes to this year with a new sponsor, K-Opticom, a new course designed to be faster, and a renewal of its questionable IAAF Gold Label, the first in the country. Three of the top eleven men at the 2009 Berlin World Championships will line up at the start. The biggest name in the field is 2004 New York City Marathon winner Hendrick Ramaala (South Africa). Still an aggressive racer at age 38, Ramaala faces a tough challenge from the man who will wear the #1 bib, Berlin World Championships 4th place finisher Yemane Tsegay (Ethiopia). Also in contention are 2009 Chicago Marathon 4th place finisher Charles Munyeki (Keyna) and...

by Brett Larner Click photo for video highlights courtesy of NHK. Windy conditions kept times slow overall, but aging former world record holder Paul Tergat (Kenya) overcame his opponents in an international group of five to win the 2009 Biwako Mainichi Marathon in a time of 2:10:22, his first marathon win since the 2005 New York City Marathon and only the third marathon win of his career. Tergat dropped two-time Biwako winner Jose Rios (Spain) at the 41 km mark to seal his win after sitting in the pack for 29 km and then running with Rios, Yared Asmerom (Eritrea), Masaya Shimizu (Japan) and Abiyot Guta (Ethiopia) for 12 km. Rios finished 2nd in 2:10:36, with Asmerom just outkicking Shimizu for 3rd in 2:10:49. In his post-race interview Tergat was pleased with his performance and showed his keen political sense as he commented, "I'm happy I won the race. It was a great competition with great athletes, and incredible that until 35 km we were about six athletes. Amazing was the...

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/tm2008/news/20080209-OYT1T00326.htm translated by Brett Larner A member of Komazawa University's Hakone Ekiden team during 3 straight years of victory, Shingo Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin) will be trying to make the Beijing Olympics on the Japanese men's marathon team when he runs his debut marathon at the Feb. 17 Tokyo Marathon, sponsored in part by the Yomiuri Newspapers Group. It has been 2 years since Sato, 24, joined the jitsugyodan running world. He went to Komazawa with the intent to run hard in the Hakone Ekiden and then to move up to the marathon. As a high school student he saw Komazawa alumnus Atsushi Fujita (Team Fujitsu) set the then-national record in the marathon. Watching this electrifying performance, Sato became fixed on attending the same university as Fujita and then following the older runner into the marathon. While at Komazawa, Sato ran in the Hakone Ekiden all 4 of his student years. He earned stage best honors on the 3rd l...