japan running news

Just over three weeks out from the race the Hokkaido Marathon organizers have released the elite field for this year's edition. Scheduled for Aug. 25, Hokkaido was in a tough position this year, just three weeks out from the MGC Race 2020 Olympic marathon trials and a few more from the Doha World Championships. Only three women answered the call, but despite the two higher priority races just around the corner the men's field is decent quality. On the women's side, 38-year-old Kaori Yoshida (Team RxL), a past Hokkaido winner, is the top seed with a 2:28:24 best in Nagoya two years ago. Alongside her are relative newcomers Chika Ihara (Higo Ginko) and Mirai Waku (Univ. Ent.) both with times in the low-2:30 range earlier this year. On the men's side, Japan-based Kenyan Michael Githae (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) leads the way with a 2:09:21 for 4th at Lake Biwa last year. Top-ranked Japanese man Shogo Kanezane (Chugoku Denryoku) was one of the people who came closest...

20th Nagano Marathon Elite Field Highlights Nagano, 4/15/18 times listed are best within last three years except where noted click here for complete field listing Men Abdela Godana (Ethiopia) - 2:09:45 (Seoul 2017) Julius Keter (Kenya) - 2:09:55 (Santiago 2017) Shoya Osaki (Japan/Chudenko) - 2:11:03 (Gold Coast 2017) Kazuya Ishida (Japan/Nishitetsu) - 2:12:25 (Beppu-Oita 2016) Shinichi Yamashita (Japan/Takigahara SDF Base) - 2:12:32 (Hofu 2017) Jackson Kiprop (Uganda) - 2:12:45 (Amsterdam 2017) Kohei Futaoka (Japan/Chudenko) - 2:13:28 (Beppu-Oita 2018) Yuki Munakata (Japan/Kanebo) - 2:13:53 (Beppu-Oita 2016) Kazuya Deguchi (Japan/Asahi Kasei) - 2:14:24 (Nobeoka 2018) Hiroshi Ichida (Japan/Asahi Kasei) - 2:15:15 (Biwako 2017) Women Tigist Girma (Ethiopia) - 2:29:05 (Beirut 2017) Beatrice Jepkemboi (Kenya) - 2:30:35 (Buenos Aires 2015) Asami Furuse (Japan/Kyocera) - 2:30:44 (Osaka Int'l 2017) Pauline Wangui (Kenya) - 2:30:49 (Sevilla 2017) Yukiko Okuno (Japan/...

Two weeks to the day after running 2:10:53 at the Fukuoka International Marathon, Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) wrapped his 2017 with a win, running one of the few negative splits of his career to win the Hofu Yomiuri Marathon for the third time in 2:10:03. Women's winner Misako Kato (Kyudenko), a 1:09:49 half marathon, soloed an almost perfectly paced 2:28:12 to take 3 minutes off her PB and 7 1/2 minutes off the course record. Further back, Rio Paralympics T12 marathon silver medalist  Misato Michishita  broke the own world record in her category with a time of 2:56:14. Watch a complete replay of the race here. Pacers Taiga Ito and Melaku Abera , both of whom ran Fukuoka alongside Kawauchi, were tasked with taking the field out in 3:06/km, 2:10:48 pace. Pre-race Kawauchi told JRN, "If they'd run 3:04 I ccoul definitely, 100%, go faster than I did in Fukuoka. In cold and windy conditions things went in his favor in the early going with 5 and 10 km sp...

by Brett Larner 橋本くん、優勝おめでとう！！ pic.twitter.com/Qmm0jm5ZvI — くにちゃん (@Kunie0206) December 18, 2016 In just his second marathon, 2016 Aoyama Gakuin University graduate Ryo Hashimoto (Team GMO Athletes) ran a PB of over three minutes to win the Hofu Yomiuri Marathon in 2:11:20.  Pacers took the race through 25 km at a relatively steadily pace on target for around 2:11:45.  With their departure at 26 km Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) repeated his big play from the Fukuoka International Marathon two weeks ago, throwing in a hard surge and opening a gap of 10 seconds over the rest of the field.  Hashimoto and Taiki Yoshimura (Team Asahi Kasei) were the only two to try to follow, and by 30 km they had started to close the gap. pic.twitter.com/WnsJeY1YX9 — ペコ (@ayespeko) December 18, 2016 Hashimoto passed Kawauchi near 32 km, splitting 15:05 from 30 to 35 km as he pulled away.  It was a pace he couldn't sustain but enough to guarantee him the win with ...

by Brett Larner Yukiko Akaba  (Team Hokuren) and Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) lived up to pre-race talk as they won the women's and men's divisions at the 35th running of the Gold Coast Airport Marathon .  In a moderate headwind over the opening 15.5 km that grew in strength as the morning progressed, Akaba ran a characteristically controlled and steady race, ignoring the fast early pace set by Kenyans Alice Ngerechi and Helen Mugo  and going out at a steady 2:27 course record pace before picking it up over the second half of the race aided by the growing tailwind.  By 25 km she had overtaken Mugo, Ngerechi's turn coming just minutes later. Rounding the second turnaround at 36.5 km Akaba suffered in the now-stronger headwind and her pace dropped, but she was never in danger of missing the antique 2:29:29 course record set 20 years ago by Eriko Asai .  Akaba took more than two minutes off that record, setting a new mark of 2:27:17.   "I didn'...

by Brett Larner In its 35th edition the Gold Coast Airport Marathon makes its debut as an IAAF bronze label event, the first Australian race to earn an IAAF label.  Both the women's and men's races feature fields worthy of an even higher level, and on both sides course records look likely. The clear favorite in the women's race is this year's London Marathon 3rd-placer Yukiko Akaba  (Team Hokuren).  Having been left off the Japanese World Championships team in favor of two empty seats, Akaba told JRN that she came to Gold Coast to go for the 20 year-old 2:29:29 course record in a moderate mid-summer effort ahead of an ambitious fall. Speaking later at the press conference she commented, "The field is a lot better than I expected and so getting the win will be a challenge, but I'll be going for the course record either way and hopefully that will put me up front."  Asked whether the $20,000 bonus for clearing  Naoko Takahashi 's 2:23:14 Aus...

by Brett Larner complete results coming soon Three major half marathons across Japan started off the morning of Mar. 4 in style.  At the 63rd Kanaguri Hai Tamana Half Marathon , Komazawa University graduate Takuya Fukatsu (Team Asahi Kasei) ran a solo 1:01:25 course record, the all-time #8 Japanese mark on an unaided course and bettering the 1:01:31 mark set by Fukatsu's former Komazawa teammate Yusuke Takabayashi  (Team Toyota) last month at Marugame.  Fukatsu ran together with Kenyans Kiragu Njuguna  (Daiichi Kogyo Univ.) and Dishawn Karukuwa Maina  (Team Aisan Kogyo) before dropping them in the second half of the race to win by over a minute.   Hiroko Miyauchi  (Team Kyocera) won the women's 10 km in 33:09, with Shuhei Kondo  (Oita Tomei H.S.) winning the high school boys' 10 km in 29:38. At the Shizuoka Sunpu Half Marathon , Shinichi Yamashita  (Takigahara SDF Base) won in a conservative 1:04:58 over Teikyo University's Katsunori Wa...