japan running news

http://www.iaaf.org/news/report/nagano-marathon-2015-chirchir-toroitich

by Brett Larner Kenyans Jairus Chanchima and Henry Chirchir top the men's entry list for the Apr. 19 Nagano Marathon , with Beatrice Jepkemboi joining them in hope of becoming just the second Kenyan women's champion in Nagano's 17-year history.  Kiflom Sium (Eritera) and Bayron Piedra (Ecuador) round out the small international men's field, 2:11 man Taiga Ito (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) and debuting 1:01:25 half marathoner Takuya Fukatsu (Team Asahi Kasei) looking like the domestic Japanese favorites. The women's race features good old-time names like Catherine Ndereba (Kenya), Kiyoko Shimahara (Second Wind AC), Eri Okubo (Miki House) and Chihiro Tanaka (Athlec AC), but with Russian women having taken 7 of the last 10 Nagano titles it's safe to say that Nadezhda Leonteva is likely to be Jepkemboi's toughest competition in the women's race despite a difference of over 4 minutes in their bests.  Shoko Mori (Team Otsuka Seiyaku), a training partn...

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 For years the worldwide fall elite marathon season has gotten underway with Sapporo's Hokkaido Marathon on the last Sunday of August.  Two years organizers did away with their elite fields, leaving top amateurs Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) and Yuri Yoshizumi (Osaka Nagai AC) to win in two of the slowest winning times in event history.  Last year the elite fields returned with a small international contingent that proved mostly superfluous.  With the release of this year's elite fields today it's clear that organizers have trimmed the fat to focus on a good domestic field that on paper any other country outside Africa would have a tough time matching. Leading the men's field is the 4th-fastest Japanese man of the year, Masanori Sakai (Team Kyudenko), who ran 2:09:10 in Tokyo in February.  Named to the federation's new marathon National Team program on the strength of that performance, with Hokkaido's always-hot conditions Sakai...

http://www.sanyo.oni.co.jp/news_s/news/d/2012120123222333/ translated and edited by Brett Larner The organizers of the 31st Sanyo Ladies Road Race in Okayama have finalized the elite field for the Dec. 23 race.  130 women will line up in the Yuko Arimori Cup Half Marathon division, with 234 in the Kinue Hitomi Cup 10 km division, making for a combined field of 364 that almost ties last year's record number of entries, 366. 2011 Daegu World Championships marathon 5th-place finisher Yukiko Akaba  (Team Hokuren) and other world-class competitors will grace the streets of Okayama with their running.  Having set the half marathon course record of 1:09:16 last year, it looks as though Akaba will again be the one dictating the terms of competition.  2011 Tokyo Marathon winner Noriko Higuchi  (Team Wacoal) should be her major rival.  Local Team Tenmaya will supply Beijing Olympics marathoner Yurika Nakamura , team captain Yuka Izumi  and first-year pro...

http://www.47news.jp/CN/201102/CN2011021301000297.html http://www.saga-s.co.jp/news/saga.0.1825468.article.html translated and edited by Brett Larner At the 51st Karatsu 10 Mile Road Race , Feb. 13 in Karatsu, Saga, Yuki Iwamoto (Team Mazda) ran 47:20 to take his first win at the race. Known as the "God of the Mountain" during his Hakone Ekiden days at Juntendo University, Masato Imai (Team Toyota Kyushu) was 3rd, while 2004 Athens Olympics 10000 m runner and 2008 Karatsu winner Ryuji Ono (Team Asahi Kasei) finished only 26th. In the women's 10 km, Fumiko Hashimoto (Team Shimamura) won in 33:18, while Athens Olympics marathon 7th placer Naoko Sakamoto (Team Tenmaya) finished 18th. Akira Iwasaki (Tosu Kogyo H.S.) won the high school boys' 10 km in a PB of 30:04, while Sayaka Nishimura (Kawatana H.S.) won the high school girls' 5 km in 17:18. 2011 Karatsu 10-Mile Road Race click here for complete results Men's 10 Miles 1. Yuki Iwamoto (Team Mazda) - 47:20...

http://www.asahi.com/sports/spo/TKY201101250131.html http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/110124/spg1101241747004-n1.htm http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2011012400672 translated and edited by Brett Larner On Jan. 24 Rikuren announced the domestic and overseas elite fields for the second running of the Yokohama International Women's Marathon , scheduled for Feb. 20. The domestic field of six includes 2009 World Championships marathon silver medalist Yoshimi Ozaki (Team Daiichi Seimei) and 2010 Nagoya International Women's Marathon 5th place finisher Mayumi Fujita (Team Juhachi Ginko. The foreign field of five is led by 2009 New York City Marathon winner Derartu Tulu (Ethiopia), who holds a marathon best of 2:23:30. 2004 Athens Olympics marathoner Naoko Sakamoto (Team Tenmaya) is entered in the general division. As a selection race for August's World Championships in Daegu, Korea, the top Japanese woman in Yokohama will earn a place on the team provided she runs und...

by Brett Larner As the year draws to a close the last major non-ekiden road race of the Japanese calendar, the Sanyo Women's Road Race 10 km and half marathon, took place Dec. 23 in Okayama. With the cancellation of the National University Women's Invitational Ekiden Bukkyo University put many of its best runners into both races, resulting in one of the most competitive 10 km fields in Sanyo history. Kenyan ace Sally Chepyego Kaptich (Team Kyudenko) dueled with 2010 National University 5000 m champion Kasumi Nishihara (Bukkyo Univ.) before pulling away to win in 32:13. Nishihara outran teammate and collegiate 10000 m national record holder Hikari Yoshimoto to take 2nd in 32:26, a new collegiate 10 km road national record and the second-fastest time ever by a Japanese woman on the Sanyo course. Yoshimoto in turn held off pros Hiroko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera) and Risa Shigetomo (Team Tenmaya) for 3rd in 32:34. Shigetomo, who had an outstanding race just four days ago to put T...

by Brett Larner The 2010 Hyogo Relay Carnival got underway on Apr. 24 with the sprints and Asics Challenge distance events. In the Asics Challenge 10000 m, the weekend's men's 10000 m B-heat, Kenyan Nicholas Makau (Team Yachiyo Kogyo) easily defeated Keita Akiba (Team Komori Corp.) and Akihiko Tsumurai (Team Mazda) but was more than 45 seconds off Samuel Wanjiru 's B-heat meet record from 2005. Miho Notagashira (Team Wacoal), teammate of national record holder Kayoko Fukushi , won the Asics Challenge women's 5000 m by a few strides over Shoko Mori (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) in 15:54.48. The Hyogo Relay Carnival continues on Apr. 25 with the high school races and Grand Prix 1500 m and 10000 m A-heats. 2010 Hyogo Relay Carnival Day One - Top Finishers click here for complete results or event header for individual event results Asics Challenge Men's 10000 m 1. Nicholas Makau (Kenya/Team Yachiyo Kogyo) - 28:18.94 2. Keita Akiba (Team Komori Corp.) - 28:34.42 3. Akihiko...

by Brett Larner Tough conditions kept times slow overall at the June 14 Shibetsu meet, the third in the six-part Hokuren Distance Challenge series in Hokkaido. Five of Japan's most promising distance runners ran in the meet, but even taking the slow times into account all fell short. Of the five, Kensuke Takezawa (Team S&B) had the best showing. A World Championships and Beijing Olympics track runner while in university with a 5000 m PB of 13:19.00, Takezawa ran the 5000 m in Shibetsu, his debut at the distance since turning pro in April, in the hopes of clearing the Berlin World Championships B-standard ahead of this month's National Track and Field Championships. Winner Gideon Ngatuny (Team Nissin Shokuhin) was very nearly the only athlete in the meet to run an outright creditable time, taking the 5000 m in 13:16.78, but while Takezawa fell short of the 13:29.00 mark he needed his time of 13:38.25 was good enough for 2nd and showed that he is on his way to full recover...

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/event/sports/news/20081016-OHT1T00216.htm translated by Brett Larner On Oct. 26, teams from across the country will run the 26th Morinomiyako Ekiden, the National University Women's Ekiden Championships, on a six-stage, 38.6 km course stretching from the Miyagi Track and Field Grounds to Sendai City Hall. Three teams from the Tohoku [northeastern] region of Japan will represent all northern girls. Along with the Tohoku Regional University Select Team will be Fukushima University, making its third consecutive and tenth total appearance, and Fukushi University, competing for the second consecutive and sixth total time. Running on Fukushi's team for the first time are captain Shoko Mori (fourth year) and ace recruit Makiko Ishiyama (first year). Shoko Mori - Fourth Year Going to the Morinomiyako Ekiden for the first time as a senior and as captain, Mori's enthusiasm and focus are at a peak. "We're representing all of Tohoku," she says....