japan running news

Japan's 2020 Olympic marathon selection wrapped up in cold, rainy and windy conditions at simultaneous races at Lake Biwa and in Nagoya . The men at the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon had to break the week-old 2:05:29 national record set by Suguru Osako in Tokyo to replace him on the team, a pretty tough ask in any case but even more so given the conditions. After a starting gun malfunction delayed the start 10 minutes, virtually unheard-of in Japan, the pacers and a lead pack of nearly 50 gave it a go, slow through the first 5 km as they warmed back up but getting onto track for a sub-2:06 before too much time went by. Early casualties as the pace picked up included past winner Samuel Ndungu (Kenya) and Salah-Eddine Bounasr (Morocco), both DNFs. After 20 km it drifted back toward a 2:07 race, but even at that speed most of the Japanese favorites dropped away, leaving a relatively inexperienced domestic crew up against an international quintet when the last pacers stepped off ...

The second of Japan's four big February-March elite men's marathons, the Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon has released its entry list for this year's 56th running on Feb. 11. Traditionally a developmental event for first-timers and early-career marathoners, Nobeoka has been the place where some of Japan's best, most notably Kentaro Nakamoto (Yasukawa Denki) have gotten their start. This year Ryoichi Matsuo of the locally-based national champion Asahi Kasei team will try to become only the second man in Nobeoka history to win it three years in a row. His main challenge will probably come from Masahiro Kawaguchi (Yakult), at 2:13:27 the only man in the field with a faster recent time than Matsuo's winning time of 2:13:36 from Noboeka last year. But given Nobeoka's nature any of the relatively inexperienced marathoners in the field, particularly Shota Miyagami (Kyudenko), could get it right this time and break through to Matsuo's level or beyond. Among ...

https://twitter.com/miyatoshi5/status/820025369075949568 translated and edited by Brett Larner On Jan. 13 the organizers of the Feb. 19 Kumamoto-jo Marathon announced the 19-strong elite field for the 61st running of the  Kumanichi 30 km Road Race , the world's premier 30 km held alongside the marathon.  Heading the men's field are last year's 5th-placer Shun Sakuraoka (Toyo Univ.) who finished 4th on the Hakone Ekiden's Fourth Stage on Jan. 2, and New Year Ekiden Third Stage runner-up Yuichiro Ueno (DeNA). Representing the corporate leagues alongside Ueno are his DeNA teammate Toshio Takaki who ran the competitive Fourth Stage at the New Year Ekiden, Ryu Takaku (Yakult), Shoya Okuno (Toyota Kyushu), Shuhei Yamaguchi (Asahi Kasei) and more.  Kumamoto natives include Kyushu Gakuin H.S. and Aoyama Gakuin University graduate Shun Yamamura and Keisuke Tanaka (Fujitsu).  Along with Sakuraoka, university runners include Tomofumi Uda (Takushoku Univ.) who fi...

by Brett Larner Sera H.S. wins the 2011 National High School Boys Ekiden Championships in 2:03:50. Click photo for video highlights via broadcaster NHK. As in the girls' race, the 2009 National High School Boys Ekiden champion took back the top position Dec. 25 in Kyoto, with Hiroshima's Sera H.S.  taking the win in an all-time top ten 2:03:50 for the hilly seven-stage, 42.195 km course.  Many of the favorites, including defending national champion  Kagoshima Jitsugyo H.S. , 2008 champ Saku Chosei H.S. , Samuel Wanjiru 's alma mater Sendai Ikuei H.S. , and the powerful Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S. , suffered pre-Championships setbacks with injuries to their star runners, paving the way for the unheralded Kurashiki H.S.  to take the runner-up spot in 2:05:13, both its best placing and fastest time ever. Kyushu Gakuin H.S.  ace Kazuma Kubota  got things off on the right foot, winning the 10.0 km First Stage in 29:38 in a beautiful performance that ...