japan running news

by Brett Larner The proving ground marathon in Japan's Eugene, Athlete Town Nobeoka's Nishi Nippon Marathon hosts its 54th running on Feb. 14.  Proving among other things that change can come even to the most conservative parts of Japan, for the second year in a row Nobeoka will feature a women's field, small and entry-level but still a sign of positive change.  Like the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon a week earlier, Nobeoka's men's field suffers a bit in the face of the Olympic selection races at Tokyo and Lake Biwa just a few weeks later, but it does feature a large lineup of promising first-timers who should help fulfill Nobeoka's original purpose as the race where future marathoners are made. The local Asahi Kasei team fields the top three entrants.  Its Ryoichi Matsuo and Taiki Yoshimura lead the way with recent bests of 2:12:11 and 2:13:12, but the most exciting on the list is Asahi Kasei's Fumihiro Maruyama , 1:29:34 at the 2013 Kumanichi 30 k...

by Brett Larner The Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon organizers have announced the field for their 53rd running on Feb. 8.  Run on the home ground of the Takeshi Soh -led Asahi Kasei corporate team, Nobeoka is primarily a developmental race focusing on first-timers and young athletes trying to get the marathon right and typically sees winning times in the 2:12~2:13 range.  It's noteworthy outside Japan mainly in that every year the people who run around that level in Nobeoka make up a major part of the runners included on their coaches' annual junket to the Chicago Marathon, where some go on to take a step toward bigger things. Recently things have been getting a little faster in Nobeoka, with 2:11 winning times in two of the last three years .  This year the organizers have taken a slightly different tack, invited three experienced men who should be able to work together to take down the 2:11:05 course record.  Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) is the stronges...

http://www.nishinippon.co.jp/nsp/ekiden/2013/all/kiji/20131103/20131103_0004.shtml translated and edited by Brett Larner results coming shortly The eighth, final and sweetest of the eight days making up the 62nd running of the Grand Tour Kyushu ekiden took place Nov. 3, the day's six stages spanning 83.8 km from the Yuhata Nishi Ward Offices in Kita-Kyushu to the Nishi Nippon Newspaper building in Fukuoka.  The hometown Fukuoka team won the day, its third individual day win of the tour, to make up a 3:42 deficit at the end of the seventh day and overtake Miyazaki for its second-straight overall win by a margin of just 2 1/2 minutes over the full 739.9 km distance, the 26th overall title in its history.  It was a perfect ending to bring the Grand Tour Kyushu's long and celebrated history to a close. Fukuoka trailed Miyazaki through the Fourth Stage until Fifth Stage man Shuji Yoshikawa (Team Kyudenko) moved into first.  Fukuoka's anchor, Moscow World Championships...

http://kumanichi.com/fsports/marathon/2011/kiji/20120218002.shtml translated and edited by Brett Larner The 56th edition of the Kanaguri Memorial Kumanichi 30 km road race takes place at 9 a.m. on Feb. 19th in Kumamoto, Kyushu.  It's the race where the best future prospects of Japanese long distance running gather to get their first experience battling over the longer distances, one where countless Olympians and World Championships team members have run.  Two world records have been run at Kumanichi, but with a new course this year featuring 20 m hills the race has taken on a tougher, up-and-down character. Among the eight invited men and two invited women, the favorite is the leading candidate for Japan's 10000 m squad at the London Olympics, Tsuyoshi Ugachi  (Team Konica Minolta).  What kind of race will he deliver before he shifts his focus to track season?  His strong rival Takuya Ishikawa  (Team Chugoku Denryoku) has withdrawn with injury to his...

by Brett Larner click here for video of the Grand Tour Kyushu 2011's finish Defending champion Miyazaki Prefecture came to the final day of the eight-day Grand Tour Kyushu 2011 with a lead of 4:31 over rival Fukuoka Prefecture, comfortable but not safe.  Over the first of the stage's three legs Miyazaki's runners progressively widened the lead, but on the fourth and fifth of the stage's six legs Fukuoka fought back.  Its Leg Five runner Shuji Yoshikawa  came within 10 seconds of catching the Miyazaki, still down on total time but almost enough for the lead heading into the final leg.  Miyazaki's anchor, Daegu World Championships marathon 7th-placer Hiroyuki Horibata , fought back and reopened the lead to bring Miyazaki in to a successful title defense, winning in a total time of 38:04:48 to Fukuoka's runner-up 38:10:11.  3rd-place Nagasaki Prefecture was the only other team to break 39 hours for the new 739.9 km course, clocking 38:55:12. Four men in the ...

http://www.plus-blog.sportsnavi.com/tokaisports/article/672 translated by Brett Larner At the Oct. 10 Izumo Ekiden, Tokai University long distance ace junior  Akinobu Murasawa  finished 2nd on the anchor stage.  Five days later he went for the 27:45 Olympic 10000 m A-standard at the Shizuoka Time Trials meet but came up short as he ran only 28:19.67.  Murasawa feels the impact of the double disappointment and talked to us about how it motivates him for the rest of the season. This year was your first time running the Izumo Ekiden.  You were 2nd on the anchor stage and put Tokai into 4th.  How do you feel looking back on these results? Murasawa: We didn't reach our goal of a top three finish because I couldn't run the way I should have.  The fact that I was 2nd on the stage just proves that I wasn't 100%.  As far as the rest of the ekiden season goes, that race taught me a lesson. What lesson is that? When I couldn't see the gap to the ru...