japan running news

Around 200 athletes who had been recruited by Toyo University 's famed scout Hisashi Sato , 65, gathered at a hotel in Kawagoe, Saitama on Mar. 23 to celebrate Sato's retirement from his position as assistant coach at Toyo at the end of this month. Of the 30 men to have qualified for the Sept. 15 MGC Race 2020 Tokyo Olympics marathon trials, 4 are Toyo alumni, more than any other university.   Hiroyuki Yamamoto (32, Konica Minolta), who qualified for the MGC race at the Mar. 10 Lake Biwa Marathon, and former marathon national record holder Yuta Shitara (27, Honda), were among the attendees. Since it first won the Hakone Ekiden in 2009 to this year's 3rd-place finish Toyo has shown extraordinary consistency, finishing in the top 3 at Hakone all 11 years. Sato worked alongside head coach Toshiyuki Sakai , 42, to help develop that kind of stability. Where he showed exceptional ability in his 25 years with the team was in scouting. Sato famously discovered future Hakone ...

At a press conference in Sayama, Saitama on Mar. 20, 2016 Rio Olympics marathoner Suehiro Ishikawa , 39, announced that he will retire from competition at the end of the month. At the time of the Rio Olympics Ishikawa was 36 years and 11 months old, surpassing 1996 Atlanta Olympics marathoner Hiromi Taniguchi 's record of 36 years and 3 months to become Japan's oldest-ever Olympic marathoner. He finished 36th. "Since I started running high school it's been 24 years," said Ishikawa at the press conference. "I've been with Honda for 17 years, and I made it all the way to the top, the Olympics. I'm glad that I've kept going this long. I thank you all." Ishikawa ran the Mar. 10 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon but dropped out after only 10 km. It was to be the last race of his career. "It was the first time in my career that I'd ever DNFd, and I thought, 'OK, this is where it ends,'" said Ishikawa. Shortly after the race h...

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/prague-international-marathon-galen-rupp-winner-1.4650600 Prague Marathon Men's Results Prague, Czech Republic, 5/6/18 click here for complete results 1. Galen Rupp (U.S.A.) - 2:06:07 2. Sisay Lemma (Ethiopia) - 2:07:03 3. Stephen Chemlany (Kenya) - 2:09:42 4. Barselius Kipyego (Kenya) - 2:10:18 5. Yuma Hattori (Japan/Toyota) - 2:10:26 ----- 8. Suehiro Ishikawa (Japan/Honda) - 2:16:39

In a year that saw him deliver one of the most memorable debut marathons in history, a half marathon national record, 10000 m and marathon PBs and more, Yuta Shitara (Honda) ended 2017 on a high note, beating three-time defending champion Jeremiah Thuku Karemi (Toyota Kyushu) to win the 42nd Kumamoto Kosa 10-Miler . Shitara, Karemi, London World Championships marathoner Hiroto Inoue (MHPS), Ethiopian Abayneh Degu (Yasukawa Denki) and track ace Shuho Dairokuno (Asahi Kasei) ran together in a lead group through the early going, but Shitara was just too much for the others to handle. Shitara broke the tape in 45:58, only the fourth Japanese man to ever clear 45 minutes. Karemi was well under last year's winning time but nowhere close to catching Shitara, finishing 2nd in 46:10 and Inoue only 2 seconds behind him. With many corporate and university teams using Kosa to tune up for the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden and Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden, it regularly produces the deepest 10 mile r...

by Brett Larner Two-time Madrid Marathon champ  Ezekiel Kiptoo Chebii  (Kenya) scored his first Japanese win, outkicking 2013 winner and Daegu World Championships silver medalist  Vincent Kipruto  (Kenya) on the last lap of the track to win the  Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon  in 2:09:06. チェビー選手🏃🏻 優勝おめでとうございます🎉 #びわ湖毎日マラソン pic.twitter.com/vJGJSkuEw9 — りさ (@piiice7) March 5, 2017 In most ways it was a pretty garden-variety race, pacers taking it through 30 km right around 3:00 / km with most of the bigger overseas and a massive but steadily dwindling pack of Japanese men in tow.  After the next-generation breakthrough in Tokyo last week hopes were high with a large number of current and past Hakone Ekiden stars in the field for their first or second marathons the same would happen here.  It was almost a foregone conclusion that somebody would be running under 2:09 in pursuit of a place on the London World Championships team, the consensus...

by Brett Larner The Mar. 5 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon , Biwako for short, is the last of the four races used to choose the three members of the Japanese men's marathon team for August's London World Championships.  Two of the three members of last summer's Rio de Janeiro Olympic team top the list of Japanese men in the race, Satoru Sasaki (Team Asahi Kasei) with a 2:08:56 in Fukuoka 2015 and Suehiro Ishikawa (Team Honda) with 2:09:25 last year at Lake Biwa. The pair are the only Japanese athletes in the field with recent sub-2:10 times, a few steps ahead of six 2:10-11 men including the high-potential Tadashi Isshiki (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) and Chihiro Miyawaki (Team Toyota).  Four others led by 2014 Asian Games silver medalist Kohei Matsumura (Team MHPS) have broken 2:10 in the past but would need a solid comeback to factor.  With the possible exception of Matsumura one of the five debuting sub-63 half marathoners may be more likely to end up in the front-end acti...

http://www.nikkan-gendai.com/articles/view/sports/199496/1 translated by Brett Larner It's turned into an era when it's hard to break even 2:09. On Feb. 12, Yuki Kawauchi (29), the top Japanese finisher in December's Fukuoka International Marathon at 3rd overall, set a new course record of 2:09:54 to win the Ehime Marathon for the first time.  Speaking of 2:09, in Fukuoka as well Kawauchi ran 2:09:11.  On the 5th this month Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon winner Kentaro Nakamoto (34) ran 2:09:32 too.  And the three members of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics team did it in the selection races.   Satoru Sasaki barely broke 2:09 at 2:08:56 for 3rd in Fukuoka, and Hisanori Kitajima and Suehiro Ishikawa ran 2:09:16 and 2:09:25 for 2nd and 4th at Lake Biwa.  Even in the Olympic season when marathoners' gaze is supposed to be loftier, that was all they could do. Even though the world standard in the men's marathon is now at the 2:02 level, Japanese haven't run 2...

by Brett Larner It was a rough year for Japanese men.  Lots to be positive about: One of the fastest-ever half marathons by a Japanese man , 1:00:54, courtesy of  Keijiro Mogi . Four Japanese men sub-2:10 in a single marathon . A national record and nearly a world record for 50 km by Yuki Kawauchi . A sub-8 minute 3000 m high school national record  by  Hyuga Endo , who also dropped  one of the fastest-ever high school 1500 m . The first-ever top 5 finish , almost top 3, by a Japanese man at the TCS New York City Marathon, by  Hiroyuki Yamamoto . A national record for 12 km by Yuki Yagi . World record-setting depth  for  10 miles  and  half marathon . A 100 km World Championships gold medal by Hideaki Yamauchi . But the shortcomings were clear.  More Japanese men broke 1:02:00 for the half marathon than ever before, but overall depth at the front end was down for 5000 m, 10000 m, the half and the marathon, and the...

by Brett Larner Japan's Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) and Reia Iwade (Team Noritz) will be in the field for Sunday's BMW Berlin Marathon .  Berlin has been good to Japan in the past, with the country's first 2:06 men's national record and the last three women's national records all happening on the ultra-flat Berlin course.  But in the last decade Berlin has seen fewer and fewer quality runs from Japanese athletes.   Kurao Umeki placed 3rd in 2006, but the fastest time over the decade was only 2:10:24 in 2013 by future Rio Olympian Suehiro Ishikawa .  For women too, Tomo Morimoto placed 3rd in 2010, her 2:26:10 also the fastest time in the last ten years but far off the quality of the 2:19 marks set  in Berlin by Naoko Takahashi , Yoko Shibui and Mizuki Noguchi .  The ten-year average times and places for Japanese athletes in the top ten in Berlin are 2:12:00 for 8th for men and 2:29:26 for 7th for women. Can Kawauchi and Iwade beat those aver...

http://www.nikkansports.com/olympic/rio2016/athletics/news/1698472.html translated by Brett Larner In the Rio de Janeiro Olympics men's marathon on Aug. 21 , Satoru Sasaki (30) was the top Japanese man at 16th in 2:13:57.   Suehiro Ishikawa (36) was 36th, with Hisanori Kitajima (31) placing 94th. At the end of athletics competition Japan's total was two medals and two top eight finishes, a total exceeding the JAAF's target one medal but falling short of its goal of five top eight finishes.  JAAF strengthening committee chairman Kazunori Asaba (55) announced that he intends to resign his position following the Rio Olympics.  Strengthening committee vice-chairman Katsumi Sakai (56) and director of men's marathoning Takeshi Soh (63) are also expected to join the exodus of resignations.  Japanese athletics will be forced to make a fresh start before the Tokyo Olympics.

by Brett Larner No real surprises in the men's marathon to wrap up the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.  Berlin and London Marathon winner Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya) for gold, Tokyo Marathon winner Feyisa Lilesa (Ethiopia) for silver, Galen Rupp (U.S.A.) stepping up for a medal in bronze, world champion Ghirmay Ghebreslassie (Eritrea) just missing the podium, DNFs for Kenyan and Ethiopian B-men Stanley Biwott and Tesfaye Abera , and irrelevant performances from the Japanese men.  The Japanese men finished in PB order, Satoru Sasaki and Suehiro Ishikawa hanging on to the pack for a while until fading to 16th and 36th, Hisanori Kitajima never in it and finishing 94th in 2:25:11. Four men born outside Africa qualified for Rio with sub-2:10 times.  The Japanese men were three of them.  Sasaki was the only non-African-born athlete to have qualified sub-2:09.  This was a good team, one of the best in the field.  And yet, they were irrelevant, again.  Hats of...

by Brett Larner The Hakone Ekiden is Japan's biggest, most prestigious sporting event, a two-day road relay with twenty university teams of ten men each running roughly a half marathon that pulls in tens of millions of viewers on live TV and along the 210 km+ course.  University men focus on Hakone above all else.   Jason Lawrence ,  a New Zealand runner who took part in Josai University 's summer training camp for Hakone, wrote , "For most team members if not all, Hakone is the pinnacle of their careers and it's what they think about 24/7." The media and the public love the catchphrase 箱根から世界へ, from Hakone to the World, Hakone's role as a springboard to the World Championships and, ultimately, the Olympics.  But at the same time there is frequent criticism that Hakone has grown too big, too popular, that the focus Lawrence cites is a distraction from prioritizing the Olympics as a career goal.  This line of criticism suggests that the very best young tale...

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2016/07/27/kiji/K20160727013046870.html http://www.jiji.com/jc/article?k=2016072700768&g=spo translated and edited by Brett Larner Training in Kushiro, Hokkaido in preparation for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, Japan's three marathon men Satoru Sasaki (Team Asahi Kasei), Hisanori Kitajima (Team Yasukawa Denki) and Suehiro Ishikawa (Team Honda) appeared at a press conference July 27 at a Kushiro hotel.  Ishikawa was enthusiastic as he said, "We're not going there just to take part.  We're ready to take on the world." All three men wore the flashy bright "Sunrise Red" national colors that represent the power of the rising sun.  The oldest-ever Japanese man to run the Olympic marathon, Ishikawa said that his goal is to do better than the 6th-place finish by Kentaro Nakamoto (Team Yasukawa Denki) at the London Olympics.  With two wins in his three marathons to date, Nakamoto's training partner Kitajima c...

http://dd.hokkaido-np.co.jp/sports/sports/marathon/1-0296687.html http://news.tbs.co.jp/newseye/tbs_newseye2828867.html http://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/s/article/2016072401001248.html http://dd.hokkaido-np.co.jp/sports/sports/marathon/1-0296700.html translated and edited by Brett Larner The 30th anniversary Suffolkland Shibetsu Half Marathon   was held July 24 in Shibestu, Hokkaido.  Top-level Japanese athletes and amateur runners alike braved blazing sunshine to give it their best on the JAAF-certified course.  A total of 2136 runners including a large number of corporate league runners from Toyota and the Kansai region took part.  Special guest runners included ski jumper Sara Takanashi and the winner of the first Shibetsu Half women's race, Eriko Asai . In the men's half marathon, Kokushikan University assistant coach James Mwangi won by a second over  Yuki Oshikawa (Team Toyota Kyushu) in a course record 1:03:22.  Rio de Janeiro Olympics men's ma...

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2016/07/15/kiji/K20160715012969550.html http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2016/07/15/kiji/K20160715012969530.html http://www.nikkansports.com/olympic/rio2016/athletics/news/1679246.html translated and edited by Brett Larner Japan's Rio de Janeiro marathon teams face a tough challenge in the Olympic races, the women's race scheduled for Aug. 14 and the men's race for the final day of the Games, 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 21 Japan time. For the men, top eight looks like a realistic goal.  Among the three, Satoru Sasaki (Team Asahi Kasei), Hisanori Kitajima (Team Yasukawa Denki) and Suehiro Ishikawa (Team Honda), Sasaki has the fastest PB at 2:08:56.  In comparison, Kenyan Olympic team member Eliud Kipchoge won April's London Marathon in an all-time #2 time of 2:03:05.  The gap in ability between the Africans and the Japanese men is enormous. Among the women, a three-time Olympian on the track, Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal) is...

by Brett Larner Suehiro Ishikawa, Yusei Nakao, host family Jamie and Kenji Ogura and crew post-race. Rio Olympics men's marathon team member Suehiro Ishikawa (Team Honda) took 2nd in the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon at Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota, a solid tuneup performance ahead of August's main event.  Ishikawa finished less than 30 seconds behind winner Macdonald Ondara (Kenya). Making his international full marathon debut at Grandma's, Yusei Nakao (Smiley Angel AC), the top Japanese man at May's Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon, struggled to deal with temperatures that climbed to 24 degrees, dropping from the lead pack before halfway and fading to 17th overall.    Elisha Barno (Kenya) won in 2:11:26.  Sarah Kiptoo (Kenya) won the women's race in 2:33:28, with Ethiopian Simegn Abnet Yeshanbel breaking up the Kenyan domination as she won the women's half in 1:13:22. 40th Grandma's Marathon Duluth, MN, U.S.A., 6/18/16 click he...

http://www.dailycamera.com/sports/ci_29957340/bolder-boulder-at-long-last-amane-gobena-winner 2016 Bolder Boulder 10 km Boulder, CO, U.S.A., 5/30/16 click here for complete results Women 1. Amane Gobena (Ethiopia) - 33:40 2. Miyuki Uehara (Japan) - 34:16 3. Caroline Chepkoech Kipkirui (Kenya) - 34:19 4. Risper Gesabwa (Kenya) - 34:28 5. Margarita Hernandez Flores (Mexico) - 34:36 ----- 6. Sakiko Matsumi (Japan) - 34:39 12. Sayaka Kuwahara (Japan) - 35:12 Men 1. Isaac Mukundi (Kenya) - 29:13 2. Terefe Debela (Ethiopia) - 29:23 3. Diego Estrada (U.S.A.) - 29:41 4. MacDonald Ondara (Kenya) - 29:49 5. Tsegay Tuemay (Eritrea) - 29:53 ----- 18. Suehiro Ishikawa (Japan) - 30:46 25. Yuki Matsumura (Japan) - 31:29 31. Shohei Tomita (Japan) - 32:39

http://www.sankei.com/region/news/160512/rgn1605120038-n1.html translated by Brett Larner On May 11 Rio Olympics men's marathon team member Suehiro Ishikawa (36, Team Honda) visited city hall in Sayama, Saitama, home ground of the Honda corporate team.  "My goal is to make top eight," he said with determination.  "I'm overjoyed and utterly thrilled.  Making the Olympics is a dream come true and I hope that I can enjoy it at least a little."  Mayor Tsuyoshi Koyano offered Ishikawa words of support, saying, "On behalf of the city, I offer you our congratulations and best wishes.  We are all looking forward to cheering you on on race day." Ishikawa turns 37 in September.  In Rio he will become the oldest-ever Japanese man to make an Olympic marathon team, surpassing the record set at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics by Hiromi Taniguchi ,  recently turned 36 at the time.  "I want to prove that you can still do it even at this age," Ishikaw...

by Brett Larner The JAAF announced the Japanese women's and men's marathon team lineups for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics at a press conference on Mar. 17 streamed live worldwide.  Surprisingly there were no surprises, no controversial calls, the athletes chosen for the team the most likely based on the complicated selection criteria. The women's team includes 2016 Osaka Women's winner Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal), 2016 Nagoya Women's runner-up Tomomi Tanaka (Team Daiichi Seimei) and 2015 World Championships 7th-placer Mai Ito (Team Otsuka Seiyaku).  The men's team is made up of 2015 Fukuoka 3rd-placer Satoru Sasaki (Team Asahi Kasei), 2015 Lake Biwa runner-up Hisanori Kitajima (Team Yasukawa Denki) and 4th-placer Suehiro Ishikawa (Team Honda).  No alternates were named in the event, likely given recent history, that any of the team members does not make the starting line, and no one was named to the team from two of the selection races, last year...

by Brett Larner Japan has never been one to have a clear-cut, straightforward Olympic marathon team selection process, the JAAF preferring to put forth a complex, multitiered algebra of seemingly objective criteria that ultimately serve to give it leeway to choose its own favorites for the team.  That's rarely been more true than this time around.  The problems with the Rio selection criteria have been put in the public eye on the women's side thanks to Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal), winner of the second women's selection race, and are a big topic in the media right now.  Women still have one more chance to qualify for the Rio team this Sunday in Nagoya, but for men the candidates are all down following last weekend's Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon. Essentially, men had four chances to qualify for the three spots on the Rio team.  The only option for absolutely 100% making the team was to be the first Japanese man in the top eight in the marathon at the Beijing Worl...