japan running news

Sponsored by the village of Urugimura, Nagano , marathoner Takayoshi Shigemi won the April 13-15 Run Across Taiwan Ultramarathon . Covering a 246-km course almost the length of six back-to-back full marathons across the center of Taiwan, the one-way course started at sea level and reached a peak of 3275 m before dropping back to sea level. Shigemi's winning time of 30:01:45 took two hours off the course record. A native of Okazaki, Aichi, Shigemi came to Urugimura six years ago after accepting an offer to become an ambassador for promoting the area . He currently works in the village office while training at specified times. Every day that he goes out to face the mountains is a day on which he feels fulfilled. In winter the roads are so covered with snow that it becomes a difficult environment in which to train.  Even so, he adapts his training to suit the demands of the terrain. Shigemi's victory in the mountainous Taiwan race was a product of his everyday training, whic...

http://minamishinshu.jp/news/sports/%E5%A3%B2%E6%9C%A8%E6%9D%91%E3%81%AE%E3%83%9E%E3%83%A9%E3%82%BD%E3%83%B3%E5%90%88%E5%AE%BF%E3%81%8C%E6%9C%AC%E6%A0%BC%E5%8C%96.html translated by Brett Larner This is a very unique story about one of Japan's countless small country towns struggling with population and economic decline, one, faced with the question of how to survive, that somehow came up with the idea of sponsoring a pro ultramarathoner in hopes of promoting itself.  The story has caught on nationally and the town, its people, and sponsored runner Takayoshi Shigemi have been featured on TV on more than one occasion. Welcoming in the summer, the town of Urugimura 's marathon training camps are underway in earnest.  On weekends large numbers of amateur runners, clubs, university and high school teams come to the village from across Nagano and outside the prefecture, refreshing themselves with runs in the cool mornings and evenings and enjoying the beautiful local scener...

by Brett Larner The 28th edition of Japan's premier ultra, the Lake Saroma 100 km and 50 km Ultramarathon , took place June 30 along the northeastern shore of Hokkaido.  Lake Saroma was to have been the official selection race for the Japanese team for this year's IAU 100 km World Championships, but on Friday organizers posted a notice on the race website informing top-ranked participants that due to  uncertainty surrounding South Africa's readiness to host the World Championships  this October the team selection would be cancelled. Despite both this disappointment and hot temperatures, both the men's and women's 100 km races saw world-leading performances.  In the men's 100 km division, 2009 winner Hideo Nojo  (New Balance) improved on his 2nd-place finish last year with a world-leading 6:37:16 for this year's title, 4 1/2 minutes ahead of 2:18 marathoner Takayoshi Shigemi  (Urugimura).  Two-time Olympic medalist and 2010 Lake Saroma champion Eri...