japan running news

by Brett Larner Organizers of the 49th Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon have announced the elite field for the Feb. 13 race. A developmental race for up-and-coming marathoners and first-timers, Nobeoka serves the role of a step up to the next tier of the Japanese marathoning circuit. Last year's 3rd-placer Takanori Ide (Team Kyudenko) heads the field, and with training partner Kazuhiro Maeda going for a World Championships spot a week before at the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon Ide has been doing the workouts necessary to win. His competition will include last year's 5th-place man Kenji Higashino (Team Asahi Kasei), Takayuki Ota (Team Fujitsu), and, looking to improve on his rare overseas debut at last fall's Toronto Waterfront Marathon, Minoru Okuda (Team Honda). Among the debutants Okuda's teammate Seigo Ikegami (Team Honda) is the most likely to have a strong showing, but 1:02 half marathoners Yusuke Ichinoi (Team Nishitetsu) and Takaharu Miyazaki (Team Sumco) s...

Kebede makes history. Click photo for video highlights of the 2009 Fukuoka International Marathon. Click here for lo-res version. by Brett Larner Beijing Olympics and Berlin World Championships double bronze medalist, defending champion and Japanese all-comers record holder Tsegaye Kebede of Ethiopia lived up to expectations and more with a history-making 2:05:18 win at the 2009 Fukuoka International Marathon . Kebede's time was a PB by two seconds and a new course and new Japanese all-comers record, no doubt pleasing race organizers and his accountant by keeping Fukuoka among the world's very best courses. Most significantly, though, Kebede's performance was the 10th of the year to break 2:06, the first time the top ten fastest times of the year have cleared this former barrier. Coming in the last first-rate marathon of the year worldwide, it seals 2009 as the start of a new era in men's marathoning. Kebede breaks the sound barrier. Click photo for more great pictures,...

by Brett Larner Kebede vs. Mogusu - click for preview video Update 12/5: 2005 World Championships bronze medalist and 2004 Fukuoka winner Tsuyoshi Ogata (Team Chugoku Denryoku) has withdrawn due to illness. The 63rd Fukuoka International Marathon takes place this Sunday, Dec. 6. With the puzzling and almost total absence of elite Japanese runners this year the focus is rightfully on the foreign field, and the Japanese media are setting up the race as a two-man show. In the one corner, Beijing Olympics bronze medalist Tsegaye Kebede (Ethiopia) returns after setting the Japanese all-comers record of 2:06:10 at last year's race and then going on to take his PB down to 2:05:20 at the London Marathon in April. In the other, the popular and likeable Kenyan Mekubo Mogusu (Team Aidem), who became a star before graduating from Yamanashi Gakuin University this past April thanks to four years' worth of suicidal Hakone Ekiden runs and a hat-trick of sub-hour half marathons during his juni...

http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/general/track/news/20091120k0000m050095000c.html translated and edited by Brett Larner On Nov. 19 the organizing committee for the 63rd annual Fukuoka International Marathon , a domestic selection race for next November's Asian Games in China, announced the elite field for this year's Dec. 6 race. The seven overseas invited elites are led by last year's winner, Beijing Olympics bronze medalist Tsegaye Kebede (Ethiopia). In Fukuoka last year Kebede set the course and Japanese all-comers' record of 2:06:10. In April he went on to finish 2nd in the London Marathon in a PB of 2:05:20, ranking him at #9 on the all-time list. Among those facing Kebede are 2008 Chicago Marathon winner Evans Cheruiyot (Kenya), 2005 Fukuoka winner Dmytro Baranovskyy (Ukraine) and top Eritrean runner Yonas Kifle. Japan-based Kenyan Mekubo Mogusu (Team Aidem), a popular Hakone Ekiden star while at Yamanashi Gakuin University, will be making his marathon debut off his...

http://www.shikoku-np.co.jp/sports/local/article.aspx?id=20090116000122 http://mainichi.jp/area/kagawa/news/20090116ddlk37050500000c.html http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2009011500664 translated and edited by Brett Larner On Jan. 15 the Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon announced the field for its 63rd running on Feb. 1. 49 elite athletes including 31 men, 18 women and 7 invited foreign runners from 6 countries will compete in the first edition of the race's new international format. Beijing Olympics men's marathon national team members Tsuyoshi Ogata and Asian half marathon record holder Atsushi Sato of Team Chugoku Denryoku are scheduled to appear, while Beijing Olympics women's marathon entrant Reiko Tosa (Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) will run Marugame as a preparation race for her final marathon before retirement, March's Tokyo Marathon. Men's course record holder and Hakone Ekiden star Mekubo Mogusu (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) will return to Maru...

by Brett Larner The first Sunday in February is one of the busiest days in the elite Japanese racing world. Three major events take place across the country, the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, the Ome Marathon 30 km road race, and the Kagawa Marugame Half Marathon. The Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon has historically been one Japan's top marathons, having seen four sub-2:09 performances and one world record, and sometimes serving as a selection race for Olympics and World Championships teams. This year Betsudai, as the race is commonly known, was not chosen as an Olympic selection race; as a result the field is somewhat softer than usual. The top domestic marathoner in the field is Team Kanebo's Michitane Noda with a PB of 2:09:58 from the 2003 Fukuoka International Marathon; Team Fujitsu's Takayuki Ota has been running well of late and looks set to make a mark in his debut marathon. Overseas contenders include four-time Chunchon Marathon winner Elijah Mutai of Kenya, Rugger...