japan running news

The morning of Apr. 22 China's Jiaju Zhao arrived at Fujikyu Highland Conifer Forest in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi, the finish point of the Ultra-Trail Mt. Fuji long course race, covering the 164.7 km distance in 19:35:24 to take the win. Yuya Kawasaki was a close 2nd in 19:54:57, with 1:01:37 half marathoner Tomonori Onitsuka 3rd in 20:59:25. Just under 5 hours later, Zhao's teammate Fuzhao Xiang won the women's long course race in 24:14:51 to make it a Chinese debutant double. Xiang said that she ran in memory of the late Liang Jin , 2nd at UTMF in 2019. UTMF is an international trail race through the foothills of Mt. Fuji, put on with international-quality environmental awareness and race management. A total of 3400 people ran this year between the long course and the 68.4 km short course race, the most in the event's history, and international athletes were welcomed back for the first time since 2019. Japanese athletes took the short course races, with Kento Tamur...

Spanning three days beginning Friday, Apr. 22, the Ultra-Trail Mt. Fuji returned this weekend after cancelations the last two years during the pandemic, with great weather across the course around the foot of Mt. Fuji through Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures. 1,808 people ran the UTMF 165 km long course, with another 489 in the KAI 69 km short course, all of them enjoying spectacular views of Mt. Fuji as they ran its trails. Among them were some of the country's best trail athletes, making for the first elite-level trail race in Japan in a long time. Covering 157.9 km with 6388 km total elevation gain, the UTMF 165 km division race started at Fujisan Kodomonokuni park in Fuji, Shizuoka and finished at the Fujikyu Highlands amusement park in Yamanashi in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi. With a course change announced on Apr. 20 that cut out some of the hilliest sections and kept runners on shorter and flatter forest roads, 2019 4th-placer Masatoshi Obara took the lead in the early stages...

by Brett Larner As is his tendency, Yuki Kawauchi  (Saitama Pref. Gov't) led the way on a busy weekend that saw Japanese athletes in at least four competitive overseas races. Running the second edition of the Saga Sakura Marathon  in scenic southwesternmost Kyushu despite having changed his workplace this week, Kawauchi took almost nine minutes off the course record and beat last year's winner Tomonori Onitsuka (Team Kyudenko) by more than ten minutes in 2:13:02 CR, his third marathon of the year and second soloing a massive CR in an amateur-level race.  "I haven't been feeling well since the Incheon Half last week and have just been jogging 60 minutes a day, so I'm glad I could at least run passably," he told JRN post-race. "If there hadn't been a strong headwind between 25 and 35 km I would have been a minute faster." Like Onitsuka, women's course record holder Hiroko Yoshitomi (First Dream AC) was knocked back to 2nd as 20-year-old ...

http://www.shinmai.co.jp/news/20100401/a-4.htm http://www.naganomarathon.gr.jp/modules/bulletin/article.php?storyid=108 translated by Brett Larner On Mar. 31 the organizing committee of the 12th Nagano Olympic Commemorative Marathon announced the 34 athletes in the elite field for this year's edition on Apr. 18. Nicholas Chelimo (Kenya) tops the men's field with a PB of 2:07:46. Nagano prefecture marathon record holder Masaru Takamizawa (Saku Chosei H.S. AC) is also scheduled to run. Defending women's champion Irina Timofeyeva (Russia) returns and will face Kiyoko Shimahara (Second Wind AC), who was just named to the Japanese national team for November's Asian Games in Guanzhou, China. Translator's note: Issue 3 of JRNPremium features an exclusive interview with Shimahara and will be published next week. Click here for more information . 2010 Nagano Marathon - Elite Field click here for complete elite field listing Men Nicholas Chelimo (Kenya) - 2:07:46 (Amster...

http://www.iaaf.org/LRR09/news/newsid=54705.html Japanese men in Beijing: 8. Masashi Hayashi - 2:12:39 11. Tomonori Onitsuka - 2:13:00 12. Masaki Shimoju - 2:13:08 14. Koichi Sakai - 2:14:29 Click here for complete results.

http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/general/track/news/20090115k0000m050021000c.html translated by Brett Larner The organizing committee of the 58th Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon (sponsored in part by the Mainichi Newspapers Group and Rikuren), announced the names of this year's elite field on Jan. 14. Defending champion Tomoya Adachi (Team Asahi Kasei), who won last year's race in his marathon debut, will return to headline the field. Keita Akiba (Team Komori Corp.) will make his highly-anticipated marathon debut after a dazzling run at the New Year Ekiden. Times are expected to be fast as runners will be competing not only for the win but also for a place on the 2009 Berlin World Championships marathon team. The domestic elite field includes 11 invited runners. Since winning last year Adachi has focused on improving his speed, setting a new 10000 m PB later in 2008. He came up a disappointing 3rd in an intense three-way sprint finish on the anchor stage of this year's New Year...

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20080224-OHT1T00205.htm http://www.umk.co.jp/news/headline/20080224.html translated and edited by Brett Larner Masaya Shimizu of Team Asahi Kasei won the Nobeoka Nishi Nihon Marathon on a windy Feb. 24 in a time of 2:13:06. It was his 4th full marathon and first time winning at the distance. 18 seconds behind Shimizu was Team Kyudenko's Tomonori Onitsuka , with Kentaro Nakamoto of Team Yasukawa Denki 3rd in his marathon debut. Team Asahi Kasei's Muneyuki Ojima , running his final marathon, was 9th. Shimizu launched a spurt at 30 km, breaking up the lead pack and turning the event into a match race against Onitsuka. Attacking at 41 km, he managed to break contact with Onitsuka and run away to his first victory. Both runners were slightly off their PB times. Conditions at the start were 6.4 degrees with 35% humidity and NNW winds at 6.1 m/s. Translator's note: Team Asahi Kasei continues its strong showing in the marathon this ...

http://www.nishinippon.co.jp/nsp/local/20080208/20080208_001.shtml translated by Brett Larner On Feb. 7 the organizing committee of the 46th Nobeoka Nishi Nihon Marathon, sponsored by Kyushu Rikuren, Nobeoka City and the Nishi Nihon Newspaper Group, held a press conference at Nobeoka City Hall in Miyazaki Prefecture to announce the elite field for this year's race, to be held on Feb. 24. The invited field includes 24 athletes, 7 more than last year, with total entries standing at 356 runners, also up from last year. The elite field includes several members of local team Asahi Kasei. Muneyuki Ojima, the fastest man in the field with a PB of 2:08:43, will be running his final race before retiring. Also appearing from Asahi Kasei are Fumiyuki Watanabe, who was injured and had to withdraw from last year's race, and Masaya Shimizu. These athletes will all be spurred on by the extra motivation of having watched their teammate Tomoya Adachi win the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon on Feb....