japan running news

With renewed confidence, Japan's Olympic marathon team will face the total 438 m elevation difference hills of Paris this summer. The members of the women's and men's marathon teams for August's Paris Olympics appeared at a press conference in Tokyo on Mar. 25 in conjunction with the Japan Marathon Championship Series III (JMC) awards gala. Women's Olympic trials winner Yuka Suzuki (Daiichi Seimei) said she was riding a wave of motivation in the wake of the new women's national record. When she watched Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) set the record at January's Osaka International Women's Marathon on TV, Suzuki said she was, "absolutely stunned." Her coach Sachiko Yamashita told her afterward, "When someone breaks the NR, things change," and Suzuki found herself saying, "I want to take my shot." After training for a great run in Paris, she said, "I definitely want to break the NR in one of my marathons after that." Mao...

Back in Japan's golden years Boston was a big draw for its top talent in the marathon, but for a long time it was off the list of first-choice marathons as the preoccupation shifted to times. That started changing again in 2017 when 5000 m NR holder Suguru Osako made his debut there with a 2:10:28 for 3rd, following in the footsteps of other Waseda University alum who ran well in Boston including two-time winner Toshihiko Seko and the late Tomoyuki Taniguchi . Osako was 3rd at October's Paris Olympic marathon trials, putting him in position to be on the Paris team unless someone runs 2:05:50 or better at February's Osaka Marathon or March's Tokyo Marathon. Having run 2:06:13 in Tokyo last year but beaten by two Japanese men who both went under 2:06, there wasn't really any upside to Osako doing Tokyo this time. Osaka seemed like the logical choice, but like he has for most of his life Osako is following his own motivations and opting to return to the 128th Boston...

The JAAF held an award ceremony for the Japan Marathon Championship Series II in Tokyo on Mar. 29. Mizuki Matsuda (Daihatsu) and Kenya Sonota (JR Higashi Nihon) were named the women's and men's series champions, earning 6,600,000 yen [~$50,000 USD] each, equal to the prize money for winning the World Marathon Majors series. Matsuda told the media, "I was 2nd last year, so to be the winner this year honestly makes me really happy." Matsuda will run the marathon at August's Budapest World Championships, then will double at the Oct. 15 MGC Race Paris Olympic marathon trials. She admitted that it's a tough schedule, but said, "Being able to compete at the top level of the sport is a great experience. I want to perform in the race that's closer on the horizon more than what's still further away, and that's why I wanted to do compete at the World Championships." Matsuda's coach Miwako Yamanaka wanted her to only run the Olympic trials,...

At a press conference in Tokyo on Feb. 9 the JAAF revealed the course for the Oct. 15 Marathon Grand Championship race (MGC), Japan's marathon trials for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Starting at finishing in Tokyo's Olympic Stadium, with six 180˚ turns it's a challenging course with downhill in the first 5 km, a flattish middle 30 km, and then a climb back up to the stadium in the last 5 km. Most of its course mirrors that of the 2020 Olympics edition of the MGC Race, with the middle part of that course compressed into two laps of a segment between Ueno and Ginza. JAAF Road Running Commission Leader Toshihiko Seko commented, "I think there are athletes who will make their move on the climb over the last 5 km. It's hard to go back into a higher gear after your pace drops at a 180˚ turnaround, but fans will get a lot of chances to cheer for the runners. In that way it's a course we can all say thanks for. I think the athletes are going to be inspired." Sitting...

Having officially taken over as head coach of the Waseda University track and ekiden program as of June 1, on June 2 Katsuhiko Hanada held a press conference at the school's campus in central Tokyo's Shinjuku ward. "I want to develop athletes who will represent Japan," he said. In his own days as an athlete at Waseda, Hanada played a role in the school's win at the 1993 Hakone Ekiden. After graduating he joined the SB Foods corporate team, going on to run for Japan at both the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and 2000 Sydney Olympics. His coaching experience includes leading Jobu University to its first Hakone in 2009, and helping to found the GMO corporate team. Central to Hanada's selection as new head coach was his former coach at both Waseda and SB, Toshihiko Seko , 65. After Hanada announced his resignation from GMO earlier this year, Seko called him about his alma mater, which had finished only 13th at this year's Hakone. Hanada went to observe the team...

The Fukuoka International Marathon has come to an end, but some races in its 75-year history remain deeply engraved in fans' memories. One of those is Takeyuki Nakayama 's fearless solo run at the 41st running in 1987. Less than a week out from his 62nd birthday on Dec. 20, this legendary runner looks back on that day. "In the marathon you have to create the drama," he says. "When it's just the same old script it's boring as hell." To Nakayama, the marathon was a means of self-expression, and never was his self-expression clearer than in Fukuoka in 1987. Standing alone on the stage without the script known in his sport as "pacers," he wrote his own and cast himself as its protagonist.  With Fukuoka serving as the main selection race for the Seoul Olympics the following year, Nakayama flew through 5 km in 14:30 and was all alone by 14 km. Going through halfway in 1:01:55, at 35 km he split 1:44:25, 49 seconds faster than the pace Portugal...

Subaru Seko , eldest son of JAAF marathon development project leader and former athlete Toshihiko Seko , died of Hodgkin lymphoma on Apr. 13. He was 34. The family announced the news on Apr. 16. They plan to hold a private family funeral led by the elder Seko. The younger Seko was diagnosed in 2012. In March this year he published a book titled, "Leading the Cancer Marathon - Paced by the Crazy Seko Family!" giving an honest look inside his and the Seko family's eight-year struggle against the illness. In a statement the elder Seko said, "Nothing could be more worthy of respect in the eyes of his parents than how he never stopped trying to give courage to others suffering from the same disease he himself was battling. It's my hope that he can now rest peacefully." source article:   https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/01b20f758dca6254402fdb0226735f6d8e4bcdb5 translated by Brett Larner

Thank you for your support of the Yokohama DeNA Running Club . Founded in 2013, the DeNA corporate team will be disbanded at the end of 2020. Beginning in 2021, DeNA will take a new approach toward supporting the activities of individual athletes who aim to compete at the international level. Despite the impact of the coronavirus crisis upon all our sports business, with its new approach DeNA hopes to continue to support competitive running in the medium to long-term future. Right now we are in the midst of making new contract offers to our existing athletes under the new model. We will continue to keep you informed about each athlete's plans for the next fiscal year and in every case will respect the athlete's wishes, whatever they may be. Head coach Tomoaki Kunichika and other members of the current team's staff will be retiring. We thank them for their contributions to the team's development. We hope to have your continued support in the future. Translator...

Takeyuki Nakayama breaks Toshihiko Seko 's 10000 m national record by almost 7 seconds with a 27:35.33 at the 1987 Helsinki World Games. This race was well into Nakayama's marathon career and rivalry with Seko, the golden boy of Japanese athletics. After Nakayama broke Seko's marathon PB the media said, "Well, that's great, but he doesn't have Seko's track speed." This race was the direct result of that. Famous for front running marathons at world record pace, it's really noticeable how disciplined and businesslike Nakayama was in this race, holding back until 7000 m, where he tied Seko's national record split, before opening up. It's one of the great examples of a race powered purely by negative energy.

A minivan carrying staff and athletes from the DeNA corporate men's team was involved in a traffic accident June 10 while en route from Kanagawa to a training camp in Sugadaira, Nagano. According to a team representative, the minivan collided with a cargo truck, but the accident did not result in any serious injuries. The team members will have their physical conditions monitored while remaining in Sugadaira. DeNA executive advisor Toshihiko Seko is currently focusing on his duties as JAAF marathon development project leader and was not in the van at the time of the accident. With track races set to make a return in July after months of cancelations due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis, corporate teams have begun to congregate in Sugadaira again to make use of its moderately high altitudes to get in base mileage. The DeNA team was set to begin its training today at between 1300 and 1500 m elevation in Sugadaira. The accident came as a surprise setback on the very first day o...

Japan's golden years dream team of Toshihiko Seko and the Soh twins at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Toshihiko Seko against Juma Ikangaa , the Soh twins and Alberto Salazar at the 1983 Fukuoka International Marathon.

Another late-career overseas win from the great Toshihiko Seko , this one at the 1986 London Marathon.

Raw lead vehicle footage of marathon legend  Toshihiko Seko 's second Boston Marathon victory at the 1987 race.

Marathon great Toshihiko Seko 's final race.

Following the announcement of the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to 2021, the athletes already named to the women's and men's marathon teams are expected to retain their positions as national representatives at the Olympics. A day after the Olympic announcement, JAAF marathon development project leader Toshihiko Seko confirmed that the project team is thinking in that direction. "I want to protect the rights of the six athletes already on the team," he said. "Their places on the team are something they earned themselves through a three-year process. We do not intend to take that away. This morning one of their coaches called me and asked, 'What's going to happen to my athlete?' All of them are worried that their places on the Olympic team will be annulled. I can tell them that thanks to the MGC process we have confidence in them as our national representatives. The final word, however, is that of the JAAF board of directors." Oth...

The members of the Japanese men's and women's marathon teams for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics appeared at a press conference Mar. 12 at Koriyama View Hotel in Koriyama, Fukushima to talk about their hopes and aspirations for the home soil Games. The team members also visited the grave of 1964 Tokyo Olympics men's marathon bronze medalist Kokichi Tsuburaya in Sukagawa, Fukushima, praying and swearing to medal. The JAAF chose Fukushima as the starting point for Team Japan's quest to become Tsuburaya's Olympic inheritors. At the press conference JAAF marathon development project leader Toshihiko Seko , 63, said, "Tsuburaya's run formed the bedrock upon which the marathon stands today." Appearing at the press conference were men's team member Yuma Hattori (26, Toyota), women's team members Honami Maeda (23, Tenmaya), Ayuko Suzuki (28, Japan Post) and Mao Ichiyama (22, Wacoal), along with men's alternates Shohei Otsuka (25, Kyudenko) and Ry...

The Final Challenge Tokyo Olympics marathon qualification series ended with a Cinderella story come true. Indifferent to the cold rain falling around her, 22-year-old Mao Ichiyama (Wacoal) ran the fourth-fastest time ever by a Japanese woman, 2:20:29, to win the Nagoya Women's Marathon . Beating the 2:21:47 that Mizuki Matsuda (Daihatsu) ran to win January's Osaka International Women's Marathon, Ichiyama was named to the final spot on the Japanese women's marathon team for this summer's Tokyo Olympics. She also broke both national record holder Mizuki Noguchi 's 17-year-old record for the fastest time by a Japanese woman on Japanese soil, and the course record held by the now-suspended Eunice Kirwa , a Kenyan-born Bahraini, by nearly a minute. Up to 30 km Ichiyama sat in the pack. "It'd be too much to say I was jogging for the first 30 km, but I was running with plenty to spare," she said. The only runner in the lead group wearing Nike'...

On Mar. 2 it was learned that the members of the men's and women's marathon teams for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will visit the grave of 1964 Tokyo Olympics marathon bronze medalist Kokichi Tsuburaya . According to a JAAF spokesperson, the three men and three women on the 2020 team will visit Tsuburaya's hometown of Sukagawa, Fukushima next week following the final determination of the team lineup at the Mar. 8 Nagoya Women's Marathon and Lake Biwa Marathon. Before their own tough battle against the world, the members of the team will inherit the legacy of Tsuburaya, who ran to his limit on home soil before slipping from this world. Tsuburaya finished 6th in the 10000 m at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. In the marathon his teammate Toru Terasawa had the fastest PB on the Japanese team while Kenji Kimihara had won the final selection race, but after racing in the lead pack Tsuburaya entered the Olympic Stadium in 2nd place behind Ethiopian legend Abebe Bikila . On the final...

A day on from the Marathon Grand Championship, Japan's 2020 Olympic marathon trials event, JAAF marathon development project team leader Toshihiko Seko , 63, spoke to media about the race, which broke from the tradition of the JAAF choosing national team members from multiple races to at last have the contenders all race head to head in a single competition.  "It takes at least six months to prepare for the Olympics," he said. "If you don't know whether you're on the team it creates a lot of uncertainty and worry. That's not going to be the case this time. The MGC was perfect. We came together in humility to put it together." With a laugh he added, "I want a 100 million yen [~$925,000 USD]  bonus for it. All we got was the burden of responsibility." Seko, who in his prime earned the reputation of being the nation's "TV ratings generator marathon man," eagerly anticipates a resurgence of popularity for the marathon thanks t...