japan running news

by Brett Larner Yoshihiro Wakamatsu  (Team Nissin Shokuhin), a graduate of Hakone Ekiden course record holder  Toyo University , won the final running of the historic Himejijo Road Race men's 10 miler on Feb. 11. Throwing in a surge at 7 km he easily broke away from the field, which included London Olympics marathoner Ryo Yamamoto  (Team SGH Group Sagawa), two-time Himejijo winner Kazuyoshi Tokumoto  (Team Monteroza), and Norihisa Imai  of Toyo's 2014 Hakone-winning squad, to open a gap of 30 seconds and claim the win unchallenged in 47:38. Tsukasa Morita (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) was a solo 2nd in 48:08, his teammate Jun Shinoto , the 2006 national champion in the 3000 m steeplechase, winning a tight pack race for 3rd in 48:21. In the women's 5 km, Ritsumeikan Uji H.S.  went 1-2 with  Tomoka Iwai  winning in 16:24 over Tomoka Katada  in 16:28. The Himejijo Road Race is set to be transformed into a mass-participation marath...

by Brett Larner photo by Mika Tokairin Osaka top 8 Simon, Obata, Barros, Gobena, Ozaki, Kizaki, Horie and Nojiri at the post-race award ceremony. Ethiopian Amane Gobena and 2009 World Championships marathon 6th place finisher Marisa Barros of Portugal outlasted the domestic competition to go 1-2 in miserable conditions at the 2010 Osaka International Women's Marathon on Jan. 31. Both women recorded PBs, Gobena clocking 2:25:14 and Barros 2:25:44. In her first marathon since the 2007 World Championships Mari Ozaki (Team Daihatsu) was third in 2:26:27. Domestic favorite Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren) was an unfortunate DNF after pushing the race at 2:21 pace for the first 25 km. In the accompanying Osaka Half Marathon , Masayoshi Yamaoka (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) outleaned Tsukasa Morita (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) in a great sprint finish, both timed at 1:04:04 as the top six men broke the course record. Second Wind AC women Yuri Kano and Kiyoko Shimahara, running as official guests out o...

http://www.kyoto-np.co.jp/article.php?mid=P2008030900093&genre=L1&area=K10 translated by Brett Larner Komazawa University's Soji Ikeda won the 15th Kyoto City Half Marathon on Mar. 9, starting in front of Kyoto's Heianjingu and breaking the tape on the 21.0975 km course in 1:02:10. Aki Fujikawa of Team Shiseido won the women's race in a time of 1:10:41. Together with Kazuo Ietani (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko), Ikeda broke away from the lead pack of six runners at the 15 km point but could not drop Ietani until the last km, winning by 8 seconds. Kyoto residents Tsukasa Morita (Team Sanyo Tokusho Seiko, Kyoto Sangyo University) and Takahiko Onishi (Kyoto Sangyo University) were 4th and 8th respectively. Fujikawa had a more commanding win in the women's race, running alone after the halfway point. She was 24 seconds ahead of 2nd place finisher Yui Sakai (Josai University), while last year's winner Ryoko Kisaki (Bukkyo University) was 3rd. Hiroaki Nishihara (Mi...