japan running news

Having improved his PB to 2:09:03 while finishing 6th at the Sept. 24 Berln Marathon , Rio 10000 m Olympian Yuta Shitara (25, Honda) returned to Narita Airport on Sept. 26 from his trip to Europe. Shortly before Berlin, Shitara set a new national record 1:00:17 at a half marathon in the Czech Republic on Sept. 16 . Despite this challenging schedule which was only decided in August, Shitara told reporters, "I didn't feel particularly tired [in Berlin] . There wasn't much lingering damage and I was able to meet the marathon's demands and hang on better in the second half." The difference in his splits between his debut in Tokyo in February and his second marathon in Berlin, a minute slower over the first half in Berlin and a minute and a half faster over the second half, was evidence of his growth since Tokyo. Shitara is already planning his third marathon and could run it before the end of the year. "I'm the kind of guy who likes to race a lot. I g...

A week after his 28:55 at the Birell Prague Grand Prix 10 km and just eight days out from the Berlin Marathon, Yuta Shitara (Honda) made the great leap forward, taking 8 seconds off Atsushi Sato 's 2007 half marathon Japanese national record, finishing 8th at the Czech Republic's Usti nad Labem Half Marathon . Shitara is probably most well-known outside Japan for going through halfway under 62 minutes during his marathon debut at this year's Tokyo Marathon and still ending up with a 2:09:27, but he's been turning heads in Japan since his second year at Toyo University when he broke a stage record at the 2012 Hakone Ekiden and outkicked the U.S.A.'s Dathan Ritzenhein to finish in 1:01:48 at the NYC Half two months later, until this year the fastest time ever by a Japanese man on U.S soil. Three weeks before Tokyo this year he ran a 1:01:19 PB at the Marugame Half. Many people would call that a solid tuneup three weeks out from a serious marathon, but eight d...

by Brett Larner Japanese athletes scored three overseas road race wins Sunday.  In Australia, Tomohiro Tanigawa (Team Konica Minolta) and Kei Katanashi (Komazawa Univ.) doubled at the Sydney Marathon , Tanigawa outlasting the field in the men's marathon to score a second-straight win for Japanese men and Katanishi soloing his way to the half marathon title.  At Portugal's Sport Zone Porto Half Marathon , Nao Isaka (Team Hitachi) followed up with a win in the women's race, running down #1-ranked Martha Akeno (Kenya) to win in 1:12:12.   Hiroshi Ichida (Team Asahi Kasei) was the top Japanese man in Porto, 9th overall in 1:04:01, while Yusei Nakao (Smiley Angel AC) was a DNF after coming down with a fever during his flight to Porto.  At the Czech Republic's Usti Nad Labem Half Marathon , last year's Sydney Half women's winner Kikuyo Tsuzaki (Team Noritz) equalled Ichida's performance, 9th in 1:13:26 with teammate Misato Horie 39 seconds back in 11th....

'Budd and Herron Win the 28th IAU 100 km World Championships' click here for complete results Japanese results Men 11. Tatsuya Itagaki - 6:52:37 35. Yoshikazu Hara - 7:13:33 42. Yoshiki Takada - 7:21:52 63. Tsutomu Nagata - 7:45:57 Women 13. Mikiko Ota - 7:52:39 15. Mai Fujisawa - 7:56:59 DNF - Shiho Katayama DNF - Chiyuki Mochizuki 'Jepchirchir Shatters Course Record at Usti Nad Labem Half Marathon' click here for complete results Japanese Results Men 12. Yuki Matsuoka - 1:04:34 13. Rikinobu Watanabe - 1:04:57 15. Ryuji Okada - 1:06:49 Women 7. Mizuki Matsuda - 1:12:54 8. Ai Inoue - 1:13:32 'Karoki Runs World-Leading 59:14 in Copenhagen' click here for complete results Japanese Results Men 25. Ryotaro Otani - 1:05:20 'Farah and Keitany Successfully Defend Great North Run Titles' click here for complete results Japanese Results Men 9. Masato Kikuchi - 1:03:13 DNS - Suguru Osako Women 6. Reia Iwade - 1:12:41

by Brett Larner Following up on a disappointing showing at last weekend's Great North Run and Prague Grand Prix 10 km, Japan's corporate league runners underwhelmed again at Sunday's Köln Marathon and Usti nad Labem Half Marathon.  In a race won by Kenya's Anthony Maritim in 2:10:26 in Köln, 2:09:18 marathoner Yuko Matsumiya (Team Hitachi Butsuryu), the twin brother of 5000 m and 30 km national record holder Takayuki Matsumiya (Team Konica Minolta), could do no better than 2:18:41 for 3rd.  2:15:05 man Kenta Iinuma (Team Sagawa Group) fell well below the professional level, running only 2:23:12 for 4th.  Formerly Japan-based Kenyan Julia Mumbi took the women's race in 2:28:00. Further east, Japanese results at the Czech Republic's Usti nad Labem mirrored those at the Great North Run, with 1:02 half marathoners Yuya Ito (Team Toyota) and Masamichi Yasuda (Team Aichi Seiko) and their 1:03 counterpart Atsushi Yamazaki (Team Subaru) all clocked leisurel...