japan running news

by Brett Larner Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) returned to the race where he set his 2:08:14 PB two years ago, running the Dong-A Seoul International Marathon in South Korea on Mar. 15.  As Kenyan Wilson Loyanae Erupe , returning from a two-year ban for EPO, led an all-African lead pack to a 2:06:11 win, Kawauchi, working his way back from injuries originating with a sprained ankle in December, ran in the second pack with South Korea's Yu Seung Yeup and Sim Joung Seu on mid-2:12 pace.  After a slower split from 30 to 35 km Yeup dropped a surge that neither Seu nor Kawauchi could follow, running alone over the last 5 km to take 14th in 2:13:10.  Seu and Kawauchi stayed together through 40 km before Seu kicked for 15th in 2:13:28, Kawauchi coming through 5 seconds back in 2:13:33 in the fastest time he has run so far this year. In the women's race Ethiopian Guteni Shone Imana pulled away from the lead pack near halfway, soloing the second half to win in 2:26:2...

by Brett Larner A developmental race in its 61st running, the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon lucked out with almost windless conditions conducive to fast times.  The large lead pack ran consistently at just sub-2:09 pace through much of the race, whittling down to a final pack of eight at its ultimate stage.  First-timers Yakob Jarso  (Ethiopia), the former Ethiopian 3000 mSC national record holder, and Takehiro Arakawa  (Team Asahi Kasei), famous for DNF'ing on the anchor stage of the Hakone Ekiden a few years ago with 2 km to go after breaking his foot in a rail crossing more than 10 km earlier, made the first serious move just past 30 km, very early for the inexperienced.  2011 Hokkaido Marathon winner Harun Njoroge  (Kenya/Team Komori Corp.) was quick to respond but took his time catching up, drawing the rest of the pack with him.  Two-time Hofu Yomiuri Marathon champion Serod Batochir  (Mongolia) and top-ranked Japanese man Yuki Moriwaki ...

by Brett Larner The 61st running of the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon , one of Japan's oldest, takes place this Sunday, Feb. 5.  Outside the circuit of Olympic-qualifying races this year, Beppu-Oita's domestic field is largely developmental, but it features a good international field of athletes looking to run Olympic-qualifying marks for their own countries including one prominent debut.  Overseas viewers should be able to watch TBS' race broadcast via Keyhole TV  beginning at 11:50 a.m. Japan time on the 5th.  JRN will once again cover the race via Twitter @JRNLive . The Japanese field includes five men who ran second-tier PBs at other domestic marathons last year.   Yuki Moriwaki  (Team JFE Steel) leads the way with a 2:12:34 from last year's Beppu-Oita.  Moriwaki is closely followed by the Koichi Morishita -coached  Kenji Takeuchi  (Team Toyota Kyushu) with a 2:12:44 at last year's Nobeoka Nishi Nihon Marathon.  One noteworthy nam...

http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/general/news/20100112k0000m050027000c.html translated by Brett Larner 17 teams competed in the 61st Asahi Ekiden on Jan. 11, a seven-stage, 99.9 km elite competition stretching from Fukuoka to Kita-Kyushu. Team Honda ran 4:47:33 to take its first-ever Asahi Ekiden win. Honda's Sixth Stage runner Yacob Jarso of Ethiopia started the stage in 3rd place 1:40 behind the leader but broke the existing stage record on his way to taking the lead. Honda anchor Suehiro Ishikawa managed to hold on to the lead to bring the team home on top. Trying for a fourth-straight win, Team Asahi Kasei anchor Tomoya Onishi ran the stage's best time but could not catch Ishikawa and had to settle for 2nd. Team Kyudenko finished 3rd, while last year's Kyushu Jitsugyodan Ekiden winner Team Yasukawa Denki was 4th. Alongside Jarso's mark, Kenyan student runner Kiragu Njuguna (Daiichi Kogyo Univ.) also set a new record on the first stage. 2010 Asahi Ekiden - 7 Stages, 9...

by Brett Larner Yuri Kano's entry in yesterday's New York City Marathon brought attention to the fact that Japan's top marathoners rarely turn out for overseas fall marathons, in particular for New York. Among the reasons for this are the early-November regional qualifier ekidens for corporate teams hoping to make the national corporate championships in December and January. The companies which sponsor Japan's corporate teams prioritize the national championship ekidens above all else, meaning their runners have to schedule around ekiden season. For runners on teams based in eastern Japan the regional qualifier takes place in Saitama Prefecture on Nov. 3, a public holiday and a date which makes running in New York all but impossible. This year's East Japan Corporate Ekiden Championships is an anniversary edition, the 50th running for men and the 20th for women. The region is home to most of the best teams on both the men's and women's sides, meaning the rac...

Click here to enter JRN's World Championships marathon prediction contest for a chance to win a 2009 Japanese national team singlet. by Brett Larner Barring a repeat of the Beijing Olympics marathons, 2009 national champion Yuzo Kanemaru's performance in the men's 400 m will be the biggest disappointment of this year's World Championships for Japanese fans. A legitimate contender for the final, despite setting a PB of 45.16 in May and being reliably under 46 seconds all season Kanemaru, who sustained a minor injury to his left thigh on the final day of training for Berlin, failed to make it out of the first round heats after delivering only a 46.83. Hideyuki Hirose actually ran faster in his heat, clocking 46.80, but likewise failed to advance. The men's 200 m squad fared better, with Beijing Olympics 4x100 m relay bronze medalist Shinji Takahira and the young Kenji Fujimitsu leaving teammate Hitoshi Saito behind to advance to the quarterfinal. However, both Takah...

Click here to enter JRN's World Championships marathon prediction contest for a chance to win a 2009 Japanese national team singlet. by Brett Larner Japan made little impact on the second day of competition at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin as its sprinters came up flat. Click event in summaries below for complete results. -Beijing Olympics men's 4x100m relay bronze medalist Naoki Tsukahara had vowed to become the first Japanese sprinter to break 10.0 seconds in the open men's 100 m and to make the final at the World Championships. Despite making the semi final comfortably, Tsukahara had an off run as he finished last in his semi final heat in only 10.25. - Women's 100 m national record holder Chisato Fukushima became the first Japanese woman to advance to the quarter final in a world-level championships 100 m but just missed out on making the semi final by 0.03 seconds. 2009 national champion Momoko Takahashi did not advance past the first round of heats. - ...

by Brett Larner Despite Japan's outstanding record of three gold, four silver and five bronze medals in the marathon over the last nine World Championships, there is no escaping the harsh reality that Masako Chiba's bronze in the women's 10000 at the 1997 Athens World Championships is its only track distance event hardware. There may be little chance of any of the eight runners Japan will send to the 5000 m, 10000 m and 3000 mSC at this year's Berlin World Championships finishing in the medals or even making the finals, but the team nevertheless features several compelling young athletes worth keeping an eye on. Below is a quick guide to the members of the Japanese distance squad listed by event. All times and dates listed are local Berlin time. Women's 3000 mSC - Heats: 10:50 a.m., 8/15 - Final: 8:30 p.m., 8/17 Nearly 37, Minori Hayakari is the oldest runner in the field by a wide margin but has continued to improve over the last few years, a memorable fall at t...

by Brett Larner The final meet in the 2009 Hokuren Distance Challenge series took place July 20 in Abashiri, Hokkaido, the last domestic opportunity for athletes to qualify for the Japanese national team for this year's World Championships. Ironically, the only athlete to pick up a Berlin ticket was Ethiopian Yakob Jarso (Team Honda). Jarso set the Ethiopian national record of 8:13.47 in the 3000 m steeplechase at last summer's Beijing Olympics where he was 4th. This spring Jarso attempted to move up to the 5000 m and 10000 m but missed the times he needed to make the Ethiopian team at those competitive distances. Resigned to running the steeple again after a year's absence, Jarso had to set an A-standard time to illustrate to the Ethiopian federation that he is ready to go for Berlin. The Abashiri Meet organizers were generous enough to organize a steeplechase heat for Jarso, but when he came to the starting line he found only Sapporo Gakuin University's Masashi Takem...

by Brett Larner Hot on the heels of yesterday’s surprising heats for the men’s 100 m, the semi-finals provided most of the action on the fourth and last day of the 2009 Japanese National Track and Field Championships. The finals, on the other hand, were a letdown for fans and athletes alike. The defending champs were recrowned in both the men’s and women’s 400 m, an unexpected name stole the men’s 1500 m, and most of the big names fizzled in the final event of the games, the men’s 10000 m. After yesterday’s scintillating men’s 100 m heats, where Beijing Olympics bronze medalist Naoki Tsukahara (Team Fujitsu) set a PB of 10.09 and little-known Masashi Eriguchi (Waseda Univ.) came up with an unforeseen 10.14 PB, hopes were high for the semis. With the cooperation of the tailwind which had remained constant at around 1.8 m/sec through the championships Eriguchi came up with an even bigger run, clocking 10.07 to take the first semi and move ahead of Tsukahara on the favorite list even as t...

by Brett Larner Japan-based Africans Gideon Ngatuny (Kenya/Team Nissin Shokuhin) and Yacob Jarso (Ethiopia/Team Honda) had their first meeting outside the country when they ran the FBK Games 5000 m in Hengelo, the Netherlands, on June 1. Ethiopian Ali Abdosh won in a world-leading 12:59.56 with Kenyan greats Augustine Choge, Eliud Kipchoge and Edwin Soi in a tight pack close behind, but neither Ngatuny nor Jarso could make a dent in the field. Ngatuny ran a season-best 13:12.02, just 0.41 seconds off his best and beating Jarso for the first time this season but well back from the top in 11th place. Ethiopian 3000 mSC national record holder Jarso's time of 13:21.79 was 2 1/2 seconds off his two week-old PB but good enough only for 15th. Complete results for the FBK Games 5000 m and other events are available here . (c) 2009 Brett Larner all rights reserved

by Brett Larner Two weeks after becoming the first man to break 27 minutes for 10000 m on Japanese soil at the May 3 Shizuoka International meet, Kenyan Josephat Ndambiri (Team Komori Corp.) repeated the feat in gusty winds on the first day of the East Japan Jitsugyodan Track and Field Meet in Yamagata Prefecture, clocking a meet record of 26:58.40. Ndambiri now holds the two fastest times in the world so far this year for 10000 m. Runner-up Gideon Ngatuny (Team Nissin Shokuhin) just missed out on breaking 27 minutes, running a 10 second PB of 27:01.83 and likewise going under the meet record. Ngatuny faced tougher conditions of rain and wind the next day in the 5000 m and again came up 2nd in 13:19.41. He was beaten out by Ethiopian Yacob Jarso (Team Honda), whose winning time of 13:19.20 was both a PB and a new meet record. As in the 10000 m Ngatuny had the consolation of also being under the previous meet record. His new teammate Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin), just back from ...

by Brett Larner The weekend of May 16-17 was the biggest of the year for Japanese track and field. Beyond the major regional university meet documented yesterday, six regional professional meets for members of Japanese corporate running world took place across the country. Below is a listing of top finishers in each of the distance events at the six Jitsugyodan meets. Click each meet header for complete results in Japanese. 2009 East Japan Jitsugyodan Track and Field Meet - Top Finishers Men's 10000 m 1. Josephat Ndambiri (Team Komori Corp.) - 26:58.40 - CR 2. Gideon Ngatuny (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 27:01.83 - (CR) 3. Cyrus Njui (Team Hitachi Cable) - 28:40.99 Men's 5000 m 1. Yacob Jarso (Team Honda) - 13:19.20 - CR, PB 2. Gideon Ngatuny (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 13:19.41 - (CR) 3. Jonathan Ndiku (Team Hitachi Cable) - 13:37.68 4. Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 13:38.31 - (Japanese CR) Men's 3000 m SC 1. Masatoshi Kikuchi (Team Fujitsu) - 8:43.39 2. Tatsunori Shinoura (T...

by Brett Larner As he kicks off his second year of professional running, Ethiopian steeplechase national record holder Yacob Jarso (Team Honda) continues to solidify his hold on the title of best African on the Japanese pro circuit. For the second time this month Jarso outkicked rivals Josephat Ndambiri (Team Komori Corp.) and Gideon Ngatuny (Team Nissin Shokuhin) to win, this time with an extended push over the last lap of the Hyogo Relay Carnival Grand Prix 10000 m in Kobe on Apr. 26. Strong winds and high temperatures following a storm front kept times comparatively slow, but although his winning time of 27:38.67 cleared the World Championships A-standard of 27:47.00 Jarso was unsatisfied. "In my country," he told reporters following the race, "this kind of time is not good enough to make the national team. I must try harder next time." World Cross Country Championships team member Naoki Okamoto (Team Chugoku Denryoku) was the only Japanese runner to try to ...

by Brett Larner Running in heavy rain, Ethiopian 3000 m SC national record holder Yacob Jarso (Team Honda) overcame Kenyan rivals Gideon Ngatuny (Team Nissin Shokuhin) and Josephat Ndambiri (Team Komori Corp.) on the last lap in a close three-way finish while university student Mary Wangari Wanjohi (Ritsumeikan AP Univ.) ran a solo race ahead of the field of professional women in the main events of the 2009 Kanaguri Memorial Track and Field Meet, the men's and women's elite 5000 m. The top Japanese competitors in each race, Yu Mitsuya (Team Toyota Kyushu) and Yuriko Kobayashi (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) were regrettably absent, leaving the top Japanese positions to Athens Olympian Ryuji Ono (Team Asahi Kasei), 4th in the men's race, and #1-ranked university star Kazue Kojima (Ritsumeikan Univ.), 3rd in the women's race. As expected, the men's 5000 m was a battle between Jarso, Ngatuny and Ndamibiri, who together ran under the 8 km road world record during January's...

by Brett Larner The Japanese track season gets underway Apr. 4 in Kagoshima with the 2009 Kanaguri Memorial Track and Field Meet . Named after the ' Father of Japanese Marathoning ,' Shizo Kanaguri , the meet includes events from 4 x 100 m to 5000 m with divisions ranging from elementary school students to professionals and is the first event of the 2009-2010 academic and fiscal year, meaning many athletes will be making their debuts in new uniforms. The highlights are the elite men's and women's 5000 m. The entry list for the elite men's 5000 m promises an exciting race. It's unlikely all the major protagonists will start, but if even half of the big names appear it will be a fantastic matchup. Lining up on one side are the three African runners who ran each other under the 8 km road world record in January's New Year Ekiden, Josephat Ndambiri (Team Komori Corp.), Yacob Jarso (Team Honda) and Gideon Ngatuny (Team Nissin Shokuhin). All three are on an improv...

by Brett Larner Japanese distance running in 2008 had a large share of disappointments and failures, but there were also memorable breakthroughs from Arata Fujiwara, Yukiko Akaba, Yusei Nakao and, of course, Japan-based Samuel Wanjiru. Here is a brief guide to some of the people to watch in 2009. Women Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren) Akaba had a spectacular 2008, entering the Japanese women's all-time top three or four at 5000 m, 10000 m and half-marathon and making the World Half Marathon and Beijing Olympics teams, but it was all just part of her two-year plan to move up to the marathon in time for the 2009 World Championships in Berlin. She's debuting at this month's Osaka International Women's Marathon where she will have to take down former national record holder Yoko Shibui to make the Berlin team. Food poisoning may have spoiled her Olympics, but so far Akaba has shown complete focus and made no mistakes; her 2008 half-marathon time of 1:08:11 was the 2nd fastest in ...