japan running news

by Brett Larner Coached by Koichi Morishita , the Barcelona Olympics marathon silver medalist who turned Samuel Wanjiru into a world-beater, Jeremiah Thuku Karemi (Kenya/Team Toyota Kyushu) had a solid debut over ten miles as he won the 39th Kumamoto Kosa 10-Miler in 45:51, one of the fastest times in the world this year.  Karemi beat a massive chase pack containing many of Japan's best current track runners and marathoners by more than 40 seconds, setting both himself and Morishita's Toyota Kyushu corporate team up for a big day at next month's New Year Ekiden national championships. In the chase pack, rookie pro Natsuki Terada (Team JR Higashi Nihon), famous for taking a wrong turn in the last 200 m of the Hakone Ekiden anchor stage as a first-year at Koku Gakuin University , showed the strength of the kick that got him back into position at Hakone by winning an at least nine-way sprint finish for 2nd in 46:33.  Yuya Konishi led three other Toyota Kyushu runners ...

by Brett Larner Just a week after the busiest ekiden weekend of the year comes another big weekend of racing in Japan.  The Yokohama International Women's Marathon is the most important of them, the first of the three domestic selection races for the Japanese women's Olympic marathon team.  Despite a bad race at August's Daegu World Championships, defending champ, course record holder and 2009 World Championships silver medalist Yoshimi Ozaki  (Team Daiichi Seimei) is the domestic favorite.  It's not a one-woman race, though, as Ryoko Kizaki  (Team Daihatsu) comes in fresh from a solid 15:22.87 5000 m PB at the end of September and may be ready for something big.   Kaoru Nagao  and her teammate Chika Horie  (Team Univ. Ent.) should also be in contention for the top Japanese woman position.  If she's fast enough the top Japanese woman will secure an Olympic spot.  The Japanese women face competition from the likes of Robe Guta ...

by Brett Larner Click photo for video highlights of men's 5000 m. The final day of track and field competition at the 2011 World University Games brought the biggest round of distance racing, with the women's and men's half marathon and the men's 5000 m final all taking place Aug. 21.  Both half marathons were slow and tactical as the athletes dealt with the morning heat and humidity.  The women's half went out in 18:59 for the first 5 km, a pace which kept the entire field together.  A split of 18:39 for the next 5 km dropped a few of the weaker runners, but a 17:42 split from 10 to 15 km cut the field down to seven, including all four Japanese runners.  China's Xiaoli Jiang  and Japan's Shiho Takechi  were unable to keep this pace and fell away from the lead pack.  Of the remaining five, only North Korean Un Ok Ro  could maintain pace as she ran 17:43 from 15 to 20 km to open a narrow lead she carried all the way to gold in 1:16:38.  Ch...

by Brett Larner #316 Tatsuro Okazaki leads half marathon Asian jr. area record holder Suguru Osako, #315, in the 1500 m on Apr. 2 at Tokyo's National Stadium. Click here for more pictures courtesy of WESC. Even as road races continue to be cancelled in the wake of last month's earthquake and tsunami, track season got underway this weekend with a handful of competitive meets across the country. Among highlights of the distance events: At the Mar. 30 Kokushikan University Time Trials in Tama, Tokyo, women's 10000 m junior national record holder Megumi Kinukawa (Team Mizuno) returned from a long layoff due to injury to run 15:46.58 , the lone woman in a men's 5000 m. 2011 Hakone Ekiden winners Waseda University dominated the distance events at the Tokyo Six University Meet at the National Stadium on Apr. 2. Seniors Yo Yazawa and Yuki Yagi went 1-2 in the 5000 m, clocking 14:03.04 and 14:15.73. Sophomores Kohei Kudo and Noriki Tazawa likewise went 1-2 in the 300...

by Brett Larner photos by Daniel Seite On a windy and wild Nov. 23, a select team of Japanese university all-stars staged a surprise upset at the 2010 International Chiba Ekiden , coming up in the second half of the race to take its first-ever win over a field including ten national teams. 1st Stage leaders. In running order: Yuichiro Ueno (Japan), Vincent Yator (Kenya), Craig Mottram (Australia), Taku Fujimoto (Japan Univ.), Bobby Curtis (U.S.A.) While the expected battle between Kenya and Japan took place up front, 2010 Kanto Regional University 5000 m champion Taku Fujimoto (Kokushikan Univ.) ran a gritty 1st Stage to put the university team into 3rd as 2009 double 1500 m and 5000 m national champion Yuichiro Ueno had a rare perfect run, putting Japan into 1st over Kenyan ace Vincent Yator just 1 second off the stage record. 2010 National University 5000 m runner-up Risa Takenaka (Ritsumeikan Univ.) caught up to Kenyan Mercy Njoroge on the 2nd Stage while her male counterpart, 2...

by Brett Larner Sophomore Shota Hiraga brings Waseda University in for a course record win at the 2010 Izumo Ekiden. With starting temperatures an unseasonable 27 degrees, Waseda University head coach Yasuyuki Watanabe finally put it together Oct. 11 with the biggest success of his career, a sleek and scintillating course record win at the 22nd Izumo Ekiden . Despite a slight edge on paper over rivals Komazawa University and Nittai University , Watanabe's history of drilling talented squads into the ground and arriving at important races in tatters stood against Waseda's chances. The fears of another blowup were groundless. All six Waseda runners, juniors Yo Yazawa and Yuki Yagi , sophomore Saku Chosei HS grads Hiroyuki Sasaki and Shota Hiraga and star frosh recruits and 2010 World Jr. Championships teammates Suguru Osako and Fuminori Shikata ran perfectly, the first time in recent memory that can be said of a Waseda team. Yazawa pushed Kenyan Cosmas Ondiba (Yamanashi ...

by Brett Larner Monday's 22nd Izumo Ekiden kicks off Japan's fall season, with some of the top university teams from the Kanto region squaring off against the best from the rest of the country over shorter distances than in any of the other major road events. An all-star team of American Ivy League alum also makes an appearance each year to add a bit of international color. The race will be broadcast live online on Fuji TV on Oct. 11 from 1:00 to 3:25 p.m. Japan time, and thanks to the miracle of modern computer technology overseas viewers can watch live online through Keyhole TV. That's midnight Sunday night for Ivy Leaguers, 9 pm on the West Coast, or, unfortunately, 5 a.m. Monday morning in London. Click here for more details on watching online . JRN will be doing live English commentary via Twitter on JRNLive . It looks like a foregone conclusion that the race is going to be a battle between two of the big powerhouse universities: Komazawa and Waseda . The Hakone Eki...

by Brett Larner The final day of the 2010 Japanese National University Track and Field Championships wrapped up with some of the best action of the meet's three days. Despite missing its three top-ranked runners Kiragu Njuguna (Kenya/Daiichi Kogyo Univ.), Taku Fujimoto (Kokushikan Univ.) and Akinobu Murasawa (Tokai Univ.), the men's 5000 m field included 18 men with PBs under 14 minutes. The conditions, 32 degrees, sunny and windy, meant that the race would be slow and allow some of the slower men to have a chance. With the early leaders taking it out on track for a 14:10, Hiroki Mitsuoka (Kyoto Sangyo Univ.) took full advantage of the situation. One of the only men in the field from outside the Kanto region, with just the 15th-best PB in the field, 13:57.67, Mitsuoka patiently waited until the final 800 m to get into the race. With no warning he suddenly kicked from 700 m out and dropped a 59-second 400 m. Pursued partway by Waseda University ace Yo Yazawa , Mitsuoka brok...

2010 International Antwerp Athletics Gala click here for complete results Men's 5000 m Heat 1 1. Ryan Vail (U.S.A.) - 13:32.10 - PB 2. Bitan Karoki (Kenya/Team S&B) - 13:45.74 3. Yo Yazawa (Waseda Univ.) - 13:52.88 4. Clint Perret (Australia) - 13:59.25 5. Jonathan Pierce (U.S.A.) - 14:03.90

2010 EA Classic Atleticky Most, Slovakia - Top Results click event header for complete results Men's 5000 m 1. Micah Kogo (Kenya) - 13:26.03 2. Paul Lonyangat (Kenya) - 13:30.58 3. Bitan Karoki (Kenya/Team S&B) - 13:32.56 ----- 7. Yuichiro Ueno (Team S&B) - 14:07.00 8. Yo Yazawa (Waseda Univ.) - 14:14.32 9. Yuta Takahashi (Team S&B) - 14:19.04 (c) 2010 Brett Larner all rights reserved

http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/100815/spg1008152024002-n1.htm http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2010081500118 translated and edited by Brett Larner At an international athletics meet in Leuven, Belgium on Aug. 14, 2009 men's 1500 m national champion Yuichiro Ueno (Team S&B) recorded a PB of 3:39.52 while finishing 5th. His teammate Bitan Karoki (Team S&B) was 4th in the 3000 m in 7:51.91 with fellow teammate Yuta Takahashi (Team S&B) 11th in 8:00.21. Waseda University junior Yo Yazawa was 7th in 7:57.62. Ueno's time was a PB by 1.31 seconds and puts him 2.10 seconds off the Japanese national record. The same day at a meet in Fribourg, Switzerland, women's 100 m national record holder Chisato Fukushima (Team Hokkaido Hi-Tec AC) won the 100 m in 11.32 with her longtime rival Momoko Takahashi (Heisei Kokusai Univ.) 3rd in 11.64. Takahashi was also 2nd in the 200 m in 23.87. The pair, part of a first-ever Rikuren-sponsored European trip for Japan'...

by Brett Larner Top results from part four of this year's Hokuren Distance Challenge series, held July 10 in Kushiro, Hokkaido. 2010 Hokuren Distance Challenge Kushiro Meet Results click here for complete results Men's 10000 m 1. Shunsuke Nomura (Team Osaka Gas) - 29:27.53 2. Jee Young-Joon (S. Korea) - 29:33.97 3. Kim Min (S. Korea) - 29:36.21 Women's 5000 m 1. Yurika Nakamura (Team Tenmaya) - 16:20.25 2. Tomo Morimoto (Team Tenmaya) - 16:36.82 3. Naoko Sakamoto (Team Tenmaya) - 16:55.89 Men's 5000 m 1. Gideon Ngatuny (Kenya/Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 13:28.69 2. Alex Mwangi (Kenya/Team YKK) - 13:52.65 3. Takayuki Matsumiya (Team Konica Minolta) - 13:55.82 4. Tomoya Onishi (Team Asahi Kasei) - 13:57.78 5. Daisuke Shimizu (Team Kanebo) - 14:00.99 6. Tomoyuki Morita (Team Kanebo) - 14:03.66 7. Masato Kihara (Team Kanebo) - 14:04.13 8. Samuel Kariuki (Kenya/Team Konica Minolta) - 14:04.74 9. Yuki Iwai (Team Asahi Kasei) - 14:06.51 10. Noriaki Takahashi (Team S&B) - 14:09...

http://www.chugoku-np.co.jp/sports/Sp201003050232.html translated by Brett Larner Note: This article repeats that of a few days ago but fleshes out the details significantly. Led by Team Chugoku Denryoku head coach and Rikuren director of men's marathoning Yasushi Sakaguchi, the athletes in Rikuren's men's marathoning reinforcement training camp depart Mar. 7 for two weeks in New Zealand. Departing from the usual practice, this year's camp is targeting university runners. Among the five student athletes attending the camp is two year-straight Hakone Ekiden Fifth Stage record setter Ryuji Kashiwabara (Toyo Univ.). We spoke to Director Sakaguchi about the training camp. Last year Rikuren revived the overseas training camps which had been a fixture of its calendar in the 1990's. What is the aim this time in focusing on athletes under age 23? Our goal is to get our most talented young runners looking toward the marathon from the start. We have a lot of runners who ...

by Brett Larner Japan's ekiden season begins each year with the university men's Izumo Ekiden , a 44 km six-stage course pitting the Kanto-region Hakone Ekiden schools against the best the rest of the country has to offer and a team made up of Ivy League alumni. With individual stages ranging from 5.0 to 10.2 km Izumo is completely different in character from other university ekidens, with less emphasis on strategy and endurance and more on pure speed. This was clear at last year's Izumo when Kenyan Daniel Gitau (Nihon Univ.) made up a 1:29 deficit on leaders Komazawa university over the 10.2 km anchor stage to steal the win with a stage-record 28:28. Gitau returns to lead Nihon, but despite the graduation of top Japanese member Takuma Sasaya Nihon must be viewed as the favorite once again, particularly if it fields but Gitau and first-year Benjamin Gando. It is unusual for a Japanese race to allow a team to field two foreign runners, but at last year's Izumo 4th-placer...

by Brett Larner Update: Click here for a listing of 2009 Hakone videos on YouTube. I've been watching the Hakone Ekiden since I first came to Japan in 1997, and wanting to write about it was one of the main reasons I started this blog. This year's Hakone was the best I've seen. There were four consecutive stage records on Day One, two by first-year runners and one a double record, and two all-time passing records. Not a single team was white-sashed despite the presence of three more teams than usual. Japan's two potentially greatest male distance runners ever, Kensuke Takezawa and Yuki Sato, finally settled who was who, and another runner emerged who might surpass them both. This year's Hakone also had an unusual amount of pure head-to-head racing, with spectacular bouts between Masato Kihara and Daniel Gitau, Ryuji Kashiwabara and Masayuki Miwa, Hikaru Tominaga and Kato Sota, and two exciting three-way sprint finishes on the final leg. After last year's carnag...

by Brett Larner Click here for a video digest and individual stage highlights of Hakone Day One. Toyo University first-year Ryuji Kashiwabara runs an epic 1:17:18 stage record on the 5th leg of the 2009 Hakone Ekiden to score Toyo's first-ever individual day Hakone win. The first day of the 2009 Hakone Ekiden will be remembered as one of the greatest in the event’s 85 year history. After a slow, tactical first leg, runners set new records on all four of the remaining stages, the highlight of which was an awe-inspiring 47-second record on the mountain-climbing 5th stage by Toyo University first-year Ryuji Kashiwabara. Kashiwabara, who said before the race that his goal was to break the untouchable 5th stage record set in 2007 by his fellow Iwaki High School graduate Masato Imai of Juntendo University, ran fearlessly from the stage's start, coming from 9th place, 4:58 behind the lead, to overtake Waseda University and give Toyo its first-ever single day victory by a margin of ...