japan running news

http://www.sanyo.oni.co.jp/news_s/news/d/2012120123222333/ translated and edited by Brett Larner The organizers of the 31st Sanyo Ladies Road Race in Okayama have finalized the elite field for the Dec. 23 race.  130 women will line up in the Yuko Arimori Cup Half Marathon division, with 234 in the Kinue Hitomi Cup 10 km division, making for a combined field of 364 that almost ties last year's record number of entries, 366. 2011 Daegu World Championships marathon 5th-place finisher Yukiko Akaba  (Team Hokuren) and other world-class competitors will grace the streets of Okayama with their running.  Having set the half marathon course record of 1:09:16 last year, it looks as though Akaba will again be the one dictating the terms of competition.  2011 Tokyo Marathon winner Noriko Higuchi  (Team Wacoal) should be her major rival.  Local Team Tenmaya will supply Beijing Olympics marathoner Yurika Nakamura , team captain Yuka Izumi  and first-year pro...

http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2012011600713 http://sankei.jp.msn.com/sports/news/120116/oth12011619010032-n1.htm http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2012/01/16/kiji/K20120116002445470.html http://sankei.jp.msn.com/region/news/120117/kgw12011702170000-n1.htm http://www.shikoku-np.co.jp/sports/local/20120117000111 translated and edited by Brett Larner On Jan. 16 the organizers of the 66th Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon , scheduled for Feb. 5, announced the 36 men and 17 women making up this year's elite field.  Headlining the overseas men's field are 58:46 all-time #3 half marathoner  Matthew Kisorio  (Kenya) and course record holder Mekubo Mogusu  (Kenya).  The top domestic draws in the men's race are national record holder Atsushi Sato  (Team Chugoku Denryoku) and Olympic hopeful Yuki Kawauchi  (Saitama Pref.) in his final tuneup for the Tokyo Marathon.  Two-time World Championships marathoner Satoshi Irifune ...

http://www.iaaf.org/LRR11/news/newsid=62785.html

by Brett Larner photos by Mika Tokairin Running in near-perfect conditions on a flatter new course, 2009 World Championships marathon silver medalist Yoshimi Ozaki (Team Daiichi Seimei) ran a race record 2:23:56 to win the 2011 Yokohama International Women's Marathon and become the first Japanese woman to secure a guaranteed spot on the team for this summer's World Championships. Ozaki said before the race that her goal was only to win, not to run a fast time, but her mark was the fastest by a Japanese woman in over 2 years and close to her PB. Top two Nakazato and Ozaki. Pacemaker Shoko Mori (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) took the race out faster than planned with a 3:19 first km, but things soon settled down to 16:59 for the first 5 km. Despite being right on target pace the pack began to fracture, with debutante Yuka Izumi (Team Tenmaya) then 2:29 women Mayumi Fujita (Team Juhachi Ginko) and Kaori Yoshida (Amino Vital AC) losing touch. The pack continued to splinter as the pac...

by Brett Larner The second running of the elite Yokohama International Women's Marathon takes place this Sunday, Feb. 20. Intended as a continuation of the legacy of the Tokyo International Women's Marathon, which fell under the wheels of the mixed elite and mass-participation Tokyo Marathon in 2008. Conceived of as a speed race with a spectator-friendly circuit course designed to help athletes qualify and prepare for world-level championship marathons held on similar loops, Yokohama has struggled to get off the ground thus far. It was bumped from its original Nov. 23 date last year by the APEC conference held in Yokohama, its hillier-than-promised course changed from a three-circuit loop through downtown Yokohama to a two-circuit loop this year with much of the race taking place on an out-and-back along the industrial waterfront south of the city, and relatively weak fields compared to those pulled in by Tokyo. This year will see two Yokohamas as it is scheduled to return to ...

by Brett Larner The 2011 National Women's Interprefectural Ekiden Championships take place this Sunday, Jan. 16, in Kyoto. With each of Japan's 47 prefectures fielding a team made up of runners from the top pro, university, high school and junior high school teams the Interprefectural Ekiden is the de facto national distance running championship and offers an interesting cross-section of who is who at all domestic levels of the sport. The race is broadcast live nationwide and commercial-free on NHK beginning at 12:15 p.m. Japan time. Overseas viewers should be able to watch via Keyhole TV using the password NHK. Host Kyoto has long been the dominant force at the Interprefectural Ekiden, winning every year from 2005-2009 and taking a total of 13 wins in the ekiden's 28-year history, more than any other prefecture. Last year Okayama dethroned Kyoto, taking its first-ever win. This year Kyoto and Okayama are again the clear-cut favorites. Okayama returns with a team ma...

http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/general/track/news/20100125k0000m050090000c.html translated by Brett Larner At the last major women's ekiden of the season, the 21st Kita-Kyushu Women's Invitational Ekiden on Jan. 24 in Kita-Kyushu, Team Tenmaya won the five-stage, 32.8 km open division for the first time in 15 years. Top-ranked Kojokan H.S. took its first win the six-stage, 32.8 km high school division. Both teams hail from Okayama Prefecture and carried over the momentum from Okayama's win at last week's National Interprefectural Women's Ekiden. Tenmaya's Second Stage runner Yuka Izumi took the lead which Third and Fourth Stage runners Yoshie Kurisu and Kaori Urata lengthened with stage best runs. Tenmaya's anchor, Beijing Olympian Yurika Nakamura , was never seriously threatened as she cruised home for the win. Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo took 2nd after advancing in the later stages, while early leader Team Juhachi Ginko fell to 3rd. Team Acom, which w...

http://www.plus-blog.sportsnavi.com/kmanabu/article/133 translated and edited by Brett Larner Team Kyudenko's Pauline Kiragu Wanguru won a five-way sprint finish at the 2008 Sanyo Women's Road Race half marathon to win in a PB of 1:10:54. A hilly course, cold temperatures and strong winds in the second half made for an overall tactical race. Five runners remained together with 400 m to go, meaning the race would go to the strongest kicker. Wanguru pulled ahead by a step to beat Team Sysmex's Megumi Seike, who came fresh from winning the Nov. 30 Shanghai Half Marathon, and Second Wind AC newcomer Ruth Wanjiru. Team Tenmaya's Yuka Izumi was 4th in a PB of 1:10:58, with Wanjiru's teammate Akemi Ozaki a short distance behind in 5th. Second Wind AC head coach Manabu Kawagoe commented that the race was excellent preparation for Ozaki and Wanjiru's planned run in next month's Osaka International Women's Marathon, but that Ozaki was feeling in top condition and ...