japan running news

https://www.athletics.com.au/news/kipchoge-leads-unprecedented-mens-field-at-2025-tcs-sydney-marathon/

Australia's Gold Coast Marathon is back for its 45th running with title sponsorship from longtime partner ASICS. Two-time winner Rodah Tanui is the top name in the women's race with a 2:23:14 in Copenhagen two years ago, with her strongest competition coming from Olympian Khishigsaikhan Galbadrakh , who set a Mongolian NR of 2:26:32 in Tokyo last year. Zerihun Alemtsehay and Caroline Kilel both have recent sub-2:30 times, and debuting Ethiopian Tegest Ayalew looks to have a sub-2:30 in her too. Pacing is planned to be a 1:12:00 first half, an ambitious goal for pretty much everyone except maybe Tanui. Up front in the men's race are a solid trio of 2:07 runners made up of Ethiopians Gizealew Ayana and Japan-based Derese Workneh , and Kenyan Mathew Samperu . The top tier of Japanese men come in at the 2:08 level, including Mizuki Higashi , Yuki Takei , and Ryoma Takeuchi , a pacer at Gold Coast last year. Past winner Yuki Kawauchi has only run under 2:20 once in 2024 a...

Ayumi Morita (Tokyo Metro) won the women's race at Sunday's Nagano Marathon in dominant style, finishing almost 5 minutes ahead of runner-up Chifumi Ito (MRA) in 2:32:58. Hiroki Nagayama (Sumitomo Denko) had a narrower win in the men's race, running down breakaway leader Kiyohito Akiyama (Aichi Seiko) after 35 km to win 2:12:56 to 2:13:27, with last year's winner Kento Nishi  (Osaka Gas) 3rd in 2:15:48. Elsewhere, Sachi Ito (Pacer TC) won the Kasumigaura Marathon in 2:46:38, a 45-minute improvement on her last appearance at Kasumigaura 8 years ago. Yuki Kawauchi (ANDS) won the men's race in 2:19:10. Australian Ciaran Rushton won Kasumigaura's 10-mile race in 49:36 by 4 seconds over Nozomi Sugaya (Komazawa Univ.), with Aya Inden (Takushoku Univ.) winning the women's 10-miler in 59:30. At the Shanghai Half Marathon Aoi Ota (GMO) made his corporate league debut with a 1:03:05, far off the podium in a race that saw top 3 Roncer Kipkorir , Edmond Kip...

Women's marathon NR holder and Paris Olympic team member Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) ran Friday's Paris Festival of Running , one of six Japanese athletes across the four main distances at the event. Maeda was 19th of 24 finishers in the elite women's 5 km, running 16:13 to winner Caroline Nyaga 's 14:40. Haruka Ogawa (Rikkyo Univ.) was next in 16:24 for 20th. Tomo Muramatsu (Ritsumeikan Univ.) was the top Japanese woman in the elite 10 km, 13th of 14 in 35:04 over 5 minutes behind winner Likina Amebaw . The men had a little more success, with Naoki Ota (Yakult) 7th of 11 in the elite 5 km in 14:03 and Shunpei Yamaguchi (Waseda Univ.) 9th in 14:10. Hagos Gebrhiwet won in 13:24. Jemal Mekonnen won the elite 10 km in 27:43 by 1 seconds over Hillary Kipkoech , with Haruto Ishizuka (Waseda Univ.) 22nd in 30:06. Two days later at the Paris Marathon , men's Olympic marathon team alternate Yuki Kawauchi (ANDS) continued the downward trajectory of his performances this ...

The fastest Japanese men's half marathon time of the weekend came overseas, where 2018 Fukuoka International Marathon winner Yuma Hattori followed up his New Year Ekiden-winning anchor run for Toyota with a 1:02:49 for 6th at the Santa Pola International Half Marathon in Spain almost 3 minutes behind winner Andamlak Belihu of Ethiopia. In a bit of synchronicity, 2020 Fukuoka winner Yuya Yoshida ran the fastest time of the weekend on home soil, outrunning GMO teammate Yuta Shimoda by 16 seconds to win Kumamoto's Okukuma Half Marathon in 1:03:07. Kazuto Kawabata (SGH) was 3rd in 1:03:26 as the only other runner to clear 64 minutes. Ibusuki Nanohana Marathon winner Yuki Kawauchi (ANDS) was in 27th at 5 km in 15:08 and faded a minute per 5 km from there to end up 37th in 1:10:17. Close behind him, women-only marathon NR holder Mao Ichiyama (Shiseido) had a surprisingly narrow win over relative unknown Yukari Nagatomo (Memolead) 1:12:26 to 1:12:38, Ichiyama's 3rd-st...

Even as question marks bubble to the surface about whether the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will go ahead as planned amid the worldwide spread of the novel coronavirus, Japan is preparing for what will really, honestly, be the end of qualification for its all-important home soil Olympic marathon teams this Sunday. It's been a long process, with a two-year qualification window for last September's MGC Olympic trials race, where the top two in the women's and men's races scored places on the 2020 teams while the 3rd-placer was put in a wait-and-see position pending the outcome of the Final Challenge. That was the name given to the usual winter 2019-20 circuit of domestic races, the Saitama International, Osaka International and Nagoya Women's Marathon for women, and Fukuoka International, Tokyo and Lake Biwa Marathon for men. If anyone at one of these races broke the fastest time run during the MGC qualifying window they'd replace the 3rd-placer at the MGC race on the ...

Coming right after the announcement of elite field for the Mar. 8 Nagoya Women's Marathon is the announcement for its male counterpart, the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon earlier the same day. Like Nagoya it's the last chance for someone to make the 2020 Olympic team. All they have to do is break the 2:05:50 national record, or whatever the fastest Japanese man runs at the Tokyo Marathon a week earlier if someone there goes better than 2:05:50. Basically it's not going to happen. Takuya Noguchi (Konica Minolta) is the only Japanese guy at Lake Biwa under 2:09 in the last three years, and he hasn't been himself since his 2:08:59 win at the 2017 Gold Coast Marathon. There's no shortage of people around the 2:09 to 2:10 level, but out of them the only one who could conceivably have the kind of breakthrough it would take to make the Olympic team is Kengo Suzuki (Fujitsu). At the MGC Race 2020 Olympic marathon trials last September Suzuki was the guy who played do...

Tweaking its lineup to replace the ailing Yuki Koike with fast starter Shuhei Tada , the Japanese men's 4x100 m relay team pulled off a bronze medal on the second-to-last day of the Doha World Championships. In a fast race that saw the top four teams set national and area records, Japan ran an Asian record 37.43 for 3rd behind winner U.S.A. in 37.10 and 2nd-place Great Britain in 37.36, a shot of confidence ahead of next summer's Tokyo Olympics where the 4x100 will be one of the country's best chances of medaling. Along with its pair of men's race walk gold medals the team's bronze brought Japan's medal count to three for the Championships. After running an 11-second PB to move up to all-time Japanese #3 in the women's 5000 m heats, Nozomi Tanaka improved again with a 15:00.01 in the final to advance to all-time #2. With the race going out well below Japanese national record pace Tanaka was just hanging on the entire time, part of the first group to ...

As a route to qualification for next month's MGC Race Olympic marathon trials the Hokkaido Marathon saw higher-quality results than usual last year, but in its first edition after the closing of the trials qualifying period yesterday's 2019 running had no shortage on quality. In warm conditions the men's race went out conservatively with a 1:06:57 first half and turned into a show of who could negative split the hardest, with the top six all running the second half faster. Ryo Matsumoto , part of the top current marathon program in Japan, Toyota , won by over 30 seconds in 2:12:57 with 2nd through 6th all finishing within 15 seconds of each other in the mid-2:13s. Kasumi Yoshida (Nitori) did a lot of the work in leading the women's pack for the first 30 km before heavy favorite Mirai Waku (Univ. Ent.) took off. Waku had said pre-race that she wanted to break 2:30, but despite falling well short of that she opened a lead of over a minute and a half to win in 2:33:...

The JAAF announced the lineups today for the Japanese women's and men's marathon teams for this fall's Doha World Championships . Having scheduled Japan's new MGC Race 2020 Olympic marathon trials event for two weeks before the World Championships the JAAF has specified that nobody can double, meaning that, including alternates, three of the four women and all four men named would have to give up a chance at being part of the Tokyo Olympics in order to get a guaranteed spot on a lesser national team. That means a team drawn from the middle and lower end of the list of trials qualifiers, a good mix of relatively inexperienced younger athletes likely to develop further for the 2024 Paris Olympics, mid-career runners without much chance of making the top few spots at the trials, and aging veterans who've shrewdly sussed out that being on a national team is better for their brands than going for a higher-level one they know they can't make. It's a B-team t...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/2019-vancouver-marathon-participation-record-sedins-yuki-1.5123950 Complete results here . Photos © 2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

On a day that saw the fastest Boston Marathon men's winning time in 8 years and one of the deepest races in history with ten men under 2:10 including two Americans, the strongest-ever Japanese men's contingent at Boston couldn't live up to the level of the day. 2018 Jakarta Asian Games gold medalist Hiroto Inoue lasted the longest, running solidly in the lead pack well into the Newton hills and looking comfortable until he didn't. Inoue ended up 12th in 2:11:53, just missing a top 10 placing that would have put him clear of the 2020 Olympic qualifying standards ahead of September's MGC Race Olympic trials. Defending champ Yuki Kawauchi fell off early, dropping at one point to 5th among the five elite Japanese men in the field but rallying late in the race to take 17th in 2:15:29, 29 seconds faster than his winning time last year. Kawauchi ran down Hayato Sonoda in the home straight, Sonoda next across the line behind him in 2:15:58. Masao Kizu was a...

It's a week until the Boston Marathon . After decades of its best giving it a miss Boston is coming back into fashion among Japan's elite marathoners. With top three finishes in the men's race the last two years we just might see three in a row for the first time since the golden years back in 1965-1967. A brief introduction to who'll be on the starting line this year: Nami Hashimoto PB/SB: 2:33:22 (Nagoya 2019) Hashimoto has been on a roll so far this year, winning her debut at the Jan. 27 Katsuta Marathon in 2:34:18, running a PB of 1:46:30 three weeks later for 2nd at the Ome 30 km, then bettering her Katsuta time another three weeks later with a 2:33:22 at the Nagoya Women's Marathon. Both Katsuta and Ome send top-placing finishers to Boston, making this Hashimoto's international debut. Hiroto Inoue PB/SB: 2:06:54 (Tokyo 2018) Generally considered to have the best chance of making Japan's 2020 Olympic marathon team, Inoue had a stellar 20...

Having left his government job at the end of the Japanese fiscal year in March to make a go of it as a professional runner, it was announced today that 2018 Boston Marathon winner Yuki Kawauchi , 32, has signed a three-year sponsorship deal with piano maker Yamaha Music Japan Co., Ltd . “What I like about a Yamaha piano is that it’s all there in front of you in black and white, like life,” said Kawauchi, an avid pianist as a child before his parents made him pursue running. “I hope that we’ll have a long and harmonious relationship, with just a hint of dissonance for depth.” The endorsement deal includes the introduction of a “Make a Breakthrough” Kawauchi signature model acoustic grand piano, proceeds from the sales of which will go toward supporting Kawauchi’s training in the lead-up to the 2021 Eugene World Championships. A delighted Yamaha president Naoji Suda told reporters, “Kawauchi’s values are well-tuned to ours, one of the keys to any successful relationship. I can’...

The National Cross-Country Championships were the weekend's most competitive race, but half marathons were the main source of road action. Takumi Obara (Komazawa Univ.) ran the fastest time of the day to win the 41st Inuyama Half Marathon in 1:03:52, outrunning Shoya Kawase (Seigakkan Univ.) by two seconds. Kawase's run was a rare sub-64 from a university man outside the Kanto Region, holding off 3rd placer Shota Ezomori (Waseda Univ.) by four seconds. Honoka Sugiura (Chukyo Univ.) dominated the women's race by nearly a minute to win in 1:13:31. Daiji Kawai (Toenec) won Inuyama's 10 km division in a strong 29:01, with Honoka Wada (Nagano Higashi H.S.) the fastest woman at 33:50. At the 68th Kashima Yutoku Half Marathon , Ryuichi Hashimoto (Juntendo Univ.) won the men's race in 1:04:40, with Hiroko Yoshitomi (Memolead) taking the women's race in 1:15:01. Hikaru Kumagai (Raffine) ran almost the identical time to Hashimoto to win the 13th Fukaya City...

With just under three weeks to go the organizers of the Mar. 10 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon 's 74th running have finally released the elite field. For Japanese men it's the last chance - almost - to qualify for September's MGC Race 2020 Olympic marathon trials, the last domestic race with up to six spots up for grabs for anyone under 2:11:00 or 2:10:00 and more for anyone else under 2:08:30 or averaging under 2:11:00 between Lake Biwa and another marathon in the last year and a half. The window on that last two-race option runs through April 30th so there will still be a few chances left, but realistically for most of the men at Lake Biwa this is it, all or nothing for a home soil Olympic team. There's a good international field of twelve African-born runners of eight nationalities at the 2:06 to 2:09 level to help pull the Japanese men to hit those times. Last year's winner Macharia Ndirangu (Kenya/Aichi Seiko) is back, ranked 6th in a field led by 2:06 men De...

Don't set limits on yourself. 2018 Jakarta Asian Games marathon gold medalist and all-time Japanese #5 man at 2:06:54, Hiroto Inoue (26, MHPS) returned to Japan on Jan. 31 after three weeks of training in New Zealand for the Apr. 15 Boston Marathon. Even though New Zealand was hit by a severe heat wave with temperatures going over 30˚C, he completed a 50 km run and two 40 km runs. Inoue was positive about the training camp, saying, "I built up a good base and ran according to purpose. The sunshine was brutally strong and there were days when it was really windy, but by training hard in the midst of tough conditions I've put in the groundwork to be able to handle the distance." His coach Jun Kuroki , 47, was also positive, saying, "He had no injury issues, trained well, and had a good time." The ability to win is what he is honing now. In preparation for September's MGC Race 2020 Tokyo Olympic marathon trials, Inoue will give March's Tokyo Marath...

https://bmovanmarathon.ca/kawauchi 2019 Hakone Ekiden winner Tokai University 's head coach Hayashi Morozumi won Vancouver in 1993 in 2:18:37, the same time as the record for the current harder version of the course. No Japanese man has won Vancouver since 1999.

2018 Jakarta Asian Games men's marathon gold medalist Hiroto Inoue (26, MHPS) announced Jan. 10 that he this season he will tackle one of the world's highest-level races, April's Boston Marathon. "Not having pacers in a race adds its own kind of stress," he said. "I want to race it seriously as a step toward what's coming up." The Boston Marathon is famous for its uphills late in the race. September's MGC Race 2020 Olympic marathon trials event also features an uphill at 37 km, and the opportunity to get the same kind of experience was enough to convince him to run. Originally Inoue had been looking at running March's Tokyo Marathon where he ran 2:06:54 last year, but, he said, "I want to run for time when the time comes to run for it. This year is about finding out how competitively I can race." Inoue made his announcement just before departing for a training camp in New Zealand along with his MHPS teammate Ryo Kiname , 28. ...

The year's international road racing circuit kicked off Sunday with two races in Asia featuring top-level Japanese athletes. At the C&D Xiamen Marathon in China, ten Japanese athletes ranked in the women's and men's Asian top 100 ran with support from JRN as part of Xiamen's bid to become the first race worldwide to qualify for the IAAF's new platinum road race label. 2016 Osaka Marathon winner and mother of three Yoshiko Sakamoto (Y.W.C.) placed highest among them, taking 7th in 2:39:00 with 2018 Osaka runner-up Haruka Yamaguchi (AC Kita)  9th in 2:42:39, 2017 Osaka winner Yumiko Kinoshita (Tokyo T&F Assoc.) 10th in 2:43:56, and 2018 Geneva Marathon runner-up Hisae Yoshimatsu (Shunan City Hall) 12th in 2:45:32. Running just two days after Josai University had a disappointing 20th-place finish at the Hakone Ekiden , its assistant coach Shingo Igarashi was the top-placing Japanese man at 15th in 2:20:45. Dejene Debele (Ethiopia) won the men'...