japan running news

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....

by Brett Larner Portugal's Sport Zone Porto Half Marathon celebrates its 10th running with a strong men's field.   Silas Kimutai (Kenya) leads four men with recent times under 61 minutes followed closely by five more under 62.   Hiroshi Ichida (Team Asahi Kasei) and Shun Inoura (Team Yachiyo Kogyo) lead the third group of sub-63 men followed by countryman Yusei Nakao (Smiley Angel AC), the top Japanese man at May's Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon for the last three years in a row. Martha Akeno (Kenya) is the top-ranked woman in the field under 71 minutes but could get some competition from Japan's Ayumi Kubo (Team Kagoshima Ginko) who ran 1:11:29 last December.   Nao Isaka (Team Hitachi) should provide a good target for top Portuguese woman Filomena Costa with just 25 seconds separating their recent bests. 10th Sport Zone Porto Half Marathon Porto, Portugal, 9/18/16 times listed are best within last three years Men Silas Kimutai (Kenya) - 1:00:17 (2014) ...

Japanese distance runners didn't exactly impress in Rio, but the next month or two will see quite a few racing on the roads overseas in search of   keiken , that ever-elusive experience that is somehow going to someday transform them into Olympic marathon medalists.  A few of the road races with Japanese athletes on their entry lists: Sept. 11: Muenster Marathon, Germany men: Shingo Igarashi (Josai University Coaching Staff) women: Yoshiko Sakamoto (Y.W.C.) Sept. 11: Great North Run, U.K. men: Kazuhiro Maeda (Kyudenko) Sept. 18: Sydney Marathon, Australia men: Sota Hoshi (Fujitsu) Sept. 18: Porto Half Marathon, Portugal men: Hiroshi Ichida (Asahi Kasei), Shun Inoura (Yachiyo Kogyo), Yusei Nakao (Smiley Angel AC) women: Nao Isaka (Hitachi), Ayumi Kubo (Kagoshima Ginko) Sept. 25: Berlin Marathon, Germany men: Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) women: Reia Iwade (Noritz) Sept. 25: Warsaw Marathon, Poland men: Akiyuki Iwanaga (Kyudenko) Oct. 9: Chic...

by Brett Larner Suehiro Ishikawa, Yusei Nakao, host family Jamie and Kenji Ogura and crew post-race. Rio Olympics men's marathon team member Suehiro Ishikawa (Team Honda) took 2nd in the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon at Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota, a solid tuneup performance ahead of August's main event.  Ishikawa finished less than 30 seconds behind winner Macdonald Ondara (Kenya). Making his international full marathon debut at Grandma's, Yusei Nakao (Smiley Angel AC), the top Japanese man at May's Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon, struggled to deal with temperatures that climbed to 24 degrees, dropping from the lead pack before halfway and fading to 17th overall.    Elisha Barno (Kenya) won in 2:11:26.  Sarah Kiptoo (Kenya) won the women's race in 2:33:28, with Ethiopian Simegn Abnet Yeshanbel breaking up the Kenyan domination as she won the women's half in 1:13:22. 40th Grandma's Marathon Duluth, MN, U.S.A., 6/18/16 click he...

by Brett Larner Bahraini national record holder Eunice Kirwa did it again, easily breaking the Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon women's course record in 1:08:55 to win by over two minutes.  Kenyan Rebecca Kangogo Chesir was the only one to put up some competition, running with Kirwa through 5 km in 15:49 before dropping back to take 2nd in 1:11:09.  Formerly Japan-based Ethiopian Betelhem Moges started much more conservatively, over 30 seconds behind the lead pair at 5 km but closing to take 3rd close enough to record the same 1:11:09 finish time as Chesir.  Japan's Rio Olympics marathon medal hopeful Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal) started in the 2nd pack with Moges but fell far off pace in the second half, taking 6th overall in 1:12:04 and just holding off Yuka Ando (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) for top Japanese honors. In the men's race Kenyan Kenneth Keter pushed a lead group of nine, eight Africans plus Mongolian national record holder Ser-Od Bat-Ochir (Team NTN) through a...

by Brett Larner 2014 Asian Games marathon gold medalist Eunice Kirwa (Bahrain) was back in Japan at Sunday's hot Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon , pulling along Atsede Baysa (Ethiopia) and Paskalia Kipkoech (Kenya) through the early kilometers but on her own by 30 seconds before halfway and rolling on unchallenged to a new course and national record of 1:09:37.  Baysa was likewise on her own in 2nd in 1:10:37, while Brianne Nelson (U.S.A.) ran down Kipkoech late in the race for 3rd in 1:12:43.  Yuko Mizuguchi (Team Denso) took top Japanese honors at 5th in 1:13:47. On the men's side, former Team Toyota runner James Rungaru (Kenya) likewise pushed things early in his return to Japan, killing off favorite Tsegaye Kebede (Ethiopia) with an opening 5 km of 14:17 that put him 10 seconds ahead of the chase group including past winner Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC).  Rungaru slowed in the final 5 km but was out of range of the chasers and took the win in 1:02:...

by Brett Larner Tewelde Estifanos became the first Eritrean man in history to win the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon , running up front throughout the race and dropping Japan's Hiroki Kadota (Team Kanebo) and Hiroyuki Yamamoto (Team Konica Minolta) late in the game to win in a 2:10:18 PB.  Erratic pacing made for an unsual race, with the two Kenyan pacers, tasked with running 3:02/km, doing opening splits of 3:11 and 3:10 before suddenly gunning it to try to hit the mandated 15:10 at 5 km.  Virtually every 5 km they did the same thing, surging a kilometer out from the timing mat to get closer to the desired split before relaxing again. Some of the front group including Estifanos, Kadota, Yamamoto and defending champion Abraham Kiplimo (Uganda) went with them every time, but others including domestic favorites Naoki Okamoto (Team Chugoku Denryoku) and Yusei Nakao (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) let go, taking their time in working back up to the lead group in time for the pacers'...

by Brett Larner Tokyo-based 2014 Lisbon Half Marathon winner Bedan Karoki  (Kenya/DeNA RC) and little-known Visiline Jepkesho  (Kenya) upstaged big names Zersenay Tadese (Eritrea) and Edna Kiplagat  (Kenya) to take the men's and women's title at Sunday's fourth edition of the Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon . Tadese led through 5 km in 14:17 with Karoki relaxing two seconds back at the rear of the lead pack of Africans.  From there Karoki moved to the front, pushing the pace to a 14:06 split until by 10 km only he, Tadese and Japan-based Ethiopian Abayneh Ayele  (Team Mazda) remained.  Things slowed over the next 5 km, but despite the slackened pace Karoki picked up a slight lead.  Heading into the last 5 km as temperatures rose Karoki said goodbye for good, dropping a 14:03 split from 15 km and 20 km to open his lead over world record holder Tadese to 1:14.  Closing at near-world record speed, Karoki crossed the line in 1:00:02, taking the win and...

by Brett Larner It’s still early in the year, but the Japanese men’s major domestic spring marathon season is already reaching its peak with Sunday’s Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon . Lake Biwa was Japan’s first IAAF gold label marathon and is one of its oldest continuous races, but with last weekend’s Tokyo Marathon having joined the Fukuoka International Marathon in 2:05 course record territory it is due for an improvement on Wilson Kipsang ’s 2:06:13 course record. To get there it has enlisted defending champion and Daegu World Championships silver medalist Vincent Kipruto (Kenya) and former junior world record holder Bazu Worku (Ethiopia), both with 2:05 bests. The pair’s duel, or teamwork, up front should be one of this year’s main story lines. Another is Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov’t) and his quest for a 2:07. Kawauchi is the lone A-list Japanese man in the field this year, at Lake Biwa for the sole purpose of joining Japan’s sub-2:08 club. Since his world record-set...

by Brett Larner Two weeks after finishing 4th and 6th in 1:02:44 and 1:02:58 at the Great North Run half marathon, London Olympian Arata Fujiwara  (Miki House) and the Koichi Morishita -coached Ryuji Watanabe  (Team Toyota Kyushu) scored wins on the roads at opposite ends of Japan. Running at Hokkaido's Hakodate Half Marathon  against a strong domestic field including perennial rival Yuki Kawauchi  (Saitama Pref. Gov't) who was 8th at the Great North Run, Fujiwara bided his time in hot conditions before attacking 2008 World Half Marathon 5th-placer  Yusei Nakao  and Taiga Ito  of Suzuki Hamamatsu AC with 1.5 km to go and taking the win in 1:04:19.  "It was quite hot out there, so it ended up being a slow day," Fujiwara told JRN post-race.  After not having raced domestically since last December, though, he added, "Everyone made it a great race and I'm really happy to have gotten the win."  It was only the third road race vi...

by Brett Larner click here for quotes from the Fukuoka pre-race press conference The Fukuoka International Marathon has been in the news a lot this fall, hosting the Japanese men's first stab at the Federation's ambitious sub-2:08 World Championships standard, a duel between popular individualists Arata Fujiwara  (Miki House) and Yuki Kawauchi  (Saitama Pref.) and the marathon debut of the mighty Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC), bringing back 2006 winner Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) and taking in a half-dozen transplants from the cancelled New York City Marathon.  It looks like an exciting, multi-layered race, but despite international interest the IAAF gold-label Fukuoka remains characteristically closed to the world at large.  The race will be broadcast live nationwide on TV Asahi beginning at 12:00 p.m. on TV Asahi.  The best bet for trying to watch online at this stage is still Keyhole TV despite an erratic channel selection since ...

http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2012111400668 http://www.asahi.com/sports/update/1114/SEB201211140011.html translated and edited by Brett Larner The Fukuoka International Marathon organizers announced Nov. 14 that three-time London Marathon winner Martin Lel (Kenya), with a best time of 2:05:15, and five other overseas athletes have been added to the elite field for the Dec. 2 race.  The other late additions include London Olympics marathoner Scott Overall (Great Britain), Canadian 10000 m national record holder Simon Bairu and Americans Tim Nelson ,  Ryan Vail , and Brent Vaughan . All six athletes were scheduled to run the New York City Marathon which was cancelled after a major hurricane hit the east coast of the United States. 2012 Fukuoka International Marathon Elite Field Fukuoka, 12/2/12 field listing includes select general division entrants Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) - 2:03:59 Martin Lel (Kenya) - 2:05:15 Dmytro Baranovskyy (Ukr...

http://www.chunichi.co.jp/s/chuspo/article/2012110801001672.html http://mainichi.jp/sports/news/20121109k0000m050013000c.html translated and edited by Brett Larner On Nov. 8 the organizers of the Dec. 2 Fukuoka International Marathon announced the elite field for this year's Moscow World Championships selection race edition.  The domestic field of four consists of London Olympian Arata Fujiwara  (Miki House) and 2011 Daegu World Championships team members Hiroyuki Horibata  (Team Asahi Kasei), Yuki Kawauchi  (Saitama Pref.) and Yoshinori Oda  (Team Toyota).  Eleven athletes from seven countries including former world record holder Haile Gebrselassie  (Ethiopia) and, in his marathon debut, 2007 World Championships 10000 m bronze medalist Martin Mathathi  (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC), make up the international field. Japanese men must run 2:07:59 or better to qualify for the World Championships team.  Speaking at the press conference ann...

IAAF Great Birmingham Run report . 2008 World Half Marathon Championships 5th-placer Yusei Nakao (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) took 4th in 1:03:16 in his first half marathon since 2009. IAAF Amsterdam Marathon report . 2:08:38 man Kazuhiro Maeda (Team Kyudenko) was 15th in 2:14:37.

http://www.iaaf.org/Mini/LRR12/News/NewsDetail.aspx?id=67999 2008 World Half Marathon Championships 5th-placer Yusei Nakao  (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) is appearing in the Great Birmingham Run with assistanace from JRN.  Nakao will be running December's Fukuoka International Marathon in pursuit of the sub-2:08 time requirement for the 2013 Moscow World Championships Japanese marathon team.

by Brett Larner all photos by Dr. Helmut Winter Update: Last year's 4th place finisher Yoshinori Oda (Team Toyota) has withdrawn with lower back pain problems. The most anticipated Japanese marathon in years is here.  The second of three Japanese men's selection races for the London Olympics, the 2012 Tokyo Marathon looks set to get them back on track with the fast times that have dried up since Beijing.  The women's race is competitive despite an almost total absence of elite Japanese women, and former marathon world record holder Haile Gebrselassie is slated to try for what would undoubtedly be his final Olympic appearance. It's going to be a big day, and the weather looks good at this stage. You can follow along with Nihon TV's broadcast via Keyhole TV or via JRN's live Twitter commentary @JRNLive , both beginning at 9:00 a.m. Japan time on Sunday. Going for 2:25, Eri Okubo (Second Wind AC). Looking first at the women's race, it seems s...

by Brett Larner 2011 New Year Ekiden national champion Team Toyota  added another win to its resume, running 2:30:45 to set the course record at the 66th running of the six-stage, 52.6 km  Meigi Ekiden , Feb. 5 in Nagoya.  Runner-up Team Toyota Boshoku  also went under the old course record, recording a time of 2:31:58.   Suzuki Hamamatsu AC , featuring the superb Martin Mathathi  and Toyota Boshoku's former ace Yusei Nakao , had an improvement over last year's performance thanks to the addition of Nakao, finishing 3rd in 2:32:34.  Defending champion Team Aichi Seiko  was only 4th in 2:33:55. Nakao led off strongly for Suzuki, winning the first stage with a few seconds to spare.   Nicholas Makau  (Kenya) put the small Team Yachiyo Kogyo  into the lead with a course record 20:51 for the 7.3 km Second Stage, but Toyota's Yuya Ito  responded with a course record of his own on the 6.0 km Third Stage, clocking 16.58 to put Toyot...

by Brett Larner The 2011 Nittai University Time Trials series gets underway next weekend in Yokohama. A tuneup event for other track meets on Japan's spring calendar, the 214th edition of Nittai sees the return to action of Japan's current #1 marathoner, Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama T&F Assoc.). The amateur who made worldwide news with a moving 2:08:37 3rd-place finish at February's Tokyo Marathon, Kawauchi comes to Nittai fresh from having been named to Japan's 2011 World Championships marathon team as its #1 man. Entered in both Saturday's 10000 m A-heat and Sunday's 5000 m A-heat it's unlikely he will run both, but whichever distance he chooses it is safe to say that everyone will be watching Kawauchi. This early in the season most distance men are focusing on 5000 m, and as a result the 5000 m A-heat features a larger number of noteworthy names. Among them are Japan's top man at last month's World XC Championships, Hirotaka Tamura (Nihon Univ...

by Brett Larner On May 19 Rikuren published the entry lists for this year's National Track and Field Championships, to be held June 4-6 in Marugame, Kagawa prefecture. With the cancellation of this weekend's Golden Games in Nobeoka most of the top Japanese distance athletes will shift focus to Nationals, making for a potentially thrilling championship meet. Entry lists for the distance events are reproduced below. The men's events are notable for the absence of veterans like 5000 m national record holder Takayuki Matsumiya (Team Konica-Minolta) and half marathon national record holder Atsushi Sato (Team Chugoku Denryoku), the preponderance of the field instead made up of some of the best young runners Japan has these days. Kensuke Takezawa (Team S&B) and Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin) will square off in both the 5000 m and 10000 m, their scheduled duel at the Golden Games forcibly postponed by two weeks. The Japanese man with the fastest PB in the 5000 m field, Yu...