japan running news

Housekeeping services provider Bears Co., Ltd. held a press conference in Tokyo to formally announce the launch of its new women's track and field team Bears Camellia . The new's team starting lineup features five athletes and head coach Yuya Takayanagi , 31, a member of Nittai University 's 2013 Hakone Ekiden champion team. At the press conference Takayanagi discussed athletes' "second career," talking about how after they retire from competition most corporate league athletes leave the company they run for. Based on his own experience, he said that he hoped to help guarantee team members a future through working for the company in tandem with competitive life. Bears VP Yuki Takahashi commented, "I hope that this will be an opportunity for team members to develop as people, as professionals, and as athletes." In the future, athletes on the team will be categorized into three levels according to their achievements, "Top," "Development...

http://www.kobe-np.co.jp/news/sports/201311/0006503245.shtml translated and edited by Brett Larner Over 20,000 people took part in the third edition of the Kobe Marathon on Nov. 17, running on the streets raised from the ruin of the Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake. Starting out at a much faster pace than Kobe saw in either of its first two runnings, Hironori Arai (34, Team Chugoku Denryoku) and local veteran  Chihiro Tanaka (44, AthleC AC) set new men's and women's course records of 2:17:01 and 2:36:53. For each of them it was their first time to win in Kobe. Organized by the Hyogo Prefectural Government, the Kobe Civic Government and the Hyogo Prefecture Track and Field Association, the race had "Give Thanks for Friendship" as its official theme to express the city's gratitude for the assistance it received during the Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake and to help raise support for survivors of the East Japan Earthquake and the recent major typhoon in the P...

by Brett Larner Nittai University's star first-year Shota Hattori , 2nd on the Third Stage of last month's Hakone Ekiden behind Kenyan Cosmas Ondiba (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.), won the 27th Moriya Half Marathon on Feb. 6 in his debut over the half marathon distance. In a last kick sprint finish Hattori prevailed over Chuo Gakuin University captain Koji Kobayashi and Hattori's teammate Takumi Honda by one second to win in 1:03:54. With mostly university runners in the front end of the field, the top corporate runner was 2:08:56 marathoner Kazutoshi Takatsuka (Team Komori Corp.), 6th in 1:05:09. Nittai runners Hidemi Sakurai and Yasuha Kurita went 1-2 in the women's race. 2011 Moriya Half Marathon click here for complete results Men 1. Shota Hattori (Nittai Univ.) - 1:03:54 - debut 2. Koji Kobayashi (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:03:55 3. Takumi Honda (Nittai Univ.) - 1:03:56 4. Tomohiro Hayakawa (Nittai Univ.) - 1:04:02 - PB 5. Ataru Otani (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:04:02 - PB...