japan running news

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2017/03/29/kiji/20170329s00056000268000c.html translated by Brett Larner On Mar. 29 Konica Minolta announced that Keita Shitara , 25, has quit the corporation's ekiden team and will leave his position with the company effective Mar. 31.  As captain of the Toyo University ekiden team he led Toyo to the overall Hakone Ekiden win before graduating and joining Konica Minolta in 2014.  However, since then he has been troubled by injuries and been unable to produce the kind of results he had hoped for, leading him to inform team management of his intent to leave.  Through a statement issued by the company Shitara commented, "I want to get myself back together in a new environment." Translator's note: Shitara is the twin brother of Yuta Shitara (Team Honda), who turned heads with his 1:01:55 first half debut at February's Tokyo Marathon.  Along with the Asahi Kasei team's Murayama twins and Ichida twins , the Shitaras a...

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2017/03/15/kiji/20170314s00056000173000c.html an editorial by Kenji Fujiyama translated by Brett Larner At the Mar. 12 Nagoya Women's Marathon , fresh new 22-year-old star Yuka Ando (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) gave a straight up head to head challenge to Rio de Janeiro Olympics silver medalist Eunice Kirwa (Bahrain) on the way to finishing 2nd in 2:21:36 and becoming the fourth-fastest Japanese woman ever.  Debuting marathoners usually avoid taking on the impossible and keep to their own pace, but Ando stayed with Kirwa determinedly, saying, "To win you have to go with it.  Who cares what happens in the second half."  These days there are a lot of athletes running with the weak motivation of targeting the "top Japanese" position from the start, but even after coming in at all-time Japanese #4, when Ando said, "I still showed weakness.  I want to refine what I'm doing even more so that I can truly take on the world,...

http://sankei.jp.msn.com/sports/news/130130/oth13013022310003-n1.htm translated by Brett Larner The management of the Yamada Denki corporate women's team announced on Jan. 30 that 2011 World Championships 10000 m runner Hikari Yoshimoto , 23, quit the team on Jan. 29.  According to an involved party, Yoshimoto will return home to Kumamoto to take an indefinite leave of absence from competitive running. Yoshimoto was the star of the Bukkyo University women's ekiden team, leading them to two-straight National University Women's Ekiden Championships titles in 2009 and 2010. In April, 2010 she broke the 15 year old 10000 m national collegiate record with a new mark of 31:30.92, and in the fall the same year she finished 5th in the Asian Games.  After graduating from Bukkyo last spring she followed her longtime coach Kenichi Morikawa to Yamada Denki but was unable to make the Olympic team for London.

http://www.nishinippon.co.jp/nsp/item/150060 translated by Brett Larner Sunday's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon will be the final run for one of the country's best, 1999 Seville World Championships marathoner Tadayuki Ojima (33, Team Asahi Kasei). For 15 years he has been a force in the Japanese marathon and ekiden circuit, ranked all-time #3 in the Kyushu Isshu Ekiden with a lifetime total of 38 stage best titles, running in the World Championships and narrowly missing out on the Athens Olympics but always remaining quietly focused on challenging his own limits. Now, his strength spent, he prepares for retirement with a deep feeling of gratitude toward the people of Kyushu. His final 42.195 km will be his way of saying thank you. "I've given it everything I have for 15 years," Ojima says. "Really, I just don't have anything left to give." "He doesn't waste words on excuses," says Team Asahi Kasei head coach Takeshi Soh. "He just doe...

http://www.chunichi.co.jp/chuspo/article/sports/news/CK2008050302008460.html translated by Brett Larner A great new hope joined Team Toyota Shatai in April. Holding a spot in the Japanese women`s 10000 m all-time top 10 is Terumi Asoshina (25). Asoshina grabbed attention as a hope for the future when she won the 2005 All-Japan Jitsugyodan Half Marathon, but an imbalance in her form resulted in a general weakening of condition and loss of motivation which forced her to quit Team Kyocera in February last year. Despite losing her passion at the time, Asoshina explains, "I decided I didn`t want to quit running just because I wasn`t enjoying it." After a period of rest and renewal, she found a chance for a new start with the Ominami twins at Team Toyota Shatai. Planning a career in the marathon, Asoshina has once again found joy in running and is aiming for a rebirth. "I`m truly grateful. My running isn`t finished yet, but still, to get another chance to enter a team........