japan running news

by Brett Larner The worldwide marathon season came to a close for the year with the Dec. 19 Hofu Yomiuri Marathon . Coming off a top-10 finish at September's Berlin Marathon, Mongolian ace Serod Bat-Ochir took his first win in three straight Hofu appearances. Bat-Ochir sat in a large pack behind pacemaker Dishon Karukwa (Kenya/Team Aisan Kogyo) through the early stages of the race until it whittled down to three by 30 km. Pushing ahead, he dropped Kenyan debutant Samuel Ganga (Team Mazda) and by 35 km had a three-second gap on Taiga Ito (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC). From there it was smooth sailing all the way to the finish. Ganga dropped out before 40 km, leaving Ito free in 2nd and challenged only by teammate Hiroyuki Kamiguchi (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC), who ran a patient race to close strongly and take 3rd. Although Hofu has regularly had second-tier women, its official women's division only opened last year. Hiroko Yoshitomi (Saga T&F Assoc.) put pressure on past winners His...

by Brett Larner Start lists for today's National Jitsugyodan Women's Ekiden Championships are now available. Click here for a link to the list of names in Japanese. Some notable names: First Stage Yoshiko Fujinaga (Team Shiseido) Tomoka Inadomi (Team Wacoal) Mizuho Nasukawa (Team Univ. Ent.) Second Stage Betelhem Moges (Ethiopia/Team Denso) Ann Karindi (Kenya/Team Toyota Jidoshokki) Felista Wanjugu (Kenya/Team Univ. Ent.) Christine Muyanga (Kenya/Team Panasonic) Grace Kimanzi (Kenya/Team Starts) Doricah Obare (Kenya/Team Hitachi) Third Stage Yoko Shibui (Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) Yurika Nakamura (Team Tenmaya) Misaki Katsumata (Team Daiichi Seimei) Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal) Kayo Sugihara (Team Denso) Ryoko Kizaki (Team Daihatsu) Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren) Kazue Kojima (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) Hiroko Shoi (Team Nihon ChemiCon) Yuko Shimizu (Team Sekisui Kagaku) Mika Yoshikawa (Team Panasonic) Mizuki Noguchi (Team Sysmex) Mai Ito (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) Fourth Stage Yuka Kak...

http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/general/track/news/20101218k0000m050008000c.html translated by Brett Larner The 30th anniversary National Jitsugyodan Women's Ekiden takes place Dec. 19 in Gifu. In its first-ever appearance in the national championships, Team Sysmex features one prominent member on its entry list: 2004 Athens Olympics marathon gold medalist and marathon national record holder Mizuki Noguchi (32). It has been more than 2 years since Noguchi "fell from grace," an injury causing her to withdraw just before the Beijing Olympics. Not even appearing at the press conference to announce her withdrawal, it has been a long and dark road back, but on the eve of her return to the national stage Noguchi spoke to the Mainichi Newspaper about her joy at overcoming her setbacks and her still-burning drive for the 2012 London Olympics. After the West Japan Jitsugyodan Ekiden you said, "I want to keep running until my legs break down for good." Those were the same...

by Brett Larner Note: Start lists will be added when available. The 30th anniversary National Jitsugyodan Women's Ekiden Championships take place this Sunday, Dec. 19. It's fitting that the anniversary edition, the last to be held on the historic Gifu course before the race's move north to Sendai next year, is slated to mark the return of the great Mizuki Noguchi (Team Sysmex) to the national stage. Noguchi, the marathon national record holder and 2004 Athens Olympics marathon gold medalist, has been out of competition since an injury in the summer of 2008 prevented her from defending her title in Beijing. Finally racing again earlier this fall in the regional qualifier ekidens, she helped Sysmex to qualify for Nationals for the first time. Start lists have not yet been confirmed but Noguchi's presence on the entry list has been used heavily to promote Sunday's race across the country. 10000 m national record holder and former marathon national record holder Yoko ...

http://www.letsrun.com/2010/london-1216.php For the second straight year Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren) will double in January's Osaka International Women's Marathon and April's London Marathon. In 2010 Akaba led Osaka on 2:20-2:21 pace before dropping out, then went on to run a PB of 2:24:55 in London, the fastest time of the year by a Japanese woman. In Osaka 2011 she will be seeking a spot on the 2011 World Championships team before heading to London presumably to go for a fast time. If all goes according to schedule she will then run the World Championships marathon in August.

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/event/sports/news/20101213-OHT1T00247.htm translated by Brett Larner On Dec. 13 Jobu University's ekiden team held a workout session at the school's track in Isesaki, Gunma prefecture as it prepares for the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden. Speaking to the media at the workout, the team's captain and senior ace Yusuke Hasegawa , holder of the fastest 10000 m time of the year by a Japanese university student, revealed that he has signed to join the elite Team S&B following his graduation in March. Hasegawa, the national university 1500 m champion as a sophomore, is a top-class speed runner among university athletes. At November's Nittai University Time Trials meet he ran a 10000 m PB of 28:07.47, the best of the year by a Japanese student and all-time #8 on the collegiate 10000 m rankings. Having led Jobu from scratch to Hakone in a remarkably short time, head coach Katsuhiko Hanada , a former S&B star himself, will continue to serve as Hasegawa...

http://www.chugoku-np.co.jp/sports/Sp201012150098.html translated by Brett Larner Professional runner Kurao Umeki (Team Chugoku Denryoku) will run his final marathon this weekend at the Dec. 19 Hofu Yomiuri Marathon. Having decided to retire at the end of the season next spring, the 35 year-old Umeki chose Hofu so he could wrap up his career on his home ground in Yamaguchi prefecture. A graduate of Yamaguchi's Ubekojo High School, Umeki attended Waseda University before joining Team Chugoku Denryoku. With a long list of accomplishments in ekidens and marathons, Umeki said of Hofu, "This is the race that made me want to be a marathoner." At Waseda Umeki took stage best titles twice at the Hakone Ekiden, winning the First Stage his junior year and the ace Second Stage as a senior. After joining Chugoku Denryoku he anchored the team in its first-ever New Year Ekiden national title in 2004. Umeki's marathon debut came at the 2000 Tokyo International Marathon, but in h...

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/e-japan/saitama/news/20101211-OYT8T00847.htm Grand prize winner "Water Station" by Kazuhiro Nagai. Click photo to enlarge. On Dec. 11 the judging committee for the "2010 Ageo City Half Marathon Photo Contest" at the Ageo Municipal Cultural Center announced the contest's winners in the open and elementary/junior high school divisions. 106 submissions were received in the open category, in which local photographers were invited to document the Nov. 21 half marathon race beginning and ending at Ageo Sports Park Stadium. Kawaguchi resident Kazuhiro Nagai won the grand prize for his submission "Water Station." 31 submissions were received in the elementary and junior high school division, which carried the theme, "Friends and Family on the Run." Takuma Kawakami won for his picture, "Last Kick Before the Finish." The winners will be presented with their awards at Ageo City Hall on Dec. 18 at 10:00 a.m. The top s...