japan running news

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2013/05/24/more-sports/marathon-runner-yoshida-gets-one-year-doping-ban/#.UadN_xyRMYE Thank you to reader Robert McKenzie for bringing this unfortunate article, which I missed while in Manchester last weekend, to my attention.  Very sad news of a positive EPO test by  Kaori Yoshida  (Puma RC) at last December's Honolulu Marathon.  As far as I am aware this is the first time an elite-level Japanese marathoner has had a positive test.  Anyone with knowledge of any previous Japanese positive tests please feel free to post factual details in the comments section. Yoshida won the 2006 Hokkaido Marathon, 2008 Casablanca Marathon and 2012 Gold Coast Marathon, setting her 2:29:45 PB at the 2010 Chicago Marathon. photo (c) 2010 Dr. Helmut Winter all rights reserved

by Brett Larner photo courtesy of Gold Coast Airport Marathon The Gold Coast Airport Marathon has announced that it has recruited its best-ever lineup of elite Japanese athletes for this year's running on July 7.  Passed over for the Moscow World Championships despite running 2:24:43 for 3rd at April's London Marathon, Yukiko Akaba  (Team Hokuren) is a coup for organizers and should make short work of Eriko Asai 's twenty-year-old course record of 2:29:29.  Hoping to join her is Sydney Marathon course record holder  Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't), 4th in last year's race in 2:13:26 and looking to improve on both his placing and the 2:10:01 men's record in his last marathon before the World Championships.  If both are successful it will be the first Japanese sweep since 2007. Eri Okubo  set her best of 2:26:08 at last year's Tokyo Marathon and will be making her first major appearance since quitting the Second Wind AC team earlier this spring. ...

http://sankei.jp.msn.com/region/news/130528/szk13052802030003-n1.htm translated by Brett Larner National University Athletics Federation director Kosuke Hori , 78, appeared at a press conference on May 27 together with Shizuoka prefecture governor Heita Kawakatsu , to announce that the towns of Fuji and Fujinomiya at the base of Mt. Fuji will be the new hosts of the National University Women's Invitational Ekiden this Dec. 23.  The ekiden was held in Tsukuba, Ibaraki for three years beginning in 2007, but has been suspended indefinitely since 2010.  Its return on a new course around Mt. Fuji will be its first running since then. Governor Kawakatsu smiled broadly as he told reporters, "Dec. 23 is the Emperor's birthday, so it is going to be a very wonderful day.  His Majesty was gracious enough to send a message saying, "I am looking forward to seeing our collegiate women run in the foothills of Mount Fuji." According to race organizers, the ekiden will be...

http://www.iaaf.org/news/news/farah-v-bekele-brothers-10000m-duel-is-eugene London Olympics 10000 m 5th-place finisher Bedan Karoki  runs for the Tokyo-based and Toshihiko Seko -coached DeNA Running Club.

by Brett Larner After doubling in the 1500 m and 10000 m last weekend, Yamanashi Gakuin University sophomore Enock Omwamba  took his third title of this year's Kanto Regional University Track and Field Championships, outrunning #1-ranked Japanese collegiate Suguru Osako  (Waseda Univ.) and fellow Kenyan Daniel Kitonyi  (Nihon Univ.) for the win in the Div. I 5000 m, clocking a solid 13:31.54.   Kosei Yamaguchi  (Josai Univ.), 6th in 13:55.85, deserves special mention for running the 5000 m just after winning his fourth-straight Kanto Div. I steelechase title.  The Div. II 5000 m was a nearly perfect replica of the Div. I race, Duncan Muthee  (Takushoku Univ.) outkicking Yudai   Okamoto  (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) and Ethiopian Leul Gebrselassie  (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) for the win in 13:56.22. Earlier the same morning, Takumi Honda  of 2013 Hakone Ekiden champion Nittai University  took the honors in the Div. I half marathon, ...

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20130526-OHT1T00149.htm translated by Brett Larner 6098 people completed the May 26 Kurobe Meisui Half Marathon .  First among them was the race's star invited athlete, civil servant runner Yuki Kawauchi  (26, Saitama Pref. Gov't), who set a new course record of 1:03:58 in taking the win.  In 26-degree temperatures Kawauchi ran head-to-head against locally-based corporate team YKK's ace, Naohiro Yamada , 28.  Suddenly taking off at the 13 km point, Kawauchi shot away from Yamada and ran all-out for the final 8 km to secure the win and record. The race was Kawauchi's fifth half marathon this month, but despite the accumulated fatigue and the 26-degree heat he obliterated the 1:04:46 record set in 2010 by YKK's Tetsuo Nishikawa .  "It was really hot out there," Kawauchi said afterward.  "I drank at every water station."  After finishing he poured cups of water over his head, thirstily gulping down Ku...

by Brett Larner Running in their first road race since clocking 2:08:51 and 2:09:10 at March's Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, teammates Suehiro Ishikawa  and Masakazu Fujiwara  of the Honda corporate team both cleared the top eight at the May 26 Great Manchester Run , Ishikawa improving on his 8th-place finish at last year's race with a 28:56 clocking for 6th but Fujiwara, a member of Japan's marathon squad for August's World Championships, running 29:32 for 8th after coming down with a cough on race morning.  Double Commonwealth Games gold medalist Moses Kipsiro  (Uganda) won in 27:52 in a tight sprint finish over London Olympics marathon bronze medalist Wilson Kipsang  (Kenya) and multi-world record-holder Haile Gebrselassie  (Ethiopia), who set a 40+ world record of 28:00.  Unusually for a gold label race, athletes from nine different countries placed in the top ten. Tirunesh Dibaba  (Ethiopia) soloed a course record of 30:49 in the women's r...

by Brett Larner Moscow World Championships men's marathon squad member Masakazu Fujiwara and his Honda teammate Suehiro Ishikawa  will make a return to the roads at Sunday's Bupa Great Manchester Run 10 km for the first time since running 2:08:51 and 2:09:10 at March's Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon.  Appearing through the support of JRN, the two Japanese athletes will face a field including former marathon world record holder and four-time defending champion Haile Gebrselassie  (Ethiopia), London Olympics marathon bronze medalist Wilson Kipsang  (Kenya) and more.  The great Tirunesh Dibaba  (Ethiopia) leads the women's field along with home-soil tops  Helen Clitheroe (Great Britain) and Gemma Steel  (Great Britain) and marathoners Jelena Procopcuka (Latvia) and Christelle Daunay  (France). Fujiwara, the Japanese debut marathon and collegiate marathon national record holder at 2:08:12, will be making his debut on U.K. soil, while Ish...