japan running news

Monday marked the fourth day of track and field competition at the Tokyo Paralympics . It was a relatively quiet day for the home team, with only three athletes competing in finals. In the men's T33 100 m final, Yuhei Yasuno  was a distant 5th in 22.34, almost 3 seconds behind 4th place.  Takuya Shiramasa  and Akihiro Yamazaki  went 6th and 7th in the men's F46 javelin throw final, Shiramasa throwing 58.35 m and Yamazaki 57.69 m. © 2021 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

At a track and field meet over the weekend, a relay team made up of four men in their 90s living in Aomori prefecture set new 90+ age group world records for the 4x100 m and 4x400 m. Meet organizers are applying to have both records officially ratified. 130 people from age 23 to 92 took part in the Aomori Masters Track and Field Championships on Aug. 29 in Hirosaki, Aomori. Among them were the relay team made up of Aomori natives Matashiro Suruga , 92, Yuzo Kudo , 92, Kozo Mitsuya , 90, and Hiro Tanaka , 90. Despite temperatures that rose to nearly 30˚C, the team members exhibited smooth baton work as they ran 1:43.69 in the 4x100 m. Their time took almost 40 seconds off the previous M90 record of 2:22.37. Just two and a half hours later the Aomori team took on the 4x400 m. In front of strong crowd support they clocked 9:56.36, bettering the previous record set by an American team in 2014 by around 2:45. In May this year the same Aomori team had run 8:49.01 , but because they were the ...

T52 men's 400 m gold medalist Tomoki Sato  was back Sunday in the T52 1500 m, squaring off again vs. American Raymond Martin  as the two favorites for gold on day three of track and field action at the Tokyo Paralympics. Martin was expected to take it out hard, but instead he immediately tucked in behind Sato, who had outkicked him at the last second in the 400 m. Sato was forced to lead the entire way, but when Martin would have been expected to kick coming off the final corner Sato had an extra gear, taking gold in a Paralympic record 3:29.13.  Martin was in the silver position again 3:29.72, with Japan's Hirokazu Ueyonabaru  soloing a 3:44.17 for bronze, replicating the medal podium from the 400 m. Sato's Paralympic record was less than a second off the Olympic 1500 m record set in Tokyo by Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen . What a great head-to-head race that would be. The only other Japanese athlete active in a final, Uran Sawada  placed 5th in the T12 women's...

Tokyo Paralympics track and field continued Saturday at the main Olympic Stadium. In the men's T63 long jump, 39-year-old Atsushi Yamamoto  set an Asian Record 6.75 m (-0.2) on his fifth attempt to briefly move into the bronze medal position before being bumped back down to 4th.   Junta Kosuda  jumped two PBs in a row on his last two attempts to take 7th overall with a 5.95 m (+0.1). The only Japanese woman to make the T47 400 m final, Sae Tsuji  placed 5th in 58.98. In the women's T64 long jump, two Japanese athletes made the top eight. Maya Nakanishi  jumped 5.27 m (+0.2) on her fifth attempt to take 6th, 0.35 m out of the medals. Saki Takakuwa  took 8th with a jump of 4.88 m (+0.5) on her second attempt. Fleur Jong  of the Netherlands set a world record of 6.16 m to take the gold medal. Masayuki Higuchi  finished 8th in the men's T54 5000 m final, clocking 10:31.28 after going almost 20 seconds faster in the qualifying heats. Higuchi was...

Track and field competition at the Tokyo Paralympics started Friday at the main Olympic Stadium in Tokyo. The biggest news for Japan was in the T52 men's 400 m, where Tomoki Sato  pulled off a last-second reversal to take gold over American Raymond Martin  55.39 to 55.59. Veteran Hirokazu Ueyonabaru made it a double medal for Japan, taking bronze in 59.95. Another big result for the home team came in the T11 men's 5000 m, where Kenya Karasawa  and Shinya Wada  took silver and bronze in 15:18.12 and 15:21.03. Karasawa made a long push from 500 m for the win but was caught with 150 m to go by Brazil's Yeltsin Jacques , who pushed on to take gold in 15:13.62.  Kakeru Ishida  placed 5th in the T47 men's 100 m final in 11.05. In the T11 women's long jump final, Chiaki Takada  also took 5th with a jump of 4.74 mm (+1.7) on her first attempt.  Track and field action at the Tokyo Paralympics continues through Sept. 5. © 2021 Brett Larner, all righ...

https://www.wmra.info/news/latest-news-from-the-wmra/900-i-want-my-kids-to-remember-that-i-take-my-work-seriously Fujio Miyachi  talks about his experience in masters' mountain running ahead of the Masters World Championships.

JRN hasn't done many product reviews over the years, but when French shoe startup Relance  contacted us about reviewing their RL-01 model we liked what the company's mission statement had to say about manufacturing domestically, environmental concerns and paying workers a fair wage, and agreed to try a  pair. Relance was launched in late 2019 by designer Violaine Grégoire . The RL-01 is the first shoe she and her team have brought to market. Still in the Kickstarter phase , Relance hopes that the RL-01's limited release will help generate the funds and interest needed to launch full-scale production and additional models next year. The Shoe At first glance the RL-01 looks like what it is, a heavy cushioned trainer geared toward fashion-conscious recreational runners. It's got a lot of nice styling details like a blue-white-red tricolour logo and heel loop, and a single pair of differently-colored eyelets, but weighing in at 330 g it's definitely on the heavier end o...

 https://www.triathlete.com/events/olympics/as-paralympics-open-support-and-covid-numbers-both-on-the-rise-in-japan/ A story for Triathlete magazine by JRN's Mika Tokairin  and Brett Larner .