japan running news

Running almost 15 laps of Osaka's Nagai Park behind a pair of male pacers right up to the entrance to the track finish, Mao Ichiyama  (Wacoal) came up two minutes short of Mizuki Noguchi 's 2:19:12 national record but clipped 7 seconds off Noguchi's event record to win Sunday's Osaka International Women's Marathon in a world-leading 2:21:11.  Her Tokyo Olympics marathon teammate Honami Maeda  (Tenmaya) was the only other woman to try to go with her, dropping off NR pace before 15 km but hanging on for an 18-second PB of 2:23:30 for 2nd with the help of another male pacer who stayed with her right to the start of the track finish. Ichiyama only made it through halfway on NR pace before she fell off, but she did manage to rally in the last few km to get under Noguchi's event record, even though Osaka organizers announced post-race that Ichiyama's mark would be listed as a mixed race record alongside Noguchi's women-only record in the hereafter.  Next up ...

The Osaka International Women's Marathon happens Sunday in the middle of an officially declared state of emergency. Round and round and round they're going to go around the 2.8 km road loop inside Osaka's Nagai Park before finishing on the track in Yanmar Stadium Nagai, the first time we know of that an elite-level Japanese marathon has been done on a short circuit course. There are a bit fewer than 100 people entered, not a single international athlete among them, but really it all comes down to the two up front going for Mizuki Noguchi 's 2:19:12 national record, women-only marathon and 25 km national record holder Mao Ichiyama  (Wacoal) and 30 km national record holder Honami Maeda  (Tenmaya).  They may or may not have an Olympics this summer, but they've got this chance here. Why not take it? They've got the goal, they're in their prime, they say they're in shape to go for it, they've got a super-fast course, male pacers, good weather in the f...

Entries for the Feb. 28 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon closed on Jan. 22. With most other races having canceled or postponed due to the coronavirus crisis, this year we received nearly double our normal number of applications for entry. We extend our deepest thanks to everyone who applied.   We have explored options for putting on the race with such a large field but have determined that it would not be possible to safely execute all of our planned coronavirus countermeasures. As a result, we have introduced the following revised entry standards based on World Athletics scoring points: 10000 m: 30:40.00 half marathon: 1:07:29 marathon: 2:27:30 After checking proof of qualification from each entrant, on Jan. 25 we sent notification to all those who were unable to participate under these standards. Information regarding refund of entry fees was included. Those eligible to participate will be notified around Feb. 5, on which date we will hold a virtual press conference to announce the e...

American Jim Walmsley  gave the men's world record set two and a half years ago by Japan's Nao Kazami  a serious scare this weekend at the Project Carbon X 2 100 km. A quick look at their splits shows two different race strategies, Kazami essentially going out hard and slowing the second half and Walmsley running the first half more conservatively and then trying to negative split. Both had relatively slow starts before zeroing in on their first half target pace, Kazami settling in around 36:20 per 10 km and Walmsley around 36:50 until they hit halfway. At that point Kazami was projecting a 6:04:10 world record, with Walmsley's 50 km split projecting to a record of 6:08:30. From there they swapped, Kazami going 36:52 from 50 km to 60 km and Walmsley 36:22. That proved Walmsley's fastest split of the day, as although he stayed close to that pace through 80 km  he began to slow for every remaining 10 km split until the finish. In Kazami's case he hit a rough patch bet...

After being postponed for a year, there are just six months to go until the start of the Tokyo Olympics. The coronavirus continues to spread, and with no signs of it slowing down the possibility of the worst case scenario, the Olympics' cancelation, has become more than just a possibility. Kansai University professor emeritus Katsuhiro Miyamoto , 76, has estimated that the cancelation of the Games would result in an economic loss of over 4.5 trillion yen [$43.5 billion USD] . The one-year postponement from last year has already resulted in a 640.8 billion yen loss [46.2 billion USD] . Should the Games go ahead? Another postponement? Cancel them? There is also the option being explored by the Organizing Committee of staging the Olympics without spectators.  Government sources say that with the loss that another postponement would incur to local governments, it is not a realistic option. Tokyo has projected a direct economic effect of over 5.2 trillion yen  [$49.4 billion USD[...

 http://www.athleticsasia.org/major-decisions-taken-at-95th-meeting-of-the-council-of-the-asian-aa-held-on-thursday-7th-january-2021-via-zoom/

On Jan. 17 it was learned that the Jan. 31 Osaka International Women's Marathon will be run on a multi-lap loop course inside Nagai Park. Some of the athletes scheduled to run were notified last week of the likelihood of the change from Osaka's traditional road course, a change made as a result of the continued spread of the coronavirus. It is the first time the race will be run on a circuit course in the years since its first running in 1982.  Tokyo Olympics women's marathon team members Mao Ichiyama  (23, Wacoal) and Honami Maeda  (24, Tenmaya) had planned to try to break the 2:19:12 national record in Osaka, but the impact of the change on times run there remains unclear at this point. Osaka organizers have recruited male pacers, a first for a domestic women's marathon, to help chase the record, but with the government's declaration of a state of emergency last week they had no choice but to make the last-minute course change.  Most road races over the last yea...

Already Japan's third-fastest high schooler ever over 3000 m, 16-year-old Keita Sato  (Rakunan H.S.) took another 5 seconds off his best with a 8:00.09 win at Saturday's Kyoto Time Trials meet. A second-year at Rakunan and set to turn 17 later this week, Sato bettered the U18 national record held by Hyuga Endo by almost two seconds, moved up to #2 behind Endo on the all-time high school rankings, and to #3 on the U20 list behind Endo and Athens Olympian Ryuji Ono . Post-race he tweeted, "One step away from 7 minutes! So disappointing. I don't know when the next time I can race is but 7 minutes is definitely coming!" 3000m→8'00"09 7分台まであと一歩だったのでめちゃくちゃ悔しいです😭次はいつ走れるか分かりませんが絶対に7分台出します！ pic.twitter.com/d1y9ClJ5Mp — 佐藤圭汰 (@0rx2k) January 17, 2021 © 2021 Brett Larner, all rights reserved