japan running news

On Mar. 31 the JAAF recognized the winners of the new Japan Marathon Championship Series I at an award ceremony in Tokyo. Marathoners were scored on their best two performances from December, 2020 through March, 2022, with preference given to results from domestic races. The overall #1-ranked woman and man were named to Japan's team for this summer's Oregon World Championships , with anyone in the top 8 who hadn't otherwise already qualified for next year's MGC Paris Olympic marathon trials given a place on the trials starting line . A total prize pool of ¥20,000,000, roughly $165,000 USD at the current dismal exchange rate, was divided between the top three women and men, with the top-ranked athletes receiving ¥6,000,000, about $50,000, 2nd-place receiving ¥3,000,000, around $25,000, and 3rd-place ¥1,000,000, or $8,000. ✨ #JMCシリーズ アワード✨ シリーズチャンピオンには600万円、2位の選手には300万円、3位の選手には100万円が賞金として贈られました🙌 👇ライブ配信中👇 https://t.co/M7l5bFKrHQ #JMCシリーズ #マラソン pic.twitter.com/ryDkQ...

Canceled for the last two years amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the organizing committee of the Kobe Marathon announced on Mar. 30 that the race will return for its tenth running on Nov. 20 with a field of 20,000 entrants. Entries open in mid-June, with 1500 spots reserved for people who failed to get into the entry lottery for the last five consecutive editions. The race will be run on its traditional course starting in front of Kobe City Hall, turning around on the west side of Akashi Kaikyo Bridge and finishing at Port Island. As measures to reduce crowding, starting corrals will be increased from 13 to 20 and more drink stations will be added. As per JAAF guidelines, spectators will be discouraged from cheering for the runners along the course, but viewing stations will be set up in parks located on the course. Michiaki Yoshii , chair of the organizing committee and head of the Hyogo Prefecture Athletics Association, said, "We hope that this will be the first step in b...

a press release by the Nagoya Women's Marathon organizers The largest women’s marathon in the world and the only all-women World Athletics Elite Platinum Label road race, the Nagoya Women’s Marathon 2022 was held on Sunday, March 13. Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya won the race in a new event record of 2:17:18.  Nagoya has been hosting the marathon every year during the COVID-19 pandemic while placing top priority on safety and security, with 110 elite participants in 2020 and 4,704 domestic elite and mass-participation runners in 2021 . This year, a total of 8,698 elite and amateur runners ran the race and filled the streets of Nagoya with colorful running outfits.  The Nagoya Women’s Marathon 2022 became the highest-paying road race in the world with its increased first prize of $250,000 USD. The fact that the largest prize in marathon running would be given to women rather than men gathered global attention. The proud winner was Chepngetich, who dominated the competition in th...

The JAAF held a press conference today to announce the Japanese men's and women's marathon teams for this year's Oregon World Championships and Hangzhou Asian Games. As usual there were a few surprises in the choices, but overall the lineups were free of controversial decisions. National record holder and JMC Series I champ Kengo Suzuki (Fujitsu) leads the men's team for Oregon, with 2022 Osaka Marathon winner Gaku Hoshi (Konica Minolta) and 2022 Beppu-Oita Marathon winner Yusuke Nishiyama (Toyota) named to the other two spots. Both Hoshi and Nishiyama won in their debuts, Hoshi in a debut NR of 2:07:31 and Nishiyama in 2:07:47, making for an unusually inexperienced team. But with Paris 2024 just around the corner this is their chance to get that experience. In a double surprise, JMC #2-ranked Japanese man Kyohei Hosoya (Kurosaki Harima), 2:06:35 for 3rd at Lake Biwa and 2nd in Fukuoka last year, was picked for the Asian Games team, and Kenya Sonota (JR Higashi Nih...

At the current time the number of coronavirus cases is on the decline across Japan, and bright signs have begun to appear on the road toward a resumption of normal activity. But in Hokkaido infections remain a serious issue, and with a resumption of activity a resurgence in numbers due to the increased movement and interaction of people can be expected. As such, it is almost impossible to foresee an end to the pandemic. The Lake Saroma 100 km Ultramarathon is an event that brings together thousands of runners from across the country as well as over 2,000 local junior high, high school and university students, volunteers and race staff. With new variants of the virus remaining an ongoing concern, the organizing committee has determined that it would not be possible to stage the race this year in a way that would be safe for both runners and the locals who put it on.  We are very disappointed that again this year we will not be able to welcome you all to the shores of Lake Saroma, b...

On Mar. 28 the Wacoal women's corporate team announced that women-only marathon national record holder and Tokyo Olympics marathon 8th-placer Mao Ichiyama , 24, and head coach Tadayuki Nagayama , 62, will quit the team at the end of this month. At the same time, 2021 National Corporate Women's Ekiden runner-up Shiseido  announced that both Ichiyama and Nagayama will join its lineup beginning in April. Born in Izumi, Kagoshima, Ichiyama joined Wacoal in 2016 after graduating from high school. Following the Tokyo Olympics, in December last year Ichiyama announced that she had gotten married with men's marathon national record holder Kengo Suzuki (Fujitsu). Translator's note: The relocation to the Shiseido team puts Ichiyama close enough to the Fujitsu team's base in Chiba that she and Suzuki would be able to live together. With Wacoal she has been based in Kyoto, a roughly four-hour trip each way. As the women's and men's winners of the first Japan Marathon ...

The last weekend of the 2021-22 fiscal and academic year had some good early-season outdoor track action at multiple meets across the greater Tokyo area. In Chiba, 2016 Rio Olympics steepler Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu) met up with 2021 Tokyo Olympics steepler Ryuji Miura (Juntendo Univ.) over 3000 m at the Juntendo University Time Trials on Saturday. Last year at another edition of the Juntendo series Miura bettered Shiojiri 7:48.07 to 7:53.68. Shiojiri ran almost the same time, 7:53.44, but this time he took the top spot as Miura ran 7:55.43 for 2nd. Five other runners from the Fujitsu and Juntendo teams were under 8:05, led by Fujitsu's Yuhei Urano in 8:01.78 in his first race since running 2:07:52 for 3rd at the Feb. 28 Osaka Marathon . 1st-year Kenshin Ebisawa (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) took the men's 10000 m in 29:31.42. どちらも素晴らしいランニングフォームと接地だが、上肢の使い方(筋力含む)が股関節の動きの違いに繋がってる。 pic.twitter.com/70wqHaY4SH — 林田章紀/Akinori Hayashida (@RindaEX) March 26, 2022 Sub-8 times for 3000 m u...

Miyagi Stadium and Miyagi Sports Park Pool in the Sendai suburb of Rifu both sustained heavy damage in the Mar. 16 earthquake which struck the region. With no timeline for repairs, upcoming races at both facilities are set to be canceled. At Miyagi Stadium, the force of the earthquake bent the upper tier of spectator seating near its middle section. A 30 m section of the reinforced concrete base supporting the seating was bent, with part of it collapsing. Due to continuing aftershocks the stadium's safety and structural integrity cannot be assessed, and as a result the 2022 National Sports Festival prefectural track and field qualifying meet scheduled to be held there next month will be moved elsewhere. At the pool, a 20 m section of the ceiling collapsed during the earthquake, with debris scattered across the pool's diving platforms and spectator seating. The rest of the ceiling has been deemed unstable, leading to the cancelation of a time trial meet and diving competition s...