japan running news

The organizers of the 38th Osaka International Women's Marathon have announced cancellations from Sunday's race. Mari Ozaki (Noritz) has withdrawn due to sciatic nerve pain, Shiho Takechi (Yamada Denki) with a stress fracture, and Maki Ashi (Kyudenko) and Rie Fujita (Kyocera) with Achilles tendon pain. From overseas, Merima Mohamed (Bahrain) has also withdrawn for reasons unspecified, to be replaced by Abebech Afework (Ethiopia), runner-up at the 2016 Amsterdam Marathon in 2:24:27. source article: https://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/20190122/ath19012211020004-n1.html translated and edited by Brett Larner

In a race that came down to an uphill battle near 20 km, Ryo Matsumoto (Toyota) emerged on top of a lead pack of five to win the men's race at the 28th Sendai International Half Marathon . Matsumoto outkicked Rio Olympics marathon team member Satoru Sasaki (Asahi Kasei) on the track to take the win in 1:03:05, the fastest winning time by a Japanese man in Sendai history. Sasaki returned from the injury that kept him out of March's Lake Biwa Mainichi Marahton to finish 2nd in 1:03:10, holding off collegiate runners Kengo Nakamura (Toyo Univ.) and Akihiro Gunji (Tokai Univ.). Defending champion Charles Ndirangu (JFE Steel) suffered some sort of injury in the late going, shuffling down the home straight and almost walking across the finish line to take 5th in 1:03:39. Just behind him, 2017 Gold Coast Marathon winner Takuya Noguchi (Konica Minolta) nicked 2018 Boston Marathon winner Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) at the line after sitting on Kawauchi the entir...

122nd Boston Marathon Boston, U.S.A., 4/16/18 click here for complete results Men 1. Yuki Kawauchi (Japan/Saitama Pref. Gov't) - 2:15:58 2. Geoffrey Kirui (Kenya) - 2:18:23 3. Shadrack Biwott (U.S.A.) - 2:18:35 4. Tyler Pennel (U.S.A.) - 2:18:57 5. Andrew Bumbalough (U.S.A.) - 2:19:52 6. Scott Smith (U.S.A.) - 2:21:47 7. Abdi Nageeye (Netherlands) - 2:23:16 8. Elkanah Kibet (U.S.A.) - 2:23:37 9. Reid Coolsaet (Canada) - 2:25:02 10. Daniel Vassalo (U.S.A.) - 2:27:50 ----- 42. Kansuke Morihashi (Japan/Raffine) - 2:34:23 8322. Nao Kazami (Japan/Aisan Kogyo) - 3:47:02 Women 1. Desiree Linden (U.S.A.) - 2:39:54 2. Sarah Sellers (U.S.A.) - 2:44:04 3. Krista Duchene (Canada) - 2:44:20 4. Rachel Hyland (U.S.A.) - 2:44:29 5. Jessica Chichester (U.S.A.) - 2:45:23 6. Nicole Dimercurio (U.S.A.) - 2:45:52 7. Shalane Flanagan (U.S.A.) - 2:46:31 8. Kimi Reed (U.S.A.) - 2:46:47 9. Edna Kiplagat (Kenya) - 2:47:14 10. Hiroko Yoshitomi (Japan/Memolead) - 2:48:29 --...

The withdrawal of Kentaro Nakamoto (Yasukawa Denki), Japan's best championship marathoner of the modern era, from the Boston Marathon field with a stress fracture is a blow to what would have been the best Japanese contingent in Boston in decades. Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) leads the way, arriving in Boston off wins in his last four marathons: 2:10:03, Hofu Yomiuri Marathon, 12/17/17 2:18:59 CR, Marshfield New Year's Day Marathon, 1/1/18 2:11:46 CR, Kitakyushu Marathon, 2/18/18 2:14:12, Wan Jin Shi Marathon, 3/18/18 Kawauchi hopes to at least equal Suguru Osako 's top 3 placing in last year's Boston, his optimism growing as the weather forecast gets worse. Naoki Okamoto (Chugoku Denryoku) runs for what was once Japan's most successful corporate team in the marathon, his best of 2:12:31 coming 6 years ago at Lake Biwa and his fastest recent time a 2:13:33 in Tokyo last year. Okamoto earned a place in Boston by winning February...

After a seven-week break from the marathon, Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) scored his third-straight marathon win, second-straight course record and came just shy of a third-straight negative split as he ran a completely solo 2:11:46 to take almost six minutes off the Kitakyushu Marathon course record. Following up on negative split wins at December's Hofu Yomiuri Marathon and January's Marshfield New Year's Day Marathon , the latter a course record by half an hour, Kawauchi was on his own in the first 100 m in Kitakyushu and never looked back. In the hilly first 10 km his pace fluctuated from high-2:12 to high-2:10, but once Kawauchi got into the flatter section of the course he settled out on track for a high-2:11 to low-2:12 time. After a 1:05:51 split at halfway he slowed slightly on the outbound trip to the turnaround near 31 km, but picking it up again after 35 km he marked a 6:34 from 40 km to the finish to stop the clock at 2:11:46,  a 1:05:55 second...

One of the Tokyo area's most popular races, the Ome 30 km and 10 km Road Race has long had a relationship with the U.S.A.'s Boston Marathon with top-placing runners from each event being invited to the other. For the first time in recent memory Ome will bring an American woman instead of a man. Off a 2:34:53 in Boston last year Danna Herrick will face 2015 Rotterdam Marathon winner and two-time Ome champ Asami Kato (Panasonic) and, fresh from  a win at Sunday's Osaka Half Marathon , Maki Ashi (Kyudenko) in her 30 km debut. On the men's side 2:12 marathoner Naoki Okamoto (Chugoku Denryoku) and the Koichi Morishita -coached Kento Otsu (Toyota Kyushu) top the bill. Track specialist Naohiro Domoto (JR Higashi Nihon) and university men Daisuke Horiai (Komazawa University) and Kota Oki (Waseda University) round out the invited athlete list with their 30 km debuts, with deeper competition to be expected at the front end of the general division. The top Japanese f...

Held alongside the Osaka International Women's Marathon , the Osaka Half Marathon has continued to grow at the elite level into one of the post-ekiden season's top-tier Japanese half marathons. On the women's side, Maki Ashi (Kyudenko) was just off her best as she won in 1:11:26, opening a lead of over 20 seconds in the first 5 km and going the rest of the way alone. Ayaka Yokose (Yamada Denki) was the only other woman to crack 1:12, 2nd in 1:11:58. Taiwanese national record holder Chien-ho Hsieh spent most of the race in 3rd, but despite getting caught by Madoka Nakano (Noritz) with just over 5 km to go Hsieh pushed on to take almost three minutes off her own national record, landing 4th in 1:12:19. The men's race saw a deep pack go through halfway on sub-1:02 pace, things slowing slightly before 15 km but no real carnage happening until the final stages. With seven still in contention with just over a kilometer to go it came down to a sprint finish on the tra...

https://www.iaaf.org/news/report/barsosio-race-record-ceske-budejovice-half-ma

by Brett Larner For the second-straight year, Kenyan Enock Omwamba (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) pulled off the 1500 m - 10000 m double on the first weekend of the Kanto Regional University Track and Field Championships, May 18-19 in Tokyo's National Stadium.  Despite high winds in Saturday's Division I 1500 m final, Omwamba went out hard with a 55-second opening lap, holding on alone to take a full 4 seconds off the meet record with a new best of 3:39.16.  Runner-up  Hiroki Matsueda  (Juntendo Univ.) was more than 10 seconds behind, narrowly beating Kazuki Miyake  (Chuo Univ.) for 2nd with both cracking 3:50.  Division II winner Masaki Toda  (Tokyo Nogyo Univ.) also got under 3:50 with the fastest Japanese time of the day, 3:49.52. A day later, Omwamba won again against a tough field in the Division I 10000 m.  Facing Nihon University's new Kenyan ace Daniel Kitonyi , 2013 Hakone Ekiden Fifth Stage winner Shota Hattori  (Nittai Univ.), Meiji...

by Brett Larner Along with Saturday's Kanaguri Memorial Meet where four men cleared 13:30 in the 5000 m , the weekend saw a number of small meets between Kanto-region university teams with the odd pro popping up in a few races.  Among the highlights: 2012 Hakone Ekiden champion Toyo University 's twin juniors Keita Shitara  and Yuta Shitara  dominated the Five-University Meet at Daito Bunka University on Sunday.  Both brothers surged away from the field mid-race to take their events in new meet records, Keita with a 14:04.40 in the 5000 m to win by 8.62 seconds and Yuta with an 8:04.87 in the 3000 m to win by 8.00 seconds. With a strong international debut in New York three weeks ago and a 10-mile win over marathoner Yuki Kawauchi  (Saitama Pref.) last weekend, next weekend Yuta will run on the Japanese national team at the World University XC Championships in Poland. Nihon University's Kenyan senior Benjamin Gandu  made easy work of the rest ...