japan running news

On Mar. 16 the Mitsubishi Juko corporate team announced that 2014 Incheon Asian Games men's marathon silver medalist Kohei Matsumura , 34, has retired. Last year he became part of the team's coaching staff while continuing to compete as an athlete, but he will now shift focus to coaching full-time. His final race was last month's Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon , where he was 156th in 2:18:44. Head coach Jun Kuroki  commented, "He was the first athlete on our team to make a national team and the first to go sub-2:10 in the marathon. I hope he will help shape our next generation of marathoners and help them to become even stronger."  A native of Takatsuki, Osaka, he was captain of Yamanashi Gakuin University's ekiden team, running the Hakone Ekiden's First Stage his 3rd and 4th years. He joined Mitsubishi Juko after graduating. At the 2014 Tokyo Marathon he ran his PB of 2:08:09. Later the same year he won the silver medal in the matathon at the Incheon Asia...

by Brett Larner Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) came into 2014 off a legendary year that saw him set 3 world records, running 2:09 marathons 14 days apart, 2:08 marathons 42 days apart and 4 sub-2:10 marathons within one calendar year.  His main goals for 2014 were clear enough: a sub-2:08 and a gold medal at October's Asian Games.  And, not content with 11 marathons last year, this year he turned it up to 13, going sub-2:20 in all of them to surpass American great Doug Kurtis ' best of 12. Italian Giorgio Calcaterra ran 16 sub 2:20 marathons in 2000, but only 6 were sub-2:17.  All 13 of Kawauchi's cleared 2:17, 9 of them faster than Calcaterra's 2000 best of 2:13:15. Kawauchi started off with the race he identified as his best of the year, a solo 2:10:14 course record at the amateur-level Kumamoto-jo Marathon without pacers, competitors or special drinks.  Running by feel he went far faster than planned, an effort that he paid for 2 weeks later at ...

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2014/10/04/kiji/K20141004009042500.html http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/asia/2014/news/p-sp-tp0-20141004-1377183.html http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2014/10/04/kiji/K20141004009044120.html http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/asia/2014/news/f-sp-tp0-20141005-1377940.html http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2014/10/04/kiji/K20141004009042480.html translated and edited by Brett Larner Following the closing ceremonies of the Incheon Asian Games on Oct. 4, marathoners Kohei Matsumura (Team Mitsubishi Juko Nagasaki) and Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) returned to Japan the afternoon of Oct. 5 with the main group of the Japanese delegation.  JAAF Director of Men's Marathoning Takeshi Soh commented, "Neither of them ran spectacularly.  They didn't seem to have much confidence." In his international debut Matsumura won the silver medal in just his fourth marathon.  "I was going for gold, so I'm c...

by Brett Larner In his marathon debut, Kenyan-born Ali Hassan Mahboob (Bahrain) completed a total and 100% sweep of the 2014 Asian Games long distance gold medals by African-born athletes running for Bahrain, Qatar and the U.A.E., outkicking Japan's Kohei Matsumura and Yuki Kawauchi on the last lap of the track to win in 2:12:38. As a multiple Asian Games gold medalist with a 27:21.40 best for 10000 m Mahboob was a clear danger despite it being his debut, and the danger built steadily as he kept himself at the very rear of the lead pack of ten through the slow first 25 km.  With only a 2:15:09 best South Korea's Si-Hwan Noh took it upon himself to lead at mid-2:13 pace from the start, followed closely by Kenyan Bahraini Aadam Ismaeel Khamis , a 2:07:59 runner who had managed only 2:15:37 in the last two years.  The popular favorite Kawauchi was obviously keying off Khamis, staying right behind him whenever Khamis moved forward or backward.  Kawauchi's friend and...