japan running news

by Brett Larner After a delay to allow four top Japanese women caught in Christchurch, New Zealand during last week's major earthquake time to decide whether they are ready for a competitive marathon, on Mar. 2 the Nagoya International Women's Marathon announced the elite field for the Mar. 13 race. The final edition of the elite-only race before the race changes formats next year to a mass-participation women-only event, Nagoya features the deepest domestic field of the three selection races for this summer's World Championships marathon team. To prevent any unnecessary stress to the runners, Rikuren officials have taken the unusual step of forbidding journalists from asking any questions related to the New Zealand earthquake until after the race. The last three Nagoya winners, defending champion Yuri Kano (Second Wind AC), '09 winner Yoshiko Fujinaga (Team Shiseido) and '08 victor Yurika Nakamura (Team Tenmaya) return. They will face 2009 Tokyo Marathon wi...

by Brett Larner Team Daihatsu outran Team Wacoal for the regional title at the first West Japan Jitsugyodan Women's Ekiden Oct. 24 in Munakata, Kyushu. A combination of three previous regional qualifiers for December's National Jitsugyodan Women's Ekiden Championships, West Japan was run on the same course as the former Kyushu Jitsugyodan Women's Ekiden. With the influx of teams from two other regions, stage records fell on four of the six stages in the 42.195 km race. Team Wacoal dominated the early parts of the race, leading for the first four stages thanks to stage record performances by First Stage runner Tomoka Inadomi and Third Stage runner Kayoko Fukushi . At the start of the 10.9 km Fifth Stage, the ekiden's longest, Wacoal was up by 37 seconds over Team Sysmex and 1:02 over Team Daihatsu. Fresh from the World Half Marathon, Daihatsu's Ryoko Kizaki then turned in a big run, taking the stage best in 35:50, well over a minute faster than the next-fastest...

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20090309-OHT1T00011.htm http://sankei.jp.msn.com/sports/other/090308/oth0903081346005-n1.htm http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2009030800077 http://www.kyoto-np.co.jp/article.php?mid=P2009030800113&genre=L1&area=K00 translated and edited by Brett Larner In the 16th and final running of the Kyoto City Half Marathon on Mar. 8, the Hakone Ekiden's 'New God of the Mountain,' first-year Ryuji Kashiwabara (Toyo Univ.) won his half marathon debut in 1:03:16. Although he beat 2008 World Half Marathon national team member Kazuo Ietani (31, Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko), Kashiwabara had a mature view of his performance, saying, "I can't let myself be satisfied with a run like this." In the women's race, Kyoto native Kasumi Nishihara (Bukkyo Univ.) took over two minutes of her PB to win the women's race in 1:11:58. A pack of three stayed together until the final 5 km, when Nishihara attacked and dropped her two...

by Brett Larner Bukkyo University anchor Kasumi Nishihara came within 3 seconds of breaking titan Ritsumeikan University's domination of the national ekiden circuit at the 6th All-Japan University Women's Invitational Ekiden Championship in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, delivering a new stage record for the anchor leg but coming up just short of catching Ritsumeikan's star first-year Michi Numata, the 2008 National University 10000 m champion. While both the men's and women's university ekiden circuits hold their national championships at the end of October or beginning of November, the true peak of the men's season comes at the Hakone Ekiden on Jan. 2-3. The All-Japan University Women's Invitational Ekiden, a six-stage, 30.67 event a short distance northeast of Tokyo, began five years ago as a way of giving university women's distance running the year's-end holiday season national coverage accorded to men. Kyoto-based Ritsumeikan has dominated the e...

translated and edited by Brett Larner The 26th All-Japan University Women's Ekiden, also known as the Morinomiyako Ekiden, takes place Oct. 26 in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. Two-time defending champion Ritsumeikan University is set to win a third-straight title, with four schools presenting potential challenges. Brief profiles of each school follow. Ritsumeikan University Ritsumeikan University, alma mater of professionals including 2008 Sapporo International Half Marathon winner Yuri Kano (Second Wind AC), is the dominant women's running school in Japan, winning the Western Japan Regional Ekiden title every year since 2003 and the National Invitational Ekiden all five years of the event's existence thus far. Ritsumeikan won the 2003 and 2004 National University Women's Ekiden titles but in trying to become the second school in Morinomiyako history to win a third consecutive championship lost out to rivals Meijo University in 2005. Ritsumeikan came back to win in 2006, ...

by Brett Larner The Ritsumeikan University women`s ekiden team extended its national championship dynasty at the 5th All-Japan University Women`s Invitational Ekiden in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture on Dec. 24, defeating 19 other teams to win the event for the 5th time. Despite a strong challenge from Bukkyo University , who set new stage records on 3 of the 6 stages, Ritsumeikan once again prevailed over this 30.67 km course. 1st Stage: 5 km All 20 runners on the first stage stayed together until the 2 km point when a few began to drift away from the back of the pack. At the 3 km point Ryoko Kisaki of Bukkyo broke away, dropping a 3:00 km between 3 and 4 km. Juntendo University`s Yuka Inatomi and Nihon University`s Kenyan 'exchange student' Ann Kingori followed, Kingori dropping Inatomi with 500 m to go. Neither was close to Kisaki, who was strong right to the finish in a new stage record time. 1. Bukkyo: 15:39 (Ryoko Kisaki, 4th yr., new stage record ) 2. Nihon: 15:50 (Ann Ki...