by Brett Larner Japan's premier ultramarathon, the Lake Saroma 100 km and 50 km , saw its 27th running on Sunday, June 24. The 100 km was largely a battle of familiar faces on both the men's and women's sides, as national team stalwart and 2011 4th-placer Yoshikazu Hara moved up to take the win over last year's runner-up Hideo Nojo in 6:33:32. Nojo improved on last year's mark but was still over two minutes behind Hara, running 6:35:52. In the women's race defending champion Naomi Ochiai was only 4th in 7:56:42, but 2011 runner-up Shiho Katayama took over 20 minutes off her time from last year to win in a world-leading 7:33:38. Last year's 50 km division winner and former corporate marathoner Yuka Ezaki made a good transition to the 100 km distance, finishing 5th in 8:04:02. The most surprising action came in the 50 km, where 25-year-old Chiyuki Mochizuki (Canon AC Kyushu), the two-time Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon women's division winn...
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