japan running news

The JAAF announced on May 14 that in collaboration with the East Asian Athletics Association, the 5th East Asian Half Marathon Championships will be held as part of the 2027 Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon in April next year. It will be the first time the East Asian Half will be staged in Japan. The race will be held on the Gifu Seiryu Half course starting and finishing at Gifu Memorial Center at the same time as the regular race. Only the results of athletes representing East Asia member countries will be considered in scoring. The East Asian Athletics Association is made up of Japan, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Macau, Mongolia, North Korea and Taiwan. The 1st edition of the East Asian Half Marathon was held in 2023 in Hong Kong, with the 2nd through 4th editions held in China. source article: https://www.rikujyokyogi.co.jp/archives/207139 translated by Brett Larner

Two good races happened Sunday at the Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon . The women's race was a head-to-head race between 2022 marathon world champion Gotytom Gebreslase and debuting Japan-based Janet Nyiva . Side-by-side through 15 km, Nyiva shattered Gebreslase with a massive surge over the last 5 km that ultimately put 52 second between them, Nyiva wining in 1:07:37 and Gebreslase next in 1:08:29. 2023 Asian marathon champion Eunice Chebichii Chumba held off the up-and-coming Kana Kobayashi , a member of Japan's marathon team for September's Tokyo World Championships, with a 1:09:07 for 3rd. Kobayashi's 1:09:09 for 4th was a PB by almost 5 minutes and the fastest time ever on the rolling Gifu course by a Japanese woman. Yumi Yoshikawa was 5th in 1:10:51. Five men went out front on mid-59 pace. Dawit Wolde , debuting Kiprono Sitonik , Vincent Yegon and veteran Bedan Karoki all took turns leading, with only Richard Kimunyan tucking in and declining to share the load. ...

Hot conditions held back fast times at the Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon Sunday, where Ugandan Stella Chesang and Kenya Hillary Kipkoech took the top spots over last year's winners Dolphine Nyaboke Omare and Amos Kurgat . In the women's race Chesang, Omare and Kenyan-born Bahraini Eunice Chebichii Chumba went out as a trio, Japan-based Hellen Ekarare with them initially but eventually dropping out. After a 15:39 opening 5 km Chumba started to slip off, and by 15 km Chesang was on her own. Chesang won in 1:07:59, solid given the conditions, with Omare 2nd in 1:08:31 and Chumba 3rd in 1:09:10. Rinka Hida was the first Japanese woman, 5th overall in 1:12:06 behind Australian Genevieve Gregson . A lead men's pack of 11 went through 5 km in 14:31, but by 10 km it was down to Kipkoech, Kurgat, , Timothy Kiplagat , Ugandan Stephen Kissa and Japan-based Kenyans Patrick Mathenge Wambui and Anthony Maina . At 15 km in 43:40 only Kurgat and Kipkoech were left, and over the last 5...

2019 Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon men's winner Amos Kurgat (Chudenko) and last year's women's champ Dolphine Omare (U.S.E.) were back on top with repeat wins this time. Despite a good field with four sub-60 runners the men's race went out too slow for Kurgat's liking. Within the first 5 km he was away, leading by 6 seconds at 5 km and never looking back as he won by over a minute in 1:00:20. The pack behind him came down to a five-way sprint finish, with past Marugame Half winner Paul Kuira (JR Higashi Nihon) turning in one of his better runs in years with a 1:01:37 for 2nd. Former Soka University top man Philip Mulwa (GMO) was 3rd in 1:01:38 in his corporate league debut, with top Japanese man Kiyoshi Koga (Yasukawa Denki) 4th in 1:01:40. Omare led start to finish in the women's race, initially with company from the debuting Hellen Ekarare (Toyota Jidoshokki) and Ethiopian great Tirunesh Dibaba through 5 km in 16:06 but soon leaving both behind. Omare ca...

It's another busy weekend on the roads and track across Japan. Sunday's Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon has a good matchup between the great Tirunesh Dibaba and Japan-based Kenyan Dolphine Omare in the women's race . Tirunesh has run 1:06:50, but after 5 years away from the sport her recent best is only a 1:11:35 in Houston in January. Omare bettered that by a kilometer in winning Gifu last year in 1:08:13, and was even better with a 1:07:56 win at last year's National Corporate Half. Australian Isobel Batt-Doyle and Japan's Reia Iwade have both run under 70 minutes, and there are interesting debuts from Kenyan Hellen Ekarare and Australian Genevieve Gregson , but it's hard not to see Omare as the favorite again. The men's race has sub-60 Japan-based Kenyans Amos Kurgat , Joseph Karanja , Vincent Raimoi and Paul Kuira up front, with support from sub-61 men Macharia Ndirangu , Joel Mwaura and Kiyoshi Koga . Kurgat, Karanja, Raimoi and Keira all have exper...

The two heavy favorites in the return of the Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon , all-time #4 man Alexander Mutiso (ND Software) and 2022 National Corporate Half Marathon women's champ Dolphine Omare (U.S.E.) took the top spots, but their races couldn't have been more different. In what had to have been the best weather in Gifu's 11-year history, mid-teens, a tailwind on the return trip of the hilly out-and-back course, and a light misty rain that began minutes before the start and gradually picked up over the morning, the men's race went out close to CR pace, Mutiso leading the way at 5 km in 14:15 and at least 16 others in tow. The pace stayed there over the next 10 km until only 5 were left up front, and with a 13:59 split from there to 20 km cut it down to just Mutiso, Benard Koech (Kyudenko) and Emmanuel Maru (Toyota Boshoku). All three went under the old CR of 1:00:02 set by the great Bedan Karoki back in 2014, but Mutiso had the kick to score the win in 59:56. Koech ...

It's a busy weekend ahead, with a major trail race, a half marathon, and at least three high-level track meets going on across the country. The Ultra-Trail Mt. Fuji is already underway, 100 miles around the foothills of Japan's most recognizable landmark in the long course race. It doesn't factor into national team selection for next year's World Mountain and Trail Running Championships, but UTMF is still the most prestigious trail race in the country. Catch streaming here and on the UTMF Youtube channel .  Leaderboard and athlete tracking here . Sunday is the Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon , in normal years Japan's only WA gold label half marathon and still one of its most competitive in this still not normal year. 2022 National Corporate Half Marathon champ Dolphine Nyaboke Omare (U.S.E.) leads the women's field with her 1:07:56 CR at that race, her main competition on paper coming from Aussie veteran Sinead Diver , 1:08:50 at Marugame two years ago but a DNF...

The Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon returns Apr. 24 with a mostly Japan-based field that at least on the men's side is still just about the best in its 11-year history.  On the women's side, 2022 National Corporate Half Marathon winner Dolphine Nyaboke Omare is the heavy favorite after running 1:07:56 to win the corporate title. Australian Sinead Diver , a DNF at last month's Nagoya Women's Marathon, is the only other woman in the field to have broken 70 minutes in the last 3 years with a 1:08:50 in Marugame 2 years ago. Along with Eloise Wellings and Natalie Rule Diver is part of an Australian trio that is the only segment of the race coming from outside Japan. Yuma Adachi (Kyocera) and Anna Matsuda (Denso) are the top Japanese women, Adachi with a 1:10:21 in Osaka in January and Matsuda a 1:10:29 behind Omare in February. Nobody is coming from overseas to run in the men's race, but the Japan-based Kenyan field is just about as good as Gifu could hope for any year....

After consultation with all parties involved, the organizing committee of the 10th anniversary Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon scheduled for Apr. 25, 2021 has made the decision to go ahead with next year's race while taking appropriate precautions against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. As one of the measures to allow the race to be safely staged, the field size on race day will be cut to 70% of its usual level, 7,000 runners, to reduce crowd density on the course. The remaining 30%, 3,000 runners, will be given entry to an online half marathon to allow them to still participate. Priority will be given to people who were entered in the canceled 2020 edition. The 3 km race will be canceled in order to further reduce numbers, and all entrants in that division will have their entry fees refunded. We thank you for your understanding. source article: http://www.gifu-marathon.jp/news/news_033.html translated and edited by Brett Larner