japan running news

by Brett Larner photos by Dr. Helmut Winter Behind Wilson Kipsang's brilliantly self-controlled world record run at the 40th Berlin Marathon , 2:09:10 man Suehiro Ishikawa (Team Honda) and last year's fastest Japanese man overseas, 24-year-old Koji Kobayashi (Team Subaru) with a 2:10:40 best from the 2012 Chicago Marathon, spent the race sparring with Brazilian great Marilson dos Santos  in the second pack.  Keying off dos Santos through 10 km, Ishikawa fell back three seconds between 10 and 15 km with Kobayashi staying at his side before deciding to stay in the race and regain direct contact. In a virtual replay of his run against Dathan Ritzenhein (U.S.A.) in Chicago last year, Kobayashi stayed glued to dos Santos on low-2:07 pace until 35 km before starting to lose ground and then fading badly.  As dos Santos went ahead to take 6th in 2:09:24 Ishikawa, who had fallen as much as a minute behind, closed hard to retake Kobayashi in the final 2 km.  Ishi...

by Brett Larner video by naoki620 On a cold and moderately windy day, pre-race favorite Dennis Kipruto Kimetto (Kenya) lived up to expectations to bring the Tokyo Marathon into the World Marathon Majors with a 2:06:50 course record, holding off defending champion Michael Kipkorir Kipyego (Kenya) over the final kilometers after taking the lead at 34 km. The group of pacers taking the lead men through 30 km were far off the target splits of 14:50-55 per 5 km, never breaking 15:00 and immediately eliminating 2:05 from possibility. At 30 km James Kwambai  (Kenya) took over, initiating a surge that turned into a 5 km split of 14:20 once Kimetto went to work at 34 km.  Kipyego came close to catching up back up in the final 5 km but could not manage to close the final 3 seconds before losing ground in the final kilometer. 2009 Tokyo runner-up Kazuhiro Maeda (Team Kyudenko), who ran a 2:08:38 PB in Tokyo last year, was the only Japanese man to go with Kwambai's push, movi...

by Brett Larner Tokyo makes a decent entry into the Majors with an elite field including four 2:04 men and six with 2:06 bests, and a women's field featuring three under 2:21.  Defending champions Michael Kipkorir Kipyego  (Kenya) and Atsede Habtamu  (Ethiopia) return but are not shown the courtesy of the #1 bibs in their divisions, those going to 2012 Berlin Marathon runner-up Dennis Kipruto Kimetto (Kenya) and 2:19:19 runner  Irina Mikitenko (Germany). Mikitenko seems bound to fall prey to Ethiopians Bezunesh Bekele  and Aberu Kebede with 2011 Boston champion Caroline Cheptonui Kilel  also in the top group of competion.  Kipruto is up against the resurgent James Kwambai  (Kenya) and two components of last year's Miracle in Dubai, Dino Sefir  and Jonathan Kiplimo Maiyo  (Kenya). If Kipruto feels motivated to go for the win this time he is the sure favorite, and it is certainly worth his while.  The combination of 1st place a...

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/flash/KFullFlash20100407007.html translated by Brett Larner On the verge of taking up the title of Japanese women's marathoning ace, Yoshimi Ozaki (Team Daiichi Seimei) is running the Apr. 25 London Marathon for the first time. At the National Jitsugyodan Half Marathon Championships in Yamaguchi on Mar. 21 she was 2nd overall and the top Japanese finisher, indicating that everything has gone smoothly with her preparations. Hoping to run a 2:21 PB in her first time at the world's fastest race, she says confidently, "My target time is in reach." In just her third marathon Ozaki won the silver medal at last August's World Championships in Berlin, giving a tremendous boost to her self-confidence. The 28 year old Ozaki has been "doing 50 m repeats at top speed and working as hard as I can on being able to surge during the race." With the results of a high-quality training camp in hand she is eagerly looking forward to reaping ...

http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/091201/spg0912010000000-n1.htm http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/p-sp-tp0-20091201-571347.html http://www.shimotsuke.co.jp/news/tochigi/sports/news/20091201/242397 translated and edited by Brett Larner On Nov. 30 it was announced that 2009 Berlin World Championships women's marathon silver medalist Yoshimi Ozaki (28, Team Daiichi Seimei) and her World Championships teammate Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren) will run the April 25th London Marathon. Other women in the field include two-time defending champion Irina Mikitenko (Germany), 2009 World Championships gold medalist Xue Bai (China) and 2008 Beijing Olympics gold medalist Constantina Dita (Romania). The men's race will feature men's 5000 m and 30 km national record holder Takayuki Matsumiya, his identical twin brother Yuko (both of Team Konica Minolta) and 2008 World Half Marathon 5th place finisher Yusei Nakao (Team Toyota Boshoku). At the forefront will be 2008 Beijing Olympics and c...

http://www.iaaf.org/LRR08/news/newsid=48496.html