japan running news

In preparation for its second-straight appearance at the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden, Tokyo Kokusai University held an open practice session for the media at its campus in Sakado, Saitama. Among its members is 2011 World Championships 5000 m team member Kazuya Watanabe , 31. "I want to do my part to pass on the tasuki and help us make the podium," said Watanabe of his hopes for the team to improve on its 17th-place finish last time. That time Watanabe finished 7th on Hakone's Seventh Stage. "I want to help generate momentum," he said. "If I can I want to run the Fourth Stage on Day One. I want to finish higher up in the field that I did last time, top 3 if I can." Watanabe is studying to earn a degree in physical education. During the summer he had a heavy class load. Asked about his summer training he answered tersely, "I couldn't concentrate on running." He skipped month-long team training camps in Hokkaido and Gifu in late July to atte...

Entry lists are out for Japan's biggest and best road race, the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden . 21 university teams from around the Tokyo area will field ten runners from the sixteen on their entry list, each runner taking on roughly a half marathon length over the ten-stage race. 2017 Izumo Ekiden winner Tokai University is the class of the field, one of only five teams to enter all ten of its best athletes and the only one with ten-runner averages under 14 minutes for 5000 m, under 29 for 10000 m and 1:03 for the half marathon. At all three distances its averages are slightly better than Aoyama Gakuin University 's were last year when AGU won its third-straight Hakone title, and no other school even comes closer over the most relevant distance, the half marathon. It has never won Hakone, but this year it's Tokai's race to lose. AGU has been hit by injury troubles this year, losing in both Izumo and the National University Ekiden and missing several key members from ...

The world's #1 20 km road race , the Yosenkai 20 km Road Race qualifier for the 2018 Hakone Ekiden, is set to go off tomorrow in Tokyo's Showa Kinen Park. 49 universities from around the Tokyo area will field teams of 10 to 12 men, with the combined times of each school's 10 fastest finishers determining which 10 teams will join the top tier of 10 already seeded for Japan's biggest sporting event, the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden. Click rosters to enlarge. Last year's Yosenkai team winner Daito Bunka University returns ranked 3rd in the field on average half marathon time. With that kind of position DBU is a lock to return to Hakone. Just ahead of them is Josai University , alma mater of Kota Murayama , the last Japanese man to win the Yosenkai and the current 10000 m national record holder. Josai finished 12th at the Yosenkai last year and missed Hakone, but with a strong roster this year with the most men in the field sub-64 for the half marathon it'll b...

http://www.yonden.co.jp/press/re1301/1180944_1968.html translated by Brett Larner The Shikoku Denryoku company regrets to announce that due to the difficulties currently facing the power industry our executive board has been forced to adopt strict efficiency measures throughout the company, and that as a part of these measures the Shikoku Denryoku men's and women's running team will be disbanded at the end of the current fiscal year in March. The running team was founded in April, 1992 as part of our company's 40th anniversary with the aims of: Contributing to the development of sports within the Shikoku region and fostering an atmosphere of interaction and exchange with local residents. Building morale, unity and camaraderie within the company by uniting employees in supporting the team's activities. Over the last 20+ years through its record of achievement in the National Corporate Ekiden Championships and at major marathons, in the number of team members w...

by Brett Larner Click here for JRN's sprints, hurdles and field events preview. This weekend's 96th Japanese National Track & Field Championships in Osaka double as Japan's Olympic Trials for the 2012 London Olympics.  Any athlete holding an A-standard Olympic qualifying mark who wins his or her event will be guaranteed a place in London, with the remaining spots decided through federation consideration within the constraints of a maximum of three A-standard entrants or one B-standard entrant in any one event.  The complete Olympic team lineup for individual events will be announced on Monday following the Trials, meaning that the only time chasing that will be allowed after the Trials is by people already on the team in one event looking to double.  For most, there will be no other chance. It's no secret that Japanese middle distance is far below the level of both its long distance and sprinting systems.  The extent to which that's due to athletes being ...

by Brett Larner Video courtesy of Julie Setagaya . Ugachi's domestic record run begins at 1:23:25 with the bell lap at 1:50:10. 1. Tsuyoshi Ugachi  (Team Konica Minolta) - 387 pts. 5000 m: 13:30.20 - 7th, Nobeoka, 5/28/11 - #5 Japanese, 2011 10000 m: 27:40.69 - 2nd, Hachioji, 11/26/11 - #1 Japanese, 2011; #4 Japanese all-time half-marathon: 1:00:58 - 2nd, Marugame, 2/6/11 - #1 Japanese, 2011; #3 Japanese all-time Other major performances: New Year Ekiden Fourth Stage, 22.0 km (Maebashi, 1/1/11): 1:04:19 - 4th National Men's Ekiden Seventh Stage, 13.0 km (Hiroshima, 1/23/11): 37:39 - 5th Kanaguri Memorial 5000 m (Kumamoto, 4/9/11): 13:43.10 - 8th Oregon Relays 5000 m (Oregon, 4/22/11): 13:47.29 - 6th Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational 10000 m (Stanford, 5/1/11): 27:41.97 - 14th National Track & Field Championships 10000 m (Kumagaya, 6/10/11): 28:20.40 - 3rd Asian Athletics Championships 10000 m (Kobe, 7/7/11): 28:48.53 - 4th Savo Games 3000 m (Lapinlahti,...

by Brett Larner This is part one of JRN's year in review.  Check back for our profiles of the top ten Japanese men and women of the year and for our readers' picks and editors' picks for performances of the year.   Click here for JRN's 2011 top ten rankings for men's and women's 5000 m, 10000 m, half-marathon and marathon .  For our review of the top ten overall men of 2011, click here .  For the top ten women, click here . Despite the setback March's disasters represented for Japan, by many standards 2011 ended up being the best year since before the Beijing Olympics for its distance runners. In the marathon, although the Japanese women's streak of World Championships medals ended and the fastest women's time of the year, Yoshimi Ozaki 's 2:23:56 CR at February's Yokohama International Women's Marathon, for the first time would not have made the top ten among either Kenyan or Ethiopian women, overall depth was at its best since 200...

http://www.nikkei.com/sports/news/article/g=96958A9C81818A9996E2E0EBE18DE0E1E3E3E0E2E3E3E2E2E2E2E2E2;da=96958A88889DE2E0E3EAEAE5E6E2E0E3E3E0E0E2E2EBE2E2E2E2E2E2 translated by Brett Larner Federation officials announced on Nov. 23 that they will be organizing a three-week altitude training camp in Kenya from January to February next year.  The camp is targeted toward five or six of the country's best track athletes, with corporate runners Kensuke Takezawa  (Team S&B) and Chihiro Miyawaki  (Team Toyota) on the list along with university men Akinobu Murasawa  (Tokai Univ.) and Tetsuya Yoroizaka  (Meiji Univ.).  The Japanese runners will train alongside Kenyan athletes at 3000 m elevation.  A federation spokesperson commented, "This is the way for us to regain our international competitiveness.  By travelling there we hope our athletes will observe and learn about the Kenyan style, including their day to day lives." Translator's note: Shortl...

2011 Memorial Van Damme Men's 10000 m Brussels, Belgium, 9/16/11 click here for complete results 1. Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia) - 26:43.16 2. Lucas Rotich (Kenya) - 26:43.98 - PB 3. Galen Rupp (U.S.A.) - 26:48.00 - PB, AR 4. Emmanuel Bett (Kenya) - 26:51.95 5. Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya) - 26:53.27 6. Geoffrey Kirui (Kenya) - 26:55.73 - PB 7. Titus Mbishei (Kenya) - 26:59.81 - PB 8. Paul Lonyangata (Kenya) - 27:21.62 9. Mike Kigen (Kenya) - 27:30.53 - PB 10. Denis Masai (Kenya) - 27:32.97 - PB 11. Josphat Bett (Kenya) - 27:57.60 ----- DNF - Kazuya Watanabe (Team Shikoku Denryoku)

Another disgraceful run from the Japanese team at the Daegu World Championships as men's 5000 m national champion Kazuya Watanabe (Team Shikoku Denryoku) finishes third from last in his qualifying heat, a minute off his best time of the season. 2011 World Championships Men's 5000 m Heats Daegu, Korea, 9/1/11 click here for complete results Heat 1 1. Bernard Lagat (U.S.A.) - 13:33.90 - Q 2. Thomas Longsiwa (Kenya) - 13:34.46 - Q 3. Dejen Gebremeskel (Ethiopia) - 13:34.48 - Q 4. Isiah Koech (Kenya) - 13:34.54 - Q 5. Galen Rupp (U.S.A.) - 13:34.91 - Q 6. Hussain Alhamdah (Saudia Arabia) - 13:35.47 - q 7. Bilisuma Shugi (Bahrain) - 13:35.86 - q 8. Daniele Meucci (Italy) - 13:39.90 - q Heat 2 1. Imane Merga (Ethiopia) - 13:37.96 - Q 2. Mohamed Farah (Great Britain) - 13:38.03 - Q 3. Abera Kuma (Ethiopia) - 13:38.41 - Q 4. Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya) - 13:39.02 - Q 5. Alistair Cragg (Ireland) - 13:39.36 - Q 6. Amanuel Mesel (Eritrea) - 13:39.97 - q 7. Jesus Espana...

http://bit.ly/mVAo9k The Japanese runners mentioned in the article are Megumi Kinukawa  (Team Mizuno), Yuki Sato  (Team Nissin Shokuhin) and Kazuya Watanabe  (Team Shikoku Denryoku).  At May's Golden Games in Nobeoka 5000 m Watanabe outkicked Sato, Ethiopian Alemu Desta  (Team Yasukawa Denki) and Kenyans Edward Waweru  (Team NTN), Gideon Ngatuny  (Team Nissin Shokuhin),  Paul Kuira  (Team Konica Minolta) and Patrick Mwaka  (Team Aisan Kogyo) to win in 13:23.15.   Click here for video .

by Brett Larner Japan's medal chances in the long distance events at the Daegu World Championships may be very slim at best, but the country is nevertheless sending a strong contingent including three national record holders and some of the best young talent to have emerged in recent years.  Chief among them are Yuki Sato  (Team Nissin Shokuhin), on the cusp of a national record in the last two years, and the resurgent Megumi Kinukawa  (Team Mizuno), the women's 10000 m junior national record holder coached by Samuel Wanjiru 's high school-era coach Takao Watanabe . 2011 World Championships Japanese Long Distance Team Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - Men's 10000 m 2011 national champion, 10000 m Born:  Nov. 26, 1986 (24 yrs.) PB:  27:38.25 (2009; all-time Japanese #3) 3000 m: 7:44.63 (2010; all-time Japanese #2) 5000 m: 13:23.57 (2006) In university Sato was described by his competitors as a monster, breaking Hakone Ekiden stage records his first ...