japan running news

by Brett Larner The National Corporate Half Marathon Championships are Japan's premier half, producing more quality times over its 43-year history than any other half marathon worldwide.  This year's 44th running on Feb. 14 counts as the final men's and women's selection race for the 2016 World Half Marathon Championships team and has fields as good as ever lined up.  The men's field includes last year's course record-breaking top two Charles Ndirangu (Team JFE Steel) and Macharia Ndirangu (Team Aichi Seiko), 2014 3rd-placer Sota Hoshi (Team Fujitsu), 2013 runner-up Johana Maina (Team Fujitsu) and 2012 winner Chihiro Miyawaki (Team Toyota), along with Rio Olympics marathon team contender Satoru Sasaki (Team Asahi Kasei) and fellow 2:08 marathoners Kentaro Nakamoto (Team Yasukawa Denki) and Ser-Od Bat-Ochir (Team NTN). The women's field is split between the half marathon and 10 km distances again this year, making for two smaller but equally comp...

by Brett Larner photo by Kazuyuki Sugimatsu 2013 World Cross-Country Championships junior silver medalist Leonard Barsoton (Kenya/Team Nissin Shokuhin) made a solid debut over 10000 m on June 29 at the Hokuren Distance Challenge Fukagawa meet, narrowly winning the A-heat in 27:33.13 after leading much of the race. Less than a stride behind, former Sera H.S. star Jeremiah Karemi (Team Toyota Kyushu) took nearly a minute off his best as he finished in 27:33.38.  Now coached by Barcelona Olympics marathon silver medalist Koichi Morishita , Karemi is one of two Kenyans to pick where late Beijing Olympics marathon gold medalist Samuel Wanjiru left off at the Toyota Kyushu team. 21-year-old Chihiro Miyawaki  (Team Toyota), in the all-time Japanese top ten over both 10000 m and half marathon, was 7th in 28:02.36 to lead the Japanese contingent in the unusually deep heat, where 26 men broke 29 minutes.  Miyawaki raised eyebrows by announcing post-race that he plans ...

by Brett Larner Rain and wind greeted the first in the 2013 Hokuren Distance Challenge series June 26 in Shibetsu, Hokkaido, combining with a shortage of top-tier domestic names to produce few noteworthy results.  NTN Kenyan Edward Waweru 's 7:47.02 win the men's 3000 m was the most competitive run of the day, ranking him just outside the top ten worldwide this year with the Koichi Morishita -coached Jeremiah Karemi  (Kenya/Team Toyota Kyushu) just behind in 7:48.31.  2012 national 5000 m champion Kazuya Deguchi  (Team Asahi Kasei) was 4th in 8:06.39. Little-known William Malel  (Kenya/Team Honda), brought to Japan last year by coach Stephen Mayaka  to run for tiny Sozo Gakuin University before jumping ship for the corporate leagues this year, had a win the men's 5000 m A-heat over the likes of 2011 World XC silver medalist Paul Tanui  (Kenya/Team Kyudenko). This year's 1500 m national champion Yuki Akimoto  (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) parti...

by Brett Larner After impressive runs in the Olympic 5000 m and 10000 m where she frontran her way to all-time Japanese top-ten marks at both distances, independent-spirited Hitomi Niiya (Team Univ. Ent.) made a decisive return to competitive racing on Oct. 5, smashing the meet record in the senior women's 5000 m on the first day of the 67th National Sports Festival in Gifu.  The 2012 national champion for 5000 m, Niiya characteristically set out a pace that simply nobody else could follow, winning by a margin of 17 seconds as she set a new meet record on 15:17.79. 2011 national champion Megumi Kinukawa  (Mizuno) was a casuality, dropping out partway, but in the chase pack ascendant collegiate star Ayuko Suzuki  (Nagoya Univ.) outran all competition for 2nd in 15:34.15, edging into the year's ten best Japanese women's times.  Just five days after setting a stage record on the anchor leg of the Kanto Region University Women's Ekiden, first year Haruka Kyuma ...