Weekend Overseas Japanese Results

Japanese men lined up at three major overseas races Sunday. At the Netherlands' Eindhoven Marathon, 2:07:39 marathoner Masato Imai (Toyota Kyushu), coached by 1992 Barcelona Olympics marathon silver medalist Koichi Morishita, was ranked 3rd in the field on PB but ran only 2:17:00 for 10th after fading from the lead pack early in the second half.

At Boston's B.A.A. Half the race was hurt by the late withdrawal of aggressive sub-61 half marathoner Kenta Murayama (Asahi Kasei) with illness. In his absence Suguru Osako (NOP) and Shogo Nakamura (Fujitsu), the latter a former teammate of Murayama's at Komazawa University, sat in the lead pack throughout the race without exerting pressure despite a very slow pace. Two-time defending champ Daniel Salel (Kenya) made it three in a row, easily outkicking Osako to win in 1:04:31, Osako next across the line in 1:04:42 and Nakamura 4th in 1:04:50. Two other Japanese men were non-factors, Ken Yokote (Fujitsu) 7th in 1:05:57 and Yudai Okamoto (JFE Steel) 33rd in 1:18:21.

At the Chicago Marathon, 2014 Asian Games silver medalist Kohei Matsumura (MHPS) was the top Japanese finisher at 6th in 2:11:48. Fading from the lead pack after 25 km, Matsumura was caught by sub-61 half marathoner Chihiro Miyawaki (Toyota), who pulled Matsumura back into the lead pack just before last year's winner Abel Kirui (Kenya) made the move that opened the race up after a slow 1:06:10 first half. Matsumura was one of eight men up front to negative split the race, with Miyawaki fading to 11th in 2:13:23. Ryoichi Matsuo (Asahi Kasei) was 18th in 2:15:50.

Elsewhere, Teppei Suegami won the Portland Marathon in 2:23:43, with Mai Fujisawa 3rd in the women's race in 2:58:41.

Eindhoven Marathon
Eindhoven, Netherlands, 10/8/17
click here for complete results

Men
1. Festus Talam (Kenya) - 2:06:13
2. Felix Kiptoo Kirwa (Kenya) - 2:06:13
3. Marius Kipserem (Kenya) - 2:06:43
4. Dejene Debela Gonfe (Ethiopia) - 2:07:10
5. Cosmas Jairus Kipchoge (Kenya) - 2:08:45
-----
10. Masato Imai (Japan/Toyota Kyushu) - 2:17:00

B.A.A. Half Marathon
Boston, U.S.A., 10/8/17
click here for complete results

Men
1. Daniel Salel (Kenya) - 1:04:31
2. Suguru Osako (Japan/NOP) - 1:04:42
3. Tesfaalem Gebrearegawi (Ethiopia) - 1:04:46
4. Shogo Nakamura (Japan/Fujitsu) - 1:04:50
5. Abdi Abdirahman (U.S.A.) - 1:05:11
-----
7. Ken Yokote (Japan/Fujitsu) - 1:05:57
33. Yudai Okamoto (Japan/JFE Steel) - 1:18:21

Chicago Marathon
Chicago, U.S.A., 10/8/17
click here for complete results

Men
1. Galen Rupp (U.S.A.) - 2:09:20 - PB
2. Abel Kirui (Kenya) - 2:09:48
3. Bernard Kipyego (Kenya) - 2:10:23
4. Sisay Lemma (Ethiopia) - 2:11:01
5. Stephen Sambu (Kenya) - 2:11:07 - PB
-----
6. Kohei Matsumura (Japan/MHPS) - 2:11:48
11. Chihiro Miyawaki (Japan/Toyota) - 2:13:23
18. Ryoichi Matsuo (Japan/Asahi Kasei) - 2:15:50

Portland Marathon
Portland, U.S.A., 10/8/17
click here for complete results

Men
1. Teppei Suegami (Japan) - 2:23:43
2. Donovan Fellows (U.S.A.) - 2:24:05
3. Justin Banks (U.S.A.) - 2:34:47

Women
1. Allison Goldstein (U.S.A.) - 2:50:26
2. Moira O'Connor (U.S.A.) - 2:57:57
3. Mai Fujisawa (Japan) - 2:58:41

Miyawaki photo © 2017 Dr. Helmut Winter, all rights reserved
text © 2017 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Morii Surprises With Second-Ever Japanese Sub-2:10 at Boston

With three sub-2:09 Japanese men in the race and good weather conditions by Boston standards the chances were decent that somebody was going to follow 1981 winner Toshihiko Seko 's 2:09:26 and score a sub-2:10 at the Boston Marathon . But nobody thought it was going to be by a 2:14 amateur. Paris Olympic team member Suguru Osako had taken 3rd in Boston in 2:10:28 in his debut seven years ago, and both he and 2:08 runners Kento Otsu and Ryoma Takeuchi were aiming for spots in the top 10, Otsu after having run a 1:01:43 half marathon PB in February and Takeuchi of a 2:08:40 marathon PB at Hofu last December. A high-level amateur with a 2:14:15 PB who scored a trip to Boston after winning a local race in Japan, Yuma Morii told JRN minutes before the start of the race, "I'm not thinking about time at all. I'm going to make top 10, whatever time it takes." Running Boston for the first time Morii took off with a 4:32 on the downhill opening mile, but after that Sis

Saturday at Kanaguri and Nittai

Two big meets happened Saturday, one in Kumamoto and the other in Yokohama. At Kumamoto's Kanaguri Memorial Meet , Benard Koech (Kyudenko) turned in the performance of the day with a 13:13.52 meet record to win the men's 5000 m A-heat by just 0.11 seconds over Emmanuel Kipchirchir (SGH). The top four were all under 13:20, with 10000 m national record holder Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu) bouncing back from a DNF at last month's The TEN to take the top Japanese spot at 7th overall in 13:24.57. The B-heat was also decently quick, Shadrack Rono (Subaru) winning in 13:21.55 and Shoya Yonei (JR Higashi Nihon) running a 10-second PB to get under 13:30 for the first time in 13:29.29 for 6th. Paris Olympics marathoner Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) was 9th in 13:30.62. South Sudan's Abraham Guem (Ami AC) also set a meet record in the men's 1500 m A-heat in 3:38.94. 3000 mSC national record holder Ryuji Miura made his debut with the Subaru corporate team, running 3:39.78 for 2n

93-Year-Old Masters Track and Field WR Holder Hiroo Tanaka: "Everyone has Unexplored Intrinsic Abilities"

In the midst of a lot of talk about how to keep the aging population young, there are people with long lives who are showing extraordinary physical abilities. One of them is Hiroo Tanaka , 93, a multiple world champion in masters track and field. Tanaka began running when he was 60, before which he'd never competed in his adult life. "He's so fast he's world-class." "His running form is so beautiful. It's like he's flying." Tanaka trains at an indoor track in Aomori five days a week. Asked about him, that's the kind of thing the people there say. Tanaka holds multiple masters track and field world records, where age is divided into five-year groups. Last year at the World Masters Track and Field Championships in Poland he set a new world record of 38.79 for 200 m in the M90 class (men's 90-94 age group). People around the world were amazed at the time, which was almost unbelievable for a 92-year-old. After retiring from his job as an el

japan running news

Search This Blog