Skip to main content

Rikuren Announces 2009 Yokohama International Women's Marathon and a Wide Range of Changes

http://www.47news.jp/CN/200812/CN2008121501000321.html
http://www.asahi.com/sports/spo/TKY200812160248.html
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/news/20081215-OYT1T00389.htm?from=navr

translated and edited by Brett Larner

On Dec. 15 Rikuren announced a wide range of changes to its regulations and procedures for the upcoming in the 2009-2010 season. Potentially the largest change is the removal of its ban on the use of a title sponsor's name in the names of large marathons and ekidens and the relaxation of advertising regulations. Elimination of these restrictions will make it easier for races to secure sufficient sponsorship funds.

Another of Rikuren's new policies is the introduction of mandatory drug testing for all athletes setting Japanese national records in sports included in the Olympics. Under previous rules such testing was not obligatory. Rikuren has also modified its financial support system for Japanese runners, reducing the number of C-rank athletes from 68 to 40 but basing support criteria on potential development rather than purely on performance times.

A surprising change included in the announcement is that the 2010 Tokyo Marathon will take place on Feb. 28. The event's first two runnings were both held on the third Sunday of February, but for the upcoming third edition in 2009 the date was changed to March 22. The switch back to February has raised concerns about the Tokyo Marathon's organizational health, but Rikuren officials claimed that the race's date would remain as the fourth Sunday of February for the forseeable future.

Rikuren also announced that with the termination of the Tokyo International Women's Marathon following its 30th edition this past November, the new Yokohama International Women's Marathon will hold its first running on Nov. 15, the same date Tokyo International would have been held.

Lastly, Rikuren revealed that the 2009 National Track and Field Championships, which will double as the official selection event for the 2009 Berlin World Track and Field Championships, will be held June 25-28 at the Hiroshima Koiki Koen Track and Field Grounds in Hiroshima. Officials said they are considering a proposal to open the Championships to include foreign athletes based in Japan.

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Japan's Olympic Marathon Team Meets the Press

With renewed confidence, Japan's Olympic marathon team will face the total 438 m elevation difference hills of Paris this summer. The members of the women's and men's marathon teams for August's Paris Olympics appeared at a press conference in Tokyo on Mar. 25 in conjunction with the Japan Marathon Championship Series III (JMC) awards gala. Women's Olympic trials winner Yuka Suzuki (Daiichi Seimei) said she was riding a wave of motivation in the wake of the new women's national record. When she watched Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) set the record at January's Osaka International Women's Marathon on TV, Suzuki said she was, "absolutely stunned." Her coach Sachiko Yamashita told her afterward, "When someone breaks the NR, things change," and Suzuki found herself saying, "I want to take my shot." After training for a great run in Paris, she said, "I definitely want to break the NR in one of my marathons after that." Mao

Weekend Racing Roundup

  China saw a new men's national record of 2:06:57 from  Jie He  at the Wuxi Marathon Sunday, but in Japan it was a relatively quiet weekend with mostly cold and rainy amateur-level marathons across the country. At the Tokushima Marathon , club runner Yuhi Yamashita  won the men's race by almost 4 1/2 minutes in 2:17:02, the fastest Japanese men's time of the weekend, but oddly took 22 seconds to get across the starting line. The women's race saw a close finish between the top two, with Shiho Iwane  winning in 2:49:33 over Ayaka Furukawa , 2nd in 2:49:46.  At the 41st edition of the Sakura Marathon in Chiba, Yukie Matsumura  (Comodi Iida) ran the fastest Japanese women's time of the weekend, 2:42:45, to take the win. Club runner Yuki Kuroda  won the men's race in 2:20:08.  Chika Yokota  won the Saga Sakura Marathon women's race in 2:49:33.  Yuki Yamada  won the men's race in 2:21:47 after taking the lead in the final 2 km.  Naoki Inoue  won the 16th r

Takeuchi Wins Niigata Half in Boston Tune-Up

Running in cold, windy and rainy conditions, Ryoma Takeuchi (ND Software) warmed up for April's Boston Marathon with a win at Wednesday's Niigata Half Marathon . Takeuchi sat behind Nittai University duo Susumu Yamazaki and Ryuga Ishikawa in the early stages, then made a series of pushes to pick up the pace. Each time he tucked in behind whoever went to the front, while behind them others dropped off. Before 15 km only Yamazaki and Riki Koike of Soka University were left, and when Takeuchi went to the front the last time after 15 km only Koike followed. By 16 he was gone too, leaving Takeuchi to solo it in to the win in 1:03:13 with a 17-second negative split. "This was my last fitness check before the Boston Marathon next month, and my time was right on-target," he said post-race. "Everything went as planned. I'm looking forward to racing some of the world's best in Boston, and my goal there is to place in the single digits." Just back from tr