MARCH 2017

LOOKING BACK, LOOKING AHEAD

MARCH

• At the Shizuoka Marathon on the 5th the trash talk was flying and the runners were flying for, well, 3/4 of the race. Except for Eric Lebrasseur, who was in a class by himself at 2:58:27. The Showdown in Shizuoka was won by Bob Johnston in 3:16:31 (8min PB) in followed by Tim Williams in a 3:21:56 (5min PB), and Gareth Evans in 3:32:20. Nick Coyle recovered from back problems with a 3:47:48 and Makiko Hosokawa ran a HUGE PB in 3:49, leaving Keren Miers in the dust. Yukari Murahara was also there.
• Also on the 5th, Satoshi Hashimoto and Glenn Rubin ran the Tachikawa Half in 1:27:19 and just under 2:00, respectively. And Yasuo Hayakawa ran the Miura Half in 1:49:45.
• Sunday March 12 was the day of the Nagoya Women’s Marathon, the biggest women’s marathon in the world, with 19,000 runners. Four Nambanners were there and they all did well. Rieko Trees 3:19:08, Yuka Rayner 3:50:14, Satohi Numasawa and Celine Bouny.
• At the Koga Hanamono Marathon, Nizar Grira set a PB of 3:04:56 and Yukiko Kanazawa ran 3:56:37. Yoshiro Morioka also ran the race.
• Daigo Asada, who has not learned how to run negative splits, finished the Tottori Marathon in a respectable 3:31:30 for a PB. Challenging the Oyama Tozan (mountain climb) were Stan Chow 51:07 and Tom Boatman. And at the Katsushika Run Festa, Rui Natsuka ran 1:39:48 in the Half and Rika Homma, still recovering from Tokyo, did the 10K in 47:15.
• Emmanuel Obser marked a great 12-minute PB in 3:28:03 at the Itabashi Marathon on the 19th and close behind was Rie Onodera in 3:30:17. Katsunori Kinoshita finished in 3:44 and David Sweet, Krishna Kumar and Yasuo Hayakawa were also there.
• At the 19th Tohoku Foods Marathon Alan Cannon ran 1:23:53, and Faith Geraghty was the fifth woman in 1:30. Don Roxburgh, Chika Kanai, Yukari Murabara, Akiko and Itaru Shirako were also on hand.
• Mika Tokairin ran the Los Angeles Marathon and Daniele Cason completed the Ironman 70.3 Taiwan.
• Derek Leong ran the very tough Hakone Saisoku Turnpike 13.4km Road Race in 1:20:31.
• The Tamako Ekiden was held on the 20th, in which Namban fielded four teams of four men. All teams finished in the top 40 out of 247 teams, led by the Gold team of Nizar Grira, Yuki Fukushima, Gildas Tuffin and Jay Johannesen in 12th place!
• Three women ran well at the cold and wet Sakura Asahi Marathon on the 26th: Chika Kanai 3:25:56, Rui Natsuka 3:50:07 and Mika Kume 3:54:48. Also on that day, Ben Dyer ran the Orange Marathon Yugawara 10K in 44:00. Youri Lavoine also participated.

APRIL

JUST FOR THE 5th: Wednesday nights in Yoyogi Park. Meet at the kiosk 100m inside park entrance near Harajuku station at 7:15pm.

• 5 – 1000 x 6
• FROM THE 12TH, WE WILL BE BACK TO ODA FIELD TRACK!
  
  12 – 1200 x 3, 800 x 2, 400
• 19 – 400, 1600, 1200 x 2, 800 x 2
• 26 – 5,000m time trial

HAIKU OF THE MONTH

Wild hair, rumpled clothes.
“Gambatte,” she always says
As I run by her.