"If Kawauchi succeeds in breaking 62 minutes he will become the 24th Japanese man sub-62 this year."

might be wejo wrote:

Damn, how many will America have in 2012?

Four so far.

Dathan Ritzenhein 1:00:57

Scott Bauhs 1:01:30

Luke Puskedra 1:01:36 (debut at age 21)

Meb Keflezighi 1:01:41

Japanese top four:

Chihiro Miyawaki 1:00:53 (debut at age 20)

Masato Kihara 1:01:15

Takuya Fukatsu 1:01:25

Yusuke Takabayashi 1:01:31

six to one wrote:

Japanese top four:

Chihiro Miyawaki 1:00:53 (debut at age 20)

Masato Kihara 1:01:15

Takuya Fukatsu 1:01:25

Yusuke Takabayashi 1:01:31

Either this list is outdated or there aren't 23 men who broke 62 this year in Japan.

In other words, I doubt Japan has 19 men who ran between 1:01:31 and 1:01:59 this year.

I always like endorsements for Lydiardism.

To be fair to Americans, there's probably a good number of collegiates who could go sub-62. Japan seems to have a larger number of young runners concentrating on the half for whatever reason.

Nutella1 wrote:

Either this list is outdated or there aren't 23 men who broke 62 this year in Japan.

In other words, I doubt Japan has 19 men who ran between 1:01:31 and 1:01:59 this year.

You are not a very bright dude, are you?

Nutella1 wrote:

six to one wrote:

Japanese top four:

Chihiro Miyawaki 1:00:53 (debut at age 20)

Masato Kihara 1:01:15

Takuya Fukatsu 1:01:25

Yusuke Takabayashi 1:01:31

Either this list is outdated or there aren't 23 men who broke 62 this year in Japan.

In other words, I doubt Japan has 19 men who ran between 1:01:31 and 1:01:59 this year.

And yet they do

Ho hum wrote:

To be fair to Americans, there's probably a good number of collegiates who could go sub-62. Japan seems to have a larger number of young runners concentrating on the half for whatever reason.

This. As I recall, the half marathon is pretty much the focus of the whole Japanese collegiate system. If the NCAA replaced XC with a season devoted solely to running half marathons, we'd have a lot of guys running sub 62 as well.

Anyway, who really cares how many guys are running in the 61-62 range for any given country? International competition is not an XC race. There is no award for having a nice pack that finishes in the top third of the race. The point is to put people on the podium, not to have a whole lot of good guys. For all their sub 62 runners, we regularly put more guys on the podium. And that's the whole point of the competition. I'll take one Galen Rupp over ten thousand 62 minute guys.

that quote was from a japanese translator.

perhaps it is "If he runs under 62 this year he will become the 24th Japanese man under 62"? As in, not 24 men under 62 this year, but he will be the 24th Japanese man ever under 62 if he runs that time this year?

hmmmm ! wrote:

that quote was from a japanese translator.

perhaps it is "If he runs under 62 this year he will become the 24th Japanese man under 62"? As in, not 24 men under 62 this year, but he will be the 24th Japanese man ever under 62 if he runs that time this year?

look at the IAAF list. He will be the 24th Japanese guy under 62 JUST FOR THIS YEAR

This is what I have for this year's Japanese male half marathoners:

Chihiro Miyawaki 60:53

Masato Kihara 61:15

Takuya Fukatsu 61:25

Yusuke Takabayashi 61:31

Arata Fujiwara 61:34

Shinobu Kubota 61:38

Shota Yamaguchi 61:42

Yuya Konishi 61:44

Daisuke Shimizu 61:44

Keita Shitara 61:45

Ryotaro Nitta 61:45

Tatsunori Hamasaki 61:45

Daisuke Matsufuji 61:46

Yuta Igarashi 61:46

Mamoru Hirano 61:49

Ryo Yamamoto 61:54

Yomoyuki Morita 61:55

Hiromitsu Kakuage 61:56

Takahiro Yamanaka 61:57

Masamichi Shinozaki 61:58

Shuji Yoshikawa 61:58

Yuki Iwai 61:58

If this list is really true (which I doubt) then they have an awkward density of performances between 61:30 and 61:59.

Or I could rephrase: 23 men under 62 but only one man breaks 61. Very weird.

It's like a lot of very good runners but zero world class runners.

Yeah it is weird. 6 guys have run 61:55-61:58? Quite odd but it's the reality

Nutella1 wrote:

If this list is really true (which I doubt) then they have an awkward density of performances between 61:30 and 61:59.

Or I could rephrase: 23 men under 62 but only one man breaks 61. Very weird.

It's like a lot of very good runners but zero world class runners.

Why would you doubt it? The results have been around for most of the year:

Of the 23 sub 62 guys, 19 of the bottom 20 all ran their times at the same race (Marugame). The one other guy ran his time in New York, and the top 3 ran at Yamaguchi and Kumamoto.

Ho hum wrote:

To be fair to Americans, there's probably a good number of collegiates who could go sub-62. Japan seems to have a larger number of young runners concentrating on the half for whatever reason.

Only 7 of them are college-aged, about 1 out of 4, the same proportion as with the 4 Americans.

The "whatever reason" those guys focus on the half is to try to get into a race that 40 million+ people watch, the Hakone Ekiden.

A 62 minute half marathon about equivalent to a 28:00 10k. Only one American collegian was sub 28 this year (Derrick).

if this is true, then where are all the 22-25yo guys fresh out of college and hammering away on the roads??? that's where the money is right? if you had said "sub-64" I would've agreed with your statement. but the real problem as I mentioned above is that none of those sub-64 guys stick with it after college.

Ho hum wrote:

To be fair to Americans, there's probably a good number of collegiates who could go sub-62. Japan seems to have a larger number of young runners concentrating on the half for whatever reason.

AND WHAT DID THAT GET THEM AT THE OLYPMICS!!!? NOTHING. NADA. ZIP. ZILCH.

USA performed better in the Marathon, 10,000m, 5000m, 1500m, and 800m.

Japan's system sucks.

Nutella1 wrote:

six to one wrote:

Japanese top four:

Chihiro Miyawaki 1:00:53 (debut at age 20)

Masato Kihara 1:01:15

Takuya Fukatsu 1:01:25

Yusuke Takabayashi 1:01:31

Either this list is outdated or there aren't 23 men who broke 62 this year in Japan.

In other words, I doubt Japan has 19 men who ran between 1:01:31 and 1:01:59 this year.

So you choose to 'doubt it' rather than just clicking on the link in the post immediately before yours?