Based on his track times I think this runner should be closer to 1:00:00/ Half thon. Very impressive distance times considering his best 1500 m of 348 is equal to 406 mile “only“.
They should look to try and import Americans like Kasey Knevelbaard. Unknown C level runner in the US but would be a superstar in Japan and set some records for them. Obviously Americans have top mid distance genetics.
(Ethiopia rarely shows their hand before Hengelo FBK in June)
Japan have phenomenal depth in the 13:20-13:50 range, probably only surpassed by Kenya. In that sweet spot of 13:20-13:50, Japan are very good, on par with USA or better. Haven't crunched the numbers yet. Will do so later.
186th in World: Nanami Arai, 3:40.24, achieved on 29/04/2023, in F..Kagawa.
This 28 year old has very solid pbs of: 1:50.41, 3:36.63, 3:56.60 (mile) indoor, 7:48.50, 13:37.60, 28:49.66, 1:04:36.
His half marathon dates back to the Mecca of Half marathon steps, Marugame, in February 2015, when Arai was just 20 years young, College Junior.
The mystery for me revolves around the fact that Japan has outstanding marathon runners but they also have world-class sprinters up to 400 meters but then very little at 800 meters and 1500 meters and I can't get my head around that. It does not make logical sense.
US fans will know Nanami Arai, as he regularly races in the USA, especially Boston indoor in winter.
186th in World: Nanami Arai, 3:40.24, achieved on 29/04/2023, in F..Kagawa.
This 28 year old has very solid pbs of: 1:50.41, 3:36.63, 3:56.60 (mile) indoor, 7:48.50, 13:37.60, 28:49.66, 1:04:36.
His half marathon dates back to the Mecca of Half marathon steps, Marugame, in February 2015, when Arai was just 20 years young, College Junior.
The mystery for me revolves around the fact that Japan has outstanding marathon runners but they also have world-class sprinters up to 400 meters but then very little at 800 meters and 1500 meters and I can't get my head around that. It does not make logical sense.
US fans will know Nanami Arai, as he regularly races in the USA, especially Boston indoor in winter.
Download this stock image: Osaka, Japan. 24th June, 2021. (L to R) Ryoji Tatezawa, Nanami Arai Athletics : The 105th Japan Track & Field National Championships Men's 1500m Heat at Yanmar Stadium Nagai in Osaka, Japan . Credit...
The mystery for me revolves around the fact that Japan has outstanding marathon runners but they also have world-class sprinters up to 400 meters but then very little at 800 meters and 1500 meters and I can't get my head around that. It does not make logical sense.
I've always maintained that it's because Japanese coaches don't emphasize training for speed endurance. Or they don't know how.
I've seen some unbelievable 800m times by Japanese middle-schoolers, but in HS and beyond they seem to fall in a rut of training for ekidens and longer distances. From what I've seen, they run a lot of workouts at maxVO2 and threshold pace, but they do almost nothing of what we'd consider speed-endurance training.
Nozomi Tanaka's (2:02, 3:59) probably the lone exception, and she's trained by her dad.
no one cares about slow, plodding 99 pound marathoners.
Wake me up when one of them goes under 1:45
I find those 99 pound Japanese mini Monsters very impressive at what they do - that is marathon running at three minutes per kilometer for 42 kilometers. Having said that, I do concede that they have an advantage size wise, and they take full advantage of that obviously.
Japan has another undeniable advantage and that is that they have track meets throughout the year, 12 months a year, and this is great for middle distance and distance running when they can run their track meets and 10,000 meter races in cool conditions in October, November and December.
The mystery for me revolves around the fact that Japan has outstanding marathon runners but they also have world-class sprinters up to 400 meters but then very little at 800 meters and 1500 meters and I can't get my head around that. It does not make logical sense.
I've always maintained that it's because Japanese coaches don't emphasize training for speed endurance. Or they don't know how.
I've seen some unbelievable 800m times by Japanese middle-schoolers, but in HS and beyond they seem to fall in a rut of training for ekidens and longer distances. From what I've seen, they run a lot of workouts at maxVO2 and threshold pace, but they do almost nothing of what we'd consider speed-endurance training.
Nozomi Tanaka's (2:02, 3:59) probably the lone exception, and she's trained by her dad.
Thank you for this information. Are you Japanese? if that's the case welcome to this board! We need more people like you to give us information about Japan, Arigato Gozaimasu.