japan running news

The last big women's race of championship ekiden season, the Kitakyushu Women's Invitational Ekiden saw 8 corporate teams square off against 19 of the top high school teams in the country over a 27.2 km race. For corporate leaguers that was divided into 5 legs, with the final leg, 10.4 km, split into two legs for the high school teams. Kairi Ikeno put National High School Ekiden 8th-placer Suma Gakuen H.S. out front on the 5.3 km First Stage, missing the CR by 2 seconds in 16:51. Only 17th at the Queens Ekiden corporate national championships, Kyocera was 5 seconds out front by the end of the 3.8 km Second Stage, but that didn't last long when Yume Yabutani ran a 12:35 CR on the 3.9 km Third Stage to put National High School Ekiden runner-up Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. in the overall lead by 23 seconds. That lead stayed exactly the same over the 3.8 km Fourth Stage, while from behind Denso , which had failed to qualify for the Queens Ekiden, closed to 15 seconds b...

The Nagano Higashi H.S. girls pulled off a perfect repetition of their start-to-finish win at last year's National High School Ekiden , taking the lead on the first leg again this time and never letting go. Opening runner Nami Kawakami won the 6.0 km First Stage by 2 seconds in 19:06, 2nd runner Haruna Tabata extended it to 12 seconds, and 3rd runner Airi Mashiba added another 30 seconds to the lead with a massive 9:06 CR for the 3.0 km leg, beating every Kenyan on the stage and everyone who had run it before. Nagano Higashi's last 2 runners Yui Honda and Rena Imai both lost some ground, but with both of them still running the 3rd-fastest times on their stages there wasn't really any risk of anyone catching them. Imai brought Nagano Higashi home in 1:06:30 for the 21.0975 km course, just missing the overall CR by 4 seconds but still a dominant performance from an all-Japanese lineup. 3rd last year, Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. got off to a slow start but spend the ...

October is the official start of ekiden season, and this past weekend had the first 3 big races. Saturday in Chiba was the Kanto Region University Women's Ekiden , the regional qualifier for the Morinomiyako Ekiden in Sendai at the end of the month. Daito Bunka University , Josai University , Takushoku University and Tsukuba University were already qualified thanks to podium finishes at Morinomiyako last year, leaving 16 other schools in competition for 6 qualifying spots. DBU and Josai both broke the overall CR for the 6-stage, 34.4 km course, DBU moving into the top spot on the 2nd leg and staying there the rest of the way to win in 1:50:05. It took until the 4th leg for Josai to move into 2nd, finishing in 1:51:21. Teikyo Kagaku University was the top new qualifier for Morinomiyako, 3rd in 1:53:58 after an early lead thanks to a new CR of 13:25 on the 4.3 km 1st leg by 1st-year Sayo Imanishi . Tsukuba was as low down the field as 10th as late as the 4th leg but managed to cl...

The 2025 National Cross Country Championships happen Saturday in Fukuoka. Streaming starts at 11:20 a.m. local time, with the race schedule looking like this: 11:50  - H.S, girls' 4 km 12:10  - H.S. boys: 4 km 12:30  - Senior women's 2 km 12:40  - Senior men's 2 km 12:50  - U20 women's 6 km 13:15  - U20 men's 8 km 13:50  - Senior women's 8 km 14:25  - Senior men's 10 km 15:05  - J.H.S. girls' 2 km 15:20  - J.H.S. boys' 2 km Start lists are here . Based on those, the senior men's 10 km looks like it has the best matchup, with the field including 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura (Subaru), 10000 m NR holder Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu), 5000 m H.S. record holder Hiroto Yoshioka (Juntendo Univ.), Olympic triathlete Kenji Nener (Tochigi T&F Assoc.), Hakone downhill star  Aoi Ito (Komazawa Univ.), sub-28 10000 m runners Yusuke Tamura (Kurosaki Harima) and Ryuto Igawa (Asahi Kasei), and many more. There's not a lot of comparable dep...

2022 National High School Ekiden girls' champion Nagano Higashi H.S. was back in force after a 5th-place finish last year, leading start to finish to win this year's national title Sunday in Kyoto. Lead runner Airi Mashiba kicked it off with a 19:30 stage win on the 6.0 km opening leg, something that head coach Fumio Yokouchi said later that he hadn't been expecting. That ended up being Nagano Higashi's only individual stage win in the 5-leg, 21.0975 km race, but the rest of its team ran well enough to hold a lead that was never less than 11 seconds but never more than 21. Last year's 4th-placer Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. spent most of the race in 2nd, but over the second half of the race Sendai Ikuei H.S. , 2nd last year by just 1 second, came from further back to run Kunei down on the anchor stage thanks in big part to a critical stage win on the 4th leg by Tsubomi Tezuka that put anchor Aoi Hosokawa in position to catch Kunei's Mizuki Oda . Nagano Higashi ...

The first major national-level high school ekiden of the season, the 39th Kurayoshi Joshi Ekiden and 44th Nihonkai Ekiden took place Sunday in Kurayoshi, Tottori. Serving as the girls' race with 5 legs totaling 21.0975 km, Kurayoshi saw Osaka's Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. return to the top spot for the first time in 5 years with a 1:08:58 win, its 3rd time ever winning. A total of 51 teams competed in the girls' race, included most of the best programs from across the country. The Kunei Joshi Gakuin girls were 3rd after the first leg, with lead-off runner Yuika Tsuzurahara (2nd-yr) trailing leader Yua Sato (3rd-yr, Ritsumeikan Uji H.S.) by only 3 seconds. Second runner Yua Tsukamoto  (3rd-yr) ran the fastest time on her leg, moving up to 2nd behind last year's winner Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. Third runner Rio Kawamura  (2nd-yr) also won her leg and gave Kunei Joshi Gakuin a lead that fourth runner Aika Murai (1st-yr) and anchor Miyu Funaki (2nd-yr) held until the end. To...

The 2023 National High School Ekiden champion Kamimura Gakuen H.S. girls ended their season with another win, taking 1st at the 35th Kitakyushu Women's Invitational Ekiden Sunday in Fukuoka. Running against corporate league competition like 2023 Queens Ekiden winner Sekisui Kagaku and high school Nationals 3rd and 4th placers Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. and Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. , Kamimura Gakuen got off to a slow start when leading runner Rina Kurokami was only 13th on her stage and 24 seconds off the lead. But having delivered Kamimura Gakuen the national title last month with an incredible anchor stage run, its second runner Caroline Kariba showed again that she's a budding international-level talent, chopping 18 seconds off the 3.8 km Second Stage CR, an amazing 47 seconds fastest than the previous record by a high school athlete. That was enough to put Kamimura Gakuen out front by 18 seconds over the Kyocera corporate team and 42 seconds ahead of Kunei Joshi Gakuin. Its...

On July 28, Reiri Nakashima , 25, a member of a winning Hakone Ekiden team while in college, and 2018 1500 m national champion Tomomi Musembi Takamatsu , 23, announced on Twitter that they have gotten married. Nakashima was a member of Tokai University 's 2019 Hakone-winning team, while Takamatsu was a member of national champion teams at both the National High School Ekiden and National University Women's Ekiden. Together they form one of the power couples of Japanese athletics. The daughter of a Kenyan father and Japanese mother, Takamatsu came to Japan at age 1. At Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. she won the Second Stage at the National High School Ekiden, helping lead the team to the overall win. She was also a member of Meijo University 's undefeated team at the National University Women's Ekiden and Mt. Fuji Women's Ekiden. She retired after graduating in 2022. Hailing from Himeji, Nakashima ran the downhill Sixth Stage at the Hakone Ekiden, helping Tokai score...

After representing Japan in last fall's Doha World Championships women's marathon, on June 16 it was learned that Madoka Nakano , 28, has left the Noritz corporate team and signed with the Iwatani Sangyo team. Nakano joined Noritz in 2010 after graduating from Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin High School . She placed 4th at last year's Osaka International Women's Marathon to make the Doha team, where she was 11th overall in the World Championships marathon. Iwatani Sangyo was founded in 2017 and is based in Mino, Osaka. Its head coach is Hisakazu Hirose , 54, who helped coach Mizuki Noguchi to the gold medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics marathon. Joining the team on the 16th, Nakano was optimistic, saying, "In this new environment I want to work hard to get to the national team level again. I want to make an impact in the ekiden too." source article: https://www.kobe-np.co.jp/news/sports/202006/0013428450.shtml translated by Brett Larner photo © 2019 Brett...

Two-time National High School Girls Ekiden champion Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. , alma mater of Tokyo Olympics marathon trials winner Honami Maeda , trained as a team June 16 at their home base in Osaka. Team members said, "We want to run Nationals again." This summer's National High School Track and Field Championships have already been canceled due to the effects of the coronavirus crisis. The National High School Ekiden takes place in Kyoto every December. Team captain Mahiru Kobayashi was nervous about the chances of it happening. "If things keep going like this I don't know what I'll do if the ekiden is canceled," she said. "I've put the last three years into my last Nationals. I really hope it's held." The Osaka Kunei girls resumed training as a team on June 15. "We can't take it to the next level alone," said Kobayashi. "But we can get there if we all work together." source article: https://ww...

Sendai Ikuei H.S. and Nagano Higashi H.S. go after defending champ Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. at the 2017 National High School Girls Ekiden Championships.

On Apr. 26 it was announced that this year's National High School Championships have been canceled. Isao Yasuda , head coach of two-time National High School Ekiden champion Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S., can't how hard the situation has thrown him for a loop. "I've never experienced something like this before," he said. "As a coach, what is the right advice to give my students?" Yasuda said that while the team hasn't been able to do anything together while schools have been shut down for the last few weeks, its athletes have each been training on their own. "The National High School Ekiden is in December and that's one of our biggest goals, especially for our third-years," he said. "All we can do is believe that the race is going to be held." The city of Osaka has announced that it will extend its closure of all public schools until May 10. source articles: https://www.mbs.jp/news/sp/kansainews/20200427/GE00032765.s...

The high school season-opening Nihonkai Ekiden and Kurayoshi Women's Ekiden took place Oct. 6 in Kurayoshi, Tottori. A total of 226 high school teams took part in the two events, both of which delivered heated battles. In the boys' race, the 39th edition of the Nihonkai Ekiden covering 42.195 km in seven stages starting and finishing at Kurayoshi Municipal Field, Nagano's Saku Chosei H.S. emerged victorious for the second time with a time of 2:04:40 after taking control on the opening stage. After getting off to a weak start, Sera H.S. took 2nd, with Toyokawa H.S. 3rd after briefly leading mid-race. The top team from Hyogo prefecture, Suma Gakuen H.S. was 6th in 2:06:43, with rivals Hotoku H.S. 8th in 2:07:02 and Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S. 10th in 2:07:41. Held the same day, the girls competed in the 34th running of the 21.0975 km Kurayoshi Women's Ekiden, likewise starting and finishing at Kurayoshi Municipal Field. Defending champion team Osaka Kunei Joshi G...

Mizuki Matsuda age: 25 sponsor: Daihatsu graduated from: Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. best time inside MGC window: 2:22:23, 5th, 2018 Berlin Marathon PB: 2:22:23, 5th, 2018 Berlin Marathon other PBs: 5000 m: 15:46.40 (2016) 10000 m: 31:39.41 (2017) half marathon: 1:10:25 (2016) marathons inside MGC window (Aug. 1 2017 – April 30 2019) 5th, 2018 Berlin Marathon, 2:22:23 – PB 1st, 2018 Osaka International Women’s Marathon, 2:22:44 other major results: 10th, 2019 National Championships 10000 m, 32:37.13 2nd, 2019 National Women’s Ekiden Fourth Stage (4.0 km), 12:56 7th, 2018 National Corporate Women’s Ekiden Third Stage (10.9 km), 35:28 1st, 2018 National Championships 10000 m, 31:52.42 19th, 2017 London World Championships 10000 m, 31:59.54 3rd, 2017 Bhubaneshwar Asian Championships 10000 m, 32:46.61 1st, 2017 National Championships 10000 m, 31:39.41 – PB 17th, 2016 Cardiff World Half Marathon Championships, 1:11:00 4th, 2016 National Corporate Half Mara...

Honami Maeda age: 23 sponsor: Tenmaya graduated from: Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. best time inside MGC window: 2:23:48, 2nd, 2018 Osaka International Women’s Marathon PB: 2:23:48, 2nd, 2018 Osaka International Women’s Marathon other PBs: 5000 m: 15:38.16 (2018) 10000 m: 32:13.87 (2018) half marathon: 1:09:12 (2018) marathons inside MGC window (Aug. 1 2017 – April 30 2019) 12th, 2019 Tokyo Marathon, 2:31:42 7th, 2018 Berlin Marathon, 2:25:23 2nd, 2018 Osaka International Women’s Marathon, 2:23:48 – PB 1st, 2017 Hokkaido Marathon, 2:28:48 other major results: 3rd, 2019 Hakodate Half Marathon, 1:10:23 3rd, 2019 National Women’s Ekiden Ninth Stage (10.0 km), 31:49 1st, 2018 Sanyo Ladies Half Marathon, 1:09:12 – PB 5th, 2018 National Corporate Women’s Ekiden Third Stage (10.9 km), 35:15 35th, 2018 Valencia World Half Marathon Championships, 1:12:09 7th, 2017 Sanyo Ladies Half Marathon, 1:10:22 12th, 2017 Osaka International Women’s Marathon, 2:32:19 2nd, 2016...

In the last major women's ekiden of the season, 2016 National High School Ekiden champion Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. made up for their loss at the 2017 Nationals last month as they outran top corporate and university competition to win the 29th Kitakyushu Invitational Women's Ekiden . 5th on the opening leg, Osaka Kunei moved up to 2nd behind the Toto corporate women's team on the Second Stage thanks to a strong run from third-year Tomomi Musembi Takamatsu . Building on Takamatsu's momentum, third runner Ayaka Murao put Osaka Kunei 7 seconds ahead of Toto, fourth runner Hikari Takeuchi opening up their lead to 34 seconds, and its last two women Ami Taniguchi and Mai Misaki extending that to 48 seconds by race's end. Scored in separate divisions, Osaka Kunei and Toto were each awarded 1st-place trophies, but as the first across the line Osaka Kunei was only the 2nd high school in Kitakyushu's 29-year history to take the top spot overall. Local powe...

The 37th Nihonkai High School Boys Ekiden and 32nd Kurayoshi High School Girls Ekiden , the first major national-level high school races of the season, took place Oct. 8 in Kurayoshi, Tottori on courses starting and finishing at Kurayoshi Municipal Field. In the seven-stage, 42.195 km Nihonkai Ekiden, the 2016 national champion  Kurashiki H.S. boys ran 2:07:09 to return to the winner's circle after a loss last year. Running 3rd after the First Stage, Kurashiki moved up into the lead on the Fifth Stage and held that position the rest of the way. For the third year in a row Tottori Johoku H.S. was the top-fnishing school from within Tottori prefecture. Defending girls' national champions Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. won the five-stage, 21.0975 km Kurayoshi Ekiden for the first time in 1:09:44. The Osaka Kunei girls took over 1st on the Third Stage and ran on to the finish without challenge. For the first time in nineteen years Yazu H.S. was the first Tottori school to...

Running again in her hometown on the second day of the Osaka Track and Field Championships at Yanmar Stadium Nagai, 2014 Youth Olympics girls' 3000 m gold medalist Nozomi Musembi Takamatsu (19, Osaka T&F Assoc.) took the first step toward a comeback. Closing the gap to the runner ahead of her on the second lap, Takamatsu finished with effort to spare in 2:14.51 for 2nd. "I was able to run the way I'd envisioned," she said afterward. "I had some anxiety since it was pretty much my first real race in a year but I was able to give it my best." After graduating from Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. in the spring last year Takamatsu moved to Oregon, U.S.A. to take part in the " Nike Oregon Project " elite long distance group created by Nike. With a dream of winning gold in the 5000 m or 10000 m at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and high hopes in her heart, she crossed the ocean. But in the U.S. she was hit by the cold hand of reality. "I was DFL ...

by Brett Larner 【 #世界クロカン 】日本代表選手団、第42回世界クロスカントリー選手権大会の開催地、ウガンダ カンパラに到着です。現地メディアのお出迎えもありました！ #陸上 pic.twitter.com/3YpD2j5Hfc — JAAF（日本陸上競技連盟） (@jaaf_official) March 22, 2017 The  World Cross Country Championships  take place this Sunday, March 26 in Kampala, Uganda.  Perpetual team medal contenders, the Japanese junior women's squad is the strongest part of the Japanese roster, featuring four women with 3000 m bests under 9:10 led by 8:58.86 runner Tomomi Musembi Takamatsu of 2016 National High School Ekiden champion Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.  The Japanese national team for the 2017 World Cross Country Championships: Senior Men's 10 km Kosei Yamaguchi (Team Aisan Kogyo) - 28:34.19 Shota Maeda (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 28:59.86 Yuma Higashi (Team Kyudenko) - 29:14.78 Haruki Ono (Kanagawa Univ.) - 29:18.49 Yamato Otsuka (Kanagawa Univ.) - 29:22.18 Senior Women's 10 km Mao Ichiyama (Team Wacoal) - 32:15.73 Kaori Morita (Team Panasonic) - 32:27 Y...

by Brett Larner The women's championship ekiden season came to a close at Sunday's Kita-Kyushu Invitational Women's Ekiden in Fukuoka.  Cancelled last year due to heavy snow, Kita-Kyushu pits the country's top high school, university and pro women's teams against each other over a short five-stage, 32.8 km course, the long 11.7 km anchor stage split in two for the high school division. With both divisions running together it was a close race throughout.  Running without star marathoner Eri Hayakawa , the Toto corporate team led almost the entire race.  Its opening pair Hana Omori and Shuru Bulo built a 36-lead over 2016 National High School Ekiden champion and 2015 high school division winner Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S., with its nearest corporate league competition Universal Entertainment almost a minute behind. Universal's third runner Mai Shinozuka cut that down to 19 seconds, Osaka Kunei's Ayako Murao coming even closer at just 8 seconds ...