japan running news

The Tokyo Marathon kicks off the 2026 Abbott World Marathon Majors this Sunday. The forecast is looking pretty good, maybe a bit on the warm side but not like last year or even last weekend in Osaka , and with quality fields in all 4 races there's a decent chance we'll see some fast times on Tokyo's borderline record-eligible downhill course. As usual, JRN's Brett Larner will host Nippon TV's international broadcast on local affiliates in 115 countries worldwide starting at 9:00 a.m. local time Sunday. Details on where to watch the broadcast here . A live leaderboard will be posted here on race morning. In the wheelchair races Switzerland's Catherine Debrunner and Japan's Tomoki Suzuki both broke the Tokyo course records last year and are back for more this year. Debrunner could get a race out of British athlete Eden Rainbow-Cooper who she beat by just 1 second in Berlin 3 years ago, and if they go the whole way there could be another new CR. Suzuki w...

If there was one consistent theme through all 4 races at the Tokyo Marathon this year it was risk. With temperatures nearing 20˚ and sunny conditions in the forecast pacing plans audaciously called for 2:01 for the lead men and 2:12 for the lead women, with the next 3 groups on both sides all slated for very ambitious times. The men's wheelchair race kicked things off, 2024 Tokyo winner and NR holder Tomoki Suzuki going after his own NR completely solo and coming up with a 1:19:14 CR that saw him beat 2nd place by over 11 minutes. The women's race was a CR-pace showdown between Paris Paralympics gold and bronze medalists Catherine Debrunner of Switzerland and Susannah Scaroni of the U.S.A. that saw them locked together until 40 km. Debrunner had that something else that makes her the world record holder, throwing down to open 32 seconds on Scaroni over the last 2 km, both breaking the CR but Debrunner getting the win in a stellar 1:35:56. The women's marathon was a comp...