japan running news

Along with Saturday's The Fst in Fukuoka there was a lot going on on the roads this weekend across the country, but the biggest results were on the track. Saturday at the Nittai University Time Trials , Margaret Akidor (Comodi Iida) soloed a 14:47.71 Olympic standard 5000 m, over a minute faster than runner-up Kana Mizumoto (Edion) who ran 15:49.25. Akidor's coach reported her splits as 2:53.7 - 3:00.3 - 2:59.9 - 3:00.8 - 2:52.2. Charles Wanjiku Kamau (Musashino Gakuin Univ.) ran 27:40.58 to lead 10 men sub-28 in the fastest 10000 m heat, 5 of them Kenyan and 5 Japanese. Most notably, just 6 days after winning back-to-back stages at the National University Ekiden Josai University 2nd-year duo Victor Kimutai and Shoya Saito joined the sub-28 club, Kimutai 2nd in 27:41.04 and Saito 9th in 27:59.68. 3 other Josai runners were sub-29 in the B and C heats. Something has finally clicked at the Josai program this season, and together with great runs at Izumo and Nationals the r...

Cross Country isn't a big thing in Japan, and with a tough course and hot conditions at the Bathurst World Cross Country Championships the Japanese national team didn't make much of an impact. And despite being the land of the long-distance relay, it declined to field a squad for the Mixed Relay 8 km. As usual the U20 women's squad placed the best of the lot in team scoring, taking 5th despite its two strongest members, Nanaka Yonezawa  and Yuya Sawada , finishing outside the scoring. Top two placers Kana Mizokami  and Miku Muraoka  both cracked the top 20. The U20 men were 9th, with H.S. 5000 m NR holder Hiroto Yoshioka  and 28:31 road 10 km high schooler Sonata Nagashima  both DNFing in the mid-30s heat after leading the first lap. Yoshioka collapsed at a white line a few meters before the finish, then crawled feet-first until he collapsed again as soon as his feet touched the front edge of the finish line. But when he was unable to get fully across he was t...

This was a relatively quiet weekend as people make their final preparations for the five major championship ekidens over the next three weeks. The main action came Saturday in Kyoto at the Edion Distance Challenge . 19-year-old Judy Jepngetich (Shiseido) had the biggest result of the meet, winning the women's 5000 m A-heat in a PB 14:50.20. 2nd-placer Agnes Mwikali (Kyocera) and 3rd-place Pauline Kamulu (Route Inn Hotels) both ran PBs too, the 19-year-old Mwikali running 14:51.35 and Kamulu 14:54.19. After having run 14:44.83 in November pacer Margaret Akidor (Comodi Iida) jogged it in to a 4th-place finish, just missing out on another sub-15 clocking at 15:02.15. Across three heats a total of 35 women were under 16 minutes. Results in the women's 10000 m fast heat were good too. Rino Goshima made it a double for the national champion Shiseido team with a 31:22.38 win. Momoka Kawaguchi (Toyota Jidoshokki) and Wakana Itsuki (Kyudenko) were 2nd and 3rd in 31:57.81 and 31...

At Sunday's National High School Ekiden  in Kyoto, Hiroshima's Sera H.S.  boys will be aiming for their tenth victory in fifty appearances. In their last win five years ago, the Sera boys set the current course record of 2:01:18 for 42.195 km in seven stages. With a 5000 m average time that makes it the fastest Sera team in history, can Sera mark its 50th National High School Ekiden with a milestone achievement? 3rd-year captain Konosuke Shintani and 2nd-years Cosmas Mwangi , Shota Morishita and Shota Shiode have all broken 14 minutes for 5000 m, the benchmark for a top national-level high school time . The average 5000 m PB of its seven fastest runners, 14:01.64, is the best in its fifty appearances to date. "The entire team has raised its level," commented head coach Shoji Shintaku . "There is no weak link. All they need is strength to go with their speed." But Sera's main rivals are just as strong. Defending champion Sendai Ikuei H.S.  of Miyagi r...

On Jan. 17 the organizers of the Kumanichi 30 km Road Race announced the elite field of 15 men and 5 women for this year's 64th running on Feb. 16. 2020 Olympic women's marathon team member Ayuko Suzuki (Japan Post) and half marathon national record holder Yuta Shitara (Honda) are scheduled to lead the women's and men's fields. Suzuki won the 10000 m at the 2013 World University Games and ran the 5000 m at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. In just her second marathon she finished 2nd at last September's MGC Race 2020 Olympic marathon trials to secure her place on the Olympic team. Kumanichi will be a key part of her pre-Olympic preparations. Other women in the race include last year's 3rd-placer Chika Ihara (Higo Ginko) and 6th-place Minori Goto (Canon AC Kyushu). Both are aiming for the win. Shitara ran the 10000 m in Rio, set the half marathon national record in 2017, and broke the marathon national record for the first time in 16 years with a mar...

It was one of those magical Marugame days when everything, almost everything, went right, when despite an uphill second half everyone, almost everyone, ran a PB they'll probably never touch again. Defending Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon winner Betsy Saina (Kenya) taking over a minute off her best to beat the debuting Ayuko Suzuki (Japan Post) to the line 1:07:49 to 1:07:55, Suzuki's time landing her at all-time #3 on the Japanese charts. 41-year-old 3rd-placer Sinead Diver (Australia) running a masters' world record 1:08:55. And more down the line. And on the men's side, Abdi Nageeye (Netherlands) knocking almost two minutes off his best to outrun former Ageo City Half Marathon course record holder Simon Kariuki (Nihon Yakka Univ.) over the last 5 km for a national record 1:00:24 to Kariuki's 1:00:43 PB. 3rd-placer Jack Rayner (Australia) narrowly holding off a fast-closing pack of five Japanese collegiate and corporate men in 1:01:36 with a...

63rd Kumanichi 30 km Road Race Elite Field Highlights Kumamoto, 2/17/19 complete field listing times listed are best half marathon times in last 3 years except where noted Women Anna Matsuda (Kyocera) - 1:10:52 (Gold Coast 2018) Yuko Kikuchi (Hokuren) - 1:12:25 (Sanyo 2017) Nanayo Okamoto (Osaka Gakuin Univ.) - 1:12:31 (Osaka 2019) Chika Ihara (Higo Ginko) - 1:12:35 (Sanyo 2018) Kikuyo Tsuzaki (Noritz) - 1:12:42 (Sanyo 2017) Sakie Arai (Higo Ginko) - 1:12:45 (Matsue Ladies 2016) Hiroko Miyauchi (Hokuren) - 1:13:39 (Sanyo 2017) Megumi Hirai (Canon AC Kyushu) - 1:14:29 (Sanyo 2017) Minori Goto (Canon AC Kyushu) - 1:14:41 (Osaka 2017) Men Ken Nakayama (Chuo Univ.) - 1:01:32 (Ageo 2018) Keita Yoshida (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:01:46 (Marugame 2019) Kei Katanishi (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:01:50 (Yosenkai 2018) Kazuto Kawabata (Konica Minolta) - 1:02:23 (Marugame 2017) Reiri Nakashima (Tokai Univ.) - 1:02:28 (Ageo 2018) Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) - 1:02:49 (Ag...

For years the Hakone Ekiden has been a Day One blowout, the uphill Fifth Stage that ends it basically deciding the winner on Day Two. Last year 2014 winner Toyo University won Day One only to fall victim to the superior depth of Aoyama Gakuin University , which ran Toyo down to score a fourth-straight win at Japan's biggest race. This year Toyo again took the  Day One title, opening an almost insurmountable 5:30 lead over AGU. Bigger problems faced it, though, in the form of #1-ranked Tokai University just 1:14 behind. Tokai head coach Hayashi Morozumi was one of Japan's most successful high school coaches while at Nagano's Saku Chosei H.S. , beneficiaries of his cross-country-based principles including current marathon national record holder Suguru Osako . Since arriving at Tokai it has taken him time to get his system up and running for college-aged athletes, the last few seasons exceeding AGU on paper but coming up short at the main event. But today was Tokai...

Friday and Saturday were one of the busiest weekends of the year on the track, with high-level time trial meets going on across the country as Japan's best runners tuned up for championship ekiden season. All told 18 men broke 28 minutes and 115 went under 29 minutes for 10000 m. This year Jakarta Asian Games steeplechase bronze medalist Kazuya Shiojiri (Juntendo Univ.) took a more conservative approach to prepping for the Hakone Ekiden than his 27:47.87 at last year's Hachioji Long Distance meet, opting to run his home ground Juntendo University Time Trials meet on Friday instead. Shiojiri won the 10000 m A-heat in 28:58.16, notably closing with a 58-second final lap.  Rio Olympics 10000 m silver medalist Paul Tanui (Kyudenko) also gave Hachioji a miss in favor of staying close to home, winning Friday's  Time Trial in Nagasaki 10000 m A-heat in 28:20.03 by a margin of over two and a half minutes. Jakarta Asian Games marathon silver medalist Keiko Nogami (Ju...

Favorites Aoyama Gakuin University and Tokai University made it a two-team race at the 50th edition of the National University Men's Ekiden in Sunday in Nagoya, with Tokai breaking away in the early going only to be run down near the race's end. With a new course configuration that shortened the early stages and lengthened the seventh of its eight stages, Nationals this year put an emphasis on 10000 m speed early and half marathon stamina late. AGU's Hakone downhill specialist Yuji Onoda looked like he was going to set the example for his team with a hard surge 8 km into the 9.5 km First Stage, but he and the other Hakone Ekiden stars from the Kanto Region got a surprise when Yuki Ishii of the Kansai Region's Kwansei Gakuin University dropped them all to hand off in 1st. Teikyo University was unexpectedly next at the exchange 3 seconds back, with AGU a step behind and Tokai another 2 seconds back. Other pre-race favorites Komazawa University and Toyo Unive...

Leading start to finish, 2015-2016 Izumo Ekiden champ Aoyama Gakuin University overcame last year's winner Tokai University and a tough challenge from Toyo University to win Izumo's 30th anniversary edition. In hot and sunny conditions that followed the passing of Typhoon #25 AGU's Taisei Hashizume got things rolling, opening a six-second lead over Toyo's Akira Aizawa on the 8.0 km First Stage. Tokai's Yuichiro Nishikawa was 20 seconds back in 6th. Takato Suzuki increased AGU's lead on the 5.8 km Second Stage with a 16:26 stage win. Indoor mile national record holder Ryoji Tatezawa was next-fastest in 16:29, running down four teams including Toyo to put the defending champs into 2nd. The lone crack in Toyo's armor, Kazuya Nishiyama ran only 16:54 to drop Toyo back to 3rd some 34 seconds off the lead. Back in 4th place, Takushoku University captain Workneh Derese ran a 25:17stage best on the 8.5 km Third Stage to overtake both Toyo and Tok...

Kokushikan University held its season-opening time trial meet Mar. 31 at its Tama Field track facility. Members of four-time Hakone Ekiden champ Aoyama Gakuin University competed in the 1500 m, with first-year Keita Yoshida leading the team in 3:50.77. Breaking through at this year's Hakone with a Seventh Stage record, third-year Keisuke Hayashi ran 3:53.17. Both third-years, Sixth Stage winner Yuji Onoda ran 3:58.09 and Second Stage winner Homare Morita ran 3:58.30. Head coach Susumu Hara , 51, was pleased with the shakeout ahead of outdoor season, commenting, "Times ended up being better overall than last year." Surpassing all the Aoyama Gakuin runners to take the spot in 3:48.47 was incoming Kokushikan Kenyan Vincent Laimoi . Laimoi arrived in Japan in mid-March, running a PB 13:43.20 in his first race in Japan, the 5000 m at a meet at Kokushikan on the 25th. Running the 1500 m for the first time ever, Laimoi showed considerable potential. Together with curre...

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 click here for part two Japan's 71st National Sports Festival cleared the midpoint of its five days of athletics competition Sunday.  Meet records have fallen in five events so far, the highlight being the men's 10000 m race walk where Rio Olympians Eiki Takahashi (Team Fujitsu) and Daisuke Matsunaga (Toyo Univ.) dueled to push each other under the meet record, national record holder Takahashi setting a solid new mark of 38:21.88 but national junior record holder Matsunaga also more than 25 seconds under the old record set two years ago by 20 km world record holder Yusuke Suzuki (Team Fujitsu). Another Rio Olympian, women's 100 m national record holder Chisato Fukushima (Hokkaido Hi-Tech AC) duly took the 100 m final in 11.66 ( +0.5 m/s ).  Two members of the Rio silver medal-winning Japanese 4x100 m men's relay team, national champion Asuka Cambridge (Dome) and Ryota Yamagata (Seiko), were scheduled to run the 100 m, but while Yamagata won h...

by Brett Larner Yuka Mukai , an 11th-grader at Hiroshima's Sera High School ran a world youth leading time of 15:31.92 to win Saturday's Challenge Games in Oita women's 5000 m.  Mukai led the race together with 12th-grade teammate Shinobu Koyoshigawa unchallenged by the university and corporate runners in the field, and both were rewarded with places in the all-time Japanese high school top ten.  Mukai's winning time was good for all-time #6, with Koyoshigawa's 15:36.96 coming at all-time #9. The Sera H.S. boys, the defending National High School Ekiden champions, likewise led the way in the 5000 m A-heat, sweeping the top five and taking seven of the top nine places.  12th-grader Paul Kamais was 1st with a meet record 13:42.90, but 11th-grader Keita Yoshida made bigger news in 3rd place with his time of 13:50.67, all-time #10 on the Japanese high school lists.  Sera H.S. now has a top seven runner 5000 m average of 14:01.96, putting them in range of the le...