japan running news

On the one hand it was too windy for really fast times at the Marugame Half , but on the other it wasn't, apparently. It was pretty much a strong tailwind over the first 10 km and just a strong a headwind over the last 10, so it wasn't a surprise that the lead group of men went through 5 km in 13:59 and 10 km in 27:51. Up front in it were 59:30 collegiate record co-holders Richard Etir and Kotaro Shinohara , and sub-59:30 guy Emmanuel Maru . But with the National University Half Marathon having moved to Marugame last year there were a million fast Hakone kids up in it to, Hiromichi Nonaka from Koku Gakuin University leading the way but lots more right behind. Etir and Maru opened up on the field after the turnaround, and by 15 km Etir was alone, 9 seconds ahead of Maru and on sub-59 pace running into the wind. Like everyone else he struggled to keep pace in the wind, sub-59 slipping away but easily taking the win in 59:07, a CR and new collegiate record by 23 seconds. Maru e...

Last year Margaret Akidor ran a 2-minute PB of 1:09:29 to win the Sanyo Ladies Road Race half marathon. She's back Sunday to try to make it 3 in a row, but she's got serious competition from Pauline Kamulu , 1:07:22 in Marugame last year, and last year's 10 km CR breaker Agnes Mwikali , making her debut here. 31:17.40 runner Tabitha Njeri is also debuting. The domestic field is relatively weak, with no current sub-1:10 Japanese women and Rinka Hida topping the list at 1:10:10. 2nd and 3rd in the 10 km last year, Janet Nyiva and Kaede Kawamura are sticking to the shorter race again this year, and in place of Mwikali they've got Naomi Muthoni , 31:15 in Sanyo 3 years ago, to deal with. Sub-15 runner Susan Kamotho is also debuting. Sanyo Ladies Road Race Okayama, 15 Dec. 2024 complete entry list times listed are athletes' best in last 3 years except where noted Half Marathon Pauline Kamulu (Route Inn Hotels) - 1:07:22 (Marugame Half 2023) Margaret Akidor (Comodi...

Catching up on track results from the last few days: After skipping the National Championships, men's 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura (Subaru) and 110 mH hurdler Shunsuke Izumiya (Sumitomo Denko) demonstrated fitness at the Paris Diamond League meet. Miura ran a season best 8:10.52 for 7th, with Izumiya 3rd in the final in a 13.16 (-0.6) SB after winning Heat 2 in 13.16 (+0.4). National champion Rachid Muratake (JAL) was a DNS in the final after winning Heat 1 in 13.15 (+0.1). At the last Nittai University Time Trials meet of the season, collegiate 5000 m and 10000 m record holder Richard Etir (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) won the men's 5000 m fast heat in 13:27.48, outrunning Brian Kiptoo (Reitaku Univ.) and Patrick Kamau (Kokushikan Univ.). Reishi Yoshida (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) was the fastest Japanese man in the meet at 13:45.54 for 6th. Kiptoo also soloed a 10000 m, literally, as in the only person in the race, in 29:05.52. Sharon Mwanthi (Yamanashi Gakuin H.S.) won the wome...

Fukuoka and Hofu were the big races of the weekend in Japan, but there was a lot of other action going on across the country. Saturday at a special one-day edition of the rebranded Nittai University Time Trials series in Yokohama, 19-year-old Sonata Nagashima (Asahi Kasei) followed up Keita Sato 's 27:28.50 U20 10000 m national record last weekend with the second-fastest time ever by a Japanese U20 man, winning the fast heat in 27:44.86. 21-year-old Reishi Yoshida (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) was just back in 27:47.01 for 2nd, with 3rd through 5th all getting under 28 minutes. The 10000 m National Championships are still coming Dec. 10, but as of this race Japan has 30 men sub-28 this year. By comparison, Kenya has 58, 49 of them done in Japan, Ethiopia has 11, and the U.S.A. has 8. The winner at last month's Fst in Fukuoka road 5 km, Edwin Kisalsak (Fujisan no Meisui) took the men's 5000 m fast heat at Nittai in 13:19.97. Yusuke Tamura (Kurosaki Harima) was the top Japanese m...