japan running news

Shunsuke Shikama (Logisteed), Wakana Kabasawa (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) and Chikako Mori (Sekisui Kagaku) won close races to take the National Corporate Half Marathon and 10 km Championships titles Sunday in Yamaguchi. In the men's race, Shikama was head-to-head with 2024 New Year Ekiden First Stage winner Naoki Ota (Yakult), the entire way, together at 5km, 10km, 20 km, and breaking away together from the rest of the front pack coming into the stadium. In a sprint finish both runners clocked 1:00:41, with Shikama taking the win. Ota joined his older brother Tomoki Ota (Toyota) in breaking 61 minutes for the half, with Koki Kamata (Yakult) 3rd in 1:00:47 and the top 10 breaking 61 minutes. The third major Japanese half marathon in 3 weeks, depth was solid with 37 under 62 minutes, 85 under 63 minutes and 111 under 64. One prominent DNF was 2017 runner-up Joseph Macharia Ndirangu (Aichi Seiko), 14:47 at 5 km and 29:45 at 10 km but not making it to the 15 km mat. The lack of t...

Japan's last big non-ekiden road race of the year happened Sunday in Okayama at the Sanyo Ladies Road Race 10 km and half marathon. In the 10 km, CR holder Agnes Mwikali (Kyocera) soloed a 31:09 CR for the win. 2 seconds up on rival Janet Nyiva (Panasonic) at 5 km in 15:34, Mwikali held steady over the second half to cut 2 seconds off her old CR of 31:11 from 2021. Nyiva faded to 31:57 but held on to 2nd, with Kaede Kawamura (Iwatani Sangyo) passing Eva Cherono (Toto) for 3rd in 32:22. In the half marathon, a lead group of four stayed together through 15 km before 2022 winner  Margaret Akidor (Comodi Iida) surged over the last 5 km. Taking almost 2 minutes off her PB, Akidor took the top spot in 1:09:29, beating #1-ranked Dolphine Nyaboke Omare (U.S.E.) by 18 seconds. Joanne Kipkemoi (Kyudenko) was 3rd in 1:10:01, with Yuri Karasawa (Kyudenko) scoring the top Japanese spot at 5th in 1:10:48. Also Sunday in Chiba was the 137th running of the Kanto 10-Miler. After a DNF at...

Last Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon was the last of the main chances for Japanese marathoners to qualify for the Oct. 15 MGC Race, the country's official marathon trials for the 2024 Paris Olympics. At the trials the top 2 finishers will be named to the Olympic team, with the 3rd finisher provisionally in and the 4th and 5th placers named provisional alternates. After that it's one last turn through the winter 2023-24 season of the big domestic races where people will have the chance to steal the 3rd spot on the team and bump the 3rd-placer at the trials down to alternate. The deadline for qualifying for the trials is May 31, and there are still a few smaller domestic races like this Sunday's Tokushima Marathon and April's Nagano Marathon, and overseas races with a World Athletics elite label or better where those who haven't qualified yet can try to make a miracle happen. But for the most part, almost all the real contenders are already in. 62 men and 29...

The last major women's ekiden of the season happened north of Fukuoka Sunday at the 34th Kitakyushu Women's Invitational Ekiden . Top high school, university and corporate league teams run head-to-head at Kitakyushu, with the longest stage split into two for the high school division. 7th at November's National Corporate Women's Ekiden , Panasonic was first across the finish line after running down 2019 and 2020 high school division winner Kamimura Gakuen H.S. mid-race. After a good start from Panasonic's Nanami Watanabe , Kamimura Gakuen's Brenda Jepchirchir ran down Panasonic's Sakiko Naito on the 3.8 km 2nd stage. But Kaori Morita was quick to turn it back around for the Panasonic on the stage, turning a 2-second deficit into a 33-second lead in just 3.9 km. Morita handed off to her twin sister Shiori Morita , and from there the corporate leaguers ran unchallenged, winning for first time in 1:28:14. Kamimura Gakuen, 3rd at December's National Hig...

by Brett Larner With the men's Big Three University Ekiden season well underway, Japan's university women kick off their own Big Three this Sunday at Sendai's Morinomiyako Ekiden , the National University Women's Ekiden Championships. With six stages totalling 38.0 km, a longest stage of 9.2 km, 26 teams from across the country and a live nationwide broadcast on NTV Morinomiyako is similar in scale to the men's season-opening Izumo Ekiden . Defending champion Ritsumeikan University of Kyoto comes in ranked #1 again with four-straight national titles and nine wins in the last twelve years.  With the #1 and #3 ranked runners in the field, third-year Natsuki Omori and second-year Kotona Ota , and the fastest top-six 5000 m average, 15:45.73, there is almost no chance Ritsumeikan will lose.  The last team to beat them, 2009-2010 national champion and crosstown Kyoto rival Bukkyo University , has long since faded from glory with the departure of head coach Kenic...