Takeuchi Wins Niigata Half in Boston Tune-Up

Running in cold, windy and rainy conditions, Ryoma Takeuchi (ND Software) warmed up for April's Boston Marathon with a win at Wednesday's Niigata Half Marathon. Takeuchi sat behind Nittai University duo Susumu Yamazaki and Ryuga Ishikawa in the early stages, then made a series of pushes to pick up the pace. Each time he tucked in behind whoever went to the front, while behind them others dropped off. Before 15 km only Yamazaki and Riki Koike of Soka University were left, and when Takeuchi went to the front the last time after 15 km only Koike followed.

By 16 he was gone too, leaving Takeuchi to solo it in to the win in 1:03:13 with a 17-second negative split. "This was my last fitness check before the Boston Marathon next month, and my time was right on-target," he said post-race. "Everything went as planned. I'm looking forward to racing some of the world's best in Boston, and my goal there is to place in the single digits."

Just back from training in Kenya, Koike was 2nd a PB 1:03:26, with Yamazaki 3rd in 1:03:47. Also headed to Boston, Kento Otsu (Sunbelx) was 8th in 1:04:19. Running the Copenhagen Marathon on May 5 in one last shot at firming up his Paris Olympics spot, Mongolian national record holder Ser-Od Bat-Ochir was 10th in 1:04:36 after organizers let him enter just a week beforehand. Local college student Neneka Kamitani of Niigata Iryo Fukushi University took the women's race in 1:21:34.

Niigata Half Marathon

Niigata, 20 March 2024

Women

1. Neneka Kamitani (Niigata Iryo Fukushi Univ.) - 1:21:34

2. Mayumi Yoshikawa (unattached) - 1:23:10

3. Haru Fukuhara (Niigata Iryo Fukushi Univ.) - 1:23:53

Men

1. Ryoma Takeuchi (ND Software) - 1:03:13

2. Riki Koike (Soka Univ.) - 1:03:26 - PB

3. Susumu Yamazaki (Nittai Univ.) - 1:03:47

4. Yuta Inage (Press Kogyo) - 1:04:10

5. Ryuga Ishikawa (Nittai Univ.) - 1:04:12

6. Rikuto Ogihara (YKK) - 1:04:15

7. Daisuke Shimojo (ND Software) - 1:04:17

8. Kento Otsu (Sunbelx) - 1:04:19

9. Kazuki Watanabe (Sekino Kosan) - 1:04:35

10. Ser-Od Bat-Ochir (Mongolia/Shin Nihon Jusetsu) - 1:04:36

11. Hiromu Sato (Sekino Kosan) - 1:04:38

12. Kaihei Kitano (Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) - 1:04:38

13. Reo Yoshida (Nittai Univ.) - 1:04:53

14. Hibiki Kikkawa (Meijo Univ.) - 1:04:58

15. Shizuya HIgashiyama (YKK) - 1:05:46

16. Ryoto Mizogami (Meiji Univ.) - 1:05:46

Keita Satoh Running New Balance Fifth Avenue Mile

1500 m U20 NR holder Keita Satoh (Nike Swoosh TC) is running this weekend's New Balance Fifth Avenue Mile , the first time that a Japanese man has been invited in the race's 45-year history. In university Sato had to change focus away from middle distance to the half marathon-scale lengths of the Hakone Ekiden stages, but since graduating in March and relocating to Flagstaff he has refocused on the 1500 m, going from 3:43.19 in April in his first 1500 m in almost 4 years to 3:38.30 over the course of 5 races. Fifth Avenue will be his last race before heading back to Japan for one more track 1500 m and some down time. Men's entries with best 1500 m times in last 3 years: Stefan Nillessen (NED) - 3:29.23 (2025) Flavien Szot (FRA) - 3:30.74 (2025) Oliver Hoare (AUS) - 3:31.07 (2024) Jake Heyward (GBR) - 3:31.18 (2026) Titouan Le Grix (FRA) - 3:31.46 (2026) Romain Mornet (FRA) - 3:31.62 (2025) Adam Spencer (AUS) - 3:31.83 (2026) Pieter Sisk (BEL) - 3:31.85 (2025) Gary Martin (...

Multiple National Records This Weekend

Olympic and World champion Haruka Kitaguchi got the biggest headlines among Japanese athletes this weekend, overcoming a rough last year and a half that included injury and a coaching change to break her own javelin throw NR by over a meter and a half to win the inaugural WA Ultimate Championship in Budapest. U20 WR and Asian AR holder Ziyi Yan opened with a big 68.05, 0.67 m further than Kitaguchi's best-ever from back in 2023. That could have been the end, but Kitaguchi came back from a 61.15 m first attempt to throw a massive 68.92 m NR on her next one, ultimately enough for the win. She still has a long way to go to match the 18-year-old Yan's 71.74 m from May, but it was a clear statement that Kitaguchi is back. Back home at the National Corporate Track and Field Championships in Kyoto, women's pole vault NR holder Misaki Morota continued a solid comeback season of her own, bettering her NR from May by 1 cm with a 4.51 m on her first attempt. Morota took another 3...

East Japan Corporate Ekiden English Commentary

For the time being I'll be using this post for English commentary on today's East Japan Jitsugyodan Ekiden Championships. Reload article to see updates. Race broadcast starts at 1:55 p.m. Japan time. Click here to watch TBS' broadcast online.

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