japan running news

The Sumitomo Denko corporate team has announced that Takuma Sunaoka has joined its men's long distance program. Sunaoka, 24, is a native of Tokyo. At Saitama's Seibo Gakuen H.S. he didn't make a mark at the national level but ran a respectable 14:14.75 for 5000 m. After entering Josai University he began to improve, and during his third year there he made his collegiate ekiden debut at the National University Men's Ekiden. Placing an excellent 2nd on the 1st leg in that run, he was put on the 1st leg two months later at the Hakone Ekiden, where he ran well for 7th. In December, 2021 at the Edion Distance Challenge he ran 13:19.96 for 5000 m, at the time the 2nd-fastest ever by a Japanese-born collegiate runner, and attracted attention for his track speed. Sunaoka was recruited by the Konica Minolta corporate team after graduating, and in January this year was 3rd on the New Year Ekiden 1st leg. At the end of March he quit Konica Minolta and started training at Josa...

https://apnews.com/article/toyota-olympics-paris-2024-sponsorship-f02abe0a660f44546d5e702ac7e60291

Earlier this month at the Shizuoka International Meet, Shiga Gakuen H.S. 3rd-year Ko Ochiai and Higashi Osaka Keiai H.S. 2nd-year Rin Kubo won the men's and women's 800 m races. Both outran older and more experienced athletes to score 1st, but Ochiai's win was especially notable. His time of 1:46.54 bettered both the U20 and high school Japanese records set by Allon Clay when he was a student at Soyo H.S. "I was going for the records," said Ochiai. "I wanted to race some good college and corporate league people to get the best experience I could before the National Championships." At last October's Yogibo Athletics Challenge meet in Niigata Ochiai had gone out with a similar pace. "I ran according to plan and didn't have to rush it," he said. Over the winter he focused on improving both speed and stamina. "I had a lot left in the tank. With 300 m to go I couldn't move last time, but this time I had enough left to kick over ...

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-china-lead-super-saturday-three-world-records-finish-top Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships  are here .

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-hat-trick-golds-uzbekistan-16th-world-title-cockroft Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships  are here .

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-aitchison-athmani-lead-record-breaking-thursday Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships are here .

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-rehm-extends-his-reign-alphonse-makes-history-mauritius Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships  are here .

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-double-delight-blackwell-ekler-jong-and-xiaoyan Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships  are here .

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-monday-sees-shocking-wins-track-and-field Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships  are here .

The Kobe World Para Athletics Championships kicked off Friday, with Japan taking two bronze medals in the first three days of competition. Kenya Karasawa got things started with a bronze medal in the men's T11 5000 m on the opening day, and Uran Sawada followed that up with a T12 women's long jump bronze Sunday. Six days remain, with the results in Kobe weighing heavily in athletes' chances of being at the Paris Paralympics later this year. Two weeks after winning the 10000 m National Championships in a PB 27:17.46, Jun Kasai 's chances of making the Paris Olympics got a boost when he ran 27:34.14 for 5th at the Night of the 10,000 m PBs in the U.K. Saturday. Japanese men currently occupy 25th and 27th in the 27-deep Paris 10000 m quota, 2023 and 2024 Nationals runner-up Tomoki Ota in 25th with 1249 points and former NR holder Akira Aizawa in 27th with 1228. With this run Kasai's score comes in at 1232, enough to bump Aizawa down to 28th and out of the quota b...

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-leon-schaefer-sabrine-fortune-save-their-best-last-sunday Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships  are here .

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-paralympic-champions-return-japan-style-day-two Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships  are here .

  https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/olympics-paralympics/20240517-186563/ Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships are here .

A petition for World Athletics to allow the ten men who made the Paris Olympics marathon quota via world rankings but were replaced by unqualified universality place athletes to run. Sent to JRN by the race director of a major marathon.

Having been named to the Kenyan men's team for this summer's Paris Olympics, Alexander Mutiso , 27, of the Nanyo, Yamagata-based ND Software corporate team, told the Yamagata Newspaper on May 13 that his goal for the Olympic marathon is "to be #1." Having lived in Yamagata for 10 years, Mutiso has strong attachment to the area and credits its environment for helping him develop, saying, "Ever since I came to Yamagata I've been running well." He left for Kenya on May 14 to join the Kenyan national team training camp, aiming to be in perfect condition when he arrives in Paris for the main event. Mutiso came to Japan in 2015, joining the ND Software team and taking up residence in Nanyo. "I don't like the cold winters in Yamagata so much, but the other seasons are nice." From that base he has grown into the athlete he is now, competing in races across Japan and around the world. Compared to the track, his strengths lie more in long road races...

  The biggest domestic meet of the weekend was the four-day Kanto Region Track and Field Championships , but there were other good meets happening across the country. At the Kinami Memorial Meet in Osaka, Kazuto Iizawa (Sumitomo Denko) had a near-miss on the Japanese NR, running a meet record 3:35.77 for the win to come in at all-time JPN #2. 2nd through 4th-placers Abraham Guem (South Sudan), Felix Muthiani (Kenya) and Dezhu Liu (China) were all under the old MR and under 3:38, and the top 10 all went under 3:40. All told it was one of the best non-international championship men's 1500 m ever on Japanese soil. The women's 3000 mSC also saw a new MR from Shuangshuang Xu (China) in 9:47.45, with 2nd through 4th-placers Miu Saito (Nittai Univ.), Georgia Winkcup (Australia) and Manami Nishiyama (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) all breaking 10 minutes. At part one of the Chugoku Corporate Championships in Hiroshima, Rebecca Mwangi (Daiso) had an easy win in the women's 5000 m ...

Conditions at Sunday's Sendai International Half Marathon were too hot for fast times, but for Paris Olympics marathon team members Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) and Naoki Koyama (Honda) it was a pretty good test run for what they'll up against come August. Marathon NR holder Maeda had no problems soloing the win, running 1:11:17 to finish 1:17 ahead of 2nd-placer Yuki Nakamura (Panasonic). Rie Kawauchi (Otsuka Seiyaku) was 3rd in 1:12:58. Koyama was a little shakier at 6th in 1:03:23 in the men's race, not exactly a bad day but not up to the no-miss form he's had over the last two years either. In his place, Koyama's Honda teammate Ken Nakayama scored the men's win, out kicking Kenyans Paul Kuira (JR Higashi Nihon) and Benard Kimeli (Fujitsu) on the track to take the win in 1:02:31. Kuira was 2nd in 1:02:32 and Kimeli 3rd in 1:02:36. Sendai International Half Marathon Sendai, Miyagi, 12 May 2024 complete results Women 1. Honami Maeda 1:11:17 2. Yuki Nakamura 1...

The 103rd edition of the Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships wrapped Sunday at Tokyo's National Stadium. Kenyans won four of the five long distance events of the day, with 2nd-year Brian Kipyegon (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) defending his won D1 half marathon title and breaking the MR he set last year with a new 1:01:38 MR. That was over a minute and a half better than 2nd-placer Ren Umezaki (Toyo Univ.) and especially impressive given hot early morning temps of 25˚C. 3rd-year Patrick Kamau (Jobu Univ.) put 6 seconds on Hakone Ekiden Third Stage winner Aoi Ota (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) over the last km to win the D2 title in 1:02:58. In the D1 women's 5000 m, 2nd-year Sarah Wanjiru (Daito Bunka Univ.) scored a double title after breaking the 10000 m MR, winning in 15:44.85 by 5 seconds over Risa Yamazaki (Nittai Univ.). 3rd-year Victor Kimutai (Josai Univ.) took the D1 men's 5000 m title in 13:37.62, just over a second up on 2nd-year Shadrack Kipkemoi (Ni...

Day 3 of the 103rd Kanto Regionals meet at Tokyo's National Stadium was mostly one of qualifying rounds on the track, the only finals being the D1 and D2 men's 10000 m race walks. Usual race walking power Toyo University was absent from the D1 podium, 3rd yr., Misaki Kondo (Meiji Univ.) clocking a PB 40:32.85 for the win with 2nd and 3rd-placers Riku Oie (Juntendo Univ.) and Yushi Nakajima (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) within 12 seconds of him, both also PBing. 4th-yr Chisato Hasegawa took the D2 title in 41:34.39. Qualifying rounds in the men's 3000 mSC didn't see many surprises, with D1 favorites Boniface Mutech (Ryutsu Keizai Univ.) and So Yamasaki (Juntendo Univ.) both getting through to the final and D2 win contenders Oju Tsujimoto (Teikyo Univ.) and Kai Ogata (Kanto Gakuin Univ.) doing the same. Kanto Regionals wrap up Sunday with the men's half marathon in the morning and the 3000 m SC, 5000 m and other finals in the afternoon. 103rd Kanto Region Univers...

Day two of the 103rd Kanto Regionals meet took place Friday at Tokyo's National Stadium and other facilities. The 1500 m was the only mid or long-distance final on the program, and in the D1 women's final 4th-yr Yuiri Ogata (Nittai Univ.) scored a dominant win with a 4:19.08 PB that put her 2 1/2 seconds up on 2nd-placer Yui Yoshii (Daito Bunka Univ.). 4th-yr Hiroto Takamura (Nittai Univ.) won the D1 men's title in 3:45.65, with 2nd-yr Ryoto Aoki (Rikkyo Univ.) taking the top spot in a strategic D2 men's final in 3:52.93. D2 men also had a round of 5000 m qualifiers on the program. Kenyans took the top four spots in Heat 1 led by newcomer Brian Kiptoo (Reitaku Univ.) in 13:50.47, with Hakone Ekiden runner-up Komazawa University 4th-yr Kota Nakaya outrunning Hakone champ Aoyama Gakuin University 1st-yr Sota Orita for 1st in the slower Heat 2, 14:04.47 to 14:04.95. The final happens Sunday alongside the D1 men's and women's races. In other noteworthy per...

Japan's best college meet kicked off Thursday at Tokyo's National Stadium at the 103rd Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships . Looking like she was doing a controlled tempo run, 2nd-yr Sarah Wanjiru (Daito Bunka Univ.) lapped the entire field to win the women's 10000 m in a meet record 32:02.87, almost 15 seconds under the record she last year in her debut. 3rd-yr Aoi Takahashi (Josai Univ.) was 2nd in 33:29.22 and 2nd-yr Nana Nagashima (Josai Kokusai Univ.) 3rd in a PB 33:30.28, but the other main news alongside Wanjiru's new record was the return of collegiate 10000 m record holder Seira Fuwa (Takushoku Univ.) in her first 10000 m in 19 months. Fuwa hung at the back of the chase pack for the first half, made a move to lead it in the second half, and ultimately faded to 9th in 33:40.20. Every comeback has to start somewhere. The D1 men's 10000 m had a tight group up front with the top 6 all finishing within 6 seconds and under 28:10. 3rd-yr Jam...

  According to investigators, two-time Olympic marathon medalist Erick Wainaina has had his case referred to prosecutors after allegedly injuring a railway employee by striking him in the face at a station in Setagaya, Tokyo. Wainaina, 50, was the bronze medalist in the marathon at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and won silver in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Wainaina is suspected of assaulting a woman in her late teens and a male Tokyu Denentoshi Line employee by hitting them in the face during an altercation at Komazawa University Station in March this year, resulting in minor injuries to the man's face. According to investigators, the incident began on the train between Wainaina and the woman, and after getting off at Komazawa University Station he hit her in the face when she asked him to go to the station office with her to report it. When the male railway employee responded to the situation Wainaina reportedly hit him too. In response to questioning Wainaina is said to have answered,...

Streaming of day one of Japan's best collegiate meet, the Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships at Tokyo's National Stadium and at Nihon University Field. Meet schedule and live results here . Track events will be on the stream above, with field and combined events on the two below. © 2024 Brett Larner , all rights reserved

Currently the #10-ranked Japanese man in the marathon with the fastest-ever domestic time at the elite Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, Tsubasa Ichiyama (Sunbelx) made his international debut at Sunday's Copenhagen Marathon , literally an international debut as it was his first time outside the country. Ichiyama hoped to be in contention to break the 2:08:23 CR and go for the win, and with cool and breezy conditions ran easy in the lead group through 30 km. But something ate away at almost everyone as time went by, several people in the lead men's and women's groups saying humidity, and past 30 km Ichiyama fell off. Falling as low as 9th, he rallied after 40 km to finish 8th in 2:13:07. "It was different than in Japanese races," he said. "I'm used to bigger packs and more even pacing, but this was a kind of racing I hadn't done before. There's a lot to think about. I didn't feel like I was sweating a lot, but I got really thirsty and started sk...

  For everyone not running yesterday's 10000 m National Championships , where the Asahi Kasei corporate team dominated the men's race with four out of four men sub-28 including winner Jun Kasai , 27:17.46, the grand dame of Japan's long distance time trial circuit was happening on AK's home ground in Miyazaki at the Golden Games in Nobeoka . Not including kids' races, a total of 74 women and 227 men ran in 14 heats of 5000 m, with a packed-in crowd of fans lining the track beating on metal sponsor boards with batons. It's a pretty awesome meet, and memorable performances included: National champion Kamimura Gakuen H.S. standout Caroline Kariba continued to kill it in the second month of her corporate league career, winning the 5000 m A-heat in 15:00.95 in a race where 3 out of the top 4 including her ran PBs. National champion Meijo University seemed flat at this point in the season, with none of its people under 16 minutes and star Nanase Tanimoto leading ...