Weekend Overseas Race Roundup

Most of the action was overseas this weekend, with the Chugoku Jitsugyodan Time Trials meet in Hiroshima being the only really noteworthy domestic event. Dan Kiplangat (JFE Steel) had the fastest time in the six heats of men's 5000 m, beating Kibet Mangata (Mazda) by 0.38 seconds for the win in 13:35.44. 2:06 marathoner Kyohei Hosoya (Kurosaki Harima) was 5th in 13:58.28, with teammate Kakeru Ide (Kurosaki Harima) taking the B-heat in 13:58.34 and high schooler Itsuki Takaishi (Kochi Kogyo H.S.) joining the sub-14 club with a 13:59.04 to win the C-heat. Rose Wangui (Sera H.S.) got her ekiden season prep off to a good start with a 9:00.27 win in the women's 3000 m.

With Kenyan Brimin Kipkorir Misoi soloing a 2:06:18 for the win Japanese men went 4-5 at the Sydney Marathon in Australia, Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Asahi Kasei) 4th in 2:08:54 and Ken Nakayama (Honda) 5th in 2:09:23. 2:06 marathoner Hidekazu Hijikata (Asahi Kasei) was only 11th in 2:14:46. On the women's side, Mao Uesugi (Tokyo Metro) was 6th in 2:29:18, seven and a half minutes behind winner Workenesh Edesa who ran 2:21:41 to take 1st.

Shunya Kikuchi (Chugoku Denryoku) was the top Japanese man at the Copenhagen Half Marathon, 19th in 1:01:45. Marathon NR holder Kengo Suzuki (Fujitsu) was 22nd in 1:02:20 after going out with the lead group, with Taiyo Iwasaki (JFE Steel) just behind him in 1:02:26 for 23rd. Kenyan Sabastian Sawe was in another league entirely, 1st in 58:05. Margaret Chelimo took the women's race in 1:05:11, meaning all three Japanese men were closer to her than they were to Sawe. Sayaka Sato (Sekisui Kagaku) was 11th in the women's race in 1:09:03.

Two other Japanese women opted for the Porto Half Marathon instead of Copenhagen. With Cynthia Chemweno winning the women's race in 1:09:58 Yuki Nakamura (Panasonic) was 2nd in 1:12:23 and Chiharu Suzuki (Hitachi) 3rd in 1:13:10.

Five Japanese athletes were at the Brussels Diamond League final. Olympic gold medalist Haruka Kitaguchi was the star of the show, coming up with a season best 66.13 m for a second-straight Diamond League title on her final attempt.

Roderick Genki Dean wrapped a great 2024 with a 5th in the men's javelin throw at 80.37 m.
Abdul Hakim Sani Brown was 6th in the men's 100 m in 10.10 (+0.1).
Shunsuke Izumiya also took 6th in the men's 110 mH, running 13.33 (+0.4).
Nozomi Tanaka was yet another 6th in the women's 5000 m in 14:31.88, 22 seconds behind winner Beatrice Chebet's 14:09.82.

Fukuoka International Marathon Elite Field

The Dec. 1 Fukuoka International Marathon is the first of this winter season's big selection races for the home soil team for next year's Tokyo World Championships, and the domestic field is a great one. Kenya Sonota , 2:05:59 in Tokyo last year, and 2:06 men Yusuke Nishiyama , Yuya Yoshida , Kazuya Nishiyama and Daisuke Doi make up the main contenders to get a spot, with internationals Lemeck Too , Jie He , Bethwel Yegon , Vincent Raimoi , last year's winner Michael Githae , and Shaohui Yang perfectly positioned to add momentum to the shot at the 2:06:30 Worlds standard that they'll all be taking. 8 other Japanese men in the 2:07 to 2:09 range make it one of the most competitive Fukuoka editions in a long, long time. Last year Githae outkicked Yang by 1 second to win 2:07:08 to 2:07:09, Yang with a Chinese NR that was broken a few months later by He in Wuxi. Chinese men's marathoning has momentum right now too, and it wouldn't be surprising to see either He

Saku Chosei High School's Hamaguchi Runs 13:31.62 at Nittai

2023 National High School Ekiden champion Saku Chosei H.S. was out in force Sunday in the 5000 m fast heats at the 317th Nittai University Time Trials meet in Yokohama. 3rd-year Yamato Hamaguchi ran 13:31.62, the 4th-fastest time ever by a Japanese-born high schooler, and 3rd-year Tetsu Sasaki went under 14 minutes for the first time with an excellent 13:40.02. The race took place as light rain fell. Hamaguchi and Sasaki ran alongside African university and corporate league runners. From the start they were conservative, staying in the pack as the race went along. With splits of 2:42 and 1000 m and 8:11 at 3000 m the high school record of 13:22.99 set 2 years ago by Saku Chosei alum Hiroto Yoshioka was out of reach, but right til the last sprint Hamaguchi stayed in contact with the lead. Hamaguchi took almost 7 seconds off his 13:38.40 PB from last year, with Sasaki rewriting his 14:03.51 best by nearly 24 seconds. Both beat Yamanashi Gakuin H.S. 2nd-year Felix Muthiani , who ran

Saitama Wins Final East Japan Women's Ekiden With Dramatic Anchor Stage Turnaround by Yamanouchi

The final edition of the East Japan Women's Ekiden was held Nov. 10 in Fukushima, with teams of 9 athletes ranging from junior high school students to corporate leaguers representing the 18 prefectures in eastern and northern Japan competing over 42.195 km. For the first time in 18 years Saitama took the win, running 2:19:07 to score its fourth title in the event's 39-year history despite not taking a single individual stage title. Gunma was 2nd, with Tokyo placing 3rd. Saitama's lead runner Wakana Fukuyama , a 2nd-year at Saitama Sakae H.S. , started them off in 8th after the 6.0 km 1st leg. Over the next three legs Saitama moved up as high as 3rd, fluctuating a few spots over the stages of that but advancing to 2nd thanks to a great run from Tamai J.H.S. 3rd- year Momoka Ono on the second-to-last stage. That put Saitama's anchor Minami Yamanouchi from the Shimamura corporate team 30 seconds back from the leader, and with 10.0 km to work with and a strong run s

japan running news

Search This Blog