National XC Championships Streaming and Start Lists

The 2025 National Cross Country Championships happen Saturday in Fukuoka. Streaming starts at 11:20 a.m. local time, with the race schedule looking like this:

11:50 - H.S, girls' 4 km

12:10 - H.S. boys: 4 km

12:30 - Senior women's 2 km

12:40 - Senior men's 2 km

12:50 - U20 women's 6 km

13:15 - U20 men's 8 km

13:50 - Senior women's 8 km

14:25 - Senior men's 10 km

15:05 - J.H.S. girls' 2 km

15:20 - J.H.S. boys' 2 km

Start lists are here. Based on those, the senior men's 10 km looks like it has the best matchup, with the field including 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura (Subaru), 10000 m NR holder Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu), 5000 m H.S. record holder Hiroto Yoshioka (Juntendo Univ.), Olympic triathlete Kenji Nener (Tochigi T&F Assoc.), Hakone downhill star Aoi Ito (Komazawa Univ.), sub-28 10000 m runners Yusuke Tamura (Kurosaki Harima) and Ryuto Igawa (Asahi Kasei), and many more.

There's not a lot of comparable depth in the senior women's 8 km, where Sayuki Ota and Yumi Yamamoto from national champion Ritsumeikan University are realistically probably the favorites. Corporate league hopes include Momoka Kawaguchi (Uniqlo) and Yuri Tasaki (Sysmex).

The U20 men's 8 km is packed with talent from top high school programs including national champ Saku Chosei H.S., Miura's alma mater Rakunan H.S., Tosu Kogyo H.S., Yachiyo Shoin H.S. and Omuta H.S. Likewise in the U20 women's 6 km, where national champion Nagano Higashi H.S. faces Osaka Kunei Joshi H.S., Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. and more. National High School Ekiden runner-up Sendai Ikuei H.S. is giving it a miss.

The senior men's 2 km doesn't seem to have been a draw for top-tier talent, but the women's 2 km includes corporate leaguers Ran Urabe and Chikako Mori (both Sekisui Kagaku), and Yuzuki Nishide (Daihatsu). Performances at National XC this time around will count heavily in team selection for the 2026 Tallahassee World XC Championships.

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Matsumoto Marathon Canceled After Fraudulently Hiding Past Financial Losses

On Apr. 23 the city government of Matsumoto, Nagano announced that it was canceling this fall's Matsumoto Marathon after discovering accounting fraud in the event's operation. "We are going to conduct a review of how the race has been conducted up to now," a statement from the city read. Mayor Yoshinao Gaun apologized at a press conference, saying, "We sincerely apologize for letting down everyone involved in putting the event together." The Matsumoto Marathon is run by an executive committee made up of representatives from the city, the Matsumoto Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Shinano Mainichi Newspaper, and the relevant track and field associations. According to city officials, financial records for the November, 2023 edition of the race were fraudulently manipulated. Income from participants' entry fees was lower than expected, and although the city managed to get the Shinano Mainichi, to which it had outsourced overall event management, to r...

Australian Male Arrested on Drug Smuggling Charges After Entering Japan for Osaka Marathon

On Apr. 9 the Kinki Region Bureau of Health, Labor and Welfare's Drug Control Division arrested Matthew Inglis Fox , 38, an Australian business owner of no known fixed address, on charges of violating the importation regulations of the Narcotics Control Act by smuggling tablets containing marijuana elements from the United States. The suspect had entered Japan in February to run in the Osaka Marathon . The suspect was arrested on suspicion of smuggling approximately 12 pills containing marijuana by sending them from a U.S. airport to Osaka's Kansai Airport using an international courier service on Feb. 19. The Osaka branch of the Customs Service discovered the tablets in arriving cargo and suspected them to be narcotics. Customs contacted the Narcotics Control Division, which then began its investigation of the case. According to the Narcotics Control Division, the suspect denies the charges. Translator's note: Fox, who received a lifetime ban from the Ageo City Half Mara...

Nyiva and Wolde Win Gifu Seiryu Half

Two good races happened Sunday at the Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon . The women's race was a head-to-head race between 2022 marathon world champion Gotytom Gebreslase and debuting Japan-based Janet Nyiva . Side-by-side through 15 km, Nyiva shattered Gebreslase with a massive surge over the last 5 km that ultimately put 52 second between them, Nyiva wining in 1:07:37 and Gebreslase next in 1:08:29. 2023 Asian marathon champion Eunice Chebichii Chumba held off the up-and-coming Kana Kobayashi , a member of Japan's marathon team for September's Tokyo World Championships, with a 1:09:07 for 3rd. Kobayashi's 1:09:09 for 4th was a PB by almost 5 minutes and the fastest time ever on the rolling Gifu course by a Japanese woman. Yumi Yoshikawa was 5th in 1:10:51. Five men went out front on mid-59 pace. Dawit Wolde , debuting Kiprono Sitonik , Vincent Yegon and veteran Bedan Karoki all took turns leading, with only Richard Kimunyan tucking in and declining to share the load. ...

japan running news

Search This Blog