japan running news

Australians Isobel Batt-Doyle and Haftu Strintzos turned in record-breaking performances to win the McGrath Launceston Running Festival Peppers Silo Half Marathon in Tasmania. Running with a private male pacer, NR holder Batt-Doyle dusted the field with the fastest half marathon ever by an Australian woman on Australian soil, a 1:08:46 CR that put her 2 and a half minutes ahead of runner-up Genevieve Gregson . Last year's runner-up Yumi Yoshikawa was almost a minute back from Gregson in 3rd in 1:12:03, but was almost run down by club runner Ayaka Shimoyamada . Starting slow in her international debut, Shimoyamada moved up from 7th over the 2nd half of the race to finish 4th in 1:12:06, kicking hard in the home straight to try to catch Yoshikawa and momentarily blacking out after finishing. Kaho Onishi was 7th in 1:12:45 in her own international debut. The men's half had pacing set at 2:53/km to try to deliver the first-ever sub-61 half marathon on Australian soil. CR holde...

Every year since 2012 that there's been a United Airlines NYC Half , JRN has partnered with the NYRR and November's Ageo City Half Marathon to bring two top-tier collegiate Japanese men to the NYC Half for what's usually been their international debuts. For years we've wanted to extend that program to include top collegiate women, but that has always faced 2 problems. For one, while the half marathon distance is the main focus for Japanese collegiate men due to the stage lengths at the Hakone Ekiden, few collegiate women run it. Those that do run the National University Women's Half Marathon in Matsue, held the same day as the NYC Half. This year, though, we're finally making it happen in a slightly different way. Amisa Murayama and Nazuki Sasaki of 2025 Mt. Fuji Women's Ekiden national collegiate championship runner-up Tohoku Fukushi University are joining the field for the NYRR's Mastercard New York Mini 10 km on June 6. After running an 18:14 CR ...

Last year's McGrath Launceston Running Festival Peppers Silo Half Marathon in Tasmania, Australia shaped out into a great Australia vs. Japan dual meet , with Jessica Stenson outrunning Yumi Yoshikawa to take the women's title in a 1:09:51 CR, and Teikyo University school record holder Teruki Shimada executing a tactically brilliant race to drop Isaac Heyne , then-NR holder Brett Robinson , and Teikyo teammate Jinya Ozaki for the win in 1:01:12, just a second off the Australian all-comers record. Marathon NR holder Andy Buchanan took that record down to 1:01:08 at the Gold Coast Half a month later, but its chances of surviving this weekend aren't looking good. Shimada leads last year's top 4 back to Launceston this year, and there's a lot of tough new competition. 2025 National Corporate Half winner Tsubasa Ichiyama , Australia's Haftu Strintzos , new Teikyo record holder Yuta Asakawa and American Ethan Shuley have all run faster that Buchanan's rec...

Kanto Regionals were the big domestic meet this weekend, but there were other important results here and overseas. At the Xiamen Diamond League meet: 110 mH NR holder Rachid Muratake (JAL) was 2nd in 13.13 (+0.5) behind winner Jamal Britt (U.S.A.) in 13.07. The only other Japanese athlete in Xiamen, women's javelin throw NR holder Haruka Kitaguchi (JAL) was 7th at 60.08, down from her performance last week at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix Meet in Tokyo and eclipsed by the brilliant all-time #2 71.74 m throw by China's Ziyi Yan . 4 Japanese athletes ran at the Sound Running L.A,.Track Fest meet, 3 of them graduates of Kyoto's Rakunan H.S. like Kanto Regionals D1 men's 5000 m winner Kaisei Okada (Chuo Univ.). The only non-Rakunan guy there, Hibiki Obara (GMO) ran only 8:33.21 for 9th in the men's 3000 mSC A-heat. Daichi Shibata (Chuo Univ.) was last in the same heat in 8:49.91. Itta Tameike (SG Holdings) had a great run in the men's 5000 m B-heat, breakin...

Japan's best university track meet happened the last 4 days in Tochigi at the 105th Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships . The race of the meet was without a doubt the D1 men's 3000 mSC, where Japanese U20 all-time #2 Tetsu Sasaki (Waseda University) and Sanetada Ono (Tokai Univ.) pushed each other to both break one of the oldest records in Japanese athletics, 10-mile NR holder Masanari Shintaku 's 8:35.2 Kanto Regionals meet record from 1977. Just starting his 2nd year at Waseda, Sasaki got the win and record in 8:24.96, landing just outside the all-time Japanese top 10. Ono took just over a second off his PB to go under Shintaku's old record too in 8:31.41 for 2nd. On the women's side the race of the meet was the D1 women's 5000 m. Undefeated in the 5000 m and 10000 m at Kanto Regionals her first 3 years, Daito Bunka University 4th-year Sarah Wanjiru lost her shot at a perfect scorecard when she got taken down over the last lap in Thursday...

Sunday is the last day of the 105th Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships. Live results here . Day 4 schedule: 9:30  - D1/D2 Women's Heptathlon Long Jump 9:50  - D1 Men's Javelin Throw Final 9:55  - D2/D3 Men's 5000 m Final 10:00  - D2/D3 Men's Pole Vault Final 10:20  - D1 Women's 5000 m Final 10:30  - D1 Men's High Jump Final 10:45  - D1 Men's 5000 m Final 11:25  - D3 Men's 400 mH Final 12:00  - D3 Men's 800 m Final 12:00  - D1/D2 Women's Heptathlon Javelin Throw 12:40  - D3 Men's 200 m Final 13:00  - D1/D2 Women's Triple Jump Final 13:30  - D1/D2 Women's 3000 mSC Final 13:55  - D3 Men's 3000 mSC Final © 2026 Brett Larner , all rights reserved

Day 3 of the 105th Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships gets into its 2nd half Saturday. Live results here . The day's schedule: 9:45  - D1/D2 Women's Heptathlon 100 mH 10:00  - D1/D2 Women's Discus Throw Final 10:10  - D1 Women's 400 mH Heats 10:40  - D2 Men's 400 mH Heats 11:05  - D1 Men's 400 mH Heats 11:15  - D1/D2 Women's Heptathlon High Jump 11:45  - D2 Men's 800 m Heats 12:00  - D1 Men's Shot Put Final 12:10  - D1 Women's 800 m Heats 12:30  - D1 Men's Long Jump Final 12:40  - D1 Men's 800 m Heats 13:20  - D2 Men's 200 m Heats 13:40  - D1 Women's 200 m Heats 13:45  - D1/D2 Women's Heptathlon Shot Put 14:05  - D1 Men's 200 m Heats 15:00  - D2/D3 Men's High Jump Final 15:00  - D2/D3 Men's Hammer Throw Final 15:45  - D2 Men's 3000 mSC Heats 15:55  - D1/D2 Women's Pole Vault Final 16:25  - D1 Men's 3000 mSC Heats 17:30  - D1 Women's Javelin Throw Final 18:25  ...

Day 2 of the 105th Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships gets moving at 9:00 a.m Friday local time. Live results here . Day 2 schedule: 9:00  - D2/D3 Men's Decathlon 110 mH 9:15  - D1 Men's Decathlon 110 mH 9:35 - D2 Men's 110 mH Semi-finals 9:45  - D1 Men's 110 mH Semi-finals 10:05  - D1 Women's 100 mH Semi-finals 10:15  - D1/D2/D3 Men's Decathlon Discus Throw 10:20  - D2/D3 Men's Shot Put Final 10:25  - D2 Men's 100 m Semi-finals 10:35  - D1 Women's 100 m Semi-finals 10:35  - D2/D3 Men's Long Jump Final 10:45  - D1 Men's 100 m Semi-finals 11:30  - D2 Men's 1500 m Final 11:45  - D1 Women's 1500 m Final 12:00  - D1 Men's 1500 m Final 12:50  - D2/D3 Men's Javelin Throw Final 13:30  - D1/D2/D3 Men's Decathlon Pole Vault 13:30  - D3 Men's 110 mH Final 14:15  - D3 Men's 100 m Final 14:50  - D1/D2 Women's Hammer Throw Final 15:00  - D2 Men's 400 m Final 15:10  - D1 Women's 400 ...

Japan's best collegiate meet, the 105th Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships kick off today in Tochigi. Live results here . Day 1 schedule: 8:46  - D2 Men's Decathlon 100 m 9:14  - D3 Men's Decathlon 100 m 9:15  - D1 Men's Decathlon 100 m 9:35  - D2/D3 Men's 400 m Heats 9:55  - D1/D2 Women's High Jump Final 10:05  - D1 Women's 400 m Heats 10:10  - D1/D2/D3 Men's Decathlon Long Jump 10:20  - D1 Men's 400 m Heats 10:50  - D2/D3 Men's Discus Throw Final 11:10  - D1/D2 Women's 100 mH Heats 11:40  - D2 Men's 110 mH Heats 11:45  - D1 Men's 110 mH Heats 12:35  - D1 Men's 100 m Heats 13:00  - D1/D2 Women's 100 m Heats 13:05  - D1 Men's 100 m Heats 13:25  - D1 Men's Discus Throw Final 13:30  - D1 Men's Triple Jump Final 13:30  - D1/D2/D3 Men's Decathlon Shot Put 14:00  - D1/D2 Men's 400 m Semi-final 14:15  - D1 Women's 400 m Semi-Final 14:50  - D2/D3 Men's 1500 m Heats 15:15 ...

The 105th Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships will be held May 21-24 in Tochigi's Kanseki Stadium. Featuring World Championships national team members and Hakone Ekiden stars, it is the first time the meet is being held in Tochigi prefecture. The Kanto Regionals meet is open to member universities of the KGRR , with individual performances scoring points that determine the overall champion university program. The meet's history is even longer than that of the KGRR's flagship event, the Hakone Ekiden. All 22 events on the meet program except the men's half marathon, which was held separately on April 5 as part of the Yaizu Minato Half Marathon , will be held at Kanseki Stadium and the neighboring multipurpose field for throwing events. The entry list published on May 12 features Tokyo World Championships relay team member Arie Aoki (Nittai Univ.) in the 400 m. The men's 5000 m includes both Hakone Ekiden uphill Fifth Stage star Shinsaku Kudo (Was...

Hakone Ekiden organizers KGRR announced May 18 that the Yosenkai qualifying race for next year's 103rd Hakone Ekiden will be held Oct. 17 on its usual 21.0975 km half marathon course starting at the Tachikawa Air SDF Base in western Tokyo and finishing next door at Showa Kinen Park. The top 10 teams at the 102nd Hakone Ekiden this past January including winner Aoyama Gakuin University auto-qualified for the 103rd Hakone. All other schools in the Kanto Region must run the Yosenkai to qualify, fielding up to 12 athletes with their first 10 finishers scored on aggregate time. The 10 fastest teams will go on to the main event next January. The field this time is expected to include Toyo University , which finished 14th at the 102nd Hakone to break a 20-year+ streak of top 10 finishes, 15th-place Nittai University which will be looking to make Hakone for the 79th year in a row, and the debuting Shibaura Kogyo University . It's an exciting mix of traditional powerhouses and up-and...

It was a pale shadow of the results at the Keqiao Diamond League meet a day earlier, where Rachid Muratake was the only Japanese athlete in action at 3rd in 13.18 (+0.1) in the men's 110 mH, but the men's 3000 m at Sunday's Seiko Golden Grand Prix in Tokyo turned out to be the race of the meet. Collegiate 5000 m, 10000 m and half marathon record holder Richard Etir (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) did pacing duty through 2000 m in 2:33 and 5:07, almost dead-even with Suguru Osako 's 2014-era NR of 7:40.09. When Etir stepped off Yu Shibata (Josai Univ.) stepped up as the surprise leader, pushing hard to keep the NR in range and dropping everyone except corporate leaguers Ryuto Igawa (Asahi Kasei) and Nagiya Mori (Honda). Both had the wheels to run Shibata down over the last 200 m, and Mori had the honor of becoming the first Japanese man under 7:40, winning in a new NR of 7:38.98. Igawa and Shibata both got there too, Igawa 2nd in 7:39.36 and Shibata 3rd in 7:39.51, the fast...

At around 10:00 a.m. on May 17, the city of Kashiwazaki received multiple reports of a bear on the roads used as the course for the Kashiwazaki Shiokaze Marathon being held at the time. Determining that it would be dangerous to continue the race, city officials stopped the event. There were no injuries, and the bear's size remains unknown. A local hunting association examined the city and said that based on footprints and other evidence it was possible that what was seen might have been a wild boar. According to city officials, the reported bear was seen on Prefectural Road 73 in Okouchi Shinden in a mountainous area about 4 km southwest of Kashiwazaki Station, a road used as an out-and-back section of both the half marathon and marathon. Over 2200 people were participating in the race, but because runners were already on the return leg there were few people left. Organizers stopped those still running at a water station and used police cars and motorcycles to ensure their safety....

A section of insulation material fell from the ceiling of Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, the official venue for squash competition at September's Nagoya Asian Games. There were no injuries, but the city suspended use of the arena until its safety could be guaranteed, resulting in the cancelation of the Asian Games squash test event which was scheduled to have begun on May 14. It is not yet clear whether the arena will be usable for the Asian Games as planned. According to city officials, arena staff found that the insulation material had fallen onto a work walkway 13 m above the ground on the night of May 11. The fallen material was 3.6 m long, 50 cm wide and 2.5 km thick, and was found to be waterlogged. The cause of the accident is unknown, but it is possible that it was caused by rainwater leaking in from the roof. The same insulation material is installed across the entire ceiling, and the city plans to check for the extent of the possible flooding. Asked whether the arena will be re...

The JAAF announced on May 14 that in collaboration with the East Asian Athletics Association, the 5th East Asian Half Marathon Championships will be held as part of the 2027 Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon in April next year. It will be the first time the East Asian Half will be staged in Japan. The race will be held on the Gifu Seiryu Half course starting and finishing at Gifu Memorial Center at the same time as the regular race. Only the results of athletes representing East Asia member countries will be considered in scoring. The East Asian Athletics Association is made up of Japan, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Macau, Mongolia, North Korea and Taiwan. The 1st edition of the East Asian Half Marathon was held in 2023 in Hong Kong, with the 2nd through 4th editions held in China. source article: https://www.rikujyokyogi.co.jp/archives/207139 translated by Brett Larner

  After finishing 15th at the Hakone Ekiden in January and dropping off the Hakone podium for the first time in 20 years, Toyo University  is on a comeback mission. At the May 4 National University Ekiden Qualifying Meet at Kanagawa's Lemon Gas Stadium Toyo finished 5th overall in 3:58:51.88, scoring a place at November's Nationals after missing out last time around. 3rd-year Shion Jinnai , who led the first of the qualifying meet's 4 heats of 10000 m, said, "Our theme this season is 'getting back to our roots.' We have a new captain and some great 1st-years, and we're going for top 3 at Hakone." Jinnai talked about some changes in the team since the disappointing last season, saying, "We're still doing the same group training, but we're also now putting more effort into individual activity out side of that, things like aerobic development outside the scheduled practices. We have team practices twice a day on weekdays when there are class...

On May 11 Taisho University announced the launch of the school's new track and field team this year, with Masami Soeda named as its first head coach. With Taisho celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, its decision to launch a track team is a core part of its sports enhancement initiative aimed at improving student athletic performance and elevating the school's image. Soeda had previously demonstrated his ability as a coach at Kokushikan University where he led it to 8-straight Hakone Ekidens from the 93rd to 100th editions. Taisho also named Nobuharu Sato , previously involved in scouting and coaching at the Fujitsu corporate team and at Komazawa University , as head of scouting and as strengthening coach in tandem with Soeda. A statement from Taisho University said, "As an institution of higher education we place value on both developing human capability and interaction with the local community, and we want create new value in university sports. We are starting...

The Michitaka Kinami Memorial Meet in Osaka was the weekend's main event on the track, and women's pole vault NR holder Misaki Morota (Art Home) led the way with its biggest result. After struggling with injuries the last couple of years, Morota was back with a 4.50 m national record on her 1st attempt at the height, bettering the 4.48 m NR she set back in 2023 and outdoing 2nd place by 25 cm. Morota packed it in at that point and didn't try for 4.55 m, but as she looked back to peak form expect to see her try to take the record further this season. Other highlights from Kinami: Nanako Matsumoto (Toho Ginko) and Morgan Mitchell (Australia) both broke the meet record in the women's 400 m, Matsumoto getting the win in 52.24 and Mitchell 2nd in 52.27. Jaylah Hancock-Cameron (Australia) outran Ayano Shiomi (Iwatani Sangyo) for the win in the women's 800 m 2:01.85 to 2:04.09, while NR holder Rin Kubo (Sekisui Kagaku) struggled in the start of her corporate league ...

Shunsuke Shikama (Logisteed) and Tabitha Njeri Kamau (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) won the Sendai International Half Marathon Sunday in Sendai, Shikama in 1:01:31 and Njeri in 1:09:20. Mizuki Nishimura (Tenmaya) was the top Japanese woman at 2nd overall. The men's race went through 5 km in 14:34 and 10 km in 29:22. Shikama ran alongside top competition including Shoki Yamaguchi (Soka Univ.), who has been running well in half marathons this season, and Tokyo World Championships marathon team member Naoki Koyama (Honda). On a course with many small ups and downs, Shikama attacked on a downhill just after 15 km, quickly breaking free of the lead group of 7. 13 seconds up by 20 km, Shikama covered the last 1.0975 km in 3:06 to seal his first Sendai title. A graduate of Juntendo University , Shikama is in his 4th season with Logisteed. At the 2024 National Corporate Half Marathon he ran 1:00:41, and at last year's East Japan Corporate Ekiden he won the Third Stage. In his marathon d...

Having scored its 3rd-straight Hakone Ekiden win this past January, Aoyama Gakuin University spent the Golden Week spring holidays training on the Myoko Plateau in Niigata from May 2-6. Along with the champion men's ekiden team, the first 2 members of AGU's new women's long distance team Nodoka Ashida and Kairi Ikeno , and AGU alumni and 2026 New Year Ekiden champion GMO team members Yuya Yoshida and Asahi Kuroda also took part in the training camp. Depending on the day's training schedule, mileage at the camp was over 50 km a day. AGU men's captain Kaito Nakamura confidently said, "This Golden Week training camp is where we lay the foundations for our 4th-straight Hakone title." A lot of people spend Golden Week on vacation, but the AGU ekiden team spent their time working hard on Myoko's rolling land amid the sprouting leaves of spring. On the 2nd day of the camp, May 3, team members woke up at 5:00 a.m. to do their warmup. The team assembled a...

There was a lot of action on the track over Japan's Golden Week holidays. Highlights: Shizuoka International Meet - Fukuroi, 3 May Men's 800 m NR holder Ko Ochiai (Komazawa Univ.) broke his own record with a 1:43.90 win. Daigo Usuki (18 Ginko) and Gakuto Mishima (Nippatsu) both broke the NR in the T20 men's 400 m, Usuki getting the win in 49.08 and Mishima 2nd in 49.15. Lauren Bruce (New Zealand) threw a meet record 67.44 m on her final attempt in the women's hammer throw, but even her shortest throw of 64.31 m was over 3 m better than the rest of the field. Kazuki Kurokawa (Sumitomo Denko) got the men's 400 mH meet record with a 48.50 for the win. Women's 3000 mSC NR holder Miu Saito (Panasonic) won the steeple in 9:31.83, the 2nd-best time in her career so far, despite falling. 2nd through 4th all broke 10 minutes. National University Men's Ekiden Kanto Region Qualifier - Hiratsuka, 4 May The top 8 teams at November's National University Men...