japan running news

Around 200 athletes who had been recruited by Toyo University's famed scout Hisashi Sato, 65, gathered at a hotel in Kawagoe, Saitama on Mar. 23 to celebrate Sato's retirement from his position as assistant coach at Toyo at the end of this month. Of the 30 men to have qualified for the Sept. 15 MGC Race 2020 Tokyo Olympics marathon trials, 4 are Toyo alumni, more than any other university.   Hiroyuki Yamamoto (32, Konica Minolta), who qualified for the MGC race at the Mar. 10 Lake Biwa Marathon, and former marathon national record holder Yuta Shitara (27, Honda), were among the attendees.

Since it first won the Hakone Ekiden in 2009 to this year's 3rd-place finish Toyo has shown extraordinary consistency, finishing in the top 3 at Hakone all 11 years. Sato worked alongside head coach Toshiyuki Sakai, 42, to help develop that kind of stability. Where he showed exceptional ability in his 25 years with the team was in scouting. Sato famously discovered future Hakone uphill F…

Entry lists were announced Feb. 6 for the 2019 National Cross Country Championships, to be held Feb. 23 in Fukuoka's Uminonakamichi Kaihin Park.

The senior men's 10 km field of 165 is led by last year's 5000 m national champion Hazuma Hattori (Toenec), 2019 Marugame Half Marathon 4th-placer and new Aoyama Gakuin University captain Takato Suzuki, and Fukuoka native Shota Onizuka who ran the First Stage on 2019 Hakone Ekiden champion Tokai University's winning team.

The senior women's 8 km features Yuka Hori, Fifth Stage record breaker at last year's National Corporate Women's Ekiden for national champion Panasonic, her teammate and Third Stage winner Nanami Watanabe and 2018 Asian Games 5000 m 6th-placer Minami Yamanouchi (Kyocera). 102 women are scheduled to run. The national championships will also include junior men's 8 km and junior women's 6 km races.

JAAF marathon development project leader Toshihiko Seko commented, "The men's race sh…

At the Dec. 2 Fukuoka International MarathonYuma Hattori (25, Toyota) ran 2:07:27 to win and become the eighth-fastest Japanese man ever. It was the first time since 2004 that a Japanese man became the Fukuoka champion. Hattori now stands among the leading competitors in the fierce battle to make the 2020 Tokyo Olympics marathon team.

Hattori and his younger brother Hazuma Hattori (23, Toenec) were star members of Toyo University's 2014 Hakone Ekiden winning team. They rank among the most famous brothers in Japanese athletics, but neither of them actually wanted to be a runner. "I wanted to play soccer," Hattori said. "Hazuma wanted to play table tennis. We're from the sticks out in Niigata and my junior high school didn't have a soccer team. I thought about joining a club team, but it was too far away."

"My dad had been a decathlete," Hattori continued, "so I started doing track and field as well. My mom was a cross-country skier, so bo…

Three main races make up this weekend's action, the Fukuoka International Marathon, Kumamoto Kosa 10-Miler and Nittai University Time Trials. 2018 has been the best year in history for Japanese men's marathoning, and Fukuoka is sure to add to the numbers. There hasn't been a Japanese winner in Fukuoka since Tsuyoshi Ogata in 2004, and with ten recent sub-2:10 Japanese in the field including half marathon national record holder Yuta Shitara (Honda) and a few others with potential for high-level breakthroughs or longshot comebacks it wouldn't be surprising to see someone overcome the relatively weak international field.

The loss of Callum Hawkins (Great Britain) to injury takes some of the spark out of the international contingent, leaving a group of East Africans at their peak a few seasons back and now in range of any Japanese man looking to run at the 2:07 to 2:08 level. 2011 World Championships silver medalist Vincent Kipruto (Kenya) is the only one to stand out of …

Having made her Diamond League debut earlier this season, the Japan Post corporate team's #3 woman Rina Nabeshima moved up to all-time Japanese #2 over 3000 m with an 8:48.21 for 8th at Saturday's London Diamond League meet.

A PB by 3 seconds, Nabeshima is now less than 4 seconds behind national record holder Kayoko Fukushi. Fukushi's 5000 m is 14:53.22. Based on that Nabeshima looks just about ready to become only the second Japanese woman to ever break 15 minutes for 5000 m, something the JAAF is desperate to achieve before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It's good to see somebody focusing on something other than the marathon.

【DLロンドン 女子3000m 鍋島莉奈】

Muller Anniversary Games 2018

日本記録更新ならず。。。。

歴代２位 8:48.21 PB!!

順調に進化！ pic.twitter.com/CohwUHWujO — Rolows (@Rolows_13) July 22, 2018
Across the Channel at Belgium's Nacht van de Atletiek meet Japanese results were pretty mediocre. The only halfway notable mark came via teen sensation Hyuga Endo in the men's 5000 m B-heat …

Distance action at the senior level was split between three main meets this weekend. One contingent of Japanese women and men headed to Europe for a mini tour of the circuit, starting things off Saturday at Belgium's Kortrijkse Guildensporenmeeting. One of Japan's top current half marathoners, Mao Ichiyama (Wacoal) ran a season best 15:36.11 for 4th in the women's 5000 m to lead the five Japanese women in the race. National XC runner-up Kosei Yamaguchi (Aisan Kogyo) led the Japanese men in the 3000 m SC in 8:37.81. The popular Hazuma Hattori (Toenec) was the fastest Japanese man in the 1500 m at 3:45.17, with Nokoka Hosaka (Tokyo Nogyo Univ.) delivering the fastest Japanese women's time at 4:25.40.

Also Saturday back home in Hokkaido, the Hokuren Distance Challenge series wrapped up with the Shibetsu meet. Women's 5000 m A-heat winner Yuka Hori (Panasonic) was just off Ichiyama's Belgian time in 15:37.51 just ahead of Honami Maeda (Tenmaya), who continued a gr…

Masateru Yugami (Toyota) and Taio Kanai (Fukui Pref. Sports Assoc.) wrapped up the last day of the 2018 Japanese National Track and Field Championships in style, delivering national records in the men's discus throw and men's 110 m hurdles.

Coming into Nationals with a best of only 59.30 m, Yugami threw PBs on five-straight throws, breaking the national record set last year by rival Yuji Tsutsumi (Alsok) on his last three. By the time the dust settled he held a new record of 62.16 m, an improvement of almost a minute and a half over Tsutsumi's record. "I'm happy to get this," he said afterward, "but I know other athletes are coming up too and I hope that we can take it further together."

With a 0.7 m/s tailwind, the #4-ranked Kanai won the 110 mH final in 13.36, a PB by 0.17 and bettering both the year-old meet record and 2004-era national record. 3000 mSC winner Kazuya Shiojiri (Juntendo Univ.) came up short of the national record, but his 8:29.14 …

by Brett Larner
photos by @k_7250
click here for Day Two report

箱根駅伝 1区 スタート pic.twitter.com/qDG1AsXtU3 — かえフォトさん。 (@k_7250) January 1, 2017
Two-time defending HakoneEkiden champion Aoyama Gakuin University squeezed through in its quest to become the fourth school to win the triple crown of Japanese university men's distance running, holding off Waseda University by 33 seconds to finish 1st on Day One of the world's biggest and best road race.

Having won its two Hakone titles thanks in large part to uphill specialist Daichi Kamino on the legendary Fifth Stage, Aoyama Gakuin faced a tough challenge this year following Kamino's graduation.  Without a doubt the best team in the 21-deep field, Aoyama Gakuin found itself surpassed on half marathon credentials by Waseda in mid-November, with Waseda's uphill man Yuichi Yasui presenting a formidable obstacle to whoever had to fill Kamino's shoes.  From Waseda's point of view, Aoyama Gakuin's superior depth and track …

by Brett Larner



It's almost time for the two greatest days of the year, Japan's biggest and best road race, the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden.  Starting lists for each of the twenty-one teams' sixteen-man rosters at Hakone's 93rd edition are out, and below JRN gives you an early look at how the race is shaping up.  Follow @JRNLive for live English-language coverage of one of the sport's truly great events.

Hakone is a road relay run over two days, ten stages of around a half marathon in length each, five from downtown Tokyo up to the mountain town of Hakone on Jan. 2 and five more running back down on Jan. 3.  There is simply nothing else like it anywhere in the world, in quality, in presentation, in popularity.  It's a cultural phenomenon that shows the best of what long distance running can be, even if the cost can be high.

Twenty university men's teams from around the greater Tokyo area and one select team make up the field, each with an entry roster of sixteen…

by Brett Larner

優勝 青山学院大学#全日本大学駅伝#二冠pic.twitter.com/i4445kvkTb — EKIDEN News (@EKIDEN_News) November 6, 2016
Izumo Ekiden winner Aoyama Gakuin University went one step closer to becoming just the fourth school in Japanese history to win the Big Three University Ekiden triple crown, running down unexpected challenger Waseda University on the anchor stage to win its first-ever National University Men's Ekiden Championships title.

Defending champ Toyo University came out swinging, putting its best runner, Hazuma Hattori, on first.  Hattori put Toyo 11 seconds out front, but without the talent this year to follow that up Toyo fell to 6th on the Second Stage and spent the rest of the eight-stage race struggling to stay in the six-deep bracket of teams that would score places at next year's Nationals.

Waseda, the last team to pull off the triple crown back in the 2010-11 season, was the next team into the first exchange zone 11 seconds behind Toyo, while heavy favorite Aoyama Gakuin…

by Brett Larner

The organizers of the 28th Izumo Ekiden have released the starting order for Monday's six stage, 45.1 km race.  Below are the top runners on each stage from the field of twenty university teams and their best times for distances close to what they will be racing.  Click here for JRN's detailed preview.  Complete starting lists are available here in Japanese.  Follow @JRNLive for live coverage throughout the race beginning at 1:00 p.m. Japan time.

Last year's course record-setting winnerAoyama Gakuin University is back as the favorite, but it's due for a serious challenge from last year's runner-up Yamanashi Gakuin University and the ascendant Tokai University.  Going by PB YGU runners lead AGU's on all but the Fifth Stage.  Both schools' anchors return, but last year YGU's Dominic Nyairo was a minute faster than AGU's Tadashi Isshiki over the 10.2 km Sixth Stage.  YGU may build up a lead over the first four stages and lose some groun…

by Brett Larner
click here for starting lists and additional preview



University men's ekiden season kicks off Monday, October 10 with the first of the Big Three University Ekidens, the 28th running of the Izumo Ekiden.  A week out from the race organizers released the entry lists for the 21-team field, 10 universities from the Tokyo-centric Kanto Region, 6 from other parts of Japan, 4 regional select teams and, for the 19th year, the Ivy League Select Team from the U.S.A., the last vestige of the international ekiden in Japan.

The top 12-ranked teams at this year's Izumo Ekiden.  Click to enlarge.

Last year Aoyama Gakuin University did the incredible, breaking the 6-stage, 45.1 km Izumo course record despite a 600 m addition to the Third Stage.  With the graduation of four key seniors including Third Stage winner Kazuma Kubota AGU is down slightly on strength this year, but only slightly.  With 13 men on his roster having 5000 m bests under 14 minutes, half having also gone und…

http://www.hochi.co.jp/sports/etc/20160705-OHT1T50100.html
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20160705-00000225-sph-spo

translated and edited by Brett Larner

Former teammates at 2012 National High School Ekiden champion Toyokawa H.S. and now two of the biggest stars on the Hakone Ekiden circuit, 2015 National University Half Marathon champion Tadashi Isshiki (Aoyama Gakuin University) and 2015 National University 5000 m champion Hazuma Hattori (Toyo University) are set to follow unconventional paths post-graduation.

At a press conference this week GMO Internet announced that Isshiki will join its new GMO Athletes team after his graduation next spring.  Isshiki finished as the third Japanese man overall and second university finisher in his marathon debut at February's Tokyo Marathon, running 2:11:45 to position himself as a hopeful for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.  Having received recruitment offers from ten different corporate league teams, after careful consideration Isshiki opted to j…

by Brett Larner

Hot and windy across the country, it was a busy weekend on the corporate circuit with four regions holding their spring track championships, a high-level time trial meet and one decent result overseas.

Felista Wanjugu (Kenya/Team Universal Entertainment) turned in the fastest women’s 10000 m of the weekend, running 32:04.11 to win the East Japan corporate region. Hisami Ishii (Team Yamada Denki) was next across the line, just missing the Rio standard in 32:16.60 but scoring the fastest Japanese time in the four corporate meets. Already on the Rio team in the marathon, Mai Ito (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) won the Kansai region women’s 10000 m in 33:02.94.

The fastest women’s 5000 m also came in East Japan as Rosemary Wanjiru (Kenya/Team Starts) took the A-heat in 15:23.10. 4th-placer Sayaka Kuwahara (Team Sekisui Kagaku), returning from a solid 2:25:09 marathon debut in Nagoya in March, ran 15:44.99, topping the 15:46.40 time of Kansai region winner Mizuki Matsuda (Team Daih…

by Brett Larner

The Tokyo area’s best springtime meet, the 95th edition of the Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships run this Thursday through Sunday, banished again by the poorly-conceived demolition of the beloved 1964 Olympic Stadium to Nissan Stadium in the remote wildlands of suburban Yokohama. Kanto being the home of the Hakone Ekiden the men’s distance events make up most of the most exciting action, but there are other highlights on the entry list.

It’s hard to believe sprint wunderkind Yoshihide Kiryu (Toyo Univ.) is already in his junior year, but with the Olympics looking he still soldiers on in hopes of scoring Japan’s first legit sub-10 in the 100 m. He is entered in both the 100 m and the 4x100 m, giving the 200 m a miss with bigger things at stake in the next few months. National high school record holder Meg Hemphill (Chuo Univ.) is the favorite in the women’s heptathlon, still well shy of the Rio standard of 6200 with a best of 5730 but still grow…

by Brett Larner

Japan's best spring distance meet, the Golden Games in Nobeoka came up short on Rio qualifying marks but still delivered some fast times with the winners of all the major races running PBs to get to the top.

Ethiopian newcomer Shuru Bulo (Team Toto) was the only woman to clear the 15:24.00 women's 5000 m Rio standard, winning the women's A-heat in a PB 15:18.54.  Top Japanese woman Sakie Arai (Osaka Gakuin Univ.) was far short of the mark in 15:42.29 for 4th.  After having helped Sera H.S. break the legendary Samuel Wanjiru-era National High School Boys Ekiden course record last December, Kenyan Paul Kamais (Team Chugoku Denryoku) continued to dominate in the 5th week of his pro career, leading four Japan-based Africans under the 13:25.00 men's Rio standard to win the 5000 m C-heat in a PB 13:17.50.  Hopes of another Japanese man getting the standard went unrequited, but top Japanese man Hazuma Hattori (Toyo Univ.) still delivered a solid 13:34.64, 4 se…

by Brett Larner

It’s another big weekend of racing in Japan with the main action split evenly between track, road racing and ekiden. Saturday’s Hachioji Long Distance meet in western Tokyo is the pick of the weekend, with 22 men with sub-28 minute bests and another half dozen a few seconds off or debuting in the 10000 m A-heat, the Africans in prep for the New Year Ekiden and the Japanese runners taking a shot at Rio Olympic marks and the Japanese national record. 2013 World XC Jr. silver medalist Leonard Barsoton (Team Nissin Shokuhin) leads the way with a 27:20.74 best with Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Team Asahi Kasei), all-time Japanese #5 over 10000 m at 27:38.99, heading the Japanese contingent off a 5000 m national record-breaking 13:12.63 this summer. Ekiden fans will be most closely watching 5000 m national university champion Hazuma Hattori who is targeting sub-28 in hopes of making next year’s Olympic team during his senior year at 2015 National University Ekiden champion Toyo Un…