japan running news

Corporate women had their national championship ekiden last weekend, but for everyone else the biggest races of the year are still coming up in the next month, and a lot of them were at Nittai University this weekend for one of the last big tune-ups. The men's 10000 m fast heat had a massive 18 people break 28 minutes, and this just a week after the main 10000 m of the season in Hachioji . Up front there was a thrilling photo finish, with steeplechase specialist Philemon Kiplagat going right to the line with NR holder Kazuya Shiojiri who had scratched from Hachioji, both of them clocking 27:36.37 but Kiplagat getting the win. Shiojiri's corporate team Fujitsu had 7 men break 28 including marathon NR holder Kengo Suzuki , with Asahi Kasei turning out 3 and Subaru 2, raising the stakes for the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden. Speaking of steeplechase and Subaru, NR holder Ryuji Miura was nowhere near the NR attempt he'd floated pre-race but still had a decent run in the 5000 m...

  Japan Post  was back on top at the Queens Ekiden corporate women's national championships Sunday in Sendai, holding off last year's winner Sekisui Kagaku  over the second half of a race that came as close as 1 second to take 1st with a final margin of victory of 27 seconds. Sekisui Kagaku was out fast with a win on the 7.0 km opening leg by Erika Tanoura  and a new CR for the 12:56 second leg by Yuma Yamamoto , 17 seconds better than her own CR from last year. Last year's 4th-placer Shiseido  briefly led on the 10.6 km third leg with an excellent 33:17 stage win from Rino Goshima , but behind her Japan Post's Ririka Hironaka  returned from her latest injury problems to pass Sekisui Kagaku's Sayaka Sato  and hand off 6 seconds ahead. New recruit Caroline Kariba  ran Shiseido down on the 3.6 km fourth leg and put Japan Post 22 seconds ahead of Sekisui Kagaku, but a duel of marathoners between JP's  Ayuko Suzuki  and Sekisui's Hitomi Niiy...

After two days of flight cancelations and delays that ended up with him arriving in Niigata 4.5 hours before the race, Indian men's 5000 m NR holder Gulveer Singh came through with a record-breaking run to win the 5000 m on the first day of the Yogibo Athletics Challenge Cup Continental Tour Bronze meet. Set up as a shot at the 13:08.40 Japanese NR, the race went out with steady 63-second laps with pacing from 10-mile world best holder Benard Koech . After the pack settled out 2024 Komazawa University grad Mebuki Suzuki was at the front behind Koech with this year's Komazawa captain Kotaro Shinohara right with him. When a gap opened Singh moved up from 5th or 6th to go with them. Koech stepped off at 4000 m leaving Suzuki to lead, Shinohara struggling to hang on and coming back twice after falling off. At the bell Singh went to the front, and with a 55-second last lap he held off Suzuki in the last 100 m to win in 13:11.82, 7 seconds under his old NR. Suzuki ran a PB 13:18....

Newly crowned women's 800 m national champion Rin Kubo , 16, anchored one of two 4x800 m teams from Higashi Osaka Keiai H.S. at a time trial meet in Higashi Osaka Friday, setting a new Japanese NR of 8:33.77. The team, which included Rin Kitamura , Runa Asano , Misa Tamura and Kubo, took 8 seconds off the old record, clocking individual splits of 2:07.4 for Kitamura, 2:11.2 for Asano, 2:13.1 for Tamura and a solid 2:01.9 for the 16-year-old Kubo whose official PB for a standard 800 m is 2:03.13. Higashi Osaka Keiai's B-team also broke the old high school NR in 8:55.06. Overseas, three members of Japan's team for the Paris Olympics tuned up at the Monaco Diamond League meet. Women's javelin world champion Haruka Kitaguchi (JAL) ntook the win in style with a 65.21 m season best on her final throw, surpassing the leader since the first round, Australian Mackenzie Little , by 47 cm. After a good comeback run at the Paris Diamond League meet, Shunsuke Izumiya (Sumitom...

Japan's National Track and Field Championships and U20 National Track and Field Championships, doubling as its trials for the Paris Olympics team, got rolling Thursday at Niigata's Denka Big Swan Stadium. Highlights below, complete results here . Finals Men's 3000 m SC Final One of the favorites, Seiya Sunada fell on the barrier coming into the home straight on the second lap and ultimately finished 2nd to last. Yutaro Niinae took over after a 2:52 first 1000 m and led the rest of the way, pushing the pace until by the bell it was just him, Chuo University 's 19-year-old Daichi Shibata and mile NR holder Ryoma Aoki . All three were still together in the last 100 m, but Aoki had the gear to win it in 8:24.21, his first time under 8:30 since last October. Shibata was next in 8:24.68, a PB by 18 seconds, and Niinae 3rd in 8:25.45, a 3-second PB. Already 27th of 36 in the Paris quota, Aoki is pretty much a lock to make the Paris Olympics along with NR holder Ryuji Miura...

This was the last weekend where Japanese athletes could turn in qualifying marks for the June 27-30 National Championships and Olympic Trials in Niigata ahead of the June 5 deadline. For middle and long distance the big meet was the Nittaidai Challenge Games, aka the Nittai University Time Trials , Saturday and Sunday in Yokohama. In a bid to firm up her world rankings score enough to get into the Kenyan Olympic Trials, Mirriam Cherop (Shin Nihon Jusetsu) took the first main race Saturday, winning the women's 1500 m fast heat in 4:13.49 after a 61-second first lap. Airi Tajima (Juntendo Univ.) was 2nd with a PB 4:19.02 and Runa Shoji (Kantaiheiyo Univ.) 3rd in 4:20.55, both clearing the 4:21.50 Trials standard. The top nine in the men's 1500 m fast heat were all under the 3:45.00 standard, led by Yudai Noguchi (Toenec) in 3:42.18 in a photo finish with Nao Kurihara (Josai Univ.) National record holder Kazuki Kawamura (Toenec) was 4th in 3:43.62. With a target number of 3...

  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 ...

Two big meets happened Saturday, one in Kumamoto and the other in Yokohama. At Kumamoto's Kanaguri Memorial Meet , Benard Koech (Kyudenko) turned in the performance of the day with a 13:13.52 meet record to win the men's 5000 m A-heat by just 0.11 seconds over Emmanuel Kipchirchir (SGH). The top four were all under 13:20, with 10000 m national record holder Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu) bouncing back from a DNF at last month's The TEN to take the top Japanese spot at 7th overall in 13:24.57. The B-heat was also decently quick, Shadrack Rono (Subaru) winning in 13:21.55 and Shoya Yonei (JR Higashi Nihon) running a 10-second PB to get under 13:30 for the first time in 13:29.29 for 6th. Paris Olympics marathoner Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) was 9th in 13:30.62. South Sudan's Abraham Guem (Ami AC) also set a meet record in the men's 1500 m A-heat in 3:38.94. 3000 mSC national record holder Ryuji Miura made his debut with the Subaru corporate team, running 3:39.78 for 2n...

At Thursday's Edion Distance Challenge in Osaka's Nagai Stadium, 2023 World Cross Country Championships mixed relay gold medalist Mirriam Cherop (Shin Nihon Jusetsu Group) won the most competitive race of the day, taking over 30 seconds off her 5000 m PB with a 15:06.46. Cherop ran in a trio with the top two from last month's Queen's Ekiden international stage, CR-breaker Agnes Mwikali (Kyocera) and 2nd-placer Judy Jepngetich (Shiseido), splitting 3:00-6:02-9:07-12:12 en route with Jepngetich doing all the work. With 300 m to go Cherop went to the front for the first time, Mwikali right behind her but Jepngetich losing touch. Mwikali tried to go by on the curve, but coming into the home straight Cherop opened up and held on for the win. Mwikali took 2nd in 15:06.96, with Jepngetich 3rd in 15:09.18. Queens Ekiden 2nd leg winner Yuma Yamamoto (Sekisui Kagaku) was the top Japanese finisher at 6th in 15:30.03. Cosmas Mwangi (Chugoku Denryoku) won a tough back-and-fo...

Scheduled to happen in parallel with the MGC Race Paris Olympic marathon trials, the Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon has announced the elite fields for its second running Oct. 15. Straight from this spring's Barcelona Half Marathon, Gladys Chepkurui and Charles Langat are the top internationals coming in from abroad at 1:05:46 and 58:53. Chepkurui's only real competition is Japan-based Dolphine Omare , winner at last year's National Corporate Half Marathon in 1:07:56. Langat has more serious competition from Japan-based Alexander Mutiso , 58:48 at last year's RAK Half among others, and another five in the mid-to-high 59-minute range. Sub-27:20 10000 m runners Evans Keitany , Jonathan Ndiku and Timothy Kibet should also factor in. Given that the race will happen at the same time as the Olympic marathon trials there aren't a lot of high-level Japanese athletes in the race. The top woman in Mao Kiyota , 1:11:18 at this race last year, with Toyo University 's Kazuki...

2019 Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon men's winner Amos Kurgat (Chudenko) and last year's women's champ Dolphine Omare (U.S.E.) were back on top with repeat wins this time. Despite a good field with four sub-60 runners the men's race went out too slow for Kurgat's liking. Within the first 5 km he was away, leading by 6 seconds at 5 km and never looking back as he won by over a minute in 1:00:20. The pack behind him came down to a five-way sprint finish, with past Marugame Half winner Paul Kuira (JR Higashi Nihon) turning in one of his better runs in years with a 1:01:37 for 2nd. Former Soka University top man Philip Mulwa (GMO) was 3rd in 1:01:38 in his corporate league debut, with top Japanese man Kiyoshi Koga (Yasukawa Denki) 4th in 1:01:40. Omare led start to finish in the women's race, initially with company from the debuting Hellen Ekarare (Toyota Jidoshokki) and Ethiopian great Tirunesh Dibaba through 5 km in 16:06 but soon leaving both behind. Omare ca...

The track at Yokohama's Nittai University is on fire right now, with big results coming almost every week in the Nittai University Time Trials series. Saturday's 302nd edition was a special one-day version with only a few men's 5000 m heats. 16-year-old Lucy Nduta (Aomori Yamada H.S.) kicked it off with a 8:59.03 win in the fast heat of the women's 3000 m, beating national champion Meijo University 's Yuma Yamamoto , 9:01.18, and 5000 m NR holder Ririka Hironaka , 9:05.15. Sub-9 at 16, and that wasn't even a PB for Nduta. Corporate leaguer Hellen Ekarare (Toyota Jidoshokki) took the 5000 m A-heat in 15:16.80, the most notable results there being a 15:36.02 PB from national champ Shiseido 's Wakana Kabasawa for 2nd and a very decent 15:48.35 by Aoi Yamaguchi of Fukui's Sabae H.S. The biggest results were in the men's 10000 m, again. Between the four heats a total of 42 men were sub-29, that on top of the 199 who did it at Nittai and elsewhere la...

Three big pre-ekiden season meets happened this weekend and produced some big results. Saturday at the Nittai University Time Trials in Yokohama, Richard Kimunyan (Hitachi Butsuryu) and Benard Koech (Kyudenko) pushed each other under Josphat Ndambiri 's longstanding 10000 m Japan all-comers record of 26:57.36, Kimunyan setting the new record at 26:54.76 and Koech next in 26:55.04. Those times made them the only Kenyans under 27 minutes this year worldwide, with the Hachioji Long Distance meet still to come next month. Three others were under 27:30 led by Jonathan Ndiku (Hitachi Butsuryu) in 27:12.84, with Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu) the top Japanese man at 6th in 27:53.00. Justus Soget (Honda) took the 5000 m A-heat in 13:24.01, the top five all under 13:30 and another Fujitsu runner, Olympian Hiroki Matsueda , filling the top Japanese spot at 8th in 13:34.62. Harumi Okamoto (Yamada Holdings) won the women's 5000 m A-heat in 15:49.72, and Kenyan Hellen Ekarare (Toyota Ji...

Japan's main early summer track series, the Hokuren Distance Challenge , is underway across Hokkaido. Following last month's special last chance edition for people to go for Oregon 2022 World Championships qualifying times, two regular meets have already happened this month. At the July 2 Shibetsu Meet , Benard Koech (Kyudenko) won the day's biggest race, the men's 5000 m A-heat, in 13:26.03 by a fraction of a second over Muthoni Muiru (JR Higashi Nihon). The biggest surprise was World Championships 3000 mSC squad member Kosei Yamaguchi (Aisan Kogyo) outkicking lone Worlds 5000 m entrant Hyuga Endo (Sumitomo Kaijo) for top Japanese honors at 3rd overall in 13:33.45. Endo was 5th in 13:35.59, doing the race as a workout after winning the 3000 m in 7:52.50 where he beat another Worlds steepler, Ryoma Aoki (Honda) by 5 seconds. After missing the Tokyo Olympics 10000 m by a fraction of a second, Kazuki Tamura (Sumitomo Denko) came close to a full comeback from a lon...

Japan's biggest time trial meet was back for its 296th edition this weekend, with everything except the men's 5000 m on Saturday and 20 heats of that distance on Sunday at Yokohama's Nittai University Time Trials . In Saturday's main event, the men's 10000 m Heat 7, Justus Soget (Honda) just missed hitting the 27:28.00 qualifying mark for July's Oregon World Championships, running a 27:30.31 PB for the win. 2nd through 6th were all under 27:40 and 7th-place Nicholas Kosimbei (YKK) coming through in 27:44.68, making it one of the deepest races on the books at Nittai. Minato Oishi (Toyota) was the fastest Japanese man, 11th in 28:27.52. Helen Ekarare (Toyota Jidoshokki) had an easy win in the women's 5000 m Heat 2, the only runner under 15:30 in 15:27.96. 2nd in 15:52.14, Haruka Kokai (Daiichi Seimei) was the only other runner under 16:00. Desta Burka (Denso) won the women's 3000 Heat 4 in 9:01.75 by almost 5 seconds over Momoka Kawaguchi (Toyota J...

Regional corporate track and field championships made up most of the weekend's major action, with Japan-based African athletes setting new meet records across the country. The Chugoku Region Corporate Meet in Miyoshi, Hiroshima was split between the last two weekends, with the 5000 m held last weekend and everything else this weekend. Teresiah Muthoni (Daiso) and teammate  Rebecca Mwangi crushed the 5000 m MR by over 20 seconds, Muthoni running 14:55.23 and Mwangi 14:57.79. A week later Muthoni was back in the 3000 m, where she took over 35 seconds off the MR with a solid 8:39.91 for the win, the 3rd-fastest time in the world this year. Mwangi opted to double in the 10000 m, taking over 35 seconds off that MR to win in 31:28.28. Following up on her comeback win at the Sendai International Half Marathon , Tokyo Olympics marathoner Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) had a good run for 2nd in 32:18.69. Hillary Mosop (Mazda) had a near miss on the men's 1500 m MR, winning 3:44.94 just ...