japan running news

April 1 is the start of the new academic and fiscal year, the time when runners move up from high school to university teams and on from university to the corporate leagues. The Kanaguri Memorial Meet is always one of the first chances to see people debut in new uniforms, and even though it was a week later than usual this year there were still lots of interesting items to be had.

#1 among them was the debut of Australian Melissa Duncan in the Shiseido team's pink uniform. Duncan had no trouble putting away the field of Japanese and Kenyan corporate leaguers, soloing a 15:20.88 to win the women's 5000 m A-heat by over 20 seconds.

2018 National Sports Festival women's 1500 m champion Ran Urabe (Nike Tokyo TC) had a much narrower margin of victory in the 1500 m A-heat but still pulled out a win over 2018 World U20 Championships 3000 m gold medalist Nozomi Tanaka 4:21.96 to 4:22.25, Tanaka debuting in the new Toyota Jidoshokki TC uniform after moving to that club sponsor at …

Indoor track is pretty much non-existant in Japan, but in the last few years more Japanese athletes have been heading to the States after ekiden season to give it a go and coming back with national records. Two more records fell at Friday's David Hemery Valentine Invitational in Boston.

First up, in his indoor debut 20-year-old Hyuga Endo (Sumitomo Denko) ran 13:27.81 to break the indoor 5000 m national record set five years ago in New York by Suguru Osako by 0.19. Endo was one of Japan's all-time best high schoolers. Now in his second year in the corporate leagues after opting to skip university he is coached by Yasuyuki Watanabe, Osako's former coach at Waseda University. Also in the same race, Hiroki Matsueda (Fujitsu) was 6th in 13:47.64.

Three hours later, Riko Matsuzaki (Sekisui Kagaku) ran 9:00.86 in the women's 3000 m, taking 0.53 off the national record set way back in 1999 by Akiko Kawashima at the Maebashi World Indoor Championships. Matsuzaki is in the mid…

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 …

Fujitsu and Asahi Kasei led the first round of qualifiers for the New Year Ekiden corporate men's national championships, winning Saturday's East Japan and Kyushu regional corporate ekidens.

Starting in 7th, Fujitsu took the lead in the East Japan race thanks to a stage-winning run from second man Hiroki Matsueda and never looked back, its final margin of victory over the 7-stage, 76.9 km course standing at 46 seconds over runner-up Kanebo. Racing for the first time since his 4th-place 2:08:16 finish at September's Berlin Marathon, Fujitsu's Shogo Nakamura had a strong run on the 9.5 km Fourth Stage, finishing 2nd on time in 27:59 behind fellow Komazawa Unviersity graduate Tsuyoshi Ugachi (Konica Minolta).

6th at the final exchange, last year's East Japan winner Honda moved up to 4th thanks to a stage-winning run from anchor and half marathon national record holder Yuta Shitara. Shitara was the only runner to break 38 minutes for the 12.9 km Seventh Stage, covering…

It's a busy weekend ahead on the track and the roads at home and abroad. Saturday and Sunday's Nittai University Time Trials feature 10000 m national record holder Kota Murayama (Asahi Kasei) in the 5000 m A-heat, where he hopes to run a season best time ahead of a return next month to the track where he set the national record at the Hachioji Long Distance Meet. Half marathon national record holder Yuta Shitara (Honda) is also entered in the 10000 m A-heat along with pretty much the entire Honda roster, in Shitara's case a tuneup for November's Ageo City Half Marathon.

There's also a fast 3000 m on deck Sunday at the Sumitomo Cup meet in Hyogo, where wunderkind Hyuga Endo (Sumitomo Denko) is going for time with pacing from Ethiopian Yeneblo Biyazen (Yachiyo Kogyo) and Kenyan John Maina (Fujitsu). One of Japan's top current men on the track, Hiroki Matsueda (Fujitsu) is entered both there and in the Nittai 5000 m. Saturday's Heisei Kokusai University Time …

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 …

Japan's National Track and Field Championships are happening this weekend in Yamaguchi. Somebody is always being selected for something at Nationals, and this year it's the Jakarta Asian Games. Most of the action will be streamed live on the JAAF site Friday through Sunday, with some breaks for the major events which will only be shown on TV.

In three of the biggest events the defending champs are absent. 100 and 200 m winner Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (Univ. of Florida) and 10000 m champ Suguru Osako (NOP), both U.S.-based, having bowed out with injury in Sani Brown's case and purportedly to prepare for the Chicago Marathon in Osako's. In the 100 m and 200 m the door is open for the other members of Japan's medal-winning relay squad to take home a national title, national record holder Yoshihide Kiryu (Nihon Seimei) the #1 seed in the 100 m and Shota Iizuka (Mizuno) ranked #1 in the 200 m.

The men's 10000 m is surprisingly weak this year, with no Japanese men und…

Always a big draw on the springtime Japanese schedule, this year's Payton Jordan Invitational at California's Stanford University produced year-leading Japanese women's 5000 m and 10000 m marks.

In the 5000 m, 2018 National Corporate Road 10 km Championships winner Yui Fukuda (Toyota Jidoshokki) ran 15:20.08 for 8th overall to replace Minami Yamanouchi (Kyocera) on top the 5000 m list. In the 10000 m, Mao Ichiyama (Wacoal) returned from placing as the top Japanese woman at March's World Half Marathon Championships to finish 5th overall in 31:57.91, the first Japanese woman to break 32 minutes so far this year.

On the men's side, after a solid run at December's Fukuoka International Marathon the U.S.-based Suguru Osako (Nike Oregon Project) passed on a springtime marathon in favor of a shot at the Japanese national record in the 10000 m. At Stanford Osako came up short, dropping out just after 6000 m. In the 1500 m, Hiroki Matsueda (Fujitsu) continued a stint i…

Joyciline Jepkosgei 29:43 WR to win Birell Prague Grand Prix 10k pic.twitter.com/dlem1WFKvQ — Japan Running News (@JRNHeadlines) September 9, 2017
Japanese runners were busy overseas this weekend with top-level athletes racing in at least four countries. Four Japanese athletes ran in Saturday’s Birell Prague Grand Prix 10 km. In a race that saw the women’s road 5 and 10 km world records fall to half marathon world record holder Joyciline Jepkosgei (Kenya), Asian area record holder Kayoko Fukushi (Wacoal) was almost five minutes out of the action, finishing 10th in 34:43. Fukushi told JRN post-race that she had stomach problems midway, but with a halfway split just under 17 minutes she was never really in the action. Four women cleared 31 minutes, the most in history.

Yoroizaka and Murayama 18th and 19th at Birell Prague Grand Prix, both in 29:09. pic.twitter.com/0nyGT8wdoy — Japan Running News (@JRNHeadlines) September 9, 2017
Benard Kimeli (Kenya) took the men’s course record down to…

The final meet in Japan's Hokuren Distance Challenge series, Thursday's Abashiri meet was set up to give people one last chance to clear the qualifying standards for next month's London World Championships ahead of the fast-approaching deadline. Temperatures were far above normal for northern Hokkaido through much of the day, the mid-afternoon peak reported at over 36C at the time of the men's 800 m A-heat and still at 25C at the start of the five standard-chasing races in the evening.

網走女子5000A https://t.co/GquthBd13K — ホクレン・ディスタンスチャレンジ2017 (@hokurendc2017) July 13, 2017
The best race of the day was the women's 5000 m A-heat. With two women already confirmed for London the third spot on the team was up for grabs. First in line under the JAAF's criteria for addition, top three at Nationals and under the 15:22.00 standard, was 16-year-old Shuri Ogasawara (Yamanashi Gakuin H.S.), 3rd at Nationals in an U18 national record of 15:23.56. Next in line would be anyon…

Mid-day rain meant a track too wet for fast times in most of the finals on the last day of the 101st Japanese National Track and Field Championships Sunday at Osaka's Yanmar Stadium Nagai, but first-time 100 m national champions Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (Tokyo T&F Assoc.) and Kana Ichikawa (Mizuno) didn't let that stop them from scoring the sprint double with 200 m national titles to wrap the day.

Having already downed 100 m and 200 m national record holder Chisato Fukushima (Sapporo T&F Assoc.) in the 100 m, Ichikawa was out in front throughout the 200 m, shy of the London standard in 23.63 (-0.2) but still winning by more than 0.10. Not her usual self, Fukushima was only 5th in 24.01.

In the men's race the general assumption seemed to be that Sani Brown would drop Japan's first sub-20, but at 20.32 (+0.3) he wasn't close, even if under the London standard. Kenji Fujimitsu (Zenrin) was next in 20.47, with Rio Olympics 4x100 m silver medalist Shota Iizuka of…

by Brett Larner

Most of the country's corporate leagues held their regional track and field championships this weekend, but superseding them all was the Golden Grand Prix Kawasaki meet.

With a shortage of candidates for the London World Championships men's 5000 m the JAAF doctored in a sub-7:55.00 qualifying standard for men to get into next month's National Track and Field Championships, adding a 3000 m to the normally sprint, middle distance and field event GGP.  In the midst of his best season in years, Yuichiro Ueno (Team DeNA) took it out close to national record pace through the first half before abruptly slowing and dropping off the back. Rio Olympics 10000 m silver medalist Paul Tanui (Team Kyudenko) took over, with only Evans Keitany Kiptum (Team Toyota Boshoku), Hiroki Matsueda (Team Fujitsu), Hayato Seki (Tokai Univ.) and Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Team Asahi Kasei).

Never do this.
Kiptum looked set for the win with a strong kick over the last 200 m, but Tanui came back…

by Brett Larner

Stanford University’s Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational has long been a mainstay for Japanese distance runners, the site of 10000 m national record runs by both Yoko Shibui and Toshinari Takaoka. But with the steady rise of the Golden Games in Nobeoka meet in Japan’s version of Eugene, Oregon, more and more have been passing Stanford by to run on home ground.

With the two meets happening almost simultaneously this year only one Japanese man, Minato Oishi (Team Toyota) made the trip over to the States. With a 27:48.56 best from last November Oishi was only 25th of 27 finishers in 29:17.60. Most of the other main contenders for the London World Championships team in the 10000 m ran in Nobeoka, where Rio Olympics silver medalist Paul Tanui (Team Kyudenko) paced a field including proven sub-28 men Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Team Asahi Kasei), Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin), Yuta Shitara (Team Honda), Ken Yokote (Team Fujitsu), Takashi Ichida (Team Asahi Kasei), Kenta Murayama …

by Brett Larner

Kenyan Rosemary Wanjiru (Team Starts) bettered her own world leading marks to break the Oda Memorial Meet women's 5000 m meet record Saturday in Hiroshima.  With an early lead from Ethiopian Shuru Bulo (Team Toto), Wanjiru took over in the second half of the race to win in 15:11.48, two seconds under both the old meet record and her previous world leading mark from the Kanaguri Memorial Meet earlier this month.  Bulo also cleared the old meet record, 2nd in 15:12.13.  Tomoka Kimura (Team Universal Entertainment) was 3rd in 15:27.68, coming up short of the London World Championships qualifying standard.  Already the fifth-fastest Japanese high school ever, Shuri Ogasawara (Yamanashi Gakuin Prep H.S.) confirmed that position was a 15:31.46 to beat top university placer Natsuki Sekiya (Daito Bunka Univ.) by almost 10 seconds.  Sekiya led the qualifiers for the Japanese team for August's Taipei World University Games.

In the men's 5000 m, Rio Olympics 10000 m s…