japan running news

Japan dominated the 2018 World University Cross Country Championships Saturday in St. Gallen, Switzerland, taking the overall gold, women's team gold, men's team silver and one individual silver.

That silver came courtesy of Rika Kaseda (Meijo Univ.), who finished 5 seconds behind winner Caterina Granz (Germany) in the women's 10 km to lead four Japanese women into the top six for team gold. 2017 World University Games half marathon gold medalist Yuki Munehisa (Tokyo Nogyo Univ.) was 6th overall, Japan's 4th scoring team member.

【#世界大学クロカン】
女子レース速報
加世田選手(名城大)銀メダル獲得🎉
女子団体 金メダル獲得🎊

2位　加世田梨花(名城大)
4位　五島莉乃(中央大)
5位　関谷夏希(大東文化大)
6位　棟久由貴(東京農業大)
13位 棚池穂乃香(京都産業大)
15位 岡田佳子(松山大)#青春に駆けろpic.twitter.com/sLXoBWMUZR — 日本学生陸上競技連合 (@iuauj) April 7, 2018
The men came up empty-handed for individual medals, Sota Watanabe (Toyo Univ.) taking the top Japanese spot at 4th overall with teammate Yohei Urano (Koku Gakuin Univ.) close behind in 6th. South Africa scored two individual medals to ta…

It's a busy weekend on and off the roads at home and abroad.

Led by 2018 Hakone Ekiden First Stage winner Kazuya Nishiyama (Toyo Univ.) and 2017 World University Games women's half marathon gold medalist Yuki Munehisa (Tokyo Nogyo Univ.), Japan is fielding quality men's and women's teams for Saturday's World University Cross Country Championships in St. Gallen, Switzerland.

At home, the first big track meet of the season takes place Saturday in Kumamoto at the Kanaguri Memorial Meet where the main focus will be on 5000 m. Livestream to be had here. 3000 m will be the main order of the day at the year's first Setagaya Time Trials meet in Tokyo, while top members of Waseda University and other Hakone teams will square off at the Tokyo Six-University Meet at Keio University.

Sunday the emphasis shifts to the roads, with yet more Hakone talent racing the Yaizu Minato Half Marathon thanks to its unique "pair marathon" team scoring. Overseas, 10000 m Rio O…

Japan dominated the 14th Asian Cross Country Championships Thursday in Guiyang, China, winning all four team gold medals to hold the hosts China back to silver in every race.

Japan's only individual gold came in the Junior Women's race, one of its usual areas of strength. Yuna Wada led a Japanese sweep of the top four positions to win the 6 km race in 20:43 with scoring teammates Ririka Hironaka and Tomomi Musembi Takamatsu just behind.

Wada Yuna of Japan wins Junior Women’s 6km cross country race of 14th Asian Cross Country Championship . Japan also won Team championship pic.twitter.com/Q6l0b48pKV — Asian Athletics (@asianathletics) March 15, 2018
With the meet also serving as China's National Championships Chinese athletes won the individual gold in the other three races, Dan Li, Cairen Suolong and Jianhua Peng all showing better closing speed to beat their Japanese rivals by 3~4 seconds. Li won the Senior Women's 8 km by 3 seconds over Japan's Yukari Abe, leadi…

With a mix of confidence and regret in their hearts a day after their third-straight runner-up finish and tenth-straight top 3 placing at the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden, the members of the Toyo University men's ekiden team assembled early in the morning on Jan. 4 for their first training session of the new year. The session began with a 6:30 a.m. team meeting at its dormitory in Kawagoe, Saitama. Head coach Toshiyuki Sakai, 41, was passionate as he told the team members, "The way we finished 2nd this year was different from last year. This time we won Day One and led for the first 15 km of the Sixth Stage on Day Two. This was the first step in our counterattack."



The 2014 Hakone champion, Toyo's margin of loss behind four-time winner Aoyama Gakuin University has shrunk from 11:55 in 2015 to 7:11 in 2016 to 7:21 in 2017 and finally to 4:53 this year. Its Day One winning lineup of First Stage winner Kazuya Nishiyama (1st yr.), Second Stage 3rd-placer Akira Aizawa (2nd yr.…

The team that brought Japan's greatest race into the modern era with its historic 2012 sub-3 min/km win, Toyo University came out swinging to win Day One of the 2018 Hakone Ekiden.

Intensely popular with fans, Toyo has struggled this season with its entire senior class out with injury. With its fate in the hands of its younger members Toyo 1st-year Kazuya Nishiyama, freshly 19 in November, stepped up and took control of the race with both hands. Midway through the fast First Stage Nishiyama surged hard to go out front alone, 2017 World University Games half marathon gold medalist Kei Katanishi (Komazawa Univ.) and relative unknown Yuhei Urano (Koku Gakuin Univ.) the only ones to try to go with him. Nishiyama covered the 21.3 km stage in 1:02:16, equivalent to a 1:01:40 half marathon, with Urano and Katanishi around 15 seconds back. 3-time defending champ Aoyama Gakuin University was 25 seconds behind in 5th at the first exchange, 2017 Izumo Ekiden winner Tokai University another …

Kampala, Uganda, 3/26/17
click here for complete results

U20 Women
1. Letesenbet Gidey (Ethiopia) - 18:34
2. Hawi Feysa (Ethiopia) - 18:57
3. Celliphine Chepteek Chespol (Kenya) - 19:02
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15. Tomomi Musembi Takamatsu (Japan) - 20:24
17. Yuka Sarumida (Japan) - 20:28
19. Hayaka Suzuki (Japan) - 20:40
22. Rika Kaseda (Japan) - 20:51
31. Wakana Kabasawa (Japan) - 21:20
49. Hikari Onishi (Japan) - 22:05

U20 Men
1. Jacob Kiplimo (Uganda) - 22:40
2. Amdework Walelegn (Ethiopia) - 22:43
3. Richard Yator Kimunyan (Kenya) - 22:52
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27. Kazuya Nishiyama (Japan) - 25:15
37. Yoji Sakai (Japan) - 25:41
42. Ryunosuke Chigira (Japan) - 25:51
51. Sodai Shimizu (Japan) - 26:11
78. Keita Yoshida (Japan) - 27:23

Senior Women
1. Irene Chepet Cheptai (Kenya) - 31:57
2. Alice Aprot Nawowuna (Kenya) - 32:01
3. Lilian Kasait Rengeruk (Kenya) - 32:11
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24. Yuka Hori (Japan) - 34:54
40. Mao Ichiyama (Japan) - 35:52
59. Fumika Sasaki (Japan) - 37:02
78. Kaori Morita (Japan) - 38:24

Senior Men
1. Geoffrey…

by Brett Larner
videos by naoki620 and aoshin0507



#1-ranked Haruko Ishizuka (Keiai Higashi Osaka Prep H.S.) turned in the performance of the day on the opening day of the National High School Track and Field Championships, setting a meet record 53.30 to win the girls' 400 m.  After dominating the semifinals in 53.92, the only girl in the field to break 54, Ishizuka had no trouble at all running away from closest competitor Yuna Iwata (Niijima Gakuen H.S.) in the final, winning by more than a second over Iwata's 54.37 PB.  2015 World Youth Championships team member Rin Aoki (Soyo H.S.) also ran a PB of 54.74 for 3rd.  The boys' 400 m final saw Daisuke Funato (Higashi Fukuoka H.S.) unexpectedly win with a 47.06 PB, taking down favorites Manato Sasaki (Morioka Minami H.S.) and Sho Someya (Seibudai Chiba H.S.) who took only 4th and 5th.



Another highlight came in the first heat of the boys' 1500 m, where a strong surge from Kakeru Nakamura (Saigyo H.S.) at 700 m meant a fast…

by Brett Larner
click photo for video highlights courtesy of NHK

Five-time national champion Nagano made history at the 19th edition of the National Men's Ekiden Jan. 19 in Hiroshima, anchor Keigo Yano (Nittai Univ.) breaking away to make his team the first in event history to win a sixth national title as he broke the tape in 2:19:20, the third-fastest ever in National Championships history.

Never a clear leader in a pack race throughout the day, Nagano made its first move to the front on the 8.5 km Third Stage when past 1500 m and 5000 m national champion Yuichiro Ueno (DeNA RC) dropped a pack of Hakone Ekiden stars to take the lead.  With the mixed team of junior high, high school, university and pro athletes that makes the National Ekiden format one of the most interesting in national championship ekiden season, Nagano lost ground after Ueno and remained roughly even with a pack of four rivals. Not until halfway through the 13.0 km anchor stage did it gain a clear lead when las…