japan running news

by Brett Larner
videos by Ekiden News



Just over a week after breaking into both the all-time Japanese junior and high school girls’ 3000 m top ten with a 9:01.23 best at Saitama’s Heisei Kokusai University Time Trials, 2015 National High School Championships 3000 m runner-up Miho Shimada (Yamanashi Gakuin Prep H.S.) was back with another big run to cap the 2015 National Sports Festival at Wakayama’s Kimiidera Park Field on Oct. 6.

After a slow 3:10 opening 1000 m Shimada effortlessly pulled away, dueling with Kenyan Monica Margaret (Aomori Yamada H.S.) as she pushed the pace well under 3:00/km.  Shimada's relentless attack was enough for the win in 9:01.87 just off her fresh new best, Margaret dropping nearly 3 seconds behind for 2nd in 9:04.55. National High School Championships 4th-placer Shinobu Koyoshigawa (Sera H.S.) moved up one spot to take 3rd in 9:14.34, while National High School champion Nana Kuraoka (Kagoshima Joshi H.S.) could manage only 10th in 9:24.72.



The junior b…

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
live streaming courtesy of Inter-High School Television


The 68th National High School Track and Field Championships kick off today in Wakayama.  All four Japanese medalists from this month's World Youth Championships, girls' javelin gold medalist Haruka Kitaguchi (Hokkaido Asahikawa Higashi H.S.), boys' 100 m and 200 m championships record-setting double gold medalist Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (Josai Prep H.S.) and boys' 400 m hurdles silver and bronze medalists Ryusei Fujii (Kokura Kogyo H.S.) and Masaki Toyoda (Rakunan H.S.), are on the entry lists along with 2014 Youth Olympics girls' 3000 m gold medalist Nozomi Musembi Takamatsu (Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.), boys' 10000 m race walk gold medalist Minoru Onogawa (Tokyo Jitsugyo H.S.) and boys' 100 m silver medalist Kenta Oshima (Tokyo H.S.).

Most eyes will be on Sani Brown, who is set to run at the Beijing World Championships next month aged just 16, but with just 0.10 separating their bests last…

by Brett Larner
videos by Ekiden News and 01moroya

Over the last ten days high schools across Japan having been gearing up for next month's National High School Track and Field Championships at ten major regional meets.  Many saw meet records fall in middle and long distances, with the boys' 1500 m in particular seeing an uptick in quality.  Takumi Yokokawa (Nakanojo H.S.) set a 3:48.74 meet record at the North Kanto Region meet, one of two regional winners to break 3:50 along with the Kinki Region's Yuya Nakamura (Osaka Toin H.S.), who ran 3:49.01.  Records also fell in the Chugoku Region, where Kakeru Nakamura (Saikyo H.S.) ran 3:50.58, and the Shikoku Region, where Taku Tomihara (Jinsei Gakuen H.S.) ran 3:51.01. 

Results compared well to the weekend's top national-level U.S.A high school meets, where the winning boys' mile times, 4:07.97 by Paul Ryan (Logos Christian School) at the Brooks PR meet and 4:09.23 by Matthew Novak (Deep Run H.S.) at the New Balance Out…

by Brett Larner

With temperatures clipping 35 degrees the 2014 National Track and Field Championships kicked off July 30 in Kofu, Yamanashi, home ground of 2013 National High School Boys' Ekiden champion Yamanashi Gakuin Prep H.S.  The biggest news on the first of the meet's five days of competition came in the boys' 400 m.  48 hours after helping the Japanese team win silver in the 4x400 m relay at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Eugene, U.S.A., Takamasa Kitagawa (Uruga H.S.) swept through the competition, winning his opening round heat in 48.22 and his semi-final in 47.23 before taking the final in 46.57, the 10th-fastest time ever by a Japanese high schooler.  Satoshi Yamamoto (Amakusa Kogyo H.S.) gave Kitagawa a solid challenge in the final but had to settle for 2nd in 46.61.  Seika Aoyama (Matsue Shogyo H.S.) had a clearer margin of victory in the girls' 400 m final, winning the national title in 53.73 by 0.21 seconds over runner-up Nanako Matsumoto (Hamama…