japan running news

This weekend was the first in the last month of qualifying for September's MGC Race 2020 Olympic marathon trials. People who haven't made it yet have until Apr. 30 to squeeze in one more race under 2:24:00 or averaging under 2:28:00 with one other race inside the qualification window for women and 2:08:30 or 2:11:00 for men.

Natsuki Omori (Daihatsu) and Hanae Tanaka (Shiseido) were at the Rotterdam Marathon to go for the two-race average, Omori needing to run 2:26:45 and Tanaka 2:28:20. Despite on-target first halves both came up short, Omori running 2:29:58 and Tanaka 2:39:55. Omori's time was the fastest so far this year outside Japan by a Japanese woman.

At the Vienna City Marathon, Hideyuki Ikegami (Aminosaurus) went through halfway on track for a sub-2:10, but the pace proved too much for him as he dropped over the second half to finish in 2:15:24.

© 2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

We're getting into the last few months of qualification for September's MGC Race 2020 Olympic marathon trials, and for Japanese women's Sunday's Osaka International Women's Marathon represents one of the last chances to make it. One of only eight to have qualified so far, Rei Ohara (Tenmaya) is one of three Japanese women in the field to have broken 2:24, along with 2016 Osaka winner Kayoko Fukushi (Wacoal) and 2014 Yokohama winner Tomomi Tanaka (Daiichi Seimei). But none of that trio has run that kind of time since early 2016, and for both Fukushi and Tanaka this will be the first marathon since they represented Japan in the marathon in Rio.

That seems to be the overall impression of the domestic field in Osaka this year, it being mostly made up of people at their best two or three years ago but hoping to get it back together well enough to qualify for the trials. They'll have to be under 2:28:00 if among the top three Japanese women excluding Ohara, and unde…

Kenyan Paul Kuira (Konica Minolta) outran teammate Tomohiro Tanigawa and defending champ Tsubasa Hayakawa (Toyota) to win the 32nd Suffolkland Shibetsu Half Marathon in the midst of hot and sunny conditions. All three went under the previous course record, with Kuira getting away in the final kilometer to win in 1:03:10. Hayakawa was next in 1:03:15, with Tanigawa just back in 1:03:18.

In the women's half marathon Kotomi Tsubokura won by over 30 seconds in 1:15:42. Natsuki Omori (Daihatsu) won the women's 10 km in 34:08, beating Rio Olympian Mai Ito (Otsuka Seiyaku) by 8 seconds. Newcomer Junna Suzuki (Iwatani Sangyo) was 3rd a step behind Ito in 34:17.
32nd Shibetsu Half MarathonShibetsu, Hokkaido, 7/22/18

Men
1. Paul Kuira (Konica Minolta) - 1:03:10 - CR
2. Tsubasa Hayakawa (Toyota) - 1:03:15
3. Tomohiro Tanigawa (Konica Minolta) - 1:03:18
4. Ryo Matsumoto (Toyota) - 1:03:44
5. Kenta Iinuma (SGH Group) - 1:04:21

Women
1. Kotomi Tsubokura (Wacoal) - 1:15:42
2. Ayaka Inoue (Ots…

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…

http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/20161230/ath16123013030006-n1.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner

【富士山女子駅伝】
スタートしました！#富士山女子駅伝pic.twitter.com/sx0ES9dPE0 — 日本学生陸上競技連合 (@iuauj) December 30, 2016
Running through the foothills of Mt. Fuji on a seven-stage, 43.8 km course from Fujisan Hongu Sengen Shrine to Fuji Sports Park Field in Shizuoka, on Dec. 30 Kyoto's Ritsumeikan University won a fourth-straight Mount Fuji Women's Ekiden in 2:25:43.  It was Ritsumeikan's tenth National University Women's Invitational Ekiden Championships title and left the school undefeated since the National Championships moved to the hilly Mt. Fuji course in 2013.  Meijo University was 2nd, with 2016 National University Women's Ekiden championMatsuyama University taking 3rd.

Conditions at the start were good, with 10-degree temperatures, 44% humidity and a gentle north wind.  Running the First Stage on a new course circling Sengen Shrine, Matsuayama's Rio de Janeiro 3000 m steeple…

by Brett Larner



Ekiden season rolls on this Sunday with the Morinomiyako Ekiden, the 34th edition of the National University Women's Ekiden.  25 university teams and one regional select team will race over 38.0 km in six stages.  Kyoto's Ritsumeikan University has won the national title ten times in the last thirteen years and is in the middle of the longest streak in the championships' history, with five straight wins behind them and looking to add a sixth.  The last team to beat them, Kyoto rivals Bukkyo University, have completely disappeared since the departure of head coach Kenichi Morikawa to take over at the Yamada Denki women's corporate team, while the only other team to beat Ritsumeikan since 2003, 2005 champ Meijo University of Aichi, was 5th last year almost four minutes behind Ritsumeikan.

Ritsumeikan won September's Kansai Region University Women's Ekiden, but its margin over runner-up Kyoto Sangyo University was only 24 seconds over 30 km.  At th…

by Brett Larner

The 2016 Hokuren Distance Challenge series wrapped up Thursday in Kitami, Hokkaido with world record-setting depth in the women's 5000 m.  Newcomer Shuru Bulo (Team Toto) led most of the race for the win in a PB 15:13.07, but the bigger news came further down the field.  In 25th place Nao Isaka (Team Hitachi) finished in 15:59.32, surpassing the 2005 Rome Golden Gala for the most women ever under 16 minutes in a single race.

The women's 3000 m also produced some news.  18-year-old Harumi Okamoto (Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo), already with a 9:00.91 at age 16 to her name, became just the 11th Japanese woman to break nine minutes when she outkicked Kenyan Ann Karindi (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) for the win in 8:59.96.  19-year-old Mina Ueda (Josai Univ.) and 18-year-old Nana Kuraoka (Denso) also cleared 9:10 with new PBs.

After a big 10000 m on Monday in Abashiri the men's races were relatively quiet.  A planned 1500 m national record attempt by 5000 m national r…

by Brett Larner

Four-time defending National University Women's Ekiden champion Ritsumeikan University delivered one for the record books, winning a fifth-straight title Sunday in Sendai as it broke the 38.0 km course record in 2:02:52.  With all six of its runners winning their individual stages including a 29:24 record for the 9.2 km Fifth Stage from Kotona Ota, the sheer quality of Ritsumeikan's win had fans talking on social media about the need for ekiden terminology like baseball's no-hitters and perfect games.  Regardless, this was about as dominant a performance as you could hope to see in an ekiden, every team member hitting it 100% running entirely alone with an unbreakable lead.

Last year's runner up Daito Bunka University was 2nd again after a great battle throughout the race with Kanto Region rival Nittai University and Aichi's Meijo University, one of only two schools to crack Ritsumeikan in the last 12 years.  But despite good performances from most …

by Brett Larner



With the men's Big Three University Ekiden season well underway, Japan's university women kick off their own Big Three this Sunday at Sendai's Morinomiyako Ekiden, the National University Women's Ekiden Championships. With six stages totalling 38.0 km, a longest stage of 9.2 km, 26 teams from across the country and a live nationwide broadcast on NTV Morinomiyako is similar in scale to the men's season-opening Izumo Ekiden.

Defending champion Ritsumeikan University of Kyoto comes in ranked #1 again with four-straight national titles and nine wins in the last twelve years.  With the #1 and #3 ranked runners in the field, third-year Natsuki Omori and second-year Kotona Ota, and the fastest top-six 5000 m average, 15:45.73, there is almost no chance Ritsumeikan will lose.  The last team to beat them, 2009-2010 national champion and crosstown Kyoto rival Bukkyo University, has long since faded from glory with the departure of head coach Kenichi Morikawa …

by Brett Larner
photos by @tetsujiman

Yoshihide Kiryu/Toyo wins men's 100m in 10.19 +0.5 at National Univ Championships. pic.twitter.com/c7RkDHNyna — Japan Running News (@JRNHeadlines) September 12, 2015
Fans and media were mostly plugged in for the first men's final of the second day of the Japanese National University Track and Field Championships Sept. 12 at Osaka's Yanmar Stadium Nagai, with sprint sensation Yoshihide Kiryu (Toyo Univ.) returning from injuries that kept him out of June's National Championships and August's World Championships to win the 100 m final in 10.19.  Kiryu claimed to be at only 80% fitness but had no trouble putting away his two strongest competitors, Kazuma Oseto (Hosei Univ.) and Takuya Nagata (Hosei Univ.), who were well back in 10.29 and 10.33.  Hours later Kiryu was back to run second on Toyo's 4x100 m, where he turned in another strong run to put Toyo into the lead before they ultimately fell back to 6th.



Toyo also dominated …

by Brett Larner
video by naoki620



Hurdler Genta Masuno (Kokusai Budo Univ.) became the third Japanese medalist in athletics at the Gwangju World University Games, taking bronze in the men's 110 mH final.  After a decently quick start Masuno lost ground to eventual gold and silver medalists Greggmar Swift (Barbados) and Konstantin Shabanov (Russia), but with a solid kick after the final hurdle he was strong enough to hang on to 3rd as he made the podium in 13.69 by a margin of just 0.03 seconds.

No such luck in the day's distance final, the women's 5000 m, where favorites Natsuki Omori (Ritsumeikan Univ.) and Rina Koeda (Daito Bunka Univ.) sat through a slow first 4000 m that saw almost the entire field wait it out for a sprint finish over the last 1000 m.  Kristina Maki (Czech Republic) had the gear to find gold, running 2:55.32 for the final km, with the top 8 all finishing within less than 7 seconds of her.  Omori and Koeda were on the losing end of the group, taking 7th …

by Brett Larner

Daisuke Matsunaga (Toyo Univ.) became the first Japanese athletics medalist of the 2015 Gwangju World University Games on day two of competition, winning bronze in the men's 20 km in 1:22:06 after falling just over 30 seconds off a close race between eventual gold medalist Dane Bird-Smith (Australia) and Benjamin Thorne (Canada).

12 hours later, Keisuke Nakatani (Komazawa Univ.) repeated the feat in the final track final of the day, winning bronze in the men's 10000 m in 29:19.30 four seconds back from gold medalist Igor Maximov (Russia) and just losing out to Nicolae-Alexandru Soare (Romania) for silver.  After winning the 5000 m and 10000 m at May's Kanto Regional University Track and Field Championships and running a 28:31.84 best for 10000 m and winning the 3000 mSC national title in June, Hironori Tsuetaki (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) had a rare off day, finishing 9th in just 29:52.91.

Sprinter Anna Doi (Daito Bunka Univ.) made it to the women's 200 m semifi…

by Brett Larner

The IUAU has announced the Japanese men's and women's rosters for July's Universiade, the World University Games, in Gwangju, South Korea.  2012 London Olympian Anna Doi (Daito Bunka Univ.), 2014 World Junior Championships men's 400 m silver medalist Nobuya Kato (Waseda Univ.) and 200 m 4th-placer Yuki Koike (Keio Univ.) feature prominently in the sprints, with 2014 Youth Olympics men's high jump silver medalist Yuji Hiramatsu (Tsukuba Univ.) leading the field contingent.  The strong men's distance squad is led by 2015 National University Half Marathon champion Tadashi Isshiki (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) and 2015 Kanto Regionals D2 double 5000 m and 10000 m champion Hironori Tsuetaki (Chuo Gakuin Univ.), while 2015 National University Half Marathon champion Ayumi Uehara (Matsuyama Univ.) and 2015 Kanto Regional double 5000 m and 10000 m champion Sakurako Fukuuchi (Daito Bunka Univ.) front the women's distance group.

28th Universiade
Gwangju, South K…