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Hofu Yomiuri Marathon Announces Course Change

The organizers of December's 57th Hofu Yomiuri Marathon held an organizational meeting last week to kick off this year's race. 30 members of the executive committee including Yamaguchi Track and Field Association chair Kensei Eto and Hofu Track and Field Association head Kunimitsu Ito attended. This year's race is set to start at 10:40 a.m. on Dec. 6. Like last year, for both men and women Hofu will count toward qualification for the MGC Race, Japan's official trials race for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. At the meeting it was finalized that the course will be changed from its traditional one running on the north side of Hofu Station to one on its south side. The change was made in order to make the race safer, given the narrow roads north of the station that raised the risk of accidents between race vehicles and athletes. The new course was measured and approved by the JAAF in April this year. Mayor Yutaka Ikeda commented, "This course change means the race w...
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Nagoya Asian Games Team Announced

Following this past weekend's National Championships, the JAAF has announced the complete lineup of 41 women and 45 men for September's Nagoya Asian Games national team. Times listed are athletes' 2025-26 best. Women 100 m Midori Mikase (Sumitomo Denko) - 11.33 Abigail Fuka Ido (Toho Ginko) - 11.35 200 m Abigail Fuka Ido (Toho Ginko) - 22.79 Aiko Iki (Osaka Gas) - 23.41 400 m Nanako Matsumoto (Toho Ginko) - 52.14 800 m Rin Kubo (Sekisui Kagaku) - 1:59.52 Ayano Shiomi (Iwatani Sangyo) - 2:01.01 1500 m Nozomi Tanaka (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 4:04.16 Mizuki Michishita (Sekisui Kagaku) - 4:10.48 5000 m Nozomi Tanaka (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 14:34.10 Yuma Yamamoto (Sekisui Kagaku) - 14;59.89 10000 m Nozomi Tanaka (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 30:54.40 Ririka Hironaka (Uniqlo) - 30:56.32 100 mH Hitomi Nakajima (Hasegawa) - 12.71 Mako Fukube (NKK) - 12.72 400 mH Honoka Aoki (Zenrin) - 55.92 Satsuki Umehara (Sumitomo Denko) - 56.22 3000 mSC Miu Saito (Panasonic) - 9:24.72 Manami Nishiyama (Mitsui...

Goto Drops 2nd-Straight WR - National Championships Day Three Highlights

Just over a month since his 17th birthday, Taiju Goto proved his 48.31 U18 WR in the men's 400 mH heats yesterday wasn't a fluke as he bettered that in the final on the last day of the 110th National Track and Field Championships in Nagoya. Slow in the start, Goto picked up momentum coming up to 200 m before really getting into gear, pulling away from the rest of the field in the last 100 m to win in 48.09, another U18 WR, a new U20 NR, and a run that made him the first high schooler ever to with the Nationals 400 mH. Now only 0.20 off the senior NR, Goto joins the list of Rakunan H.S. talent to be re-writing the record books that includes Yoshihide Kiryu , Ryuji Miura , Keita Sato and Toshinari Takaoka . Another Nationals MR went down, this one in the women's 3000 mSC thanks to NR holder Miu Saito . Having taken 3rd in the 5000 m 2 days ago, Saito started out a little on the conservative side with company from last year's winner Manami Nishiyama in the first 1000 ...

Goto Breaks 400 mH U18 WR - National Championships Day Two Highlights

The performance of the 2nd day of Japan's 110th National Track and Field Championships came c/o the latest monster to come out of Kyoto's Rakunan H.S. , 400 m hurdler Taiju Goto . In the opening round heats Goto, who turned 17 last month, closed hard to win his heat in 48.31, a PB by nearly a second and the fastest-ever U18 time anywhere in the world. And at only 0.42 off the senior NR held by the great Dai Tamesue , there's a lot of optimism for more in the final and the rest of the season. Another great performance came in the men's 200 m heats, where Soshi Mizukubo moved up to all-time #2 on the Japanese lists with a 20.07 (+0.5) PB to win Heat 3, 0.04 off another antique NR held by another legend, Shingo Suetsugu . By comparison the 100 m seemed pretty tame, with veteran Shuhei Tada scoring his first national title in 5 years in only 10.17 (+0.1) in what seems like an off-year for the event in Japan. After leading the women's 200 m heats in 23.01 (+0.1) Abiga...

Kitaguchi Returns, 2 MR, and More - National Championships Day One Highlights

Japan's 110th National Track and Field Championships kicked off Friday at the same stadium that will host September's Asian Games. From an international point of view the biggest result was the return of Paris Olympics women's javelin throw gold medalist Haruka Kitaguchi . After a rough year Kitaguchi threw 62.86 m on her fifth attempt, her best throw since last June's Ostrava Golden Spike meet and enough to give her the win by over a meter. It was still almost 4.5 m short of Kitaguchi's NR, but it was a big step back in the right direction. On the track there were a lot of surprising results on the first day, with multiple meet records, near-misses on MR, and fastest-ever qualifying rounds. The race of the day was the women's 5000 m final, where 4-time national champ and NR holder Nozomi Tanaka tried to make it 5 in a row. With the race going at 15:15-20 pace Tanaka broke away with 4 laps to go, opening a substantial lead over Aichi local Yuma Yamamoto and t...

National Championships Schedule and Streaming

The National Track and Field Championships happen Friday through Sunday at Paloma Mizuho Stadium in Nagoya. Primetime events will be broadcast on NHK, but the rest of the meet will be streamed on separate field and track channels. Day 1 track events are above, with the rest of the streaming here . Entry lists here . Complete meet schedule: Friday, June 12 13:20 - Women's Discus Throw Final 14:00 - Women's Pole Vault Final 14:05 - Women's 100 m Heats 14:30 - Men's Triple Jump Final 14:38 - Men's 1500 m Heats 15:03 - Women's 100 mH Heats 15:35 - Men's 100 m Heats 15:50 - Men's Discus Throw Final 16:25 - Women's 400 m Heats 16:47 - Men's 400 m Prelims 17:10 - Men's 5000 m Heats 17:45 - Men's Long Jump Final 18:10 - Women's 100 m Semifinals 18:25 - Women's 800 m Heats 18:30 - Women's Javelin Throw Final 18:48 - Men's 800 m Heats 19:15 - Men's 3000 mSC Final 19:35 - Women's 100mH Semifinals 20:00 - Women's 5...

Kyoto Sangyo Qualifies for National University Men's Ekiden for 50th Time

The Kansai Region qualifying race for November's 58th National University Men's Ekiden was held June 7 at Yanmar Field Nagai in Osaka. Kyoto Sangyo University won overall, with Osaka Keizai University , Kwansei Gakuin University and Ritsumeikan University taking the other 3 qualifying spots. 1st the last 2 years, Kansai University placed 5th and missed out on making the main event. 12 teams ran in the qualifying race, each fielding teams of 8 split evenly across 4 heats of 10000 m. Their cumulative times determined the team score, with the 4 fastest teams earning spots. The National University Men's Ekiden happens Nov. 1 on an 8-stage, 106.8 km course from Atsuta Jingu in Aichi to Ise Jingu in Mie. Winner Kyoto Sangyo missed out on qualifying last year, but its win this year had special significance as it earned the team its 50th appearance at Nationals. 2nd-year Tsukito Minami brought momentum to the team's performance in the 2nd 10000 m heat. Osaka Keizai 3rd-ye...

Ngetich Breaks CR, Murayama and Sasaki Make U.S. Debut at New York Mini 10k

WR holder Agnes Ngetich  soloed a fast one at the 54th edition of the Mastercard New York Mini 10k, leading inside the first mile and pulling away the rest of the race to run a 30:07 CR for the win, the fastest time ever on U.S. soil albeit on a slightly net downhill course. On a warm day that saw over 10,000 women finish  Tsigie Gebreselama  was on her own most of the way too, a distant 2nd in 30:53 and 17 seconds up on past champ Hellen Obiri . Further back, 2026 World University Cross Country bronze medalist Amisa Murayama  and 2025 Morinomiyako Ekiden 3rd leg CR breaker Nazuki Sasaki  from 2025 National University Women's Ekiden runner-up Tohoku Fukushi University  made their U.S. debuts. Murayama was targeting the fastest-ever Japanese time at the Mini, 32:37, but struggled on the hills just before 5 km and late in the race, fading to finish 23rd in 34:08. Sasaki, recovering from a stress reaction in her upper back a few months ago, ran a conservative ...