japan running news

The Daiichi Life women's corporate team announced last week on its official site that Paris Olympics 10000 m runner Haruka Kokai and teammate Yuka Masubuchi left the organization as of July 31. Kokai was born in 2003. Kokai rose to the national level while at Sendai Ikuei H.S. , winning the first leg at the National High School Ekiden her 2nd year to lead them to the overall national title. After graduating she joined Daiichi Life, then called Daiichi Seimei, in 2021. In March, 2023 she was the gold medalist in the women's 10000 m at the Asian Championships, and in December the same year she took 3rd in the National Championships 10000 m in an all-time Japanese #7 30:57.67 to score a place on the Paris Olympics team. In Paris she placed 19th. In a statement released by Daiichi Life Kokai said, "I want to thank the team, who always put the athletes first as they shared this journey, and all my teammates for so many good times together. There were times I got really disco...

The 2026 National High School Championships wrapped Wednesday. It's been a big season for the high school girls' 100 m hurdles, with 6 of the 10 fastest-ever times by Japanese high school girls having been run across 5 different races since May 29. A bit surprisingly, only one of those 6 made the final at high school Nationals, but Yui Yoshinaga (Nagasaki Nichidai H.S.) showed her quality with a 13.44 win by 0.31, 0.11 off her all-time #7 mark of 13.33 from June despite a -2.1 m/s headwind. Koki Takajo (Miyazaki Nishi H.S.) took the boys' 110 mH in 13.90 (-1.2) and Yutaro Takenobu (Fukodai Joto H.S.) the boys' 3000 mSC in 8:48.64. The boys' shot put saw the biggest performance of the day, as Takara Ogaki (Atsuma H.S.) threw a 18.62 m PB on his 4th attempt, enough for the win by 90 cm and landing him at all-time Japanese #3 on the high school lists. The day's other field event titles went to Yukiya Izutani (Oji Kogyo H.S.), 5.10 m in the boys' pole vaul...

The star of the 2nd-to-last day of the 2026 National High School Championships was Niko Nozawa (Kofu Minami H.S.). Already all-time #7 on the Japanese high school girls' triple jump lists, on her 5th attempt Nozawa equalled her PB with a 12.88 m (+1.2) jump. That was enough to get both the win and a new meet record, the third event so far to see a new MR at this year's championships. Takara Ogaki (Atsuma H.S.) took the boys' discus throw at 52.24 m, with the 800 m titles going to Hitomi Imaeda (Chukyodai Chukyo H.S.) in the girls' race in 2:06.74 and Reki Soda (Sapporo Nichidai H.S.) in 1:50.20 in the boys' race. In relays, Chiba teams dominated the 4x100 m. Shiritsu Kashiwa H.S. edged Shiritsu Funabashi H.S. 45.41 to 45.64 to win the girls' race, but the Shiritsu Funabashi boys went one better with a win over Kyoto powerhouse Rakunan H.S. 39.60 to 39.72. The National High School Championships wrap up Wednesday. National High School Championships Day 6 H...

The organizers of the Hachioji Long Distance meet traditionally held in late November at Hachioji's Kamiyugi Field announced this week that the meet's 2026 edition has been postponed until March 6, 2027. Explaining the move, organizers said, "Various circumstances make it difficult to meet the conditions necessary to stage the meet, making it difficult to organize it at its usual time." Using pacers and Wavelight technology to help deliver reliably fast 10000 m times, the meet is a favorite for collegiate and corporate league runners. It occupies a solid place in Japanese long distance history, capped by Mebuki Suzuki 's 27:05.92 national record there last year. By moving the meet to Mar. 6, organizers said, "We are preparing to make this a high-profile event, a place where our best domestic athletes can aim for strong performances and a stage for record-breaking attempts in the lead-up to the 2027 Beijing World Championships." This year's 10000 m Na...

Only 5 finals happened on the fifth day of the 2026 National High School Championships , but in the girls' pole vault Kiyora Matsuura (Kumiyama H.S.) turned in the second meet record of the championships so far. Having already cleared 4.10 m to move up to all-time high school #4 in May, Matsuura had her sights on the 4.16 m high school record. With nobody else going higher than 3.90 m Matsuura cleared 4.00 m and 4.05 m on her first attempts, then passed on 4.10 m to go straight to 4.17 m. But it wasn't to be, and her 4.05 m stood as the new MR, at least until her senior year next year. Toma Tabushi (Shiritsu Funabashi H.S.) jumped 15.64 m (+0.2) to win the boys' triple jump, Hikaru Mizuno (Yashiro H.S.) taking the boys' hammer throw with a 64.63 m on his final attempt. On the track, the 200 m titles went to Nao Yamada (Shiritsu Kashiwa H.S.) in the girls' race in 23.91 (-0.8) and Randi Tsukamoto (Hoshigaya H.S.) in 20.95 (-1.2) in the boys' race. National Hi...

by Koichi Iwasa of DogsorCaravan On Aug. 2 the 51st Mount Fuji Ekiden took place, starting and finishing in Gotemba, Shizuoka and covering 11 stages up to the peak of Mount Fuji and back down. Teams of 6 runners tackle the tough course, each running handling one uphill and one downhill leg with the 6th runner reaching the peak before turning around to head back to the exchange zone where they started. The Heisei Mountaineering Club team took the overall win in 3:50:39, beating 9-time winner Takigahara SDF Base by 2:07 and stopping them from achieving a 10-year victory streak. The independent team division and SDF team division were separated in 2005, and this was the first time that the winning independent team outran the fastest SDF team to take the overall title. The roster that Heisei Mountaineering put together for this year's race raised eyebrows among everyone familiar with the Japanese trail running scene. Handling the 5th and 7th legs was Ruy Ueda , winner of the Fuji M...

The 79th edition of the Towada Hachimantai Ekiden took place Aug. 1 in Akita. Covering a 5-leg 71.4 km course, the race hosted 14 teams. Yamanashi's Fujisan GX took the overall win in a 3:42:17 course record. The best-placing team from within the prefecture, the Akita T&F Association team made the podium at 6th overall. The women's race was canceled again this year due to lack of participation. 79th Towada Hachimantai Ekiden Akita, 1 Aug. 2026 5 stages, 71.4 km, 14 teams complete results Top Team Results 1. Fujisan GX - 3:42:17 - CR 2. Corporate Select Team - 3:46:24 3. Tokyo Police A - 3:48:00 4. Comodi Iida - 3:48:41 5. Tokyo Police B - 3:50:14 6. Akita T&F Assoc. - 3:57:58 7. Fukushima T&F Assoc. - 4:08:20 Top Individual Stage Results First Stage  (13.0 km) 1. Ryota Seki (Tokyo Police A) - 39:47 2. Takuma Nakayama (Fujisan GX) - 40:01 3. Ryota Sato (Tokyo Police B) - 40:02 Second Stage  (13.0 km) 1. Yuki Seto (Fujisan GX) - 37:03 2. Shunsuke Watanabe (Comodi ...