Funatsu 3:38.65 at Bryan Clay - Weekend Track Roundup

Weekend Japanese track action kicked off at the Bryan Clay Invitational at California's Azusa Pacific University. Passing on a spring marathon in favor of a shot at the 10000 m national record this season, 5000 m national record holder Suguru Osako (Nike Oregon Project) ran 13:29.11 for 3rd in the 5000 m, the best time so far this year by a Japanese man.

Bigger news came in the men's 1500 m, where Shoma Funatsu (Chuo Univ.) capped a residency in Oregon with a 3:38.65 to move up to all-time Japanese #5 and collegiate #2. Hiroki Matsueda (Fujitsu) also ran 3:41.51, with U.S.-based Yusuke Uchikoshi (Boise State Univ.) going 3:44.50, Funatsu's Chuo teammate Kazuyoshi Tamogami 3:45.84, another U.S. transplant Yasunari Kusu (AMAC) 3:46.98 and Hirotaka Nakatani (Uchida Chiryoin AC) 3:49.28.

At the nearby Mt. SAC Relays Yui Fukuda (Toyota Jidoshokki) won the women's 1500 m in 4:16.64. Mai Shoji (Denso) was slightly off her season best in the 5000 m in 15:56.99, while her teammate Nana Kuraoka went under 16 minutes for the first time this year in 15:58.24. Akane Yabushita (Toyota Jidoshokki) ran only 16:12.89 for 17th.

Back home the biggest action came at Kobe's Hyogo Relay Carnival. Fukuda's Toyota Jidoshokki teammate Helen Ekarare outran 1500 m meet record holder Ann Karindi to set a new record of 4:09.02 for the win, with newly-graduated indy club runner Nozomi Tanaka (ND28 AC) running 4:18.05 for 3rd. Ayano Ikemitsu (Kagoshima Ginko) topped the 5000 m in 15:54.88. Yukari Abe (Shimamura) had a good start to her outdoor season in the 10000 m, leading the top 7 under 32:30 in 32:13.79.

In the men's Grand Prix 10000 m, Rodgers Chumo Kwemoi (Aisan Kogyo) ran 27:32.45 to lead four men under 28 minutes. Shuho Dairokuno (Asahi Kasei) ran 28:21.75 to take the top Japanese spot at 5th. 2017 Ageo City Half Marathon winner Simon Kariuki (Nihon Yakka Univ.) won the Asics Challenge 10000 m in 27:56.04 by 6 seconds over perpetual rival Patrick Wambui (Nihon Univ.). Akira Aizawa (Toyo Univ.) and Daiji Kawai (Toenec) bettered Dairokuno's time from the Grand Prix race, running 28:17.81 and 28:19.35 for 5th and 6th in the Asics Challenge race.

At the Nittai University Time Trials meet in suburban Yokohama, Takushoku University captain Workneh Derese won the 10000 m A-heat in 28:14.49. Ken Nakayama (Chuo Univ.) ran a quality 28:22.59 for 3rd. Evans Yego (Sunbelx) won the 5000 m A-heat in 13:26.24, Rio Olympian Kazuya Shiojiri (Juntendo Univ.) taking the top Japanese spot at 7th in a decent 13:39.72 season opener. In the women's races, Esther Muthoni (Sendai Ikuei H.S.) won the 3000 m A-heat by 15 seconds in 9:09.67, while Mary Shipuko (Hitachi) took the 5000 m in 15:51.76.

© 2018 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Hakone Champ AGU Hits 50 km a Day in Spring Break Training Camp

Having scored its 3rd-straight Hakone Ekiden win this past January, Aoyama Gakuin University spent the Golden Week spring holidays training on the Myoko Plateau in Niigata from May 2-6. Along with the champion men's ekiden team, the first 2 members of AGU's new women's long distance team Nodoka Ashida and Kairi Ikeno , and AGU alumni and 2026 New Year Ekiden champion GMO team members Yuya Yoshida and Asahi Kuroda also took part in the training camp. Depending on the day's training schedule, mileage at the camp was over 50 km a day. AGU men's captain Kaito Nakamura confidently said, "This Golden Week training camp is where we lay the foundations for our 4th-straight Hakone title." A lot of people spend Golden Week on vacation, but the AGU ekiden team spent their time working hard on Myoko's rolling land amid the sprouting leaves of spring. On the 2nd day of the camp, May 3, team members woke up at 5:00 a.m. to do their warmup. The team assembled a...

Everything You Need to Know About the 2026 Hakone Ekiden

The Hakone Ekiden is the world's biggest road race, 2 days of road relay action with Japan's 20 best university teams racing 10 half marathon-scale legs from central Tokyo to the mountains east of Mount Fuji and back. The level just keeps going higher and higher , hitting the point this year where there are teams with 10-runner averages of 13:33.10 for 5000 m, 27:55.98 for 10000 m, and 1:01:20 for the half marathon. It's never been better, and with great weather in the forecast it's safe to say this could be one of the best races in Hakone's 102-year history, especially on Day One. If you've seen it then you know NTV's live broadcast is the best sports broadcast in the world, with the pre-race show kicking off at 7:00 a.m. Japan time on the 2nd and 3rd and the race starting at 8:00 a.m. sharp. If you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it on TVer starting at 7:50 a.m. on the 2nd , and again at 7:50 a.m. on the 3rd . There's even a 2-hour high...

70th Yamagata-ken Judan Ekiden

The 70th running of the Yamagata-ken Judan Ekiden happened over the start of the Golden Week holidays, a 3-day, 29-leg race covering 306.9 km around the northern prefecture of Yamagata. There used to be a lot more of these races where people from the prefecture run for their hometown teams on a Tour de Whatever prefecture or area it happens to be held in, but Yamagata's is one of the few to have survived this long. And amazingly enough, local broadcaster YBC live streamed the entire thing on Youtube. There aren't many corporate teams in the mostly rural area, so runners from the ND Software corporate team played a heavy role, its 2 best runners Masato Arao and Ryoma Takeuchi winning their stages on Day 2 with Takeuchi doubling to anchor the Kita-Murayama team to an overall 5th-place finish, and Koichi Shoji breaking the 2nd leg CR on Day 1 and winning the 2nd-to-last stage on Day 3 to play a key role in the Yamagata city team taking the overall win in 16:06:51, 3:09/km ...

japan running news

Search This Blog