10000 m National Championships Start Lists

The 10000 m component of this year's National Track and Field Championships happens Monday night in Shizuoka, just 5 months after the rescheduled 2020 edition. One spot each on the men's and women's 10000 m squads for the Tokyo Olympics 10000 m are already occupied by the winners of those races, and to pick up one of the two remaining spots this time around people will need to have the Olympic standard and make top 3.

Tatsuhiko Ito (Honda), runner-up in December in 27:25.73, is the only one of the 44 Japanese men entered to have already cleared the 27:28.00 standard, so all he needs to worry about is putting himself among the first three. His nearest competition, Daiji Kawai (Toenec) and Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Asahi Kasei), will need to find another 7 or 8 seconds to have have a shot.

None of the 23 Japanese women entered has cleared the 31:25.00 standard, but Ririka Hironaka (Japan Post) came close in her debut last month in 31:30.03 and, along with sub-31:30 runner Harumi Okamoto (Yamada Holdings) and teammate Rina Nabeshima (Japan Post) goes to the line one of the favorites. Both races will feature Kenyan pacers to help ensure the races go out on Olympic-qualifying pace.

Top entrants with their best times inside the qualifying window are below. Compete start lists in Japanese can be had here.

Men

Rodgers Chumo Kwemoi (Aisan Kogyo) - 26:55.36

Cleophas Kandie (Mitsubishi Juko) - 27:20.34

Tatsuhiko Ito (Honda) - 27:25.73

Daiji Kawai (Toenec) - 27:34.86

Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Asahi Kasei) - 27:36.29

Ren Tazawa (Komazawa Univ.) - 27:46.09

Kenta Murayama (Asahi Kasei) - 27:50.09

Tatsuya Maruyama (Yachiyo Kogyo) - 27:52.27

Takashi Ichida (Asahi Kasei) - 27:52.35

Yuki Muta (Hitachi Butsuryu) - 27:57.15

Keijiro Mogi (Asahi Kasei) - 27:57.36

Tatsuya Oike (Toyota Boshoku) - 27:58.40

Yudai Okamoto (Sunbelx) - 27:58.43

Yohei Ikeda (Kanebo) - 27:58.52

Yuto Aoki (Toyota) - 27:58.63

Hiroto Inoue (Mitsubishi Juko) - 27:59.40

Ryuto Igawa (Waseda Univ.) - 27:59.74

Women

Harumi Okamoto (Yamada Holdings) - 31:29.29

Ririka Hironaka (Japan Post) - 31:30.03

Rina Nabeshima (Japan Post) - 31:31.52

Mikuni Yada (Denso) - 31:34.39

Ayumi Hagiwara (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 31:36.04

Sakiho Tsutsui (Yamada Holdings) - 31:36.19

Yuka Ando (Wacoal) - 31:37.71

Tabitha Njeri Kamau (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 31:45.83

Shiori Yano (Denso) - 31:46.84

Chepkirui Wins Nagoya Women's Marathon

Heavy-duty favorite Sheila Chepkirui took the win at Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon , pulling away after 30 km to cruise in for 1st in 2:20:40. Erratic pacing early saw the first and second groups only seconds apart for much of the first half of the race, the top group slower than planned and the 2nd group a bit ahead of schedule. At halfway in 1:10:37 the front group included Chepkirui, #2-ranked Ruti Aga and last year's runner-up Eunice Chumba , and Japanese contingent Sayaka Sato , Rika Kaseda , Natsuki Omori and Mao Uesugi . Omori was the first to drop, then Uesugi, then Aga, who ultimately dropped out before 30 km. When the pacers stopped at 30 km Chepkirui made a move that dropped Kaseda and strung out Chumba and Sato behind her, but all four came back together once before another surge put Kaseda away for good. As Chepkirui inched away Sato and Chumba passed each other repeatedly, and Chumba could only watch as the top Japanese runner got away from her again thi...

Who's Running Tokyo Worlds?

The Japanese marathon teams will be the most prestigious ones to be on for September's Tokyo World Championships, and with Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon the window for Japanese athletes to get onto the JAAF's shortlist closed. Who's on it? The final decision won't be made until Mar. 26, but let's look through the selection criteria and see who's guaranteed, who's pretty likely, and who has a chance. 1. Marathon medalists at the Paris Olympics - There weren't any, so nobody makes the team this way. Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) and Yuka Suzuki (Daiichi Seimei) were the top placers, both of them running PBs in the Olympics to finish 6th. You'd think that would count for something a year later, but you'd think wrong. 2. JMC Series IV Champions - The top point scorers in the Japan Marathon Championship Series IV, which ran from April, 2023 to March, 2025, earn places on the marathon teams along with cash prizes. For women that's Yuka ...

Tokyo Marathon Top Japanese Man Tsubasa Ichiyama Works 4 Days a Week, Walked On in College

38,000 people ran the 2025 Tokyo Marathon . Every runner had their own story, but one of the most special was Tsubasa Ichiyama (Sunbelx). Despite being on almost nobody's radar, he outran some of the best in the country to finish as the top Japanese man. Ichiyama ran most of the race in the 3rd pace group, going through halfway in 1:02:44 and 30 km in 1:29:13. When the pacers stopped, he showed what he could really do. "I'm not good at downhills, so in the first part it was hard to run smoothly," he said at the post-race press conference. "But after the downhill part ended I got into my rhythm, and I think that helped me over the 2nd half." After dropping Asian Games gold medalist Hiroto Inoue (Mitsubishi Juko) and others, he quickly bore down on the Japanese athletes who had gone out faster in the 2nd pace group. Overtaking Paris Olympics 6th placer Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) and Yuhei Urano (Fujitsu), at 39.8 km he caught all-time Japanese #2 man Yohei I...

japan running news

Search This Blog