Mashiko 8:11.12 JHS 3000 m NR - Long Weekend Track Highlights

Ekiden season got up to full speed this weekend, but there was still a healthy chunk of track action across the country. The main event was the National Sports Festival Thursday through Monday in Tochigi. In the junior men's 3000 m Rui Suzuki (Yachiyo Shoin H.S.) ran 8:01.26 for the win, the 3rd-fastest time ever by a Japanese high schooler. Yamato Hamaguchi (Saku Chosei H.S.) was 2nd in 8:07.66, but the biggest news was 3rd-placer Yota Mashiko, a 9th-grader at Fukushima's Kagamiishii J.H.S. Already the junior high school 3000 m NR holder after running 8:15.04 in August, Mashiko chopped 4 seconds off that mark with a new 8:11.12 NR.

The junior men's 5000 m was also fast, with the top 8 all breaking 14 minutes and the top 14 under 14:10, all high schoolers. Hiroto Yoshioka (Saku Chosei H.S.) took the top spot in 13:53.85, Sonota Nagashima (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) 2nd in 13:54.80 and Yoshihiro Kusuoka (Keisei H.S.) 3rd in 13:55.84.

In the junior women's 3000 m Caroline Kariba (Kamimura Gakuen H.S.) won in 8:56.79, the only athlete under 9 minutes. 2022 World U20 Championships 1500 m 6th-placer Yuya Sawada (Hamamatsu Shiritsu H.S.) was 2nd in 9:14.70 just off her PB, with Kana Mizumoto (Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.) 3rd in 9:15.54.

National University Women's Ekiden champion Meijo University's Yuma Yamamoto broke the senior women's 5000 m meet record with a PB 15:16.71, beating NR holder Ririka Hironaka (Japan Post) by over 6 seconds. Her teammate Narumi Kobayashi continued to struggle in her comeback from a coronavirus infection that kept her off the 2022 World Championships 10000 m squad, running only 15:58.21 for 8th.

At the Chubu Region Corporate Track and Field Championships in Gifu the main result was in the men's 10000 m, where Emmanuel Maru (Toyota Boshoku) ran a PB 27:33.67 for the win, 7 seconds up on Evans Keitany (Toyota Boshoku) and 9 on Bedan Karoki (Toyota). Minato Oishi (Toyota) was the only Japanese man under 28 minutes, running 27:57.32 for 6th. 8 men total went under 28 minutes.

Tokai University didn't make it to Monday's Izumo Ekiden, instead holding a home track time trials meet. Shota Shimazaki (Kanagawa Univ.) won a 3-way sprint finish over corporate leaguers Jinnosuke Matsumura (Comodi Iida) and Ryoma Takeuchi (ND Software) in the men's 10000 m, taking 1st in 28:58.70 with Matsumura 2nd in 28:59.76 and Takeuchi 3rd in 29:00.95. Newcomer Timothy Kibet (Makes) won the men's 3000 in 8:03.73.

In Izumo, alternates from the ekiden ran a track 5000 m time trial as part of a local meet. Leakey Kamina (Soka Univ.) took the top spot in 14:00.43, with ekiden winner Komazawa University alts Kensuke Tsuburan and Takuma Yamakawa 2nd and 3rd in 14:04.61 and 14:10.20.

Arao Becomes 1st Man in 40 Years to Score Back-to-Back Ome Road Race Wins

30 km is an under-appreciated distance, and both of Japan's big races at that distance happened Sunday. At the Ome Road Race in western Tokyo's mountains, Sydney Marathon 6th-placer Masato Arao (ND Software) became the first man since the great Kunimitsu Ito in 1985-1986 to win back-to-back years. Arao, who finished 39th of 40 on his leg at the New Year Ekiden last month, stayed in the pack through 20 km before going on the attack, putting over a minute on New Year Ekiden Sixth Stage CR breaker Yudai Shimazu (GMO). Sub-1:31 winning times are rare on the tough and hilly Ome course, but Arao's 1:30:54 almost equaled his 1:30:50 from last year, making him the first Japanese man ever to do it twice and second only to CR holder Ezekiel Cheboitibin . Next up Arao races the Tokyo Marathon, where he is targeting sub-2:06. Shimazu was 2nd in 1:31:58 and Yuta Nakayama (JR Higashi Nihon) 3rd in 1:32:07. Cheboitibin was only 9th, running almost 8 minutes off his CR in 1:36:42. Shi...

Nagoya Women's Marathon Elite Field

Last year's top 3 Sheila Chepkirui , Sayaka Sato and Eunice Chebichii Chumba are back for this year's Nagoya Women's Marathon on Mar. 8, but things are being set up more for it to be a race between Chepkirui, 2:17:49 in Berlin 2023, Aynalem Desta , 2:17:37 in Amsterdam last fall, and Japanese NR holder Honami Maeda , 2:18:59 at the Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2024. Aynalem has the freshest sub-2:20 of the 3, with neither Chepkirui nor Maeda having done it in 2 years. Maeda's only recent result is a 1:10:07 from Houston last month, but when she ran her NR she didn't have any kind of tuneup race to indicate her fitness so it's probably best not to read too much into that. If it goes out as a 2:18 race those are the only 3 who can probably hang with it. If it turns out to be more of a 2:20 race like when Chepkirui won in 2:20:40 last year then there's a group of 7 at the 2:20-2:22 level who will be in the picture, including Chumba, Selly Chep...

Osaka Marathon Preview

The Osaka Marathon is Sunday, one of Japan's biggest mass-participation races and the next stop on the calendar for its elite marathoners hoping to qualify for the L.A. Olympics marathon trials in the fall of 2027. Last year it snowed mid-race, but this year is looking warmer than ideal given the season, with sunny skies, almost no wind, and temps forecast to be 11˚ at the start and rising to 19˚ by the time the winners are finishing. NHK is broadcasting Osaka with a heavy emphasis on the men's race, and if you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it from overseas. There's also official streaming on Youtube starting at 8:30 a.m. local time, although it doesn't look like it's the same as what NHK will be showing. Given Osaka's history at the elite level as the continuation of the men-only Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, the women's field is small relative to the men's, just enough to tick World Athletics' label requirements and with almost no do...

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