Kanakuri Memorial and More - Weekend Preview

Outdoor track season gets moving this weekend with at least three competitive meets across the country. The Hokuriku Region Corporate Championships in Niigata and Chugoku Corporate Time Trials in Hiroshima are solidly in the second tier, but the main event happens Saturday in Kumamoto at the Kanaguri Memorial Meet. Streaming of Kanaguri starts at 15:30 local time above, with the main races happening later in the evening. Meet schedule and start lists here.

Both the men's and women's 1500 m feature three of Japan's all-time top five. The men's race is slightly stronger, with NR holder Kazuki Kawamura (Toenec), all-time #3 Nanami Arai (Honda) and #4 Ryuji Miura (Juntendo Univ.). The women's race has NR holder Nozomi Tanaka (New Balance), #3 Ran Urabe (Sekisui Kagaku) and #5 Yume Goto (Uniqlo).

Two others in the Japanese men's 1500 m all-time top ten, #6 Keita Sato (Komazawa Univ.) and #10 Yuta Bando (Fujitsu), are opting for the 5000 m. Just back from altitude training in Boulder, U20 NR holder Sato will face H.S. NR holder Hiroto Yoshioka (Juntendo Univ.) in Yoshioka's college debut and first race since collapsing on the finish line at February's World XC Championships, and 11 of the best Japan-based Kenyans. Five of the other best collegiate men are opting for the B-heat, which will feature Mebuki Suzuki (Komazawa Univ.), Shotaro Ishihara (Tokai Univ.), Yamato Yoshii (Chuo Univ.), Tomonori Yamaguchi (Waseda Univ.) and Taishi Ito (Waseda Univ.).

The women's 5000 m is also heavy on Japan-based Kenyan talent, including sub-15 runners Eva Cherono (Toto), Tabitha Njeri Kamau (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo), Naomi Muthoni (Universal) and Agnes Mwikali (Kyocera). Last year's 8th-fastest Japanese woman Momoka Kawaguchi (Uniqlo) is the top domestic entry, but Minami Yamanouchi (Shimamura) is also in the field as she rebuilds her career in her second season at the Shimamura team.

Top-level Kenyans like Rodgers Kwemoi (Aisan Kogyo) and Vincent Yegon (Honda) lead the men's 10000 m which is heavy on marathoners who've qualified for October's Paris Olympic marathon trials. Kento Kikutani (Toyota Boshoku), Minato Oishi (Toyota), Naoki Okamoto (Chugoku Denryoku), Yuki Sato (SGH) and Tatsuya Maruyama (Toyota) fill that category, with interesting additions from fastest-ever Japanese collegiate half marathoner Kotaro Shinohara (Komazawa Univ.) and former H.S. 5000 m NR holder Kosuke Ishida (Toyo Univ.).

Mao Uesugi (Starts) is the only Olympic trials marathoner in the women's 10000 m, where her main competition is 1:07:56 half marathoner Dolphine Omare (U.S.E.) and last year's 7th-fastest Japanese woman Wakana Itsuki (Kyudenko). JRN will be on-site at the Kanaguri Memorial Meet to cover it live on Twitter and Instagram.

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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...

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Shunsuke Shikama (Logisteed) and Tabitha Njeri Kamau (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) won the Sendai International Half Marathon Sunday in Sendai, Shikama in 1:01:31 and Njeri in 1:09:20. Mizuki Nishimura (Tenmaya) was the top Japanese woman at 2nd overall. The men's race went through 5 km in 14:34 and 10 km in 29:22. Shikama ran alongside top competition including Shoki Yamaguchi (Soka Univ.), who has been running well in half marathons this season, and Tokyo World Championships marathon team member Naoki Koyama (Honda). On a course with many small ups and downs, Shikama attacked on a downhill just after 15 km, quickly breaking free of the lead group of 7. 13 seconds up by 20 km, Shikama covered the last 1.0975 km in 3:06 to seal his first Sendai title. A graduate of Juntendo University , Shikama is in his 4th season with Logisteed. At the 2024 National Corporate Half Marathon he ran 1:00:41, and at last year's East Japan Corporate Ekiden he won the Third Stage. In his marathon d...

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