Kanto Regionals Day Four Streaming and Preview

Sunday is the main event at the 102nd Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships, with finals for the half marathon, 3000 m steeplechase, 800 m and 5000 m. Complete meet schedule and entry lists here.

The D2/D3 men's half marathon kicks off at 9:00 a.m., with the D1 race starting 6 minutes later. Runners do four laps of the track, then head out onto the roads for 12 laps of a 1.58 km circuit before returning to finish on the track. 2023 Hakone Ekiden champ Komazawa University's Takuma Yamakawa is the fastest man in the D2/D3 field at 1:01:36, with Goki Takayama (Koku Gakuin Univ.) and Komazawa teammate Yuto Akahoshi just behind at 1:01:42 and 1:02:00.

Four men in the D1 race have run under 1:03, led by Kazuki Ishii (Juntendo Univ.) at 1:02:20. But there's a lot of potential in newcomer Brian Kipyegon (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.), already 27:51.65 for 10000 m in his first year on the collegiate circuit.

The D2 men's, D1 men's and D1 women's 3000 mSC go off back-to-back starting at 11:10 a.m. The 8:42.57 D2 men's meet record looks at risk of falling at the hands of Asahi Kuroda (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.), but the fastest man in the race, Kento Uchida (Rikkyo Univ.) twisted his ankle after the last jump while leading in yesterday's heats and fell twice in the last straight as he limped in to finish 3rd. Whether he's ready to go remains to be seen. The 8:35.2 D1 men's MR will be more of a stretch, and the 9:57.46 D1 women's MR looks out of reach of this year's field.

The D2 men's, D1 women's and D2 men's 800 m finals are also back-to-back starting at 12:50. Nao Kurihara (Josai Univ.) is the fastest man in the D2 race at 1:50.00 but had the 2nd-slowest qualifying time, 1:55.93. The D1 men's race looks likelier to have a winning time under 1:50, with five guys holding PBs in 1:48-1:49 range and two of them, Kaishi Kitamura (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) and Hiroto Takamura (Nittai Univ.) having been just a fraction over in their heats. The D1 women's race is likely to be in the 2:08 range, but a good run from 1st-year Kiho Tanaka (Josai Univ.) or Heat 1 winner Salina Hiller (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) could push it down to 2:07.

The D2 men's, D1/D2 women's, and D1 men's 5000 m wrap the distance action at this year's Kanto Regionals, starting at 14:05. D2 men's 10000 m winner Victor Kimutai (Josai Univ.) is the favorite in the 5000 m too with a best of 13:26.77, his toughest competition being Taiyo Yasuhara (Komazawa Univ.) at 13:37.01.

It's the same story in the D1/D2 women's race, where 10000 m winner Sarah Wanjiru (Daito Bunka Univ.) leads the field at 15:33.29 and top woman Yuiri Ogata (Nittai Univ.) trails at 15:42.87. Risa Yamazaki (Nittai Univ.) and Moe Koda (Tokyo Nogyo Univ.) aren't far behind at 15:48.46 and 15:48.60 and should be in the race for the podium.

The D1 men's race should be the race of the meet. High school NR holder Hiroto Yoshioka (Juntendo Univ.) is the fastest man in the field at 13:22.99, D1 10000 m winner James Mutok (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) is right behind him at 13:24.73, 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura (Juntendo Univ.) another step behind at 13:26.78, Shotaro Ishihara (Tokai Univ.) just back at 13:29.21, and the Waseda University duo Tomonori Yamaguchi and Taishi Ito both right around 13:35.

'CAS Clears Japan’s Olympic Silver Medallist Ikeda of Doping, Overturns Ban'

https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2026/10/23/cas-clears-japans-olympic-silver-medallist-ikeda-of-doping-overturns-ban The AIU's missteps in this case cost Tokyo Olympics and Oregon World Championships 20 km race walk silver medalist Koki Ikeda , a Toyo University graduate who competes for the Asahi Kasei corporate team, the chance to represent Japan at a home soil World Championships last year. It is almost unheard of for an athlete to successfully fight a biological passport suspension as Ikeda did, making this a highly significant case. The CAS' press release about its decision stated: "The Panel stressed that the Athlete did not merely assert his position on the ABP abnormalities but adduced very extensive evidence in support of his explanations. In this highly complex case, the evidence brought during the CAS proceedings was far more abundant and specific than during the first instance proceedings with the WA Disciplinary Tribunal, implying the CAS Panel had further ...

Meijo Back With Morinomiyako Ekiden CR for National University Title

The last big dynasty school in Japanese women's distance running with 7-straight wins at October's Morinomiyako Ekiden from 2017 to 2023 and 6-straight titles at the season-ending Mt. Fuji Women's Ekiden from 2018 to 2023, Meijo University came back from a 3rd-place finish last year to win the 44th Morinomiyako Ekiden again, leading almost start-to-finish to set a 2:02:21 CR for the 6-stage, 38.0 km course in Sendai. 12 second back in 2nd after the opening leg, collegiate 3000 mSC champ Nozomi Kondo put Meijo out front with a 12:36 CR for the 4.0 km Second Stage, and the rest of the team never looked back. The biggest threat to a Meijo win was on the 9.2 m Fifth Stage, where this year's collegiate 10000 m winner Sarah Wanjiru from last year's runner-up Daito Bunka University started 50 seconds back from Meijo 1st-year Mao Kimura . In taking the 10000 m title Wanjiru had outrun Kimura by over a minute, but today Kimura was a revelation, strong and smooth out fr...

Morinomiyako Ekiden Preview

The university men's ekiden circuit is 100% dominated by schools from the Tokyo-area Kanto Region, but for women it's more geographically diverse, the last two big dynasty schools being the Tokai Region's Meijo University and the Kansai Region's Ritsumeikan University with Kanto's Daito Bunka University a perpetual close 2nd at both of the main races, Sunday's Morinomiyako Ekiden and December's Mt. Fuji Women's Ekiden . Last year Kanto's Josai University scored upset wins at both Morinomiyako and Mt. Fuji , to make it a rare Kanto sweep. At Morinomiyako DBU was 2nd yet again with Meijo 3rd and Tohoku region local Tohoku Fukushi University a surprise 4th to hold 2024 winner and top Kansai team Ritsumeikan back to 5th. At Mt. Fuji Tohoku Fukushi almost pulled off a shock win on the anchor stage before Josai came back on the final climb, bumping DBU down to 3rd and Meijo to 4th, with Ritsumeikan 5th there too. Fresh names at the top of the list a...

japan running news

Search This Blog