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.

29 Women and 67 Men - Final List of Qualifiers for Oct. 15 MGC Race Olympic Marathon Trials

With Sunday's Tartan Ottawa International Marathon the qualifying window for the Oct. 15 MGC Race , Japan's marathon trials for the 2024 Paris Olympics, came to a close. When the JAAF introduced this format for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, a total of 15 women and 34 men made the tough standards. This time, with identical standards for women and even tougher ones for men , 29 women and 67 men made it, double the numbers on both sides. At the MGC Race, the top two finishers will earn guaranteed places on the Paris team. The 3rd placer will have a provisional spot, with the 4th and 5th placers named provisional alternates. If anyone runs under TBA time standards at one of the winter 2023-24 domestic marathons they'll have the chance to steal the 3rd spot on the team from the 3rd placer at the MGC Race, keeping those races relevant and the whole lead-up to the Olympics exciting. Among women, all three members of the Tokyo Olympics marathon team, Mao Ichiyama (Shiseido), Ayuko Su

Olympic Trials Hopefuls Come Up Empty Handed at Ottawa Marathon

With the deadline for qualification for the Oct. 15 MGC Race Olympic marathon trials coming right up, at Sunday's Tartan Ottawa International Marathon eleven Japanese men took a last shot at joining the 67 men and 29 women to have already qualified. Depending on how fast they had already run inside the qualifying window each of the eleven had an individual qualifying standard to run, ranging from 2:08:00 to 2:11:30. But with the difficulties of doubling after having already raced in February or March, long international travel, and hot conditions in the last half hour of the race, none succeeded in hitting their qualifying mark. Ryoma Takeuchi (ND Soft) and Ryo Osaki (Komori Corp.), who both ran 2:08 earlier this year and needed to run in the 2:11 range to make it, and 2:10 runner Chihiro Ono (GMO) lasted the longest, Takeuchi still on track at 35 km and Osaki and Ono right on the cusp at 30 km. But like winner Yihunilign Adane (Ethiopia), who dropped from 2:06 pace at 30 km t

National Track and Field Championships Day 1 Preview and Streaming

The 107th National Track and Field Championships and 39th U20 National Championships happen the next four days at Osaka's Yanmar Stadium Nagai. With the Bangkok Asian Championships in July, Budapest World Championships in August and Hangzhou Asian Games in September this will be the main national team selection event for all three. Streaming will be on the main channel above from 10:30 a.m. local time until things starting getting good at 18:00, and on a separate feed for field events at the same time. After that you need to be a subscriber to NHK BS1 to catch the TV broadcast of the main events. Live results can be found here . Five events on the Thursday program have people in the World Championships quota, and out of those the men's 5000 m is going to be the race of the day. Everyone is there - NR holder Suguru Osako (Nike), indoor NR holder Hyuga Endo (Sumitomo Denko), U20 NR holder Keita Sato (Komazawa Univ.), H.S. NR holder Hiroto Yoshioka (Juntendo Univ.), Olympian

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