Another Fast U20 10000 m at Nittai

Another Fast U20 10000 m at Nittai - Weekend Results

Fukuoka and Hofu were the big races of the weekend in Japan, but there was a lot of other action going on across the country. Saturday at a special one-day edition of the rebranded Nittai University Time Trials series in Yokohama, 19-year-old Sonata Nagashima (Asahi Kasei) followed up Keita Sato's 27:28.50 U20 10000 m national record last weekend with the second-fastest time ever by a Japanese U20 man, winning the fast heat in 27:44.86. 21-year-old Reishi Yoshida (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) was just back in 27:47.01 for 2nd, with 3rd through 5th all getting under 28 minutes. The 10000 m National Championships are still coming Dec. 10, but as of this race Japan has 30 men sub-28 this year. By comparison, Kenya has 58, 49 of them done in Japan, Ethiopia has 11, and the U.S.A. has 8.

The winner at last month's Fst in Fukuoka road 5 km, Edwin Kisalsak (Fujisan no Meisui) took the men's 5000 m fast heat at Nittai in 13:19.97. Yusuke Tamura (Kurosaki Harima) was the top Japanese man at 13:32.99 for 4th. First-year corporate leaguer Susan Kamotho (Yamada Holdings) went under 15 minutes for the first time to win the women's 5000 m fast heat in 14:59.63, beating current and former 5000 m NR holders Nozomi Tanaka (New Balance) and Ririka Hironaka (Japan Post) in the process. Lucy Nduta (Aomori Yamada H.S.) won the 3000 m fast heat in an easy 9:13.51. Results from all the fast heats here.

The world's premier 10 miler happened Sunday at the Kumamoto Kosa 10-Mile Road Race, where Benard Koech (Kyudenko) set a world best 44:04 last year. This time Patrick Kamau (Jobu University) took the top spot, winning a close finish in 45:46 by 1 second over Cleophas Kandie (Mitsubishi Juko). Koki Asai (Juntendo University) was 3rd in 46:05 for top Japanese honors, a solid performance on the all-time Japanese lists that saw him outback Kiyoshi Koga (Yasukawa Denki) by 3 seconds in the home straight. Local Isshin Masunaga (Kaishin H.S.) won the high school boys' 10 km in 30:08, and Shiori Nagumo (Higo Ginko) took the women's 5 km in 16:24. Complete results here.

In western Tokyo, the Comodi Iida corporate team tuned up for the New Year Ekiden national championships with a win at one of the oldest ekidens in Japan, the 85th Okutama Keikoku Ekiden. Comodi Iida covered the tough 6-stage, 44.8 km course along the same route as the Ome 30 km Road Race in 2:13:06 for the win, beating top collegiate team Tokyo University by 1:36. Collegiate division runner-up Chuo University's Sota Yamasaki broke the stage record for the mostly uphill 3rd leg. Tokyo Jitsugyo H.S. was the top team in the high school boys' division in 2:24:44.

Hakone Champ AGU Hits 50 km a Day in Spring Break Training Camp

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...

Everything You Need to Know About the 2026 Hakone Ekiden

The Hakone Ekiden is the world's biggest road race, 2 days of road relay action with Japan's 20 best university teams racing 10 half marathon-scale legs from central Tokyo to the mountains east of Mount Fuji and back. The level just keeps going higher and higher , hitting the point this year where there are teams with 10-runner averages of 13:33.10 for 5000 m, 27:55.98 for 10000 m, and 1:01:20 for the half marathon. It's never been better, and with great weather in the forecast it's safe to say this could be one of the best races in Hakone's 102-year history, especially on Day One. If you've seen it then you know NTV's live broadcast is the best sports broadcast in the world, with the pre-race show kicking off at 7:00 a.m. Japan time on the 2nd and 3rd and the race starting at 8:00 a.m. sharp. If you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it on TVer starting at 7:50 a.m. on the 2nd , and again at 7:50 a.m. on the 3rd . There's even a 2-hour high...

Shikama and Njeri Win Sendai International Half Marathon

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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