110 m Hurdles NR Holder Izumiya Jumps 8.14 m to Win National Corporate Championships Long Jump

The Japanese men's 110 mH national record holder at 13.04 and a semifinalist in the Paris Olympics 110 mH, Shunsuke Izumiya (Sumitomo Denko) turned in the biggest performance at this year's National Corporate Track and Field Championships. Doing his annual shot at the long jump at Corporate Nationals, Izumiya beat his 2022 best of 8.00 m and last year's winning mark of 8.10 m with a new PB of 8.14 m (+0.7) on his first and only successful attempt. That was good enough to take the win over Hibiki Tsuha by 11 cm and moved Izumiya up to all-time Japanese #10 in the long jump. NR holder Shotaro Shiroyama (Zenrin) was 3rd with a first attempt jump of 7.81 m (+0.5).

Other standout performances:

Shoto Uno (Orico) got into the sub-10.1 club with a 10.09 (+1.4) win in the men's 100 m final.
400 m specialists Fuga Sato (Mizuno) and Kentaro Sato (Fujitsu) stepped down to the 200 m, beating Uno to go 1-2 in 20.67 (+0.4) and 20.79 with Uno 3rd in 20.90.
Nanako Matsumoto (Toho Ginko) won the women's 400 m with a meet record 52.29.
Teresiah Muthoni (Daiso) broke the women's 1500 m meet record in 4:02.54, finishing 3 seconds up on Hellen Ekarare (Toyota Jidoshokki). Esther Muthoni (Nitori) made it a Kenyan 1-2-3 as she took 3rd in 4:12.06.
In Izumiya's absence Shusei Nomoto (Ehime T&F Assoc.) made sure the men's 110 mH was still hot, setting a meet record 13.38 (+0.8) for the win.
Maya Takeuchi (Mizuno) took down NR holder Sumire Hata (Sumitomo Denko) in the women's long jump, clearing 6.49 m (+1.7) on her final attempt and going 5 cm past Hata's opening 6.44 m (+0.1).

In distance races:

Reika Kozono added another win to the Kyocera team's haul with a 9:16.80 in the U20 women's 3000 m.
Muthoni and Ekarare went 1-2 again in the women's 5000 m, Muthoni taking the win in 15:06.03 and Ekarare 2nd in 15:09.81. Tabitha Njeri Kamau (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) added another Kenyan sweep to the tally with a 15:12.59 for 3rd.
Agnes Mwikali (Kyocera) led yet another Kenyan sweep of the top 3 in the women's 10000 m, winning by 11 seconds in 32:00.67 over Pauline Kamulu (Route Inn Hotels) and Rebecca Mwangi (Daiso).
Reimi Yoshimura (Cramer Japan) won the women's 3000 mSC win 10:07.41.
Shota Nakano (Honda) beat Olympian Abraham Guem (Ami AC) and Yudai Noguchi (Toenec) to win the men's 1500 m, 3:41.47 to Guem's 3:41.75 and Noguchi's 3:41.91.
Emmanuel Kipchirchir (SGH) took the men's 5000 m in 13:20.57, just edging Daniel Kosen (Fujitsu) who was 2nd in 13:20.99. Emmanuel Maru (Toyota Boshoku) was 3rd in 13:23.11.
Kenyans took the top 6 spots in the men's 10000 m, Evans Keitany (Toyota Boshoku) getting the win in 28:10.29 with Antipas Kibet (Komori Corp.) and Emmanuel Kiplagat (Mitsubishi Juko) both under 28:11. Yamato Yoshii (Toyota) was the top Japanese finisher at 7th in 28:13.10.
Philemon Kiplagat and Yutaro Niinae made it a 1-2 for the Aisan Kogyo corporate team in the men's 3000 mSC, Kiplagat winning in 8:28.25 with Niinae next in 8:29.17. No other runner broke 8:50.

Complete results here.

Chepkirui Over Sato Again to Win 2nd-Straight Nagoya Women's Marathon, Chen Breaks Malaysian NR (updated)

This year's Nagoya Women's Marathon felt like a changing of the guard, with some the bigger domestic names over the last few years fading early and a lot of newer faces stepping up with quality debuts or second marathons. The front group was set to be paced for 2:20 flat with the 2nd group at 2:23:30 to hit the auto-qualifying time for the 2027 MGC Race, Japan's L.A. Olympics marathon trials race in Nagoya. Up front things went out OK, but after a 33:10 split at 10 km Ayuko Suzuki , 2:21:22 here 2 years ago, lost touch, ultimately finishing 23rd in 2:33:28. Windy conditions started to play with pacers' ability to keep things steady and the pace slowed majorly over the next 10 km, but even with a 34:05 second 10 km there were big-name casualties. 2024 Nagoya winner Yuka Ando was next to drop, ending up 17th in 2:30:32. NR holder Honami Maeda was next, followed quickly by Bahraini Kenyan Eunice Chumba and debuting Wakana Kabasawa . Maeda faded to 21st in 2:31:21, whil...

Nagoya Women's Marathon Preview and Streaming (updated)

Japan's winter marathon season of 6 major races in 7-straight weekends wraps up Sunday with the world's largest women-only marathon, the Nagoya Women's Marathon . The weather is looking pretty good, 6˚ at the start rising to 10˚ by the finish and sunny skies, but a moderate 7 m/s NW wind means a headwind finish that might impact the potential for some fast times. Official streaming kicks off at 9:00 a.m. local time. Live results will be here . Sheila Chepkirui won last year in 2:20:40, breaking away from Sayaka Sato and Eunice Chebichii Chumba at 30 km and hanging on for the win. Sato negative split a 2:20:59 PB for 2nd, Chumba fading to 3rd in 2:21:36. All 3 are back this time, but they have pretty serious competition from Aynalem Desta , 2:17:37 in Amsterdam last fall, and Selly Chepyego Kaptich , 2:20:03 in Barcelona 2023. And of course, Japanese NR holder Honami Maeda . Maeda ran 2:18:59 at the Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2024 to make the Paris Oly...

How it Happened

Ancient History I went to Wesleyan University, where the legend of four-time Boston Marathon champ and Wes alum Bill Rodgers hung heavy over the cross-country team. Inspired by Koichi Morishita and Young-Cho Hwang’s duel at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics I ran my first marathon in 1993, qualifying for Boston ’94 where Bill was kind enough to sign a star-struck 20-year-old me’s bib number at the expo. Three years later I moved to Japan for grad school, and through a long string of coincidences I came across a teenaged kid named Yuki Kawauchi down at my neighborhood track. I never imagined he’d become what he is, but right from the start there was just something different about him. After his 2:08:37 breakthrough at the 2011 Tokyo Marathon he called me up and asked me to help him get into races abroad. He’d finished 3rd on the brutal downhill Sixth Stage at the Hakone Ekiden, and given how he’d run the hills in the last 6 km at Tokyo ’11 I thought he’d do well at Boston or New York. “I...

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