Weekend Overseas Race Roundup

Most of the action was overseas this weekend, with the Chugoku Jitsugyodan Time Trials meet in Hiroshima being the only really noteworthy domestic event. Dan Kiplangat (JFE Steel) had the fastest time in the six heats of men's 5000 m, beating Kibet Mangata (Mazda) by 0.38 seconds for the win in 13:35.44. 2:06 marathoner Kyohei Hosoya (Kurosaki Harima) was 5th in 13:58.28, with teammate Kakeru Ide (Kurosaki Harima) taking the B-heat in 13:58.34 and high schooler Itsuki Takaishi (Kochi Kogyo H.S.) joining the sub-14 club with a 13:59.04 to win the C-heat. Rose Wangui (Sera H.S.) got her ekiden season prep off to a good start with a 9:00.27 win in the women's 3000 m.

With Kenyan Brimin Kipkorir Misoi soloing a 2:06:18 for the win Japanese men went 4-5 at the Sydney Marathon in Australia, Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Asahi Kasei) 4th in 2:08:54 and Ken Nakayama (Honda) 5th in 2:09:23. 2:06 marathoner Hidekazu Hijikata (Asahi Kasei) was only 11th in 2:14:46. On the women's side, Mao Uesugi (Tokyo Metro) was 6th in 2:29:18, seven and a half minutes behind winner Workenesh Edesa who ran 2:21:41 to take 1st.

Shunya Kikuchi (Chugoku Denryoku) was the top Japanese man at the Copenhagen Half Marathon, 19th in 1:01:45. Marathon NR holder Kengo Suzuki (Fujitsu) was 22nd in 1:02:20 after going out with the lead group, with Taiyo Iwasaki (JFE Steel) just behind him in 1:02:26 for 23rd. Kenyan Sabastian Sawe was in another league entirely, 1st in 58:05. Margaret Chelimo took the women's race in 1:05:11, meaning all three Japanese men were closer to her than they were to Sawe. Sayaka Sato (Sekisui Kagaku) was 11th in the women's race in 1:09:03.

Two other Japanese women opted for the Porto Half Marathon instead of Copenhagen. With Cynthia Chemweno winning the women's race in 1:09:58 Yuki Nakamura (Panasonic) was 2nd in 1:12:23 and Chiharu Suzuki (Hitachi) 3rd in 1:13:10.

Five Japanese athletes were at the Brussels Diamond League final. Olympic gold medalist Haruka Kitaguchi was the star of the show, coming up with a season best 66.13 m for a second-straight Diamond League title on her final attempt.

Roderick Genki Dean wrapped a great 2024 with a 5th in the men's javelin throw at 80.37 m.
Abdul Hakim Sani Brown was 6th in the men's 100 m in 10.10 (+0.1).
Shunsuke Izumiya also took 6th in the men's 110 mH, running 13.33 (+0.4).
Nozomi Tanaka was yet another 6th in the women's 5000 m in 14:31.88, 22 seconds behind winner Beatrice Chebet's 14:09.82.

Murayama and Sasaki Making U.S. Debut at New York Mini 10 km

Every year since 2012 that there's been a United Airlines NYC Half , JRN has partnered with the NYRR and November's Ageo City Half Marathon to bring two top-tier collegiate Japanese men to the NYC Half for what's usually been their international debuts. For years we've wanted to extend that program to include top collegiate women, but that has always faced 2 problems. For one, while the half marathon distance is the main focus for Japanese collegiate men due to the stage lengths at the Hakone Ekiden, few collegiate women run it. Those that do run the National University Women's Half Marathon in Matsue, held the same day as the NYC Half. This year, though, we're finally making it happen in a slightly different way. Amisa Murayama and Nazuki Sasaki of 2025 Mt. Fuji Women's Ekiden national collegiate championship runner-up Tohoku Fukushi University are joining the field for the NYRR's Mastercard New York Mini 10 km on June 6. After running an 18:14 CR ...

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...

Some Reflections on the Ekiden

by Brett Larner This ekiden season I've had a few thoughts kicking around, and watching this week's Hakone Ekiden a few of them became clearer. These are still in progress, but at the moment this is what I'm thinking in terms of running as a spectator sport and about the quality of Japanese men's distance running right now. Quality: Japanese men's running is coming up very, very quickly. I was in the lead car at November's Ageo City Half Marathon , where 18 men, 17 of them university runners, broke 63 minutes. As it was going on we all thought it was a slow race because there were so many people running that pace all the way, no separation at all in the mass of the pack. See the JRN header photo above, taken just past halfway. That's pretty unusual in Japan, especially at the university level; generally you'll get a handful of guys who run an aggressive pace and a mass running dead on a safe pace, 3:00/km in a half marathon, for example. Th...

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