Kiyama and Murakami Making International Debuts at United Airlines NYC Half

Since the start of JRN's collegiate development program in 2012, a partnership between the New York Road Runners and the Ageo City Half Marathon that brings two of the top male university half marathoners in the country to the United Airlines NYC Half every year, a total of 25 athletes have made the trip. For most of them it's been their first time racing outside Japan. 10 of the 25 have been from Komazawa University, including 4 of the 5 fastest times and 4 of the 5 best placings. Kenta Murayama's 1:00:57 for 5th in 2017 leads both lists and still stands as the fastest half marathon ever run by a Japanese man on U.S. soil.

This year two more Komazawa runners are in New York as numbers 24 and 25, Yudai Kiyama and Hibiki Murakami. At Ageo last November Kiyama and Murakami ran PBs of 1:01:59 and 1:02:04 for 2nd and 4th overall to pick up invites to the NYC Half. A 3rd-year, Kiyama was a national-level 1500 m runner in high school. At Komazawa he struggled to make its starting roster for the 3-race ekiden season, making only the 10-man Hakone Ekiden squad his 2nd year in 2024, where he was 12th on the downhill Sixth Stage.

This past season he missed the Izumo Ekiden and National University Ekiden teams again, but his Ageo performance marked a breakthrough that was enough to have Komazawa head coach Atsushi Fujita give him the responsibility of handling the important First Stage at Hakone. He ran well, leading the chase pack behind breakaway leader Shunsuke Yoshii of Chuo University and showing his roots as a 1500 m runner with a fast kick that put him 2nd behind Yoshii. A month later he made a massive breakthrough at the Marugame Half Marathon, running as high in the field as 7th in a race where the top 4 all broke 60 minutes, dropping to 15th by 20 km, but coming back with the fastest close in the field to retake 10th.

A 2nd-year, Murakami's standout performance in high school was a win on the 2021 National High School Ekiden's Seventh Stage where he anchored Sera H.S. to the national title. Like Kiyama he didn't make Komazawa's starting roster for any of the 3 ekidens his first year, but after missing Izumo last fall he made his debut 2 weeks before Ageo with a 5th-place run on the National University Ekiden's Fifth Stage. His Ageo time earned him a place on one of Hakone's 2 longest legs, the 23.1 km Ninth Stage, where he was 5th again. Marugame was good to Murakami too as he ran a new PB of 1:01:46.

1:00:32 makes Kiyama the fastest Japanese collegiate runner ever to line up in New York, where he is ranked 5th in the field. Murakami is the 3rd-fastest ever behind Kiyama and Murayama. With other alumni of the program like Yuta Shitara and Akira Akasaki having gone on to break national records and make single-digit placings at the Olympics, good runs in New York would mark Kiyama and Murakami as top people to watch in the next generation of Japanese distance runners. Streaming of the United Airlines NYC Half starts at 7:00 a.m. local time Sunday.

Keita Sato Joins Swoosh TC

After appearing at a Nike event on Apr. 3, U20 1500 m NR and indoor 3000 m and 5000 m NR holder Keita Sato , 22, updated his Instagram profile to announce that he is joining Nike's Swoosh TC . At the Nike event Sato said that he plans to run the 1500 m at the Apr. 11 Kanaguri Memorial Meet, then will move to the U.S. "To be successful at the global level I need to train and grow alongside world-class athletes," he said. "I have to take every day seriously in order to achieve that dream of being internationally competitive." Swoosh TC was founded last year. Its coach Mike Smith has guided many athletes to international championships, including prior to Swoosh TC's launch, with some earning medals and podium finishes under his leadership. photo © 2026 Brett Larner, all rights reserved source article: https://www.rikujyokyogi.co.jp/archives/204241/2 translated by Brett Larner

Updates on Transfers

April 1 is the start of Japan's new academic and fiscal year, and there's always a wave of transfer announcements to go with it. Some notable ones yesterday: 800 m NR holder Rin Kubo skipped university to go straight to 2023 Queens Ekiden national champion Sekisui Kagaku after her graduation from Higashi Osaka Keiai H.S. Multiple NR holder Nozomi Tanaka rejoined the Toyota Jidoshokki women's team after having left it to pursue a solo pro career as a New Balance athlete. Already on the team for this fall's Nagoya Asian Games in the 10000 m, Ririka Hironaka announced a switch from her longtime home at Japan Post to the Uniqlo women's team. Collegiate marathon record holder Asahi Kuroda joined the 2026 national champion GMO corporate team after graduating from 2026 Hakone Ekiden champ Aoyama Gakuin University last week. Hakone Ekdien First Stage CR holder Rui Aoki joins the Sumitomo Denko corporate team after running his final race for 2025 Izumo Ekiden w...

Chien Breaks TPE NR, Iwata Betters ID-Class WR - Weekend Track Roundup

The last weekend of the academic and fiscal year saw at least 5 meets with good results domestically and abroad. Kicking things off Friday was the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne, where Tomohiro Shinno and Naoto Hasegawa took 1st and 3rd in the men's high jump, both of them only clearing 2.18 m along with 2nd-placer Roman Anastasios . 12 other Japanese athletes were in action on the second day of the meet on Saturday, where 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura ran 3:42.84 for 6th in the men's 1500 m. Nagiya Mori had a better one in the men's 3000 m with a 7:45.40 for 4th. Both Yota Mashiko and Rui Suzuki cleared 8:00 too, Mashiko's 7:53.84 the 2nd-fastest ever by a Japanese-born high schooler. Abigail Fuka Ido and Nagisa Takahashi both placed 3rd in their events, Ido going 23.85 (-0.9) in the women's 200 m and Takahashi clearing 1.82 m in the women's high jump. 8 Japanese men were at The TEN in California to run 10000 m. In the B-heat won by Edward Marks in ...

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