japan running news

Tuesday's Oda Memorial Meet in Hiroshima was the biggest action of the holiday, with what was probably the biggest result of the day coming in the men's 3000 mSC . With an aggressive middle 1000 m and a last kick for the win, Yutaro Niinae (Aisan Kogyo) solidified his position as Japan's 2nd-best steepler with a career 2nd-best 8:25.43 to beat teammate Philemon Kiplagat by just 0.44. Niinae will represent Japan at next month's Asian Championships in Gumi, South Korea. Other meet highlights: Hitomi Nakajima (Hasegawa) and Chisato Kiyoyama (Ichigo) had breakthrough runs in the women's 100 mH final , going 1-2 in all-time Japanese #5 and #6 times of 12.93 and 12.94 (+1.8). 9 of Japan's 10 all-time best have now run their times since 2021. Tatsuki Abe (Juntendo Univ.) took the men's 110 mH final in 13.36 (+1.9). Australian Tess Kisropp-Cole set a meet record 2:02.74 to win the women's 800 m , with Ellie Sanford 2nd in 2:03.05 over 3 seconds ahead of...

The 2025 Asian Athletics Championships take place May 27-31 in Gumi, South Korea, a key chance for Japanese athletes to score points to help get them to September's Tokyo World Championships. Japan's team of 35 women and 36 men for the Asian Championships as of April 25 : Women 100 m Midori Mikase (Sumitomo Denko) - 11.37 Aiha Yamagata (Fukuoka Univ.) - 11.41 200 m Arisa Kimishima (DKS) - 23.16 Remi Tsuruta (Minami Kyushu Family Mart) - 23.17 400 m Nanako Matsumoto (Toho Ginko) - 52.29 800 m Rin Kubo (Higashi Osaka Keiai H.S.) - 1.59.93 Ayano Shiomi (Iwatani Sangyo) - 2:01.93 1500 m Yume Goto (Uniqlo) - 4:09.41 Tomoka Kimura (Sekisui Kagaku) - 4:09.79 5000 m Yuma Yamamoto (Sekisui Kagaku) - 15:12.97 Sora Shinozakura (Yokoyama T&F Assoc.) - 15:23.82 10000 m Ririka Hironaka (Japan Post) - 30:39.71 Mikuni Yada (Edion) - 31:20.09 100 mH Mako Fukube (NKK) - 12.69 Yumi Tanaka (Fujitsu) - 12.83 400 mH Ami Yamamoto (Fujitsu) - 56.06 Miku Takino (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 56.81 3000 mSC...

The National University Individual Track and Field Championships has always been the lesser cousin to September's National University Track and Field Championships, but in recent years it has started to see quality performances of its own, and with the reshuffling of the calendar this year to account for the Tokyo World Championships enough top-level collegiate talent came to Hiratsuka, Kanagawa to set 9 new meet records. A breakdown of top performances: Hiroki Yanagita (Toyo Univ.) kicked off his senior year with a solid 10.09 (+1.8) to lead the men's 100 m semifinals, but then sat out the final where his 3rd-year teammate Riku Oishi won in 10.19 (+0.8). Genta Iki (Kyoto Sangyo Univ.) had a near-miss on the men's 200 m MR, winning easily in 20.65 (+1.2). The top 3 in the men's 800 m all broke the meet record set last year, with NR holder Ko Ochiai (Komazawa Univ.) winning in 1:45.88, just 0.13 shy of the collegiate record at the very start of his collegiate career...

Two good races happened Sunday at the Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon . The women's race was a head-to-head race between 2022 marathon world champion Gotytom Gebreslase and debuting Japan-based Janet Nyiva . Side-by-side through 15 km, Nyiva shattered Gebreslase with a massive surge over the last 5 km that ultimately put 52 second between them, Nyiva wining in 1:07:37 and Gebreslase next in 1:08:29. 2023 Asian marathon champion Eunice Chebichii Chumba held off the up-and-coming Kana Kobayashi , a member of Japan's marathon team for September's Tokyo World Championships, with a 1:09:07 for 3rd. Kobayashi's 1:09:09 for 4th was a PB by almost 5 minutes and the fastest time ever on the rolling Gifu course by a Japanese woman. Yumi Yoshikawa was 5th in 1:10:51. Five men went out front on mid-59 pace. Dawit Wolde , debuting Kiprono Sitonik , Vincent Yegon and veteran Bedan Karoki all took turns leading, with only Richard Kimunyan tucking in and declining to share the load. ...

On Apr. 23 the city government of Matsumoto, Nagano announced that it was canceling this fall's Matsumoto Marathon after discovering accounting fraud in the event's operation. "We are going to conduct a review of how the race has been conducted up to now," a statement from the city read. Mayor Yoshinao Gaun apologized at a press conference, saying, "We sincerely apologize for letting down everyone involved in putting the event together." The Matsumoto Marathon is run by an executive committee made up of representatives from the city, the Matsumoto Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Shinano Mainichi Newspaper, and the relevant track and field associations. According to city officials, financial records for the November, 2023 edition of the race were fraudulently manipulated. Income from participants' entry fees was lower than expected, and although the city managed to get the Shinano Mainichi, to which it had outsourced overall event management, to r...

The grand prix distance events were absent from the program this year at the 73rd Hyogo Relay Carnival , with the top performances in the women's 5000 m and men's 10000 m Asics Challenge races going to steepler Yuzu Nishide (Daihatsu) in 15:49.48 and Japan-based Kenyan Emmanuel Kiplagat (Mitsubishi Juko) in 28:12.42. But there were a lot of new meet records, and one national record. Ryosuke Kusumi (Shiga) set a T37-class NR of 58.35 m in the para men's 400 m. Kairi Ikeno (Suma Gakuen H.S.) came less than 2 seconds short of a new high school record in the women's 2000 m , beating her own MR from last year by over 3 seconds in 5:55.36, almost 17 seconds ahead of 2nd place. The top 5 all broke or tied the men's high jump meet record, with both Yuto Seko (FAAS) and Tomohiro Shinno (Kyudenko) clearing 2.25 m and Takashi Eto (Kobe Digital Labo), Chao-Hsuan Fu (Taiwan) and Naoto Hasegawa (Niigata Albirex RC) clearing 2.20 m. Yuki Hashioka (Fujitsu) won the men...

Ayumi Morita (Tokyo Metro) won the women's race at Sunday's Nagano Marathon in dominant style, finishing almost 5 minutes ahead of runner-up Chifumi Ito (MRA) in 2:32:58. Hiroki Nagayama (Sumitomo Denko) had a narrower win in the men's race, running down breakaway leader Kiyohito Akiyama (Aichi Seiko) after 35 km to win 2:12:56 to 2:13:27, with last year's winner Kento Nishi  (Osaka Gas) 3rd in 2:15:48. Elsewhere, Sachi Ito (Pacer TC) won the Kasumigaura Marathon in 2:46:38, a 45-minute improvement on her last appearance at Kasumigaura 8 years ago. Yuki Kawauchi (ANDS) won the men's race in 2:19:10. Australian Ciaran Rushton won Kasumigaura's 10-mile race in 49:36 by 4 seconds over Nozomi Sugaya (Komazawa Univ.), with Aya Inden (Takushoku Univ.) winning the women's 10-miler in 59:30. At the Shanghai Half Marathon Aoi Ota (GMO) made his corporate league debut with a 1:03:05, far off the podium in a race that saw top 3 Roncer Kipkorir , Edmond Kip...

On Apr. 14 the Tokai University track and field team and Faculty of Engineering announced that in March they had installed an electronic pacing system at the university's home track at its Shonan campus. The pacing system involved LED lights placed around the edge of the track, which light up sequentially based on the set pace. It is the first time in Japan that this kind of system developed by a domestic manufacturer has been permanently installed at a track. LED pacing systems are used internationally at Diamond League meets and high-level time trial races. Domestically they have been introduced at events like the National Championships 10000 m, Hokuren Distance Challenge and Hachioji Long Distance meets. They have become popular with fans for adding color to the visual presentation of the race and for making it easier to follow the pace of the race. Tokai University began plans to develop and permanently install an electronic pacing system two years ago. The system was develope...

Former Komazawa University captain Mebuki Suzuki (Toyota) and 3-time 10000 m national champion Ririka Hironaka (Japan Post) ran through rain that started just before the day's last two events to win the 10000 m national titles Saturday in Kumamoto at the Kanakuri Memorial meet. With Kenyan pacers and Wavelight in action both races were steady time trials that ground the fields down to a few legit contenders. In the men's race that was Suzuki, 2024 national champ Jun Kasai (Asahi Kasei) and Suzuki's teammate Yamato Yoshii . Yoshii made an early move to break away, but Suzuki and Kasai reeled him back in by 7200. At 9000 m the pace had slowed to 24:56, on track for 27:42, but Suzuki attacked with a 61-second lap from 9000 to 9400, a pace he held to drop a 2:32 last 1000 m for the win in 27:28.82. Kasai was next in 27:33.52 and Yoshii 3rd in a 27:36.33 PB with the top 8 all breaking 28 minutes. The women's race was down to just 2021, 2022 and 2023 national champion Hir...

Saturday is the first big meet on Japan's outdoor middle and long distance circuit, the Kanakuri Memorial Meet in Kumamoto. This year it's also hosting the 10000 m National Championships , making for an extra-long and extra-quality field overall. Top finishers will pick up places on Japan's team for next month's Asian Championships in South Korea, a key step in earning world rankings points to get onto the home team for September's Tokyo World Championships that makes Kanakuri more valuable than ever. Streaming is scheduled to be here and will run through most of the day, with the meet-closing men's and women's 10000 m having a separate broadcast on NHK BS starting at 19:30 local time. Start lists for most events are here . 10000 m start lists are here . Live results are here . A-heat event previews: Women's 800 m  - 11:00 High schooler Rin Kubo  is the only Japanese woman to have broken 2 minutes, with a 1:59.93 last July. Is she going to get any fast...

On Apr. 9 the Kinki Region Bureau of Health, Labor and Welfare's Drug Control Division arrested Matthew Inglis Fox , 38, an Australian business owner of no known fixed address, on charges of violating the importation regulations of the Narcotics Control Act by smuggling tablets containing marijuana elements from the United States. The suspect had entered Japan in February to run in the Osaka Marathon . The suspect was arrested on suspicion of smuggling approximately 12 pills containing marijuana by sending them from a U.S. airport to Osaka's Kansai Airport using an international courier service on Feb. 19. The Osaka branch of the Customs Service discovered the tablets in arriving cargo and suspected them to be narcotics. Customs contacted the Narcotics Control Division, which then began its investigation of the case. According to the Narcotics Control Division, the suspect denies the charges.  Translator's note: Fox, who received a lifetime ban from the Ageo City Half Mara...

The 40th annual Yaizu Minato Half Marathon and 39th National University Pair Marathon took place Sunday in Yaizu, Shizuoka. Kyosuke Hiramatsu of 2025 Hakone Ekiden champ Aoyama Gakuin University took the overall win in 1:03:02. Approximately 50 university athletes from 19 schools across the Kanto Region took part, with the race kicking off in rainy conditions. The lead group went through 5 km in 14:50, with 20 of them sticking close together until late in the race. As people began to fade, the first real move came near 17 km. Hiramatsu went to the front to break the group up, then attacked again at 20 km to get clear of those who were left. Toma Tanaka (Koku Gakuin Univ.) and Yumeto Ito (Chuo Univ.) tried to follow, but Hiramatsu pulled it off perfectly to make it two AGU wins a row following Masaya Tsurukawa 's victory last year. Tanaka and Ito both clocked 1:03:08, with Tanaka getting 2nd and Ito 3rd. Ryusei Kawachi (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) was 4th in 1:03:10. In the National ...

An Olympian in the marathon at the Tokyo Olympics, Shogo Nakamura (Fujitsu) announced on his social media that he has entered Waseda University 's Graduate School of Sport Science with the start of the new academic year this week. A graduate of Mie's Ueno Kogyo H.S. , Nakamura went to Komazawa University before joining Fujitsu in 2015. His senior year of high school he was 3rd overall and 2nd Japanese in the 5000 m at the National High School Track and Field Championships, and in the fall the same year he ran what was at the time the 7th-fastest high school mark ever, 13:50.38. At Komazawa he scored four individual stage wins across the three big university ekidens. In 2019 he won the MGC Race, Japan's marathon trials for the Tokyo Olympics, where he was 62nd in 2:22:23. Nakamura indicated that he would be studying "top sports management" under professor Takeo Hirata . "I'll be balancing competition and academics," Nakamura wrote. "I'm r...

The JAAF-certified Takanezawa Genki Up Half Marathon , popular with runners locally and from across the country, is being discontinued indefinitely due to demolition work in preparation for construction of the new Takanezawa Town Hall. After much discussion the event organizing committee decided that the demolition of existing facilities used for things like baggage storage and changing rooms for the race make it impossible to stage the race properly. Options for alternative facilities in the town were explored, but none met all the criteria for conducting the race with adequate safety and security. As such, we ask for your understanding of the decision to cancel the race. We intend to bring the race back following the completion of the new Town Hall building in 2028, so we hope that you come join us again then. Takanezawa Genki Up Half Marathon Organizing Committee source article: https://www.takanezawa-genki-uprun.com/info/259 translated by Brett Larner