japan running news

At the 68th Fukushima Prefecture Junior High School Track and Field Championships, Haru Tsuburaya won the boys' 800 m to qualify for his first National Junior High School Championships. Kokichi Tsuburaya , 1964 Tokyo Olympics marathon bronze medalist and a native of Sukagawa, was the younger brother of Haru's great-grandfather. Haru admits that he "doesn't really know much" about his famed relative, but was enthusiastic about his own performance, saying, "I ran a PB of 1:59.43 at the Prefectural Championships, and I want to run about 1:56 at Nationals to go for the win." Haru started running with the Kagamiishi Sports Club track team his first year of elementary school. In junior high he joined the basketball team in addition to running track. He started running the 800 m last fall, and even though he started off in only 2:07~09 range he trained steadily with the goal of making Nationals. As a result of that diligent training his times got better. ...

Japan's National High School Championships took place this weekend in Hiroshima and produced record-breaking performances across events despite hot conditions. Across the first two days of the Championships Kiichi Miyashita (3rd yr., Shiritsu Funabashi H.S.) set new high school and meet records in the boys' heptathlon with a final score of 6325 that far surpassed the old record of 6264. Miyashita's strongest events were the sprints, where he ran 10.79 (+1.2) in the 100 m and 48.08 in the 400 m, with his weakest events being the shot put, 12.91 m, and high jump, 1.86 m. Felix Muthiani (3rd yr., Yamanashi Gakuin H.S.) set a meet record 3:39.20 to win the boys' 1500 m , holding off Haruki Niizuma (3rd yr., Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S.) to 2nd in 3:40.83. Muthiani's record was a data point in favor of speculation by Saku Chosei H.S. head coach Masaru Takamizawa last summer that the new restriction of non-Japanese athletes to the shortest stage at the National High School...

The Aug. 31 Hokkaido Marathon elite fields are out. On the women's side, Japan-based Selly Chepyego Kaptich has a big advantage over the rest of the field in terms of PB, 2:20:03 in Barcelona 2023 vs. nearest competitor Yuri Mitsune , 5th in Hokkaido last year and 2:29:04 in Nagoya this past spring. Last year's 3rd-placer Ayano Ikeuchi is back too, and with Kaena Takeyama and Yukari Nagatomo both right around 2:30-flat it should be a pretty good race for 2nd. On the men's side the top 2 by time, Yugo Kashiwa and Simon Kariuki , are only a second apart with Kashiwa 2:06:28 in Osaka this year and Kariuki 2:06:29 in Tokyo last year. 6 other men on the list have recent times between 2:07 and 2:09, with 2021 Tokyo Olympian Yuma Hattori a notable name among them. Hokkaido doesn't release its complete entry list in advance, so expect to see a lot more people in the lead packs in both races. And if there is the usual hot weather, expect both races to be about more than j...

The 78th Fuji Mountain Race was held on Friday, July 25. Between the long course race, 21 km climbing 3000 m to the peak of Mount Fuji, and the Fifth Station race, 15 km climbing 1480 m, a total of 3,363 people from across Japan and around the world took part. In the long course race, Yuri Yoshizumi , 39, won the women's title for the 7th time in a row, with accomplished trail runner Ruy Ueda , 31, winning the men's title for the first time. Yoshimi Tanaka , 33, won the Fifth Station women's title and Yuki Yamada , 27, the men's title, both of them winning for the 2nd time. Yoshizumi, a pro mountain runner representing Fujisan GX Holdings who regularly trains on the Fuji Mountain Race course, said, "I remember the entire course." This time around Yoshizumi took the lead before hitting the hiking trail part of the course and pushed the pace from the Eighth Station onwards. "I was hitting it so hard that I couldn't respond to the people who were cheer...

The 2025 FISU World University Games wrapped Sunday in Rhine-Ruhr, Germany. In the men's 20 km race walk Atsuki Tsuchiya (Ritsumeikan Univ.) brought home one more medal for Japan, unable to match Italian Andrea Cosa 's 1:19:48 WUG record for gold but just holding off Ukrainian Mykola Rushchak for silver 1:20:08 to 1:20:10. Keisuke Hara (Kyoto Univ.) wasn't far back in 4th, finishing in 1:20:26, with Taisei Yoshizako (Tokyo Gakugei Univ.) 12th in 1:23:11. As a team the three athletes's combined scores were good enough to take gold. The women's 20 km race walk squad couldn't match the men's performance. With Australian Elizabeth McMillen setting a WUG record 1:28:18 for the win and silver and bronze medalists Jinlin Ning and Haiying Ji of China both under 1:30 Ayane Yanai (Ritsumeikan Univ.) was 14th in 1:35:04 and Sumika Tani (Kanazawa Gakuin Univ.) 19th of 25 finishers in 1:40:37. In the women's 3000 mSC final Ayana Yamashita (Osaka Gakuin Uni...

Japan didn't quite pull off a sweep of the men's and women's half marathon at the 2025 FISU World University Games , but it was pretty close. In the men's race Waseda University 's Shinsaku Kudo , the fastest man in the race with a best of 1:00:06 from Marugame this past February, led start to finish, keeping it around 62-flat pace before finishing in a WUG record 1:02:29. Turkey's Ramazan Bastug spent most of the race in a small chase pack with Ryuto Uehara (Koku Gakuin Univ.) and Kento Baba (Rikkyo Univ.) before dropping them both for silver in 1:02:35. Uehara was just behind in 1:02:39 for bronze, with Baba missing out on the medals in 1:02:44 for 4th. In the women's race China's Xiuzhen Ma had to deal with the Japanese trio of Makoto Tsuchiya (Ritsumeikan Univ.), Mariya Noda (Daito Bunka Univ.) and Ayaka Maeda (Kansai Univ.). And she did, running a PB 1:12:48 for gold over Tsuchiya by 10 seconds. Noda scored the bronze medal in 1:13:16, with M...

One of Japan's best remaining gold medal contenders at the 2025 FISU World University Games after throwing a PB of 81.23 m in Australia in March, Rin Suzuki (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.) struck out in the men's javelin throw final of the 5th day of competition, throwing 71.65 m on his first attempt and finishing 10th after being unable to better it. Mao Shimano (Nihon Joshi Taiiku Univ.) did better in the women's 100 mH final at 7th in 13.17 (+0.1), an improvement on her 8th-place standing after the semifinals, but was still 0.22 out of the medals. Gold went to Finland's Saara Keskitalo in 12.88, with Switzerland's Simon Wieland taking gold in the men's javelin with a season best 79.33 m on his first attempt. In qualifying rounds, Aoi Murakami (Nittai Univ.) had no problems qualifying for the women's javelin throw final, throwing 53.91 for 7th among the qualifiers. Atsushi Haraguchi (Higashi Osaka Univ.) was 11th of 12 qualifiers in the men's pole vault...

Japan scored its first gold medal in athletics at the 2025 FISU World University Games on the fourth day of competition. Strong in the qualifying rounds, Tatsuki Abe (Juntendo Univ.) ran away from the men's 110 mH field with a 13.47 (-0.3) for the win over silver and bronze medalists Angel Diaz Rodriguez of Spain and Mondray Barnard of South Africa, both timed at 13.59. Hayato Higuchi (Hosei Univ.) was off his best at 13.90 for 7th. Koki Fujihara (Toyo Univ.) brought home another medal in the men's long jump. Opening with a solid 8.00 (-0.8) jump, Fujihara sat in 1st through the first 3 rounds until China's Heng Shu dropped a 8.07 m (-0.6) jump in the 4th round. Fujihara couldn't match that, and when Shu ended with a 8.09 m (+0.9) jump on his final attempt Fujihara was left with silver. German Luka Herden took bronze with a 7.96 m (-0.1) on his 2nd attempt. No medals came in the men's high jump, where gold medal contender Sota Haraguchi (Juntendo Univ.) str...

With Japanese men oddly absent from the 10000 m, the only Japanese athletes in action in finals on the third day of the 2025 FISU World University Games were in the men's 400 m and 400 mH. The chances for a medal looked good in the 400 mH, but Ryosuke Takahashi (Hosei Univ.) came up 0.15 short of bronze with a 49.60 for 4th after coming into the home straight in the lead. Teammate Shota Fuchigami (Waseda Univ.) was 6th in 50.45, with Turkey's Berke Akcam winning gold in 49.29. Kira Hirakawa (Toyo Univ.) had a rough one in the 400 m, finishing last in 46.68 over a second out of the medals after fading in the home straight. South African Lythe Tyresse Pillay turned in a season best 44.84 for gold. In qualifying rounds, Miku Takino (Ritsumeikan Univ.) missed a spot in the women's 400 mH final, running 57.58 for 5th in SF1. Tatsuki Abe (Juntendo Univ.) led the men's 110 mH with a 13.61 (+0.2) to win Heat 1. Hayato Higuchi (Hosei Univ.) made it through on time in 13...

The 2025 FISU World University Games started Monday in Rhine-Ruhr, Germany. In the Games' first final, the women's 10000 m, Daito Bunka University 's Sarah Wanjiru of Kenya shaved just over 6 seconds off her PB with a 31:41.80, but it wasn't enough for gold as Slovenian 5000 m and road 5 km and 10 km NR holder Klara Lukan dropped a 31:25.84 Games record and PB for the win. In the race for bronze Spain's Alicia Berzosa Martin outran Meijo University 1st-year Mei Hosomi by a second, 32:00.72 to 32:01.91. Ayaka Maeda (Kansai Univ.) and Wakana Hashimoto (Meijo Univ.) were far back in the field, Maeda running 33:13.83 for 15th and Hashimoto 33:49.84 for 19th. The 18-year-old Hosomi's time was good enough to crack the all-time Japanese U20 top 10 and put her 2nd in the world this year on the U20 lists. In qualifying rounds on the opening day, Shota Fuchigami (Waseda Univ.) and Ryosuke Takahashi (Hosei Univ.) took the top 2 spots in the men's 400 mH heats...

A set of identical triplets made the final in the Niigata Prefecture High School Championships 5000 m, their last big showdown with each other. All three talked about the way they were looking at the big race at Niigata's Denka Big Swan Stadium. The Sato triplets all ran track and field in elementary school in Nagaoka, but when they went to junior high school they all opted to play basketball instead. Their sister, also a twin, was the manager of the track and field team at Chuetsu H.S. and gave them tips on training like hill repeats and running on undulating roads in their neighborhood, and while focusing on basketball they coached themselves to become better runners. Five years later they are now in their final year of high school. Yuto Sato runs for Chuetsu H.S., while Hiroto Sato and Oto Sato opted for Nippon Bunri H.S. . It was the first, and last, time for them to all face each other in the same race at the prefectural level. All three live in school dorms, their family...

Conditions were too hot at this season's last Hokuren Distance Challenge meet Saturday in Abashiri for many really good performances, but there were a few, mostly by Japan-based Kenyans. In the men's 10000 m A-heat collegiate record holder Richard Etir (Tokyo Kokusai Univ,) soloed a 27:37.85 for the win by almost 23 seconds, the only man to get under 28 minutes. Caroline Kariba (Japan Post) did the same in the women's 10000 m with a 31:02.70 PB for the win. Dolphine Omare (Uniqlo) and Rika Kaseda (Daihatsu) both made it under 32, Omare running 31:29.35 and Kaseda 31:42.92. 2025 national 5000 m champion Ryuto Igawa (Asahi Kasei) had what was probably the best Japanese performance of the meet, running a PB 13:23.13 for the win over Antipas Kibet (Komori Corp.). Fresh off a 3:36.58 PB at the HDC Kitami meet on Wednesday, Nanami Arai (Honda) was 3rd with another PB in 13:28.42. Top-tier Hyuga Endo (Sumitomo Denko) was one of the day's many DNFs. Stephen Muthini (S...

Now running for the Sunbelx corporate team on an individual pro contract, Hibiki Yoshida (22) tuned up for his debut at the July 25 Fuji Mountain Race with a test run to the peak of Mount Fuji at 3776 m. Covering the distance from the Fifth Station to the summit, 6 km with 1520 m elevation gain on rough trails, in 2 hours, Yoshida said, "It was fun!" As a 4th-year at Soka University this past January Yoshida ran the highly competitive Second Stage at the 101st Hakone Ekiden, covering the 23.1 km net uphill leg in 1:05:43, the fastest time ever run by a Japanese athlete and equivalent to a 1:00:02 half marathon. After Hakone Yoshida said that post-graduation he planned to pursue a career in both traditional running and in trail running. His first big trail race will be the Fuji Mountain Race's 78th edition. The Fuji Mountain Race is divided into two divisions, a 15 km short course to the Fifth Station with 1480 m elevation gain and the 21 km long course to the summit c...

The 38th Suffolkland Shibetsu Half Marathon took place July 13. Surugadai University 's Kio Furuhashi took the men's race in 1:02:36. His time was a new PB by 32 seconds. A graduate of Iga Hakuho H.S. in Mie, Furuhashi made the National High School Championships in the 1500 m and 5000 m his 2nd year, and ran in the National High School Ekiden two years in a row. At Surugadai he has run at Kanto Regionals and the Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai since his first season, making his debut at the Hakone Ekiden itself this past January with an 18th-place finish on the Third Stage. Takuya Hanyu (Toyota Boshoku) was 2nd in 1:02:45, with Yuta Nakayama (JR Higashi Nihon) 3rd in 1:02:50. Miku Fukuda (Ehime Ginko) won the women's race in 1:14:37. Complete results available here . source article: https://www.rikujyokyogi.co.jp/archives/176217 translated by Brett Larner

https://www.athletics.com.au/news/kipchoge-leads-unprecedented-mens-field-at-2025-tcs-sydney-marathon/

Between international travel and illness we've been AWOL for a while, but it's time to catch up on what's been going on. The Hokuren Distance Challenge series rolled on with two more meets in Kitami on the 16th and Chitose on the 12th . After shaving 0.05 off the South Korean men's 1500 m NR last month at the HDC Shibetsu meet , Jae Ung Lee took the NR into new territory with a 3:36.01 win in Kitami. He was pushed all the way by Nanami Arai (Honda), who moved up to all-time Japanese #3 with a 3:36.58 for 2nd. The women's 3000 m in Kitami was fast too, with an 8:41.62 win from Caroline Kariba (Japan Post) and an all-time Japanese #5 8:48.90 PB from her injury-prone teammate Ririka Hironaka for 2nd. Margaret Ekalale (Toyota Jidoshokki) led the women's 1500 m in 4:09.64, with Na Yeon Park just missing the South Korean NR by 0.07 in 4:14.25 for 2nd. Ayano Shiomi (Iwatani Sangyo) inched back toward 2-flat to win the women's 800 m in 2:02.60, one of the f...

https://worldathletics.org/competitions/diamond-league/news/monaco-herculis-2025-lyles-wanyonyi-bol

Japan's National Championships happened Friday through Sunday at Tokyo's National Stadium, the same track where September's World Championships will take place. The biggest result of the weekend came in the women's 800 m, where high schooler Rin Kubo cleaned up the mess caused last when she became the first Japanese woman under 2 minutes but did it at a JAAF-sanctioned time trial meet that hadn't been registered to the World Athletics calendar. In Saturday's final she bettered that time with a 1:59.52, making it a national record that WA will actually recognize. The only other record set came in the women's 5000 m on Friday, where NR holder Nozomi Tanaka set a meet record 14:59.02 to win a competitive race over Ririka Hironaka , 2nd in 15:12.61, and Kana Mizumoto , 3rd in a big PB of 15:13.19. Tanaka doubled back in the 1500 m Sunday, duly winning in 4:04.16. Veteran Tomoka Kimura ran a PB of 4:09.88 for 2nd, giving a big boost to her chances of making i...

Japanese men showed up in force at the 45th ASICS Gold Coast Marathon Sunday in Australia, taking the top 6 spots and 8 of the top 10 led by a 2:07:33 course record by Yuki Takei . Expert pacing by World Marathon Majors-bound Tsubasa Ichiyama and Masato Arao kept things on track to break the 2:07:40 CR by 30 seconds until Arao stepped off at 30 km, a 30 km that saw at least two falls, one by 2:08:40 runner Ryoma Takeuchi at 23 km and another by debuting 61-minute half marathoner Tatsuya Tsunashima at 27 km. In Tsunashima's case it was enough to knock him out of the race when he hit his head on the pavement, send to the hospital post-race for examination. When Arao stepped off former Aoyama Gakuin University ekiden specialist Aoi Ota went straight to the front, looking to make up for a stellar and predictable DNF at this year's Tokyo Marathon in prep for Berlin by getting an easy finish under his belt. Right on him was Yuki Takei , 2:08:06 in Osaka the week before Tokyo. ...

For the second time in a month Australians Andy Buchanan , Isaac Heyne , Sam Clifford , Ryan Gregson and Brett Robinson faced off against a big group of 60-61 minute Japanese men pulled in from a big February half marathon, and for the 2nd year in a row Buchanan outkicked them all for the win at the China Airlines Gold Coast Half Marathon . Robinson, 3rd at last month's Launceston Half Marathon , got things moving with a fast start that put the race on pace to go just over 60 minutes, well under Pat Carroll 's 1:01:11 Australian all-comers record that Launceston winner Teruki Shimada missed by just 1 second. Yuma Nishizawa , 1:00:29 at February's National Corporate Half Marathon where most of the Japanese men in the field ran, took over to keep it moving, then handed over to Launceston runner-up Isaac Heyne . Heyne did most of the work the rest of the way, the pace gradually slowing and incrementing over Carroll's record, until a move from 2:07 marathoner Naoya Sakud...

The National Track and Field Championships are this weekend at Tokyo's National Stadium on the same track where the Tokyo World Championships will happen in September. Streaming of the first day on Friday is above, with a separate channel for field events here . Streaming will cut off at 18:30, when it switches over to a live broadcast on NHK BS, and then on NHK's main channel at 19:30. Other streaming links: Saturday Track ・ Saturday Field ・ Sunday Track ・ Sunday Field Meet schedule here . Entry list highlights, with athletes' best marks in the Nationals qualifying window: Men's 100 m Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (Toray) - 9.96 Hiroki Yanagita (Toyo Univ.) - 10.02 Yuki Koike (Sumitomo Denko) - 10.09 Ryuichiro Sakai (Osaka Gas) - 10.10 Naoki Nishioka (Tsukuba Univ.) - 10.11 Ryota Suzuki (Suzuki) - 10.12 Naoki Inoue (Waseda Univ.) - 10.12 Ryo Wada (Miki House) - 10.13 Yoshihide Kiryu (Nihon Seimei) - 10.15 Ryota Yamagata (Seiko) - 10.26 Men's 200 m Towa Uzawa (JAL) - 2...