Skip to main content

Mixed 4x400 m MR as National Sports Festival Wraps


The 2025 National Sports Festival wrapped Tuesday with a short day of only 5 races. Kain Inagaki (Rakunan H.S.) won a good junior men's 3000 m, out kicking Toa Fujita (Toyokawa H.S.) by less than 2 seconds for 1st 8:11.75 to 8:13.95. The junior women's 3000 m was even better, as Nodoka Ashida (Ritsumeikan Uji H.S.) held off a chase pack of 5 to win in 9:02.90. Nami Kawakami (Nagano Higashi H.S.) was 2nd in 9:04.22, with 3rd through 6th place all within 0.90 seconds of her.



With NR holder Ko Ochiai having opted for the senior race, the junior men's 800 m wasn't especially fast. Felix Muthiani (Yamanashi Gakuin H.S.) had an easy win over Rakunan's Atsuki Watanabe, running 1:48.65 to Watanabe's 1:49.23. Ayano Shiomi (Iwatani Sangyo) dominated in the senior women's 800 m, winning in 2:02.56.


The mixed 4x400 m relay was a lot of fun, with the top 3 teams all within 0.18 and all 3 breaking the meet record. Featuring Osuke Hasegawa, Riko Ono, Akira Kanamori and Nanako Matsumoto, the Fukushima team took the win in a photo finish with Hyogo, Fukushima timed at 3:18.67 and Hyogo and 3:18.68. Chiba was a close 3rd in 3:18.85.

© 2025 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee



Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
I love watching the National Sports Festival every year! Such a brilliant meeting at the end of a long season.

Well done in particular to all the winners, record-breakers and prize winners (nyu-sho!)

That Girls' 3000m had extraordinary depth with 10 Japanese girls inside 9:09, seven of them running PBs of up to 12 seconds.
By my reckoning it's very probably the deepest ever Japanese U20 3000m race for Top 10 depth, although there's been a couple of races with better Top 5 depth.
October 9, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Federation Tells World Championships Marathoner Horibata To Go On Diet

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20110307-OHT1T00258.htm translated by Brett Larner Having made the 2011 World Championships marathon team by running a PB of 2:09:25 to come in 3rd overall and as the top Japanese finisher at the Mar. 6 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Hiroyuki Horibata (24, Team Asahi Kasei), talked to the media at Osaka Airport on Mar. 7. Following Sunday's race Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki , 67, told Horibata, "Let's cut things down a bit until the World Championships," directing him to go on a diet. The 189 cm Horibata weighs 72 kg [~6'3", 160 lbs]. When he joined Team Asahi Kasei in 2005 at age 18 he weighed 65 kg, and this weight is still generally listed on his profile at races and in the media. "For some reason it never changes," he said with a grin. His coach Takeshi Soh , 58, commented, "If he was hungrier for glory his world would change completely," slapping the 'heavyweight division runner...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nagoya Asian Games Test Event Canceled After Insulation Falls From Venue Ceiling

A section of insulation material fell from the ceiling of Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, the official venue for squash competition at September's Nagoya Asian Games. There were no injuries, but the city suspended use of the arena until its safety could be guaranteed, resulting in the cancelation of the Asian Games squash test event which was scheduled to have begun on May 14. It is not yet clear whether the arena will be usable for the Asian Games as planned. According to city officials, arena staff found that the insulation material had fallen onto a work walkway 13 m above the ground on the night of May 11. The fallen material was 3.6 m long, 50 cm wide and 2.5 km thick, and was found to be waterlogged. The cause of the accident is unknown, but it is possible that it was caused by rainwater leaking in from the roof. The same insulation material is installed across the entire ceiling, and the city plans to check for the extent of the possible flooding. Asked whether the arena will be re...
Post a Comment
Read more

Everything You Need to Know About the 2026 Hakone Ekiden

The Hakone Ekiden is the world's biggest road race, 2 days of road relay action with Japan's 20 best university teams racing 10 half marathon-scale legs from central Tokyo to the mountains east of Mount Fuji and back. The level just keeps going higher and higher , hitting the point this year where there are teams with 10-runner averages of 13:33.10 for 5000 m, 27:55.98 for 10000 m, and 1:01:20 for the half marathon. It's never been better, and with great weather in the forecast it's safe to say this could be one of the best races in Hakone's 102-year history, especially on Day One. If you've seen it then you know NTV's live broadcast is the best sports broadcast in the world, with the pre-race show kicking off at 7:00 a.m. Japan time on the 2nd and 3rd and the race starting at 8:00 a.m. sharp. If you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it on TVer starting at 7:50 a.m. on the 2nd , and again at 7:50 a.m. on the 3rd . There's even a 2-hour high...
3 comments
Read more