Yamaguchi Wins Setagaya 246 Half, Orita Takes Miyako

It's the point in the season where Hakone Ekiden-bound university coaches are farming out their squads to half marathons to sort through the contenders to make their 16-runner Hakone entry rosters. Next weekend's Ageo City Half Marathon is the biggest of them, but two key races happened today. In rainy conditions at the Setagaya 246 Half in Tokyo, Shoki Yamaguchi (Soka Univ.) won a sprint finish against sub-60 man Paul Kuira (JR Higashi Nihon), Kuira overtaking Yamaguchi after Yamaguchi had pulled away over the last km but Yamaguchi fighting back on the track. Both clocked 1:01:46, but Yamaguchi succeeded in snagging the win away from Kuira right before the line.

In 3rd, Aito Sato led a massive group from 2025 Hakone champ Aoyama Gakuin University with a PB of 1:01:57 for 3rd. 5 other AGU runner were under 63 minutes, all but one breaking 62:30 and most in PBs, with Kotaro Suzuki (Chuo Univ.), 8th in 1:02:28, and Yota Aoteki (Hosei Univ.), 10th in 1:02:46 breaking up AGU's control of the rest of the top 10. Former Nitori member Kaede Okajima (Kanto RC) won the women's race in 1:18:07, with 50-year-old Junko Ganbara running an excellent 1:20:09 for 3rd.

AGU's Sota Orita, 13:28.78 for 5000 m in high school, was at the Miyako Salmon Half in Iwate for his half marathon debut instead of Setagaya. Orita soloed a 1:02:51 for the win, opening up 9 seconds on Kosei Niitani from National University Ekiden champion Komazawa University, 2nd in a PB of 1:03:00. Also debuting, AGU's Ao Funakoshi ran 1:03:02 for 3rd. The duel between AGU and Komazawa was a preview of what is probably to come at Hakone less than 2 months from now.

Atsumi Nagashima (Saysky) won the women's race in Miyako in 1:25:15.

20th Setagaya 246 Half Marathon

Tokyo, 9 Nov. 2025

complete results

Women

1. Kaede Okajima (Kanto RC) - 1:18:07

2. Remi Tanaka (Hiratsuka T&F Assoc.) - 1:19:01

3. Junko Ganbara (Kasai Runners) - 1:20:09

Men

1. Shoki Yamaguchi (Soka Univ.) - 1:01:46

2. Paul Kuira (JR Higashi Nihon) - 1:01:46

3. Aito Sato (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:01:57 - PB

4. Kyosuke Hiramatsu (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:04 - PB

5. Kaito Nakamura (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:08 - PB

6. Kenta Torii (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:23 - PB

7. Keito Kumai (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:25 - PB

8. Kotaro Suzuki (Chuo Univ.) - 1:02:28 - PB

9. Ibuki Sugiyama (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:32 - debut

10. Yota Aoteki (Hosei Univ.) - 1:02:46 - PB

39th Miyako Salmon Half Marathon

Miyako, Iwate, 9 Nov. 2025

complete results

Women

1. Atsumi Nakashima (Saysky) - 1:25:01

2. Norie Kamamachi (unattached) - 1:27:59

3. Kako Washizu (Tohoku Univ.) - 1:28:26

Men

1. Sota Orita (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:51 - debut

2. Kosei Niitani (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:03:00 - PB

3. Ao Funakoshi (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:03:02 - debut

4. Ryosuke Kamimura (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:03:05 - debut

5. Hijiri Komatsu (Komazawa Univ.) - 1:03:27 - debut

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 ...

JAAF Announces World Road Running Championships Half Marathon Team

The JAAF announced the men's and women's half marathon teams today for this fall's World Road Running Championships in Copenhagen: Women Yumi Yoshikawa (Canon) - 1:09:14 (1st, 2026 Osaka Half) Wakana Kabasawa (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 1:09:20 (1st, 2026 Nat'l Corp. Half) Rina Shimizu (Noritz) - 1:09:22 (2nd, 2026 Osaka Half) Yuna Takahashi (Shimamura) - 1:09:23 (3rd, 2026 Osaka Half) Men Tomoya Ogikubo (Hiramatsu Byoin) - 1:00:22 (4th, 2026 Marugame Half) Yuma Nishizawa (Toyota Boshoku) - 1:00:26 (5th, 2026 Marugame Half) Neo Namiki (Subaru) - 1:00:29 (6th, 2026 Marugame Half) Daisuke Sato (Chuo Univ.) - 1:00:40 (7th, 2026 Marugame Half) Mile and 5 km teams, if any, will be decided after June's National Track and Field Championships. © 2026 Brett Larner , all rights reserved

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...

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