Nagano Higashi Girls Make It Two In a Row at National High School Ekiden

The Nagano Higashi H.S. girls pulled off a perfect repetition of their start-to-finish win at last year's National High School Ekiden, taking the lead on the first leg again this time and never letting go. Opening runner Nami Kawakami won the 6.0 km First Stage by 2 seconds in 19:06, 2nd runner Haruna Tabata extended it to 12 seconds, and 3rd runner Airi Mashiba added another 30 seconds to the lead with a massive 9:06 CR for the 3.0 km leg, beating every Kenyan on the stage and everyone who had run it before.

Nagano Higashi's last 2 runners Yui Honda and Rena Imai both lost some ground, but with both of them still running the 3rd-fastest times on their stages there wasn't really any risk of anyone catching them. Imai brought Nagano Higashi home in 1:06:30 for the 21.0975 km course, just missing the overall CR by 4 seconds but still a dominant performance from an all-Japanese lineup.

3rd last year, Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. got off to a slow start but spend the rest of the race in 2nd, ultimately finishing 33 seconds behind Nagano Higashi in 1:07:03. Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. and Sendai Ikuei H.S. ruled for 3rd for most of the way, Ritsumeikan Uji ultimately getting there 9 seconds ahead of Sendai Ikuei, 1:07:29 to 1:07:38.

Saitama Sakae H.S. and Kurashiki H.S. were 5th and 6th, Saitama Sakae getting there 2 seconds ahead on 1:08:08 despite an amazing 8:32 CR on the 3.0 km Fourth Stage from Kurashiki's Janet Jepkoech. 800 m NR holder Rin Kubo, 3rd on her stage in 13:02 for 4.0975 km, helping Higashi Osaka Keiai H.S. get onto the 8-deep podium at 7th in 1:08:24, with Suma Gakuen H.S. 8th in 1:09:01.

37th National High School Girls Ekiden

Kyoto, 21 Dec. 2025

57 teams, 5 stages, 21.0975 km

complete results

Top Individual Stage Results

First Stage (6.0 km)

1. Nami Kawakami (2nd yr., Nagano Higashi H.S.) - 19:06

2. Nodoka Ashida (3rd yr., Ritsumeikan Uji H.S.) - 19:08

3. Yua Nagamori (1st yr., Sendai Ikuei H.S.) - 19:09

Second Stage (4.0975 km)

1. Rio Kawamura (3rd yr., Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.) - 12:45

2. Haruna Tabata (3rd yr., Nagano Higashi H.S.) - 12:54

3. Rin Kubo (3rd yr., Higashi Osaka Keiai H.S.) - 13:02

Third Stage (3.0 km)

1. Airi Mashiba (3rd yr., Nagano Higashi H.S.) - 9:06 - CR

2. Mirriam Njeri (2nd yr., Sendai Ikuei H.S.) - 9:16

3. Mary Muthoni (1st yr., Aomori Yamada H.S.) - 9:30

Fourth Stage (3.0 km)

1. Janet Jepkoech (3rd yr., Kurashiki H.S.) - 8:32 - CR

2. Rei Taya (2nd yr., Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.) - 9:14

3. Yui Honda (1st yr., Nagano Higashi H.S.) - 9:22

Fifth Stage (5.0 km)

1. Miyu Kobayashi (3rd yr., Ritsumeikan Uji H.S.) - 15:50

2. Mai Fukumoto (2nd yr., Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.) - 16:01

3. Rena Imai (2nd yr., Nagano Higashi H.S.) - 16:02

Top Team Performances

1. Nagano Higashi H.S. - 1:06:30

2. Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. - 1:07:03

3. Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. - 1:07:29

4. Sendai Ikuei H.S. - 1:07:38

5. Saitama Sakae H.S. - 1:08:08

6. Kurashiki H.S. - 1:08:10

7. Higashi Osaka Keiai H.S. - 1:08:24

8. Suma Gakuen H.S. - 1:09:01

9. Saikyo H.S. - 1:09:14

10. Kamimura Gakuen H.S. - 1:09:17

Rui Aoki and Shunsuke Kuwata Making U.S. Debut at United Airlines NYC Half

When the National University Half Marathon was canceled in 2011 after the massive earthquake and tsunami struck northeastern Japan 2 days before the race, JRN talked to the New York Road Runners about bringing 2 collegiate runners to the United Airlines NYC Half Marathon the next weekend as a show of support. It wasn't possible to pull it together in the immediate aftermath of the disasters, but a year later we brought 2 young 2nd-years from Hakone Ekiden CR breaker Toyo University , Kento Otsu and Yuta Shitara , who had been the top 2 Japanese collegiate finishers at the Ageo City Half Marathon in November before Hakone. Shitara ran 1:01:48, at the time the fastest-ever by a Japanese man on U.S. soil, with Otsu running a solid 1:03:15. Thanks to that great start the Ageo-NYC partnership became a regular thing, and except for the pandemic it's continued every year since, expanding this year to June's New York Mini 10 km when 2 runners from Mt. Fuji Women's Ekiden runne...

Chepkirui Over Sato Again to Win 2nd-Straight Nagoya Women's Marathon, Chen Breaks Malaysian NR (updated)

This year's Nagoya Women's Marathon felt like a changing of the guard, with some the bigger domestic names over the last few years fading early and a lot of newer faces stepping up with quality debuts or second marathons. The front group was set to be paced for 2:20 flat with the 2nd group at 2:23:30 to hit the auto-qualifying time for the 2027 MGC Race, Japan's L.A. Olympics marathon trials race in Nagoya. Up front things went out OK, but after a 33:10 split at 10 km Ayuko Suzuki , 2:21:22 here 2 years ago, lost touch, ultimately finishing 23rd in 2:33:28. Windy conditions started to play with pacers' ability to keep things steady and the pace slowed majorly over the next 10 km, but even with a 34:05 second 10 km there were big-name casualties. 2024 Nagoya winner Yuka Ando was next to drop, ending up 17th in 2:30:32. NR holder Honami Maeda was next, followed quickly by Bahraini Kenyan Eunice Chumba and debuting Wakana Kabasawa . Maeda faded to 21st in 2:31:21, whil...

How it Happened

Ancient History I went to Wesleyan University, where the legend of four-time Boston Marathon champ and Wes alum Bill Rodgers hung heavy over the cross-country team. Inspired by Koichi Morishita and Young-Cho Hwang’s duel at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics I ran my first marathon in 1993, qualifying for Boston ’94 where Bill was kind enough to sign a star-struck 20-year-old me’s bib number at the expo. Three years later I moved to Japan for grad school, and through a long string of coincidences I came across a teenaged kid named Yuki Kawauchi down at my neighborhood track. I never imagined he’d become what he is, but right from the start there was just something different about him. After his 2:08:37 breakthrough at the 2011 Tokyo Marathon he called me up and asked me to help him get into races abroad. He’d finished 3rd on the brutal downhill Sixth Stage at the Hakone Ekiden, and given how he’d run the hills in the last 6 km at Tokyo ’11 I thought he’d do well at Boston or New York. “I...

japan running news

Search This Blog