Nduta and Akidor Win at Sanyo Ladies Road Race

Alongside the National High School Girls Ekiden, the Nittai University Women's Long Distance Time Trials meet and Sanyo Ladies Road Race 10 km and half marathon made it a busy weekend for women's running in Japan.

At Nittai, Momoka Kawaguchi (Uniqlo) was just off her PB in the 5000 m, winning the A-heat in 15:26.59 by almost 20 seconds over teammate Yume Goto. Nokoka Hosaka (SID Group) took the 3000 m A-heat in 9:25.42, leading the top 5 under 9:30.

At Sanyo, a lead group of 4 went through 5 km in 16:09 in the 10 km before Lucy Nduta (Ehime Ginko) threw in a massive surge to win in a negative split 31:49. Janet Nyiva (Panasonic) held steady for 2nd in 32:17, with Mao Uesugi (Tokyo Metro) fading slightly but holding off the fast-closing Hikaru Kitagawa (Universal Entertainment) for 3rd 32:38 to 32:41. Part of the original lead quartet, Daisy Jerop (Josai Kokusai Univ.) blew up big time in the 2nd half, finishing 16th in 33:34.

Margaret Akidor (Comodi Iida) just missed her CR from last year in the half marathon but still pulled off the repeat win, dropping 10 km CR holder Agnes Mwikali (Kyocera) after 15 km to take 1st in 1:07:52. Mwikali was 2nd in 1:08:01, with Tabitha Kamau Njeri (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) and Nanaka Izawa (Starts) both getting under 70 minutes in 1:09:26 and 1:09:36.

26th Nittai University Women's Long Distance Time Trials

Yokohama, Kanagawa, 20 Dec. 2025

complete results

3000 m A-Heat

1. Nokoka Hosaka (SID Group) - 9:25.42

2. Honomi Muramatsu (Tokai Sagami H.S.) - 9:25.79

3. Aiko Minomo (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 9:25.94

4. Mayu Hirata (Wacoal) - 9:26.52

5. Honoka Inoue (Tokai Sagami H.S.) - 9:26.91

6. Moe Kawajiri (GRlab Hyogo) - 9:30.26

7. Ayari Shiozaki (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 9:30.52

8. Momo Okazaki (Chuo Yokohama H.S.) - 9:35.39

9. Rin Kamiyanagi (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 9:35.46

10. Yuna Kamogari (Kinjo Gakuen H.S.) - 9:35.60

5000 m A-Heat

1. Momoka Kawaguchi (Uniqlo) - 15:26.59

2. Yume Goto (Uniqlo) - 15:45.76

3. Rina Kusu (Sekisui Kagaku) - 15:47.79

4. Yuka Sakajiri (Wacoal) - 15:54.67

5. Hikaru Hamano (Chuo Univ.) - 15:54.95

6. Eriko Otsuka (Higo Ginko) - 15:56.76

7. Suzuna Kinoshita (Chuo Univ.) - 15:57.53

8. Ayaka Segi (Meijo Univ.) - 15:57.66

9. Rion Furukawa (Nitori) - 15:57.80

10. Moe Koda (Starts) - 16:00.21

44th Sanyo Ladies Road Race

Okayama, 21 Dec. 2025

complete results

10 km

1. Lucy Nduta (Ehime Ginko) - 31:49

2. Janet Nyiva (Panasonic) - 32:17

3. Mao Uesugi (Tokyo Metro) - 32:38

4. Hikaru Kitagawa (Univ. Ent.) - 32:41

5. Sakiho Tsutsui (Univ. Ent.) - 32:49

6. Ayumi Morita (Tokyo Metro) - 32:49

7. Naomi Muthoni (Univ. Ent.) - 32:53

8. Azusa Sumi (Univ. Ent.) - 32:56

9. Shuho Takahashi (Nitori) - 32:59

10. Aika Murakami (Tokyo Metro) - 32:59

Half Marathon

1. Margaret Akidor (Comodi Iida) - 1:07:52

2. Agnes Mwikali (Kyocera) - 1:08:01

3. Tabitha Njeri Kamau (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 1:09:26

4. Nanaka Izawa (Starts) - 1:09:36

5. Sora Shinozakura (Yokohama T&F Assoc.) - 1:11:02

6. Asa Kobayashi (Noritz) - 1:11:26

7. Madoka Nakano (Iwatani Sangyo) - 1:11:36

8. Hisami Ishii (Sysmex) - 1:11:37

9. Yuki Toyoda (Ehime Ginko) - 1:11:43

10. Rina Shimizu (Noritz) - 1:11:52

Japan's Team Performance at World U20 Championships

There wasn't much surprise in the events where Japan did well at the Oregon World U20 Championships , with medals in the men's 110 mH, 400 mH and 3000 m, and top 5 finishes in the women's and men's 5000 m race walks, men's 4x100 m relay, men's pole vault and long jump, men's 200 m, women's 800 m and 3000 m, and women's javelin throw. Jeremy Koga ran a 12.95 (+0.3) Asian U20 AR in the men's 110 mH semifinals, then came back in the final with a 12.97 (+0.7) in the final to take silver behind a brilliant 12.72 U20 WR by American Le'Ezra Brown . Taiju Goto was expected to medal in the men's 400 mH, but after leading the semifinals the best he could do was silver in 49.23, gold going to the Czech Republic's Michal Rada with a 48.59 European U20 AR. Expected to do better in the 1500 m, Ojiro Honda ran a 7:48.49 U20 NR in the men's 3000 m final to score bronze, only to come in near the back of the field in the 1500 m final at 14th in...

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...

Some Mid-Season Women's Corporate Team Roster Changes

The Daiichi Life women's corporate team announced last week on its official site that Paris Olympics 10000 m runner Haruka Kokai and teammate Yuka Masubuchi left the organization as of July 31. Kokai was born in 2003. Kokai rose to the national level while at Sendai Ikuei H.S. , winning the first leg at the National High School Ekiden her 2nd year to lead them to the overall national title. After graduating she joined Daiichi Life, then called Daiichi Seimei, in 2021. In March, 2023 she was the gold medalist in the women's 10000 m at the Asian Championships, and in December the same year she took 3rd in the National Championships 10000 m in an all-time Japanese #7 30:57.67 to score a place on the Paris Olympics team. In Paris she placed 19th. In a statement released by Daiichi Life Kokai said, "I want to thank the team, who always put the athletes first as they shared this journey, and all my teammates for so many good times together. There were times I got really disco...

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