japan running news

The Hakodate Half Marathon and Marathon took place June 28 on a course starting and finishing at Hakodate Dotsuku Sports Garden. 4,448 people ran the half marathon, with another 3,866 in the marathon for a total participant number of 8,314. Cheered on by the crowds, runners chased PBs through the exotic atmosphere of Hakodate's streets. A record-breaking 9.271 people entered the race, 5,037 in the half marathon and 4,234 in the marathon. At the opening ceremony mayor Jun Oizumi told onlookers, "I hope that the warm cheers of our local people along the course give runners strength, and that they enjoy the race til the very end." When the starting gun fired at 9:00 a.m. the runners rook off. True to the mayor's words, locals and official cheering squads supported them with loud cheering and performances. At Midorinoshima, a longstanding local restaurant served up curry and other dishes, giving participants a taste of Hakodate's delicious local cuisine. Jin Yuasa ...

It was a high-level men's race at this year's Lake Saroma 100 km Ultramarathon . In cooler conditions than usual at Lake Saroma Tatsuya Inagaki and Masato Tanaka went out hot with a 34:50 opening 10 km, way ahead of pace for Alexsandr Sorokin 's 6:05:35 WR and even the unofficial 5:59:20 run by Sibusiso Kubheka last year. Tanaka lost touch with Inagaki before 40 km, but with halfway splits of 2:54:59 and 2:56:05 both were still far under Kubheka's mark. Running 3rd through 5th at that point, Chiharu Kuzukubo , Hirofumi Nakamura and Toru Somiya were all under Sorokin's WR pace too, with 6th-placer Takatoshi Oe just off in 3:02:49. Inagaki couldn't sustain that kind of performance, and by 60 km Tanaka was back in touch. 10 km Tanaka was 5 minutes ahead and still on 5:54:46 pace, with Oe moving up to 3rd and just over 3 minutes behind Inagaki. 70 km is the marathon's 30 km of the 100 km, and Tanaka began to slow rapidly, over 6 hour pace at 80 km with Oe ...

Following an earlier announcement of the half marathon teams for September's Copenhagen World Road Running Championships , on June 26 the JAAF announced the mile and 5 km squads that will join them. No women were named to the mile. Women 5 km Kana Mizumoto (Edion) - 15:06.98 Rina Kusu (Sekisui Kagaku) - 15:10.91 Half Marathon Yumi Yoshikawa (Canon) - 1:09:14 Wakana Kabasawa (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 1:09:20 Rina Shimizu (Noritz) - 1:09:22 Yuna Takahashi (Shimamura) - 1:09:23 Men Mile Ojiro Honda (Waseda Univ.) - 3:37.53 (1500 m) Tomoki Nakano (Toenec) - 3:37.92 (1500 m) 5 km Yota Mashiko (Waseda Univ.) - 13:20.35 Rui Suzuki (Waseda Univ.) - 13:20.64 Half Marathon Tomoya Ogikubo (Hiramatsu Byoin) - 1:00:22 Yuma Nishizawa (Toyota Boshoku) - 1:00:26 Neo Namiki (Subaru) - 1:00:29 Daisuke Sato (Chuo Univ.) - 1:00:40 © 2026 Brett Larner , all rights reserved

The Gold Coast Marathon is always a big stop on the Japanese calendar, with both the men's and women's CR of 2:07:33 and 2:24:22 set by Japanese athletes in the last 2 years and 5 of the last 7 races won by Japanese men. 3 athletes on the entry list in both the women's and men's races have run faster than those times in the last 3 years, and with solid Japanese contingents there's a good chance of new CR. Almaz Kebede , 2022 winner Lindsay Flanagan and Antonina Kwambai have all run 2:23 since 2024 and have 2:25-level Japanese women Aika Murakami and Kaede Kawamura to deal with. The lack of jet lag for the Japanese tends to play in their favor relative to African athletes, so it should be at least a 5-way race up front. Vanessa Wilson is the top domestic entrant with a 2:28:34 in Berlin 2 years ago. 2:06 Kenyans Benson Tunyo , Dominic Ngeno and Elisha Rotich make up the front end of the men's field, with last year's 3rd-placer Ryoma Takeuchi and rece...

https://www.marathon.tokyo/en/news/detail/news_20260622162902.html https://www.marathon.tokyo/en/20th/

Over the weekend the Gold Coast Marathon announced its elite fields for the China Airlines Half Marathon the day before the main race. For the last couple of years there's been a friendly rivalry between Gold Coast and Tasmania's Launceston Half a month earlier to produce the fastest times ever on Australian soil. Gold Coast has had the women's record for a few years since American Keira D'Amato ran 1:06:39 in 2023, and last year it added the men's record with a 1:01:08 from Andy Buchanan . Launceston took the men's record this year with a 1:00:41 from Haftu Strintzos , and women's winner Izzi Batt-Doyle ran a course record 1:08:46, the fastest time ever by an Australia in Australia. NR holder Batt-Doyle is the favorite again in the women's race at Gold Coast. Women-only half marathon NR holder Rino Goshima has run as fast as 1:08:03, but since moving up to the marathon she hasn't anything near that kind of time, and a 33:12 at the B.A.A. 10 km ...

The mile isn't really a thing in Japan, especially on the roads, but it's starting to change a little bit. At Nike's new Ginza Mile road race, even in the middle of heavy rain the top 7 in the men's race all broke the national record of 4:00.02 set in March by Ojiro Honda (Waseda Univ.). Soma Nagahara (Juntendo Univ.) was first across the line to become the official new NR holder in 3:57.0, just beating Shunsuke Kuwata (Komazawa Univ.) by 0.3 in Kuwata's best race since the NYC Half in March. Kaisei Okada (Chuo Univ.) and Yuto Miyake (Chuo Univ.) were right behind in 3:57.9 and 3:58.1, and while there doesn't seem to be an official Taiwanese road mile NR it's pretty much a given that the 3:58.9 by Chien Tzu-Chieh (Chuo Univ.) for 5th was Taiwan's best-ever. Women's NR holder Nozomi Tanaka (Toyota Jidoshokki) easily won in 4:33.8, almost 2 seconds off her NR from 2023, with Wakana Kabasawa (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) 2nd in 4:36.87 and Ran Urabe ...

At the South Kyushu Region High School Track and Field Championships held June 12-15 at the Prefectural Sports Park Field in Okinawa, more than a dozen students who ate boxed lunches provided by event organizers fell ill with stomach pain and vomiting. Prefectural officials are investigating whether the students suffered food poisoning. According to the prefectural high school athletics association, the boxed lunches were provided for students who worked at the meet. After some students who ate them started to say they felt unwell, organizers reported the situation to public health authorities. They are currently consulting with schools that participated in the meet to find out whether other students also became sick. A parent of one student who became sick commented, "Some students both competed in the meet and worked at it. There might be some of them whose performances are suffering because of this." source article: https://ryukyushimpo.jp/national/entry-5318898.html trans...

The organizers of December's 57th Hofu Yomiuri Marathon held an organizational meeting last week to kick off this year's race. 30 members of the executive committee including Yamaguchi Track and Field Association chair Kensei Eto and Hofu Track and Field Association head Kunimitsu Ito attended. This year's race is set to start at 10:40 a.m. on Dec. 6. Like last year, for both men and women Hofu will count toward qualification for the MGC Race, Japan's official trials race for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. At the meeting it was finalized that the course will be changed from its traditional one running on the north side of Hofu Station to one on its south side. The change was made in order to make the race safer, given the narrow roads north of the station that raised the risk of accidents between race vehicles and athletes. The new course was measured and approved by the JAAF in April this year. Mayor Yutaka Ikeda commented, "This course change means the race w...

Following this past weekend's National Championships, the JAAF has announced the complete lineup of 41 women and 45 men for September's Nagoya Asian Games national team. Times listed are athletes' 2025-26 best. Women 100 m Midori Mikase (Sumitomo Denko) - 11.33 Abigail Fuka Ido (Toho Ginko) - 11.35 200 m Abigail Fuka Ido (Toho Ginko) - 22.79 Aiko Iki (Osaka Gas) - 23.41 400 m Nanako Matsumoto (Toho Ginko) - 52.14 800 m Rin Kubo (Sekisui Kagaku) - 1:59.52 Ayano Shiomi (Iwatani Sangyo) - 2:01.01 1500 m Nozomi Tanaka (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 4:04.16 Mizuki Michishita (Sekisui Kagaku) - 4:10.48 5000 m Nozomi Tanaka (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 14:34.10 Yuma Yamamoto (Sekisui Kagaku) - 14;59.89 10000 m Nozomi Tanaka (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 30:54.40 Ririka Hironaka (Uniqlo) - 30:56.32 100 mH Hitomi Nakajima (Hasegawa) - 12.71 Mako Fukube (NKK) - 12.72 400 mH Honoka Aoki (Zenrin) - 55.92 Satsuki Umehara (Sumitomo Denko) - 56.22 3000 mSC Miu Saito (Panasonic) - 9:24.72 Manami Nishiyama (Mitsui...

https://comrades.com/blogs/kusche-and-steyn-shatter-records-and-cash-in-at-2026-comrades-marathon

Just over a month since his 17th birthday, Taiju Goto proved his 48.31 U18 WR in the men's 400 mH heats yesterday wasn't a fluke as he bettered that in the final on the last day of the 110th National Track and Field Championships in Nagoya. Slow in the start, Goto picked up momentum coming up to 200 m before really getting into gear, pulling away from the rest of the field in the last 100 m to win in 48.09, another U18 WR, a new U20 NR, and a run that made him the first high schooler ever to with the Nationals 400 mH. Now only 0.20 off the senior NR, Goto joins the list of Rakunan H.S. talent to be re-writing the record books that includes Yoshihide Kiryu , Ryuji Miura , Keita Sato and Toshinari Takaoka . Another Nationals MR went down, this one in the women's 3000 mSC thanks to NR holder Miu Saito . Having taken 3rd in the 5000 m 2 days ago, Saito started out a little on the conservative side with company from last year's winner Manami Nishiyama in the first 1000 ...

The performance of the 2nd day of Japan's 110th National Track and Field Championships came c/o the latest monster to come out of Kyoto's Rakunan H.S. , 400 m hurdler Taiju Goto . In the opening round heats Goto, who turned 17 last month, closed hard to win his heat in 48.31, a PB by nearly a second and the fastest-ever U18 time anywhere in the world. And at only 0.42 off the senior NR held by the great Dai Tamesue , there's a lot of optimism for more in the final and the rest of the season. Another great performance came in the men's 200 m heats, where Soshi Mizukubo moved up to all-time #2 on the Japanese lists with a 20.07 (+0.5) PB to win Heat 3, 0.04 off another antique NR held by another legend, Shingo Suetsugu . By comparison the 100 m seemed pretty tame, with veteran Shuhei Tada scoring his first national title in 5 years in only 10.17 (+0.1) in what seems like an off-year for the event in Japan. After leading the women's 200 m heats in 23.01 (+0.1) Abiga...

Japan's 110th National Track and Field Championships kicked off Friday at the same stadium that will host September's Asian Games. From an international point of view the biggest result was the return of Paris Olympics women's javelin throw gold medalist Haruka Kitaguchi . After a rough year Kitaguchi threw 62.86 m on her fifth attempt, her best throw since last June's Ostrava Golden Spike meet and enough to give her the win by over a meter. It was still almost 4.5 m short of Kitaguchi's NR, but it was a big step back in the right direction. On the track there were a lot of surprising results on the first day, with multiple meet records, near-misses on MR, and fastest-ever qualifying rounds. The race of the day was the women's 5000 m final, where 4-time national champ and NR holder Nozomi Tanaka tried to make it 5 in a row. With the race going at 15:15-20 pace Tanaka broke away with 4 laps to go, opening a substantial lead over Aichi local Yuma Yamamoto and t...

The National Track and Field Championships happen Friday through Sunday at Paloma Mizuho Stadium in Nagoya. Primetime events will be broadcast on NHK, but the rest of the meet will be streamed on separate field and track channels. Day 1 track events are above, with the rest of the streaming here . Entry lists here . Complete meet schedule: Friday, June 12 13:20 - Women's Discus Throw Final 14:00 - Women's Pole Vault Final 14:05 - Women's 100 m Heats 14:30 - Men's Triple Jump Final 14:38 - Men's 1500 m Heats 15:03 - Women's 100 mH Heats 15:35 - Men's 100 m Heats 15:50 - Men's Discus Throw Final 16:25 - Women's 400 m Heats 16:47 - Men's 400 m Prelims 17:10 - Men's 5000 m Heats 17:45 - Men's Long Jump Final 18:10 - Women's 100 m Semifinals 18:25 - Women's 800 m Heats 18:30 - Women's Javelin Throw Final 18:48 - Men's 800 m Heats 19:15 - Men's 3000 mSC Final 19:35 - Women's 100mH Semifinals 20:00 - Women's 5...

The Kansai Region qualifying race for November's 58th National University Men's Ekiden was held June 7 at Yanmar Field Nagai in Osaka. Kyoto Sangyo University won overall, with Osaka Keizai University , Kwansei Gakuin University and Ritsumeikan University taking the other 3 qualifying spots. 1st the last 2 years, Kansai University placed 5th and missed out on making the main event. 12 teams ran in the qualifying race, each fielding teams of 8 split evenly across 4 heats of 10000 m. Their cumulative times determined the team score, with the 4 fastest teams earning spots. The National University Men's Ekiden happens Nov. 1 on an 8-stage, 106.8 km course from Atsuta Jingu in Aichi to Ise Jingu in Mie. Winner Kyoto Sangyo missed out on qualifying last year, but its win this year had special significance as it earned the team its 50th appearance at Nationals. 2nd-year Tsukito Minami brought momentum to the team's performance in the 2nd 10000 m heat. Osaka Keizai 3rd-ye...

WR holder Agnes Ngetich  soloed a fast one at the 54th edition of the Mastercard New York Mini 10k, leading inside the first mile and pulling away the rest of the race to run a 30:07 CR for the win, the fastest time ever on U.S. soil albeit on a slightly net downhill course. On a warm day that saw over 10,000 women finish  Tsigie Gebreselama  was on her own most of the way too, a distant 2nd in 30:53 and 17 seconds up on past champ Hellen Obiri . Further back, 2026 World University Cross Country bronze medalist Amisa Murayama  and 2025 Morinomiyako Ekiden 3rd leg CR breaker Nazuki Sasaki  from 2025 National University Women's Ekiden runner-up Tohoku Fukushi University  made their U.S. debuts. Murayama was targeting the fastest-ever Japanese time at the Mini, 32:37, but struggled on the hills just before 5 km and late in the race, fading to finish 23rd in 34:08. Sasaki, recovering from a stress reaction in her upper back a few months ago, ran a conservative ...

Entry lists are out for next week's National Track and Field Championships in Nagoya, the main selection event for Japan's teams for September's Nagoya Asian Games and Copenhagen World Road Running Championships. Top entries in each event with best time in 2025-26. Asterisks indicate 2025 national champions. Men Men's 100 m *Yoshihide Kiryu (Nihon Seimei) - 9.99 Sorato Shimizu (Seiryu H.S.) - 10.00 Yuhi Mori (Watanabe Pipe) - 10.00 Yuki Koike (Sumitomo Denko) - 10.06 Fukuto Komuro (Chuo Univ.) - 10.08 Ryota Yamagata (Seiko) - 10.08 Shuhei Tada (Sumitomo Denko) - 10.10 Ryota Suzuki (Suzuki) - 10.11 Naoki Inoue (Osaka Gas) - 10.12 Rikuto Higuchi (Suzuki) - 10.12 Men's 200 m Shota Iizuka (Mizuno) - 20.45 Aoto Suzuki (Sumitomo Denko) - 20.49 Kota Uematsu (Chuo Univ.) - 20.50 Yuji Michael Orisa (GK Line) - 20.51 Soshi Mizukubo (Miyazaki T&F) - 20.51 Mitsuhiro Numata (Legalis) - 20.58 Seisho Sasaki (Iwate Univ.) - 20.60 Sota Miwa (Koizumi) - 20.61 Naoki Uemoto (Lega...