japan running news

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...

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...

The 2026 National High School Championships wrapped Wednesday. It's been a big season for the high school girls' 100 m hurdles, with 6 of the 10 fastest-ever times by Japanese high school girls having been run across 5 different races since May 29. A bit surprisingly, only one of those 6 made the final at high school Nationals, but Yui Yoshinaga (Nagasaki Nichidai H.S.) showed her quality with a 13.44 win by 0.31, 0.11 off her all-time #7 mark of 13.33 from June despite a -2.1 m/s headwind. Koki Takajo (Miyazaki Nishi H.S.) took the boys' 110 mH in 13.90 (-1.2) and Yutaro Takenobu (Fukodai Joto H.S.) the boys' 3000 mSC in 8:48.64. The boys' shot put saw the biggest performance of the day, as Takara Ogaki (Atsuma H.S.) threw a 18.62 m PB on his 4th attempt, enough for the win by 90 cm and landing him at all-time Japanese #3 on the high school lists. The day's other field event titles went to Yukiya Izutani (Oji Kogyo H.S.), 5.10 m in the boys' pole vaul...

The star of the 2nd-to-last day of the 2026 National High School Championships was Niko Nozawa (Kofu Minami H.S.). Already all-time #7 on the Japanese high school girls' triple jump lists, on her 5th attempt Nozawa equalled her PB with a 12.88 m (+1.2) jump. That was enough to get both the win and a new meet record, the third event so far to see a new MR at this year's championships. Takara Ogaki (Atsuma H.S.) took the boys' discus throw at 52.24 m, with the 800 m titles going to Hitomi Imaeda (Chukyodai Chukyo H.S.) in the girls' race in 2:06.74 and Reki Soda (Sapporo Nichidai H.S.) in 1:50.20 in the boys' race. In relays, Chiba teams dominated the 4x100 m. Shiritsu Kashiwa H.S. edged Shiritsu Funabashi H.S. 45.41 to 45.64 to win the girls' race, but the Shiritsu Funabashi boys went one better with a win over Kyoto powerhouse Rakunan H.S. 39.60 to 39.72. The National High School Championships wrap up Wednesday. National High School Championships Day 6 H...

The organizers of the Hachioji Long Distance meet traditionally held in late November at Hachioji's Kamiyugi Field announced this week that the meet's 2026 edition has been postponed until March 6, 2027. Explaining the move, organizers said, "Various circumstances make it difficult to meet the conditions necessary to stage the meet, making it difficult to organize it at its usual time." Using pacers and Wavelight technology to help deliver reliably fast 10000 m times, the meet is a favorite for collegiate and corporate league runners. It occupies a solid place in Japanese long distance history, capped by Mebuki Suzuki 's 27:05.92 national record there last year. By moving the meet to Mar. 6, organizers said, "We are preparing to make this a high-profile event, a place where our best domestic athletes can aim for strong performances and a stage for record-breaking attempts in the lead-up to the 2027 Beijing World Championships." This year's 10000 m Na...

Only 5 finals happened on the fifth day of the 2026 National High School Championships , but in the girls' pole vault Kiyora Matsuura (Kumiyama H.S.) turned in the second meet record of the championships so far. Having already cleared 4.10 m to move up to all-time high school #4 in May, Matsuura had her sights on the 4.16 m high school record. With nobody else going higher than 3.90 m Matsuura cleared 4.00 m and 4.05 m on her first attempts, then passed on 4.10 m to go straight to 4.17 m. But it wasn't to be, and her 4.05 m stood as the new MR, at least until her senior year next year. Toma Tabushi (Shiritsu Funabashi H.S.) jumped 15.64 m (+0.2) to win the boys' triple jump, Hikaru Mizuno (Yashiro H.S.) taking the boys' hammer throw with a 64.63 m on his final attempt. On the track, the 200 m titles went to Nao Yamada (Shiritsu Kashiwa H.S.) in the girls' race in 23.91 (-0.8) and Randi Tsukamoto (Hoshigaya H.S.) in 20.95 (-1.2) in the boys' race. National Hi...

by Koichi Iwasa of DogsorCaravan On Aug. 2 the 51st Mount Fuji Ekiden took place, starting and finishing in Gotemba, Shizuoka and covering 11 stages up to the peak of Mount Fuji and back down. Teams of 6 runners tackle the tough course, each running handling one uphill and one downhill leg with the 6th runner reaching the peak before turning around to head back to the exchange zone where they started. The Heisei Mountaineering Club team took the overall win in 3:50:39, beating 9-time winner Takigahara SDF Base by 2:07 and stopping them from achieving a 10-year victory streak. The independent team division and SDF team division were separated in 2005, and this was the first time that the winning independent team outran the fastest SDF team to take the overall title. The roster that Heisei Mountaineering put together for this year's race raised eyebrows among everyone familiar with the Japanese trail running scene. Handling the 5th and 7th legs was Ruy Ueda , winner of the Fuji M...

The 79th edition of the Towada Hachimantai Ekiden took place Aug. 1 in Akita. Covering a 5-leg 71.4 km course, the race hosted 14 teams. Yamanashi's Fujisan GX took the overall win in a 3:42:17 course record. The best-placing team from within the prefecture, the Akita T&F Association team made the podium at 6th overall. The women's race was canceled again this year due to lack of participation. 79th Towada Hachimantai Ekiden Akita, 1 Aug. 2026 5 stages, 71.4 km, 14 teams complete results Top Team Results 1. Fujisan GX - 3:42:17 - CR 2. Corporate Select Team - 3:46:24 3. Tokyo Police A - 3:48:00 4. Comodi Iida - 3:48:41 5. Tokyo Police B - 3:50:14 6. Akita T&F Assoc. - 3:57:58 7. Fukushima T&F Assoc. - 4:08:20 Top Individual Stage Results First Stage  (13.0 km) 1. Ryota Seki (Tokyo Police A) - 39:47 2. Takuma Nakayama (Fujisan GX) - 40:01 3. Ryota Sato (Tokyo Police B) - 40:02 Second Stage  (13.0 km) 1. Yuki Seto (Fujisan GX) - 37:03 2. Shunsuke Watanabe (Comodi ...

Day 4 of the 2026 National High School Championships saw this year's first meet record. In a breakaway race Bilith Boi (Sapporo Yamanote H.S.) dropped the rest of the lead quartet to take the boys' 5000 m in a 13:34.53 MR, outrunning crosstown rival Sei Yoshida (Tokaidai Sapporo H.S.) whose 13:36.34 was the fastest-ever by a Japanese-born runner at Nationals. 3rd-placer Kogo Yonenaga (Kagoshima Kogyo H.S.) just made it under 13:40 too in 13:39.86, with Kemboi Kiprop (Kurashiki H.S.) dropping off for 4th in 13:42.76. In a season that's already seen a girls' heptathlon high school NR from Sawa Okada , Mirei Eguchi (Tokaidai Sagami H.S.) stayed solid throughout the second day of the heptathlon to win in a 5447 PB. That was enough to move her up to all-time #3 on the Japanese high school lists behind Okada's 5559 from May and previous record holder Meg Hemphill 's 5519. The girls' 400 mH final had great times up front too. Yuna Kusuda (Kagoshima Joshi H.S...

In maybe the most competitive event so far at the 2026 National High School Championships , Chihiro Obata (Iida H.S.) took the win in the boys' 5000 m race walk in 20:07.28 by 3 seconds over Yuki Kaida (Chuodai Yokohama H.S.) and other 3 seconds over Koya Hayashi (Tosu Kogyo H.S.) - 20:13.12. Right behind Hayashi, the next 3 were all under 20:17 and 2 more under 20:28, with almost everyone in the top 15 clocking a new PB. Impressive given the hot and humid summer conditions. Girls' 3000 m winner Mirriam Njeri (Sendai Ikuei H.S.) also impressed, putting 7 seconds on Nami Kawakami (Nagano Higashi H.S.) to win in 9:02.42. Other winners included Yui Yoshinaga (Nagasaki Nichidai H.S.), 11.57 (+0.7) in the girls' 100 m, Sekito Matsushita (Shizuoka H.S.), 10.27 (+0.7) in the boys' 100 m, Nana Ishihara (Hakuodai Ashikaga H.S.), 6.31 m (+1.1) in the girls' long jump, and Rinoa Akagi (Shigakudai Kagawa Nishi H.S.), 50.35 m for the win in the girls' javelin throw. ...

Day 2 of the 2026 National High School Championships saw dominant wins in both the girls' and boys' 400 m finals, with heavy favorite Haru Balogun (Ichikawa H.S.) winning the girls' race by over a second in 53.74 and Kodai Okumura (Saikyo H.S.) taking the boys' race by almost as much in 46.82. 4th-fastest in the qualifying rounds, Aika Murai (Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.) outran Rikka Kuroda (Sendai Ikuei H.S.), the younger sister of collegiate marathon record holder Asahi Kuroda for the win 4:23.62 to 4:24.10, Haru Azuma (Suma Gakuen H.S.) holding off Moe Imon (St. Catalina Gakuen H.S.) for 3rd in 4:24.21. Also 4th-fastest in qualifying, Sei Yoshida (Tokaidai Sapporo H.S.) took the boys' title in 3:44.31 over top-ranked Sota Iihoshi (Chiben College H.S.) and Kain Inagaki (Rakunan H.S.). Mio Toshida (Kasukabe Joshi H.S.) held off Hikari Osaka (Shiritsu Nishinomiya H.S.) by 2 seconds to win a close girls' 5000 m race walk in 22:33.27. Reon Kitamura (Raku...

The 2026 National High School Championships started Thursday in Otsu, Shiga. Finals on the opening day were limited to boys' events, with Rintaro Sasho (Bunan H.S.) taking the high jump with a 2.07 m clearance and Issa Matsumoto (Morimura Gakuen H.S.) the javelin throw at 64.77 m. Reon Kitamura got Kyoto's Rakunan H.S. off to a good start, leading Day 1 of the boys' octathlon by 21 points with a score of 3157. Rakunan also did well in the boys' 1500 m heats, with 3 runners, Koki Ishihara , Kain Inagaki and Yuma Tanaka , making the final. Sota Iihoshi (Chinen Gakuen H.S.) was the fastest qualifier with a 3:48.23 to lead Heat 2, while Taro Yoshida (Tottori Johoku H.S.) and Yuki Kita (Tokushima Kagaku Gijitsu H.S.) advanced on protest after a collision in Heat 1. Kana Inoue (Yamagata Johoku H.S.) led the girls' 1500 m final qualifiers in 4:23.01 in Heat 3. Joto H.S. was the only school to advance more than one runner, with Riona Tateishi and Sarina Tateishi ...

Kaishin H.S. in Kumamoto has named its newly-built running course "Akasaki Road." The course is named after Kaishin alumnus Akira Akasaki , 6th in the marathon at the Paris Olympics. Akasaki turned up in person to run on the course at its opening. "To be honest it's a bit embarrassing," Akasaki said, "but I'd be very happy if someday another Olympian appeared from off Akasaki Road." The Kaishin H.S. ekiden team has traditionally run in the area around the school for training sessions, but to ensure the safety of both the team members and local residents the school spent around 55 million yen ( ~$336,000 USD ) to construct the new running course. One lap of the course covers 400 m and features two small hills. Along with the ekiden team, it is expected that classes and other school sports teams will make use of it. source article: https://newsdig.tbs.co.jp/articles/rkk/2829424?display=1 translated by Brett Larner

A fixture on runners' schedule for 79 years, the Fuji Mountain Race took place July 24 in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi. 3521 runners from across the country and around the world took on the challenge of racing up Mt. Fuji. The event is divided into 2 distances, the Summit Course of 21 km with 3000 m of ascent, and the Fifth Stage Course of 15 km with 1480 m climb. The Summit Course turns steep after the Seventh Stage, with runners slipping and stumbling on the loose rock on the trail as they near the peak. In the Summit Course race Ruy Ueda , 32, won for the second year in a row. Yuri Yoshizumi , 40, achieved an 8th-straight victory in the women's summit race. A local Fujiyoshida resident, post-race Yoshizumi said, "I mostly train on Mount Fuji too. All the local people cheering me on helped me to push harder." Takashi Mino won the men's title in the Fifth Stage Course, with Mirei Sugai taking the women's title. 79th Fuji Mountain Race Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi, 24 ...

On July 24 the organizing committee of September's Nagoya Asian Games announced the courses for the marathon and race walk events. The marathon will cover two laps of a roughly 20 km course starting and finishing at Paloma Mizuho Stadium. Athletes will turn right at Mizuho Sports Park West after leaving the stadium and then enter the 20 km loop. The course heads north along the same roads used for the Nagoya Women's Marathon, then turns left at Uchiyama-cho. From there it turns right at Sakuradori Otsu near the Nagoya TV tower, then makes a U-turn at Meijo Park before returning to Mizuho Sports Park West. Although there is minimal elevation change overall, there are some undulations in front of Nagoya City Hall, a key section of the Nagoya Women's Marathon, that are sure to play a critical role in how the Asian Games races unfold. The race walk events will be held on a 1 km loop in the area of Nagoya City Hall, Nagoya Castle, and Aichi Prefectural Government building. A te...

The JOC announced the full lineups for the men's and women's teams for September's Nagoya Asian Games . Being hosted in Japan the Asian Games are a pretty big deal, and it's pretty close to the maximum of 2 athletes per event. The men's and women's triple jump, the women's 400 m and the women's discus throw only have 1 athlete on the Japanese team, and it's a big FU to the shot putters apparently as nobody was named to either the men's or women's teams even though people ranked lower in the World Athletics Asian rankings than top JPN shot putters Daichi Morishita and Chiharu Saka did make the team in other events. But, let's focus on what it is, not what it isn't. Going off this week's Asian rankings 8 men and 5 women are ranked #1 in their event, with a total of 19 men and 14 women ranked in the top 3. Factor in a limit of 2 per nationality and the relays and Japan's chances of scoring a great medal haul are looking good. M...