Sasaki Breaks 49-Yr-Old Steeple MR, Wanjiru Undefeated Over 5000 m - Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships Highlights

Japan's best university track meet happened the last 4 days in Tochigi at the 105th Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships. The race of the meet was without a doubt the D1 men's 3000 mSC, where Japanese U20 all-time #2 Tetsu Sasaki (Waseda University) and Sanetada Ono (Tokai Univ.) pushed each other to both break one of the oldest records in Japanese athletics, 10-mile NR holder Masanari Shintaku's 8:35.2 Kanto Regionals meet record from 1977. Just starting his 2nd year at Waseda, Sasaki got the win and record in 8:24.96, landing just outside the all-time Japanese top 10. Ono took just over a second off his PB to go under Shintaku's old record too in 8:31.41 for 2nd.

On the women's side the race of the meet was the D1 women's 5000 m. Undefeated in the 5000 m and 10000 m at Kanto Regionals her first 3 years, Daito Bunka University 4th-year Sarah Wanjiru lost her shot at a perfect scorecard when she got taken down over the last lap in Thursday's 10000 m by Daisy Jerop (Josai Kokusai Univ.), finishing 2nd in 32:15.41 to Jerop's winning 32:08.75. Back for a rematch in Sunday's 5000 m, Wanjiru and Jerop hammered each other all the way to the line. Both broke the meet record, but Wanjiru got payback by the tiniest of margins, beating Jerop 15:17.01 to 15:17.02. You can't always get everything you want, but at the very least Wanjiru now walks away with 4-straight 5000 m titles.

Other highlights:

Collegiate 5000 m and 10000 m record holder Richard Etir (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) rounded out his 4th year at Kanto Regionals with a double win. First he won a competitive D2 10000 m on Thursday, running 27:43.53 in a race where the top 7, including Japanese athletes Riki Koike (Soka Univ.) and Yoshihiro Kusuoka (Teikyo Univ.) broke 28 minutes. Sunday he set a D2 MR of 13:24.76 to win the 5000 m over teammate Amos Bett, 2nd in 13:28.33, and Stephen Muthini (Soka Univ.), 3rd in 13:28.45.
Sora Murata (Tsukuba Univ.) and Mitsuki Kobayashi (Nittai Univ.) both broke Kobayashi's MR in the D1 women's pole vault, Murata clearing 4.17 m on her 1st attempt but Kobayashi only getting as high as 4.12 m.
The D1 men's 5000 m was good too, with Kaisei Okada (Chuo Univ.) continuing to deliver great run after great run with a 13:31.43 to win over Rui Suzuki (Waseda Univ.), 2nd in 13:33.73.
Chuo University also beat Waseda to win the D1 men's 4x100 m in 39.10. After fast heats where Chuo led the way in 39.05, all 7 teams that finished the final broke 39.7. The winner in Heat 2 in 39.29, Toyo University was DQd in the final but was sure to have gone under 39.7 too, very solid results overall for a regional meet. By comparison, not a single team in the D2 final got under 40.

In overall scoring, Juntendo University took the D1 men's team title with 135 points, Tokai University distantly 2nd with 91 points. Tsukuba University narrowly won the D1 women's title over Nittai University, Tsukuba scoring 139.5 and Nittai 130. Kokusai Budo University was the D2 men's team champ with 95 points. In the graduate school division, Tsukuba won the men's title with 26 points and the women's title with 11 points. Complete individual results across all divisions here.

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...

Akasaki 2nd, Maeda 9th - Berlin Marathon Japanese Results

photo © 2025 Victah Sailer/PhotoRun Even with a few withdrawals there was a massive group of Japanese athletes at the Berlin Marathon this year, most of the group that typically goes to the Chicago Marathon seeming to opt for Berlin instead. With men's winner Sebastian Sawe taking a shot at the world record, Akira Akasaki , Yuhei Urano and NR holder Kengo Suzuki sat back in a 3rd group targeting the JAAF's 2:06:30 standard for 2028 Olympic marathon trials qualification. The group held steady on that pace, quickly passing and leaving behind Hakone fan favorite Aoi Ota , who went out with a 14:26 opening 5 km only to finish in 2:14:02. Suzuki dropped off, but Akasaki and Urano were together through 30 km until Urano did the same. The top Japanese finisher in the Paris Olympics last year, from there Akasaki had what had to have been an incredibly fun last 12 km, picking faster people off one by one as he rolled on. Ultimately he made it all the way up to 2nd in a 2:06:15 PB. ...

Watching Japanese Race Broadcasts Online

One option for watching Japanese races online from overseas is Keyhole TV . The quality and reliability of the streaming varies, but it is usually at least watchable. A paid premium key usually results in significantly better quality. Go here or here to get the Keyhole TV player, or just Google it to find up-to-date sites offering it. If you have downloaded Keyhole before, make sure you have the most recent version of the player for optimal performance. Another option that looks promising is http://www.jpplayer.com/ This also looks good but takes time to set up so might be a better long-term option: http://www.nihonnamaterebi.com/ A list of these and other options: http://www.d-addicts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=73546 This site sometimes has some channels not available elsewhere. JRN also offers live English race commentary for some races via Twitter @JRNLive . To use Keyhole, once you have downloaded, installed and o...

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