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Midweek Track Results


Stop 4 on the 2026 Hokuren Distance Challenge happened Wednesday in Fukagawa. Things were pretty low-key, with the main results coming in the men's 1500 m and women's 800 m. In the men's 1500 m, Korean NR holder Jae Ung Lee ran the 2nd-fastest time of his career, 3:37.75, for the win. All 3 of his sub-3:39 performances to date have now happened at the HDC series, with a 3:38.55 in Shibetsu in June last year followed by his 3:36.01 NR in Kitami a month later. Atsuki Urushibata was 2nd in 3:38.98, his first time under 3:40.

American Nicole Montgomery took almost a second off her PB to win the women's 800 m in 2:02.29, with the top 5 all running PBs under 2:07. Japan's #2 800 m runner Ayano Shiomi opted to step up in distance, running a 6-second PB of 4:11.12 for 2nd in the women's 1500 m. Margaret Ekalale won in 4:10.49.

Women's 800 m NR holder Rin Kubo was in Canada for The Jerome Classic meet, where she was 3rd in a 3-way sprint finish in 2:02.57. Kiwi Boh Ritchie took the win in 2:02.46, with American Lauren Tolbert 2nd in 2:02.51. Fresh off his all-time JPN #2 1:44.32 in Edmonton a few days ago, Allon Clay won the men's 800 m in 1:44.51 which was still faster than the 3rd-fastest Japanese man has ever run. Kazuyoshi Tamogami was 6th in 1:48.89.

In Europe, men's long jump national champ Yuki Hashioka was the only Japanese athlete at the Gyulai Istvan Memorial meet in Budapest. A 7.91 m (0.0) jump there was good for 5th, with Greece's Miltiadis Tentoglou winning by 19 cm at 8.31 m (-0.6).

This year's Hokuren Distance Challenge series wraps up Saturday in Shibetsu, with a good number of Japanese athlete competing at Belgium's Night of Athletics meet the same day.

© 2026 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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Anonymous said…
Wasn't Ayana Shiomi's 1500m run an eye opener! I think she might need to change her distance from 800m to 1500m or consider running both if the schedule allows. She was very impressive and the time was very fast for a Japanese athlete. Mizuki Michishita's current 1500m personal best (PB) is 4:10.48 and aside from Nozomi Tanaka there aren't many others in that range!

I watched Rin Kubo's race on YouTube and it was a close 3-way finish. She is still yet to find her top high school form. Perhaps, she will peak when it counts in the Asian Games?

Looking forward to seeing how Miu Saito runs in the 3000mSC in Belgium. I hope she does well and, if the conditions allow, get her close to her national record time.
July 16, 2026 at 4:06 PM
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