The Asian Games were the main event happening over the last week, but there was other news happening on the roads and track in Japan and overseas. Like the road mile and road 10 km, the road 5 km is still a distance where the NR are pretty soft. The men's NR got a bit of a boost at Sunday's Adizero 5k Tokyo Challenge, where Itta Tameike and Riki Koike both went under the 13:30 NR set in May last year, Tameike getting the new NR in 13:25 and Koike right behind in 13:26. Shadrack Kipkemei took the overall win in 13:15, with Tameike 6th behind 4 other Japan-based Kenyans. The Adidas-sponsored event didn't have an elite women's field, with Natsumi Ishizaki winning the women's race in 18:05.
Overseas, there was a massive contingent of Japanese athletes at the Berlin Marathon. The men were split between the 2nd and 3rd groups targeting 2:57/km and 3:00/km. The 2nd group never really hit that pace, Yuhei Urano hanging on the best with a long surge from 30 km to take 9th overall in a 2:06:09 PB, his third time under 2:07 in his last 4 marathons.
The same day at Waseda University's campus in the western Tokyo suburbs, Raphael Dapash and Naoki Yoshikura raced to the line in the Road of Waseda 5 km, both clocking 13:38 with Dapash officially taking the top spot. Hakone Ekiden Fifth Stage specialist Shinsaku Kudo ran it as a workout, winning the B-race in 13:51 and then doubling in the D-race with another win in 13:44. Waseda didn't put on an elite women's race either.
Kenya Sonota and Shunsuke Shikama were 11th and 12th in 2:07:36 and 2:07:44, with Daisuke Uekado coming up from the 3rd group to finish right behind them in 2:07:53 for 13th. Shoma Hosoya and Hidekazu Hijikata were the only other Japanese men under 2:10, Hosoya 18th in 2:08:36 and Hijikata 19th in 2:08:56 in a quick turnaround from his 2:07:20 runner-up finish at the Gold Coast Marathon in July. 5 other Japanese men finished sub-2:20.
The Japanese women in Berlin struggled, top-ranked Rika Kaseda a DNF and Mao Uesugi the top placer at 15th in 2:27:26. Rino Goshima and Ayumi Morita both got under 2:30 in 2:28:57 and 2:29:33 for 20th and 21st, with Natsuki Omori 26th in 2:31:21.
On the track, Niigata's Yogibo Athletics Challenge Cup was low-key this year, a step down from its usual Continental Tour bronze ranking and scaled-back given its date opposite the Asian Games. Festus Kimorwa took the men's 5000 m in 13:20.64 over Kiprono Sitonik, with former 10000 m NR holder Kazuya Shiojiri the top Japanese man at 3rd in 13:27.19. Tamaki Fujimoto won the men's 10000 m in 28:22.38 over India's Harmanjot Singh, who ran a nearly 1-min PB of 28:30.86 for 2nd. Tabitha Njeri Kamau won the women's 5000 m in 15:20.64, Momoka Kawaguchi running 32:27.41 for 1st in the 10000 m.
At Yokohama's Nittai University Time Trials meet the big news Saturday was a 3:36.49 PB for the win in the men's 1500 m by U20 NR holder Keita Satoh in his last race of the season. Having started the year setting a CR on the Hakone Ekiden's anchor stage on only a week of training after an injury in December, Satoh ran his first 1500 m in 4 years in April with a 3:43.19 in Kumamoto, then moved to Flagstaff to train with Mike Smith and his group. In only 5 months Satoh improved by nearly 7 seconds, now sitting all-time Japanese #3 and just 1.07 off the Japanese NR.
Sho Tanabe had a good one in the 800 m at Nittai too, winning with a 1:45.22 PB to come in at all-time Japanese #5 and collegiate #2. Airi Tajima had a solid double, winning the women's 1500 m in 4:10.85 and the 3000 m 4 hours later in 9:08.03. Agnes Mwikali won the women's 5000 m in 15:07.75, Shota Morishita likewise bettering the level in Niigata with a 28:19.57 win in the men's 10000 m. With Sunday dedicated to the men's 5000 m, the fastest heat went to Nehemiah Kipngeno in 13:27.28, Victor Kiptum just back in 13:27.84 for 2nd.
Urano photo © 2026 Victah Sailer/PhotoRun, all rights reserved
text © 2026 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
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