japan running news

Following Saturday's Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai qualifier half marathon, the weekend's other big half is Sunday's Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon . The Tokyo Marathon Foundation has been trying to get this race off the ground for the last few years, and it is pretty cool. Starting and finishing on the track in the National Stadium built for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and following basically the same course as the one originally planned for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, the MGC Race Olympic marathon trials, and last month's Tokyo World Athletics Championships marathon, it's quickly gotten popular as a mass participation race. But as an elite race it's got a few problems. The uphill finish that was such an important strategic part of the MGC and World Championships marathons means it'll never be as fast as it could be. And its timing in the middle of ekiden season severely limits the number of Japanese athletes and Japan-based Africans who can run it, especially fo...

After making a post-corona return last year it time for its 75th anniversary year, the Towada Hachimantai Ekiden returned this year for its 76th. Without enough teams entered the women's race was canceled, but 15 teams of 5 men each raced the 5-stage, 71.4 km race in Akita on Aug. 7. Daichi Kimoto got the Hokuriku Corporate Select Team off to a good start with a 36-second lead on the 13.0 km First Stage, but the Komori Corporation B team's Benard Langat cut that down easily with a 36:33 CR for the the 13.0 km Second Stage, putting KCB 2:07 ahead. That didn't last, though, as the Komori Corporation A team's Antipas Kibet dropped a 46:20 CR for the 15.7 km Third Stage to put his team into the lead by 2:03. KCA's fourth runner Takuma Shibata turned that into an unbreakable 3:37 lead with a stage win, leaving anchor Yusuke Baba to bring them home for the win in 3:51:14. The winner on the uphill Fifth Stage last year, Comodi Iida 's Akihiro Kaneko did it ag...