japan running news

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 ...

The 78th Towada Hachimantai Ekiden took place Aug. 2 in Akita and Aomori. Covering a 5-stage, 71.4 km course from Lake Towada to Hachimantai, this year's race saw the Tokyo Police Department B team out strong with a lead over the opening stages. The Comodi Iida team was back in 5th. A stage win by its second runner Brian Kiptoo moved Comodi Iida up to 2nd, but after that it fell back to 3rd, then 4th. Starting 1:32 behind anchor stage leader Chuo Hatsujo , Comodi Iida anchor Akihiro Kaneko ran brilliantly on the uphill final stage, clocking its fastest time this year to move into 1st for the win. Since it first ran the Towada Hachimantai Ekiden in 2015 it was Comodi Iida's first victory. Having changed its team from Fujisan no Meisui this season, Fujisan GX was 2nd, followed by Chuo Hatsujo and Komori Corporation . 78th Towada Hachimantai Ekiden Akita and Aomori, 2 August 2025 17 teams, 5 stages, 71.4 km complete results Top Team Results 1. Comodi Iida - 3:50:44 2. Fujisan...

The Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden is the only major championship ekiden that doesn't give podium placers auto-qualification for the next year, forcing corporate men's teams to run the regional qualifiers every November and impacting runners' ability to do a fall marathon. The Olympic marathon trials 3 weeks ago impacted the dynamic this time, as any team that had had someone at the Trials and finished its regional qualifier would make the New Year Ekiden regardless of whether it finished in the bracket. That didn't really come into play much at the Kyushu Region Corporate Ekiden in Fukuoka, where 7 of the 9 teams in contention for 8 qualifying spots had people at the Trials. Kurosaki Harima led start to finish, its lead duo Yusuke Tamura and Sitonik Kiprono both winning their stages to give the team a 31 second lead. Traditional power Asahi Kasei came on strong in the middle of the race with stage wins from Takashi Ichida and Ryo Saito and an excellent new CR of 31:18 fo...