japan running news

by Brett Larner

Japan's track circuit was busier than usual this weekend with the move of the National Corporate Track and Field Championships from mid-September this year along with time trial meets nationwide as teams prepare for ekiden season.  At the Corporate Championships, Team Kyudenko's Kenyan ringers Selly Chepyego Kaptich and Paul Tanui were the stars of the show, doubling with wins in the fastest heats of the 5000 m and 10000 m.  Chepyego, the Copenhagen World Half Marathon bronze medalist started things off on Friday night with a 31:38.54 win over Asian Games 10000 m bronze medalist Ayumi Hagiwara (Team Uniqlo), who ran a PB 31:41.80, the best time this year by a Japanese woman, to lead three Japanese women under the Beijing World Championships standard of 32:00.00.  Chepyego returned Sunday to win the 5000 m in 15:14.45 just ahead of ascendant first-year pro Ayuko Suzuki (Team JP Post) whose 15:14.96 was also the best this year by a Japanese woman.  Hagiwara took …

by Brett Larner

Click here to enter JRN's Asian Games marathon prediction contest for a chance to win some quality limited-edition prizes.


With over half the world's population represented making it the biggest of the world's regional championships, track and field events kick off September 27 at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.  It's a reality of the region that Bahrain and Qatar field distance teams virtually entirely made up of Ethiopian and Kenyan athletes who duly take home most of the medals, but with Japan hosting the 2020 Olympics it is not screwing around, sending its best talent to what Japanese broadcaster TBS is hyping as "The Asian Olympics."

Saturday, Sept. 27: Women's 10000 m, Men's 5000 m, Women's 3000 mSC

The women's 10000 m, men's 5000 m and women's 30000 m steeplechase get things moving on the 27th.  Complete start lists are as yet unavailable, meaning updates to this preview in coming days, but in the a…

by Brett Larner

On June 9 the Japanese Federation released the 54 athlete lineup for its national team at the Sept. 27 - Oct. 3 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.  Where in the past it has allowed top talent to blow the Asian Games off, with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics hanging in the distance this time the Federation is taking a serious and long view, fielding an A-squad of national record holders, collegiate national record holders and junior national record holders in fifteen events, at least a half dozen more in the all-time Japanese top three in their events, and incorporating high-potential high school and university athletes with an eye toward their development pre-2020.

Major names on the men's list of 31 include teen sprint star Yoshihide Kiryu (Toyo Univ.), 2010 World Junior 200 m gold medalist Shota Iizuka (Mizuno), Berlin World Championships javelin bronze medalist Yukifumi Murakami (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC), the Alberto Salazar-coached Suguru Osako (Team Nissin Shokuhin), 20…

by Brett Larner
videos by aoshin0507



With heavy rain and wind hitting most of the country, collegiate road 10 km national record holder Kasumi Nishihara (Team Yamada Denki) moved up the ranks with her first national title, winning the women's 10000 m in 32:37.23 to cap the first day of competition at the 2014 Japanese National Track and Field Championships in Fukushima.  In a close and tactical race that included most of the favorites from last year's record-setting edition, Nishihara and Yamada Denki teammate Shiho Takechi didn't move clear until the final lap, racing each other to the line with Nishihara claiming the national title by 0.46 seconds.  Favorite Ayumi Hagiwara (Team Uniqlo), showing vulnerability in recent races after a very strong winter season, was unable to match the YD pair's closing speed as she took 3rd in 32:41.56 with 4th through 11th places within ten seconds of her.



In the day's only other distance event, 2007 men's 3000 mSC national cha…

Stanford, CA, U.S.A., 5/4/14
click here for complete results

Men's 10000 m Section 1
1. Juan Luis Barrios (Mexico) - 27:34.40
2. Cam Levins (Canada) - 27:36.00
3. Bashir Abdi (Belgium) - 27:36.40
4. Daniel Meucci (Italy) - 27:36.53
5. Shadrack Kipchirchir (Kenya/Oklahome State Univ.) - 27:36.79
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8. Yuki Sato (Japan/Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 27:46.69
12. Zewdie Miliyon (Kenya/Team Yachiyo Kogyo) - 28:04.64
13. Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Japan/Team Asahi Kasei) - 28:05.67

Women's 10000 m
1. Sally Kipyego (Kenya) - 30:42.26
2. Molly Huddle (U.S.A.) - 30:47.59
3. Betsy Saina (Kenya) - 30:57.30
4. Jordan Hassay (U.S.A.) - 31:39.67
5. Julia Bleasdale (GBR) - 31:42.02
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7. Doricah Obare (Kenya/Team Hitachi) - 31:45.24
9. Kasumi Nishihara (Japan/Team Yamada Denki) - 32:09.84
10. Kotomi Takayama (Japan/Team Sysmex) - 32:15.20
11. Miho Ihara (Japan/Team Sekisui Kagaku) - 32:15.42
21. Mao Kuroda (Japan/Team Wacoal) - 32:41.92
30. Misaki Kato (Japan/Team Kyudenko) - 33:01.30
34. Shiho Takechi…

by Brett Larner

Yoshihiro Wakamatsu (Team Nissin Shokuhin), a graduate of Hakone Ekiden course record holder Toyo University, won the final running of the historic Himejijo Road Race men's 10 miler on Feb. 11. Throwing in a surge at 7 km he easily broke away from the field, which included London Olympics marathoner Ryo Yamamoto (Team SGH Group Sagawa), two-time Himejijo winner Kazuyoshi Tokumoto (Team Monteroza), and Norihisa Imai of Toyo's 2014 Hakone-winning squad, to open a gap of 30 seconds and claim the win unchallenged in 47:38. Tsukasa Morita (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) was a solo 2nd in 48:08, his teammate Jun Shinoto, the 2006 national champion in the 3000 m steeplechase, winning a tight pack race for 3rd in 48:21.

In the women's 5 km, Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. went 1-2 with Tomoka Iwai winning in 16:24 over Tomoka Katada in 16:28.

The Himejijo Road Race is set to be transformed into a mass-participation marathon after 54 years as an elite event.  Look for the new race…

by Brett Larner

Beyond all the road action in Fukuoka and Kosa, this weekend saw the last two big track time trial meets before the national championship ekidens.  High schoolers made most of the noteworthy news at both meets.  On the first day of the Nittai Time Trials in Yokohama, Ken Yokote (Sakushin Gakuin H.S.) ran 28:57.31 to place 3rd in the men's 10000 m B-heat behind pros Jun Shinoto (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) and Kazuki Onishi (Team Kanebo).  Led by World XC silver medalist Paul Tanui (Team Kyudenko) Africans took the top 10 places in Sunday's men's 5000 m, but close behind in 13:55.91 and 13:57.30 were the aptly-named Kenya Sonota (Aomori Yamada H.S.) and Soma Ishikawa (Sano Nichidai Prep H.S.).  Ishikawa's time was the 3rd-best ever by a Japanese high school junior.  The high school girls also ran well at Nittai, with outstanding first-year Rosemary Wanjiru (Aomori Yamada H.S.) running 15:26.07 in one of the men's 5000 m heats, Momoko Akiyama (Hakuoh Jo…

by Brett Larner

Along with marathons and other road races, this busy weekend included two significant ekidens and three large track time trial meets.

At the Nov. 19 Biwako University Ekiden, Western Japan's answer to January's Hakone Ekiden, defending champion Kyoto Sangyo University braved heavy rain and wind to take its second-straight Biwako title.  After a slow 8th-place start Kyoto Sangyo worked its way up through the field and covered the eight-stage, 83.6 km course in 4:16:17.  Daiichi Kogyo University was 2nd in 4:18:09 thanks in large part to an impressive 31:57 record for the 11.0 km Third Stage by its Kenyan ace Kiragu Njuguna, a full 43 seconds under the old record.  Njuguna put Daiichi Kogyo in the lead by more than a minute over early leader Ritsumeikan University, and the team maintained the lead all the way until the 7th stage when Daiichi Kogyo was overtaken by Kyoto Sangyo's stage-winning Kazuki Noda.  Ritsumeikan anchor Yusuke Kubo did what he could to c…

by Brett Larner

2010 National T&F Championships - Top Finishers
click here for complete results
Men's 1500 m - final
1. Yasunori Murakami (Team Fujitsu) - 3:45.76
2. Masahiro Takaya (Team JR Higashi Nihon) - 3:45.81
3. Yuichiro Ueno (Team S&B) - 3:46.15

Women's 1500 m - final
1. Mika Yoshikawa (Team Panasonic) - 4:18.68
2. Saori Yamashita (Team Hokuren) - 4:19.91
3. Yukari Nomura (Chuo Univ.) - 4:20.98

Women's 400 m - final
1. Chisato Tanaka (Fukuoka Univ.) - 54.46
2. Sayaka Aoki (Team Natureal) - 54.56
3. Asami Chiba (Team Natureal) - 54.64

Men's 200 m - final(+1.2 m/s wind)
1. Kenji Fujimitsu (Team Seiren) - 20.38 - PB
2. Mitsuhiro Abiko (Tsukuba Univ.) - 20.74
3. Shinji Takahira (Team Fujitsu) - 20.80

Women's 100 m - final (+0.9 m/s wind)
1. Chisato Fukushima (Hokkaido HiTec AC) - 11.30
2. Momoko Takahashi (Heisei Kokusai Univ.) - 11.39
3. Mayumi Watanabe (Team Natureal) - 11.66

Men's 3000 mSC - final
1. Tsuyoshi Takeda (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 8:47.61
2. Jun Shinoto (Team Sa…

http://www.kyoto-np.co.jp/article.php?mid=P2009022500210&genre=L1&area=K00

translated and edited by Brett Larner

The final edition of the Kyoto City Half Marathon takes place Mar. 8, with an invited field of six athletes leading the way. Having become a national sensation with his stunning run in January's Hakone Ekiden, Ryuji Kashiwabara (Toyo Univ.) tops the list of four invited men, while National University Women's Ekiden anchor stage winner Kasumi Nishihara (Bukkyo Univ.) will run the women's race.

Kashiwabara set a new record on the Hakone Ekiden's legendary 5th stage while only a 1st-year, leading Toyo on to its first-ever Hakone win. All eyes will be focused upon him as he makes his half marathon debut. 2008 World Half Marathon national team member Kazuo Ietani (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) is also in the field, as are Ietani's teammate Jun Shinoto, who set a new stage record on Hakone's 9th leg in 2008 before graduating from Chuo Gakuin University, a…

by Brett Larner


Minori Hayakari`s 3000 m SC national record.

2008 National Track and Field Championships women`s 3000 m steeplechase champion Minori Hayakari (Kyoto Koka AC) ran 9:33.93 to break her own Japanese national record by almost 5 seconds at the KBC Night of Athletics in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium on July 20th. Her time, which was nearly 15 seconds better than her winning time at last month`s Nationals, landed Hayakari in 4th place just a step behind 3rd place finisher Irini Kokkinariou of Greece. 1st and 2nd place finishers Jenny Barringer and Anna Willard finished in a virtual tie, both breaking the U.S. national record. Heusden remained a lucky meet for Hayakari after having set the former Japanese national record at last year`s KBC Night of Athletics.

In the men`s 1500 m B-group, Kazuya Watanabe (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko), infamous for falling just meters before the finish while leading the 1500 m at last month`s Nationals, ran his best time of the season but just missed the Ol…

by Brett Larner



Men`s 1500 m
National record holder Fumikazu Kobayashi (Team NTN) won the 1500 m final thanks to a bizarre accident in the final meters of the race. After an extremely slow 65 second first lap, Makoto Fukui (Team Fujitsu) ran away from the field, running 62 and 60 for the second and third laps and opening a sizeable lead. With 300 m to go, first Yasuhiro Tago (Team Chugoku Denryoku), then Kazuya Watanabe (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) and finally Kobayashi started to kick, quickly reeling Fukui in. All three passed him just before the home straight, with Watanabe pulling away and Tago just behind. Meters from the finish, Watanabe abruptly appeared to succumb to sudden exhaustion, losing his balance over the course of several steps and falling flat just before the line. Tago had to jump over the fallen Watanabe, losing his balance just long enough for Kobayashi to duck past. Kobayashi`s time of 3:49.96 was nowhere near the Olympic A or B-standards, but his B-standard qualifyi…

by Brett Larner
videos by Mika Tokairin




Komazawa University fulfilled predictions to win the 2008 Hakone Ekiden. Komazawa reeled in Day One winner Waseda University over the course of Day Two, taking the lead on the 9th stage and running on to its 1st win in three years. Waseda was content with its 2nd-place finish, something of a return to form for the old-time powerhouse after a weak decade. Tiny Chuo Gakuin University had its best performance ever, coming 3rd on the strength of an unexpected stage record performance by captain Jun Shinoto, and the East Japan Select Team, made up of top runners from schools which failed to qualify for Hakone, surprised all by coming 4th. Japan`s top university runner Yuki Sato of pre-race favorite Tokai University set a new stage record, but Tokai was eliminated from competition when its anchor collapsed with 2.5 km to go. Daito Bunka University was also eliminated on the 9th stage.

Day Two was filled with even more unexpected upsets than Day One. Toyo…

by Brett Larner
Day Two of the 2008 Hakone Ekiden dawned with weather as perfect as on Day One, cool, sunny and windless. The big news of the morning was that defending champion Juntendo University, who had been eliminated 460 m from the finish the previous day when their runner Hiroyuki Ono collapsed, would be allowed to run in a ceremonial capacity, out of competition.

6th Stage: 20.8 km
On Day Two, runners start one by one with a time handicap and order determined by their team’s finish on Day One. For example, Komazawa finished 1:14 behind leader Waseda on Day One, so its 6th stage runner Hikaru Fujii started Day Two 1:14 after Waseda’s runner Sota Kato began. Any teams which finished more than 10 minutes behind Waseda on Day One started together with an appropriate modification added to their later stage times. Fireworks announced each runner`s departure from the starting line to the tens of thousands of fans lining the course.

Waseda`s Kato went out hard, 1 second behind stage recor…