japan running news

There's already been a lot going on on the track since the start of July, so let's get to it. The women's 100 mH was the main event at the July 5 Fuse Sprint meet in Tottori, with Hitomi Nakajima turning in the 3rd-fastest time of her career, 12.75 (-0.4), for the win, a time only one other Japanese woman has ever beaten. Yumi Tanaka and Masumi Aoki both turned in quality performances too at 12.89 and 12.97 for 2nd and 3rd. All-time Japanese #4 Midori Mikase had a good one in the women's 100 m too, winning in 11.36 (+0.7). The Hokuren Distance Challenge series kicked off July 4 in Chitose . Tuning up for her 1500-5000-10000 triple at September's Nagoya Asian Games, Nozomi Tanaka won the 1500 m in 4:08.53, then came back to win the 5000 m in a 15:00.61 season best. Bigger news was 3000 mSC NR holder Miu Saito in 2nd, running a PB 15:02.68 to come in at all-time Japanese #8. Collegiate record holder Richard Etir led the men's 5000 m in a 13:08.44 SB, with ...

Kanto Regionals were the big domestic meet this weekend, but there were other important results here and overseas. At the Xiamen Diamond League meet: 110 mH NR holder Rachid Muratake (JAL) was 2nd in 13.13 (+0.5) behind winner Jamal Britt (U.S.A.) in 13.07. The only other Japanese athlete in Xiamen, women's javelin throw NR holder Haruka Kitaguchi (JAL) was 7th at 60.08, down from her performance last week at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix Meet in Tokyo and eclipsed by the brilliant all-time #2 71.74 m throw by China's Ziyi Yan . 4 Japanese athletes ran at the Sound Running L.A,.Track Fest meet, 3 of them graduates of Kyoto's Rakunan H.S. like Kanto Regionals D1 men's 5000 m winner Kaisei Okada (Chuo Univ.). The only non-Rakunan guy there, Hibiki Obara (GMO) ran only 8:33.21 for 9th in the men's 3000 mSC A-heat. Daichi Shibata (Chuo Univ.) was last in the same heat in 8:49.91. Itta Tameike (SG Holdings) had a great run in the men's 5000 m B-heat, breakin...

The Michitaka Kinami Memorial Meet in Osaka was the weekend's main event on the track, and women's pole vault NR holder Misaki Morota (Art Home) led the way with its biggest result. After struggling with injuries the last couple of years, Morota was back with a 4.50 m national record on her 1st attempt at the height, bettering the 4.48 m NR she set back in 2023 and outdoing 2nd place by 25 cm. Morota packed it in at that point and didn't try for 4.55 m, but as she looked back to peak form expect to see her try to take the record further this season. Other highlights from Kinami: Nanako Matsumoto (Toho Ginko) and Morgan Mitchell (Australia) both broke the meet record in the women's 400 m, Matsumoto getting the win in 52.24 and Mitchell 2nd in 52.27. Jaylah Hancock-Cameron (Australia) outran Ayano Shiomi (Iwatani Sangyo) for the win in the women's 800 m 2:01.85 to 2:04.09, while NR holder Rin Kubo (Sekisui Kagaku) struggled in the start of her corporate league ...

Japan's outdoor Grand Prix season kicks off Saturday in Kumamoto at the Kanakuri Memorial Meet . Streaming will be at the link above starting at 9:30 a.m. local time. Complete timetable and start lists . Main events and some noteworthy entries: GP Women's 800 m Heat 2  - 12:10 p.m. All-time JPN #4 Ayano Shiomi , 2:01.01 GP Men's 800 m Heat 2  - 12:30 p.m. GP Women's 3000 mSC  - 2:45 p.m. All-time JPN #4 Yuzu Nishide , 9:38.95 All-time JPN #5 Manami Nishiyama , 9:39.28 South Korean NR holder Ha-Rim Cho , 9:53.09 GP Men's 3000 mSC  - 3:05 p.m. All-time JPN #2 Ryoma Aoki , 8:18.75 All-time JPN #5 Yutaro Niinae , 8:19.54 All-time JPN #7 Hibiki Obara , 8:22.64 All-time U20 JPN #2 Tetsu Sasaki , 8:29.05 All-time U20 JPN #3 Soma Nagahara , 8:30.37 GP Women's 1500 m Heat 2  - 3:35 p.m. Teresiah Muthoni , 4:02.54 Margaret Ekalale , 4:09.64 all-time JPN #3 Ran Urabe , 4:07.90 All-time JPN #6 Tomoka Kimura , 4:09.79 All-time U20 #5 Mei Sakiyama , 4:13.67 GP Men's 1500...

After appearing at a Nike event on Apr. 3, U20 1500 m NR and indoor 3000 m and 5000 m NR holder Keita Sato , 22, updated his Instagram profile to announce that he is joining Nike's Swoosh TC . At the Nike event Sato said that he plans to run the 1500 m at the Apr. 11 Kanaguri Memorial Meet, then will move to the U.S. "To be successful at the global level I need to train and grow alongside world-class athletes," he said. "I have to take every day seriously in order to achieve that dream of being internationally competitive." Swoosh TC was founded last year. Its coach Mike Smith has guided many athletes to international championships, including prior to Swoosh TC's launch, with some earning medals and podium finishes under his leadership. photo © 2026 Brett Larner, all rights reserved source article: https://www.rikujyokyogi.co.jp/archives/204241/2 translated by Brett Larner

It seemed at the time that last year's Hakone Ekiden had to have been a peak of some kind, with 4 new course records between Hakone's 10 stages, a new Day Two CR, a new overall CR, and all-time top 3 performances on 5 other stages and the Day One course. But this year went even higher. 5 stages, both Day One and Day Two, and the overall course had their records broken, 3 of the stages that didn't have their CR broken had an all-time #2 performance, 2 of them less than 10 seconds off the CR, and the other 2 stages had an all-time #3 performance. Every stage had at least 2 all-time top 6 performances, the Tenth Stage had 6 in its all-time top 10, and the opening First Stage saw 9 of its 10 fastest-ever runs. The 1:07:16 CR on the uphill Fifth Stage rightfully earned Asahi Kuroda from overall winner Aoyama Gakuin University the MVP award at this year's Hakone , but the other 4 stage CR, 1:00:28 for the 21.3 km First Stage by Koku Gakuin University 's Rui Aoki , 1:05...

Aoyama Gakuin University head coach Susumu Hara  took the opposite of the usual approach on Day One of the 102nd Hakone Ekiden yesterday, starting with his weakest two runners and building up to his absolute best. First runner Hikaru Ogawara was only 16th of 21, but Day One anchor Asahi Kuroda delivered one of the best performances in Hakone history on the uphill Fifth Stage, breaking its CR by 2 almost 2 minutes and coming from over a kilometer behind to give AGU the Day One win in CR time. With AGU's 9th win in the last 12 years and its second threepeat in the works, it blew apart the rest of the field over the 5-stage, 109.6 km Day Two course. Last year AGU's Akimu Nomura became the first runner to break 57 minutes on the 20.8 km Sixth Stage that kicks off the second day of the legendary race, starting at 731 m, climbing to 874 m in the first 5 km, then dropping to near sea level by its end. Popular speculation pre-race was that AGU would get caught by at least one of ...

The Hakone Ekiden is the world's biggest road race, 2 days of road relay action with Japan's 20 best university teams racing 10 half marathon-scale legs from central Tokyo to the mountains east of Mount Fuji and back. The level just keeps going higher and higher , hitting the point this year where there are teams with 10-runner averages of 13:33.10 for 5000 m, 27:55.98 for 10000 m, and 1:01:20 for the half marathon. It's never been better, and with great weather in the forecast it's safe to say this could be one of the best races in Hakone's 102-year history, especially on Day One. If you've seen it then you know NTV's live broadcast is the best sports broadcast in the world, with the pre-race show kicking off at 7:00 a.m. Japan time on the 2nd and 3rd and the race starting at 8:00 a.m. sharp. If you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it on TVer starting at 7:50 a.m. on the 2nd , and again at 7:50 a.m. on the 3rd . There's even a 2-hour high...

Entry lists are out for the 102nd Hakone Ekiden on Jan. 2-3. Performances exploded in the 10000 m and half marathon this year, and Japan's university teams are better than ever. With 21 teams of 16 entrants and 10 starters each, 12 teams have a 10-man 5000 m average under 14 minutes and 3 under 13:45, with 11 teams having at least one runner with a PB under 13:30. In the 10000 m 19 teams have a sub-29 average, 3 are under 28:30, and one, Chuo University , averages an incredible 27:55.98. 13 teams have at least one runner with a PB under 28 minutes, Chuo having 6 and Aoyama Gakuin University 5. 5 teams have a runner under 27:30. 19 of the 21 teams average under 63 for the half marathon and 3 sub-62, with 10 teams having at least one runner under 61 minutes and 2 with someone under 60 minutes. Koku Gakuin University  was ranked 4th at October's Izumo Ekiden , where it won, and 1st at November's National University Ekiden , where it was 4th. At Hakone it's ranked #1, th...

#3-ranked Komazawa University came on strong over the second half of the National University Ekiden to take a record 17th national title, more than any other program in the national championship race's 57-year history. It had its share of dominant single-stage runs, but more than that this year's Komazawa lineup was consistent across the board, the only school to put all 8 of its runners into the top 5 on their stages, all but 2 of them in the top 3. Over the first 2 legs it was never more than 3 seconds out of 1st, moving up into that position by 1 seconds on the 3rd leg with a good run from 4th-year Yudai Kiyama . 3rd-year Kaisei Yasuhara was the weakest link with only the 5th-best time on the 4th leg, dropping Komazawa back to 4th and 35 seconds behind #2-ranked Chuo University 's Daichi Shibata . But on the next leg Komazawa 4th-year Aoi Ito turned it back around with the biggest run at this year's Nationals, running 35:01 for the 12.4 km 5th leg, 17 seconds unde...