japan running news

The Hakodate Half Marathon and Marathon took place June 28 on a course starting and finishing at Hakodate Dotsuku Sports Garden. 4,448 people ran the half marathon, with another 3,866 in the marathon for a total participant number of 8,314. Cheered on by the crowds, runners chased PBs through the exotic atmosphere of Hakodate's streets. A record-breaking 9.271 people entered the race, 5,037 in the half marathon and 4,234 in the marathon. At the opening ceremony mayor Jun Oizumi told onlookers, "I hope that the warm cheers of our local people along the course give runners strength, and that they enjoy the race til the very end." When the starting gun fired at 9:00 a.m. the runners rook off. True to the mayor's words, locals and official cheering squads supported them with loud cheering and performances. At Midorinoshima, a longstanding local restaurant served up curry and other dishes, giving participants a taste of Hakodate's delicious local cuisine. Jin Yuasa ...

The 36th Suffolkland Shibetsu Half Marathon and 10 km took place July 23 in Shibetsu, Hokkaido. 19-year-old Patrick Kamau (Jobu University) won the men's race in 1:02:27, beating his PB by exactly one minute. Tomoki Ota (Toyota) was the top Japanese finisher at 2nd in 1:02:42, a successful follow-up to his pair of 5000 m PBs earlier this month in the Hokuren Distance Challenge series despite temperatures over 20˚C. Kiyoshi Koga (Yasukawa Denki) took 3rd in 1:03:41 with Ota's Toyota teammates Masashi Nonaka and Shunta Uchida going 4-5 in 1:03:41 and 1:04:17. Fumiya Tsuji (Waseda Univ.) was the top collegiate finisher at 6th in 1:04:24. In the women's race, Olympic marathon trials qualifier Rie Kawauchi (Otsuka Seiyaku) won in 1:13:18. Wacoal teammates Hina Yanagitani and Yuka Ando took 2nd and 3rd in 1:14:08 and 1:14:12. High schooler Samuel Korabo (Sapporo Yamanote H.S.) won the men's 10 km in 29:06 by 18 seconds over Gilbert Kiprotich (Sunbelx). Natsuki O...

On Feb. 1 the Toyota corporate team announced that Masashi Nonaka , 27, has transferred from longtime sponsor Osaka Gas to join the Toyota roster. Nonaka graduated from Kawanishi Hokuryo H.S. in Hyogo before attending Kwansei Gakuin University , where his achievements included a 7th-place finish in the 5000 m at the 2017 National University Track and Field Championships. Following his graduation from KGU Nonaka joined the Osaka Gas team, running track PBs of 13:35.94 for 5000 m and 27:58.38 for 10000 m in 2021. Last year he showed growth on the roads too, running 1:00:48 at the National Corporate Half Marathon and 2:09:57 at the Osaka Marathon. In comments published on the Toyota team site Nonaka said, "I'm really grateful to have the chance to take things to the next level alongside incredible teammates and staff in a great environment. Thank you all for your continued support." Nonaka is scheduled to run the Mar. 5 Tokyo Marathon. Toyota placed 3rd at this year...

Continuing a stellar season that saw him run a 26:55.04 10000 m best in October, Benard Kibet Koech (Kyudenko) took 20 seconds off Haile Gebrselassie 's world best for 10 miles with a 44:04 win at the Kumamoto Kosa 10-Mile Road Race on Sunday. Alone early, Koech checked his watch repeatedly as he hammered the course, his only competition the great Gebrselassie's 17-year-old record. In the end nobody came within a minute and a half of him, Jonathan Ndiku (Hitachi Butsuryu) winning a three-way race for 2nd in 45:47 and Cleophas Kandie (Mitsubishi Juko) 3rd in 45:49. Takashi Namba (Toenec) was 4th in 45:50, just 10 seconds off Masanari Shintaku 's 45:40 national record from 1984. Kento Nishi (Osaka Gas) and Masashi Nonaka (Osaka Gas) were both under 46 minutes, and altogether 100 people were under 49:30, making it one of the deepest 10-milers in history. The high school boys' 10 km was also solid, with the top 9 all under 30 minutes. Maynard Nganga (Senshu Tamana H...

A few days ago the Tokyo Marathon announced the domestic elite field for its 2021 edition being held Mar. 6, 2022, with the caveat that final decisions on whether it would go ahead and whether it would have an international field, originally slated to feature men's world record holder Eliud Kipchoge , would have to wait until Feb. 18. Yesterday the Osaka Marathon announced its field for this year's race on Feb. 27, and like Osaka, Tokyo's field gives away its history as a men-only race. The men's field is even more massive than Osaka's, and the women's field only slightly deeper. Overall Tokyo is solid, with the men's NR holder, the women-only NR holder, both half marathon NR holders, the last three Fukuoka International Marathon winners, seven men with recent times under 2:07, 31 under 2:10, 112 under 2:20, and two debuting sub-61 half marathoners. Only three women on the list including women-only NR holder Mao Ichiyama (Wacoal) have gone sub-2:30 vs. th...

The list of entries has been updated with withdrawals announced Feb. 25. So it looks like the Osaka Marathon is going to happen. The Osaka International Women's Marathon and mass-participation Osaka Half Marathon just happened the weekend before last, and even as most of the spring's Japanese road races continue to cancel, with less than three weeks to go they've announced the elite fields for the mass-participation Osaka Marathon on Feb. 27.  On the men's side, Osaka is taking the place of the historic Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon on the calendar. There are a few Japan-based internationals, but with the borders still mostly closed it's another super-deep domestic field. Beppu-Oita just happened yesterday and Tokyo looks like it's also likely to happen, but even so the entry list has ten current 2:07 guys, eight at the 2:08 level, four at 2:09, eight at 2:10, and seven at 2:11. And one guy debuting with a 1:30:38 best for 30km, two debuting sub-61 half marat...

In the midst of rapidly rising new coronavirus infection numbers, Osaka held the 88th edition of its prefectural track and field championships at the massive Nagai Stadium over Thursday and Friday's national holidays. Not usually a big draw for high-level talent, the lack of racing opportunities these days meant more big names than usual, including 2017 and 2019 World Championships men's 4x100 m bronze medalist Shuhei Tada (Sumitomo Denko), who won the 100 m final in 10.46 (-0.5), and women's discus throw national record holder Nanaka Kori (Kyushu Kyoritsu Univ.), who dropped one of ten new meet records at the meet, six by women and four by men. A breakdown of the new records: Seika Aoyama (Osaka Seikei AC) ran the second-fastest 400 m time ever by a Japanese woman, 52.38, to win her qualifying heat in meet record time, going on to win the final in 54.11. Yuzu Nishide (Kansai Gaikokugo Univ.) took almost 15 seconds off the women's 3000 m steeplechase meet r...

by Brett Larner As the world's best university distance runners start their buildup to the main event of their year, the Kanto Region's Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden, and the U.S.A.'s NCAA holds its national cross country championships, their counterparts further west ran their season-ender Saturday at the 76th Kansai Region University Men's Ekiden Championships . On a new course in Tango, Kyoto last year Kyoto Sangyo University beat crosstown rival Ritsumeikan University in a photo finish, both schools clocking 4:10:50 for the 8-stage, 81.2 km distance.  This year both were back up front on a slightly longer 81.4 km version of the Tango course, but instead of a two-school show both got a serious challenge from last year's 4th-placer Kwansei Gakuin University . KSU started in 2nd with Ritsumeikan and KGU further back as most other schools put their best runners on the First Stage.  After a stage win by second man Yohei Koyama KGU was up to 2nd, and by the end of t...