japan running news

The ACN Expo Ekiden was the biggest race of the weekend domestically, but there was so much else going on domestically and internationally that it was hard to keep track. We'll do our best. Saturday in Fukuoka the Fst in Fukuoka road mile and 5 km moved from its usual fall date to a spring date for the first time. Ireland's Sophie O'Sullivan outran high school sensation Sherry Drury by 1 second for the win in the women's mile, 4:53 to 4:54. Drury's mark was a new U20 NR. The men's mile also came down to a 1-second win for Irishman Brian Fay over Japan's Jo Aoki , 4:12 to 4:13. Margaret Akidor had an easy win in the women's 5 km in 15:34, with veteran Yuichiro Ueno outrunning a doubling Fay in the men's 5 km to win in 14:07. Complete results here . The Matsue Ladies Half Marathon hosted the National University Women's Half Marathon Sunday. National champion Ritsumeikan University 's Makoto Tsuchiya outran Daito Bunka University 's...

Daito Bunka University 1st-year Mariya Noda won a tight three-way battle over the last km to win the 2024 National University Women's Half Marathon title Sunday in Matsue. After a slow start with almost 40 athletes going through 5 km in 17:22, the pace built steadily with 17:14 and 16:41 splits over the middle part of the race. By 20 km it was down to just Noda, newcomer Mahiru Kobayashi of Osaka Gakuin University , last year's 5th-placer Nanase Tanimoto from national champion Meijo University and corporate leaguer Shiho Tachizako from Tenmaya , with 2023 3rd-placer Saki Harada drifting 9 seconds back in 5th. Noda ramped the pace up to 3:08 for the final km, dropping Tachizako, then Tanimoto, and finally Kobayashi to win by 2 seconds in 1:12:01. Kobayashi was next in 1:12:03, holding Tanimoto back to 3rd in 1:12:05. The top 6 were all under 1:13, with 17 women under 1:15 and 24 under 1:16. 45th Matsue Ladies Half Marathon National University Women's Half Marathon Mat...

A late update on last weekend's main domestic Japanese road results. At the Niigata Half Marathon , Meiji University 's Shota Morishita dominated with a win by 34 seconds over teammate Hibiki Kikkawa in the men's race, clocking 1:03:26. Ayami Hirano of the Noritz corporate team had an even bigger margin of victory in the women's race, running 1:14:28 and finishing 1:14 up on 2nd-placer Mayuka Fujita from Route Inn Hotels . Complete results . The Matsue Ladies Half Marathon , which doubles as the National University Women's Half Marathon, saw one of the tightest finishes in its history after three-straight years of pandemic-era cancelations. Panasonic 's Yuki Nakamura beat top collegian Hikaru Kitagawa of Osaka Geijutsu University by 2 seconds to win in 1:10:48. A corporate leaguer also took the 10 km division, with Yuna Takahashi from the Shimamura team winning by over 6 minutes in 33:47. Surprisingly, Kitagawa's time of 1:10:50 was the fastest-ev...

Scheduled for Mar. 20, the 43rd Matsue Ladies Half Marathon in Matsue, Shimane, has been canceled. This marks the third year in a row that the race has been canceled. A statement from the organizing committee read, "In light of the rapid spread of the highly infectious omicron variant throughout Japan, including within Shimane, it would be difficult to eliminate the risk to the runners, volunteers, and everyone else involved in the race." Alongside Matsue's announcement, the Inter-University Athletic Union of Japan announced that the 25th National University Women's Half Marathon, held as part of the Matsue race, is also being canceled. The university women's half was to be a selection race for the 2022 Chengdu World University Games half marathon team, but after its cancelation selection will instead be made based on performances in the National University Track and Field Championships 10000 m to be held between Apr. 15 and 17.  The National University Men's...

The decision has been made to go ahead with next March's Matsue Ladies Half Marathon , an annual sports event canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. According to a statement from mayor Akihito Uesada , the race will start from its traditional starting point in front of Matsue Castle on Mar. 20 next year.  The Matsue Ladies Half Marathon is a pioneering women-only road race that had been held every spring for 40 years prior to be canceled the last two years. It serves as the National University Women's Half Marathon Championships. In its return to action the race will be scaled down as a safety measure, with its usual divisions cut from four to just the half marathon, where collegiate athletes will compete, and 10 km. A limit of 1000 participants will be in place. Online entries begin Dec. 16. source article: https://www.fnn.jp/articles/-/285878 translated by Brett Larner