japan running news

Along with Saturday's The Fst in Fukuoka there was a lot going on on the roads this weekend across the country, but the biggest results were on the track. Saturday at the Nittai University Time Trials , Margaret Akidor (Comodi Iida) soloed a 14:47.71 Olympic standard 5000 m, over a minute faster than runner-up Kana Mizumoto (Edion) who ran 15:49.25. Akidor's coach reported her splits as 2:53.7 - 3:00.3 - 2:59.9 - 3:00.8 - 2:52.2. Charles Wanjiku Kamau (Musashino Gakuin Univ.) ran 27:40.58 to lead 10 men sub-28 in the fastest 10000 m heat, 5 of them Kenyan and 5 Japanese. Most notably, just 6 days after winning back-to-back stages at the National University Ekiden Josai University 2nd-year duo Victor Kimutai and Shoya Saito joined the sub-28 club, Kimutai 2nd in 27:41.04 and Saito 9th in 27:59.68. 3 other Josai runners were sub-29 in the B and C heats. Something has finally clicked at the Josai program this season, and together with great runs at Izumo and Nationals the r...

The first big race of the year worldwide every year is the New Year Ekiden corporate men's national championships, 100 km in 7 stages through Gunma northwest of Tokyo. TBS broadcasts it live domestically starting at 8:30 a.m. local on Jan. 1, with the broadcast to be streamed live on TVer . TBS will also be streaming live, unedited feeds from three different camera trucks too starting at 9:00 a.m. You'll probably need a VPN to get around geoblocking for both TVer and the unedited feed above. Live results will be here , and JRN will be covering the race live on @JRNLive  and Instagram to help you make sense of what's going on, and on the ground from the course. Buy us a coffee to help make the first of three straight days of live ekiden coverage possible. Last year the Honda team won for the first time in the race's 66-year history. Anchor Hidekazu Hijikata promptly jumped ship for CR holder Asahi Kasei , a product of 2020 rule changes around restrictions on team ...

On Sept. 1, New Year Ekiden national champion Honda announced that Hidekazu Hijikata , the 5th-fastest Japanese marathoner ever with a best of 2:06:26, has left its team. Following his departure, Hijikata will transfer to the Asahi Kasei team, 3rd at the New Year Ekiden. Hijikata was a successful ekiden runner at Koku Gakuin University , running a 2:09:50 marathon debut at the 2020 Tokyo Marathon while still a student there. After joining Honda, he ran a massive 2:06:26 PB at the 2021 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon. At the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden this year he anchored Honda to its first-ever national title. Following up with a 2:08:02 at the Tokyo Marathon in March, he secured his place at the September, 2023 MGC Race Olympic marathon trials. In a statement Hijikata said, "Thanks to everyone who has shown me support the last two and a half years. I'll always be proud of having run for Honda, for having trained with their fantastic coaching staff, and for having gotten to run nex...

Ekiden week rolls on with the first major race of 2021 worldwide, the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden corporate men's national championships. Asahi Kasei  is going for a fifth-straight national title, something they've managed twice before with six-packs of wins in 1978-1983 and 1990-1995. And really, who's going to stop them?  In September Asahi Kasei took delivery of the world's largest low-pressure altitude training facility so that they didn't have to deal with traveling to get to altitude, and just look at the results. At the National Championships earlier this month they had five guys under 28 minutes for 10000 m including a 27:18.75 national record from rookie Akira Aizawa , and a sixth man, Shuho Dairokuno , across the line in 28:01.29. And both of their Kenyan runners Robert Mwei  and Benuel Mogeni  are sub-28. And they have other guys like Hiroshi Ichida  who aren't quite up to that level but always deliver come ekiden day.  Asahi Kasei broke the New Y...

Yoshiki Takenouchi age: 27 sponsor : NTT Nishi Nihon graduated from: Kansaidai Daiichi H.S., Nihon University best time inside MGC window: 2:10:01, 7rd, 2017 Fukuoka International Marathon PB: 2:10:01, 7rd, 2017 Fukuoka International Marathon other PBs: 5000 m: 13:56.46 (2015) 10000 m: 28:36.44 (2018) half marathon: 1:03:08 (2019) marathons inside MGC window (Aug. 1 2017 – April 30 2019) DNS – 2018 Fukuoka International Marathon 30th, 2018 Lake Biwa Marathon, 2:20:29 7th, 2017 Fukuoka International Marathon, 2:10:01 other major results: 8th, 2019 Sendai International Half Marathon, 1:03:08 – PB 33rd, 2019 National Corporate Half Marathon, 1:03:13 (PB) DNS – 2019 National Men’s Ekiden Seventh Stage (13.0 km) 2nd, 2018 Kansai Corporate Ekiden Fifth Stage (16.0 km), 48:54 1st, 2018 Hokuren Distance Challenge Fukagawa Meet 10000 m B-race, 28:36.44 – PB 11th, 2017 Lake Biwa Marathon, 2:13:33 9th, 2015 Hakone Ekiden Third Stage (21.5 km), 1:03:59 The only Ni...

photo by @tsutsugo55225 For the second time in the last three weeks, a Japan-based Kenyan ran the fastest time in the world this year for 10000 m at Yokohama's Nittai University Time Trials series. On October 20th it was 2015 World U18 Championships 3000 m gold medalist Richard Kimunyan (Hitachi Butsuryu), 20, with a 27:14.70  that surpassed Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei 's world-leading mark by almost five seconds. This time it was 2018 World U20 Championships 5000 m silver medalist Stanley Waithaka (Yakult), 18, taking almost two minutes off his PB to break Kimunyan's mark with a 27:13.01 win. Both winners received support from 2014 Commonwealth Games steeplechase gold medalist Jonathan Ndiku (Hitachi Butsuryu), who ran season bests for 2nd place each time, 27:50.38 three weeks ago and 27:28.27 on Saturday. 2013 World U18 Championships 3000 m bronze medalist Alexander Mutiso (ND Software) was also under 28 minutes, running just off his PB at 27:42.16 for 3rd. ...

The Kansai Corporate Athletics Federation has announced that following a successful trial last year, it plans to live stream this year's 61st Kansai Corporate Ekiden Championships on November 11th. In order to deliver a high-quality streamed production the Federation began an online crowdfunding campaign on August 30. Organizers hope to raise 500,000 yen [~$4500 USD] by September 28th. The Kansai Corporate Ekiden Championships is the regional qualifier for the New Year Ekiden corporate men's national championships, each year bringing in top athletes to run its seven-stage, 80.45 km course. Many residents of the town of Ryujinmura serve as race staff to assist organizers in executing the event. Thanks to the support and assistance of NTT, last year's 60th anniversary running was streamed live on the net for the first time. The camera followed the lead pack, with the feed also displayed on a large screen set up at the Ryujinmura Sports Center. In addition to the race ...

After finishing among the top three Japanese men at last month's Fukuoka International Marathon to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Trials race, NTT Nishi Nihon corporate men's team member Yoshiki Takenouchi , 25, appeared at an event at Kyotanabe city hall in Kyoto where the NTT team is based. "I want to do everything I can to make that Olympic dream come even just one step closer," he said with determination. Takenouchi is originally from Osaka. After graduating from Kandai Daiichi H.S. he attended Nihon University before joining NTT Nishi Nihon in 2015. In Fukuoka he ran a dramatic 2:10:01 PB to finish 7th overall as the 3rd Japanese man, earning a place at the Marathon Grand Championship race to be held in or after September, 2019. Takenouchi lives in a company dormitory in the Kyotanabe and often runs along Yamate Kansen Strett during morning practice. "There's a lot of greenery and the air is clear, so it feels good to run there, "he said wit...

http://www.kobe-np.co.jp/news/sports/0000826157.shtml translated by Brett Larner Japanese national full marathon record holder Toshinari Takaoka (Team Kanebo) will be running in the 10 mile (16.093 km) Himejijo Road Race on Feb. 11 in Himeji, sponsored in part by the Kobe Newspaper Group. Takaoka joined the Himejijo lineup on Feb. 4 following the cancellation of the Ome Marathon 30 km due to heavy snowfall . Takaoka had planned to run Ome as part of his preparation for a spring marathon . Originally from Kitsugawa in Kyoto Prefecture, Takaoka ran track events in the Atlanta and Sydney Olympics, finishing 7th in the men's 10000 m in Sydney. At the 2002 Chicago Marathon he set the Japanese national record of 2:06:16. He also holds the national record for 3000 m and 10000 m. Takaoka attempted to qualify for the Beijing Olympics at last December's Fukuoka International Marathon but finished 10th. Many have wondered where he would go next. Also scheduled to run Himejijo are Satoshi ...