japan running news

  Alongside this long weekend's National University Track and Field Championships , the corporate leaguers get their shot at the National Corporate Track and Field Championships Saturday through Monday in Yamaguchi. Streaming of the first day will be above, with links to the other days here . Complete track event entry lists are here and field events here , with live results here . Top entries per event: Women 100 m Mei Kodama (Mizuno) - 11.37 Arisa Kimishima (DKK) - 11.45 Manaka Miura (Ehime T&F Assoc.) - 11.45 Shuri Aono (ND Soft) - 11.58 Yuna Miura (Cerespo) - 11.59 200 m Arisa Kimishima (DKK) - 23.16 Shuri Aono (ND Soft) - 23.45 Haruna Kuboyama (Imamura Byoin) - 23.57 Reika Matsubayashi (MMG) - 23.75 Mei Kodama (Mizuno) - 23.83 400 m Haruna Kuboyama (Imamura Byoin) - 53.07 Nanako Matsumoto (Toho Ginko) - 53.42 Abigail Fuka Ido (Toho Ginko) - 53.70 Shizuho Moriyama (Ichigo) - 53.83 Mayu Inaoka (Kagotani) - 54.08 800 m Ayano Shiomi (Iwatani Sangyo) - 2:01.93 Airi Ikezaki (D...

With the first two days of the 2020 National Corporate Track and Field Championships bringing national records, world-leading marks and meet records, the last day saw one of the best races of the weekend. Fresh off her meet record win in the junior women's 3000 m, 19-year-old Ririka Hironaka (Japan Post) took the women's 5000 m A-heat out hard in search of Japan's second sub-15 clocking ever. Right with her were Kenyans Rebecca Njeri (Daiso) and Joanne Kipkemoi (Kyudenko), and half marathon national record holder Hitomi Niiya (Sekisui Kagaku). Together they went through splits of 3:02, 2:58, 3:01 and 2:59 to hit 4000 m in exactly 12:00, Niiya and Njeri taking their turns up front and Kipkemoi sliding off the back. Njeri pushed hard over the last 1000 m to open a gap, but while Hironaka couldn't stay with her Niiya kicked over the last 200 m to almost close it up, just about a first in her career and showing the effects of the work she put into the 1500 m over t...

The National Corporate Championships men's 10000 m A-heat lived up to expectations as one of the best races of the year, the kind of race that shows how good a track 10000 m can be, tense and full of turnover between world top two Benard Kibet (Kyudenko) and Bedan Karoki (Toyota), and Richard Kimunyan (Hitachi Butsuryu). The trio wore down the rest of the competition, Koech and Karoki doing most of the hammering and Kimunyan only going to the front twice. On the last curve he made his final move, pulling away from Koech for the win in 27:01.42, Koech next in 27:02.39 and Karoki 3rd in 27:02.80. Kimunyan's time was briefly the world-leading mark before being overtaken at a race in Europe just hours later. Further back, the top two Japanese men over 10,000 m this year, Yuma Hattori (Toyota) and Kengo Suzuki (Fujitsu), worked together to move up through the field to take 7th and 8th in new PBs of 27:47.55 and 27:49.16. Both had broken 28 minutes for the first time in Jul...

The 2020 National Corporate Track and Field Championships kicked off Friday in Kumagaya, Saitama on what will probably end up being the last hot day of the year. Defending junior women's 3000 m champ Ririka Hironaka (Japan Post) had the performance of the day, exactly tying Kayoko Fukushi 's U20 national record with a negative split 8:52.80 to pick up a second title and move up to all-time Japanese #5 for the distance. Because she turns 20 in November Hironaka's mark won't make her the co-record holder, but as an 8-second improvement over her winning time last year it puts her in position to follow Fukushi as just the second woman under 15 minutes for 5000 m if she gets into the right race. Her first chance comes Sunday where she faces most of the contenders for the Tokyo Olympic team. A few of them turned up in the 10000 m A-heat where women-only marathon NR holder Mao Ichiyama (Wacoal) took the race out around 31:30 pace, dueling with 30 km NR holder Honami Mae...

Another week, another national championships on the track. This weekend it's the 68th National Corporate Track and Field Championships Friday through Sunday in Kumagaya, Saitama, bringing together the corporate leagues across events on its usual date but just ahead of a series of meets relocated from the spring and early summer including the National Track and Field Championships. Given everything that's happened to the calendar the field is higher-level than usual with seven national record holders, none of them the defending champion in their event. Shotaro Shiroyama (Zenrin) leads the men's long jump with a 8.40 m NR, Haruka Kitaguchi (JAL) the women's javelin throw at 66.00 m, Kumiko Okada (Bic Camera) the women's 5000 m race walk in 20:42.24, Yusuke Suzuki (Fujitsu) the men's 5000 m race walk in 18:37.22, Asuka Terada (Pasona Group) the women's 100 m hurdles in 12.97, Shunya Takayama (Zenrin) the men's 100 m hurdles in 13.25, and Naoto T...

Tohoku Fukushi University alumna and 3000 m steeplechase specialist Ayaka Koike (27, Owada Jitaku Sendai) is back training at her alma mater to make the most of the extra year ahead in her bid to make the Tokyo Olympic team. Last September Koike won the 3000 mSC at the National Corporate Track and Field Championships in 10:06.06. Having once drifted away from the sport, her win marked a return to its top level nationally. In the wake of the ongoing coronavirus crisis all of her planned races from April have been canceled, but, she has chosen to take that headwind and turn it into a tailwind. "I came back here and set making the Tokyo Olympics as my goal, but to be honest there wasn't really enough time to be ready," she said. "I told a lot of people, 'If I had another year then it'd be pretty interesting.' Now that I've got this year, I can get in really good training. It's not a minus, it's a plus." Due to family circumstances Koik...

As part of an effort to halt the effort of the novel coronavirus, the JAAF has announced that it will postpone the 104th National Championships Combined Events, scheduled for June 13~14 in Nagano, and the 104th National Track and Field Championships, scheduled for June 25~28 in Osaka. Potential dates and venues are being explored for these events to be rescheduled in late September or early July. This will include the previously postponed 10000 m National Championships originally scheduled for May 9. Further details will be announced as soon as they have determined. In addition to the National Championships, all meets organized by the JAAF from April through June have been canceled or postponed. The JAAF has also requested that the organizers of other meets it supports during this time period likewise cancel or postpone their events. Further details will be announced by the JAAF and by individual meet organizers as the situation evolves. A list of JAAF-organized and supported meet...

The first Nittai University Time Trials meet of the season and the National Corporate Track and Field Championships delivered most of the weekend's pre-Doha World Championships action on the track. At Nittai, Australian Melissa Duncan (Shiseido) and Minami Yamanouchi (Kyocera) tuned up for Doha with a head-to-head race over 3000 m, Duncan taking it by 0.40 in a sprint finish with a 9:05.45. The men's 10000 m was reasonably quick, with newcomer Razini Lemeteki (Takushoku Univ.) running a PB of almost two minutes to lead the top three under 28 minutes in 27:51.91. But the most interesting result came in the women's 5000 m A-heat, where amateur club runners Haruka Yamaguchi (AC Kita) and Shiho Kaneshige (GRlab Kanto) went 1-2 in another sprint finish, outkicking 2016 Gold Coast Marathon winner Misato Horie (Noritz), 2:23 marathoner Mao Kiyota (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) and every other corporate leaguer in the field to do it. Yamaguchi, who ran a PB of 2:33:09 last we...

Agonizingly short of joining the sub-10 club last year when he ran a 10.00 (+0.2 m/s) PB and meet record to win the National Corporate Track and Field Championships men's 100 m, Ryota Yamagata (Seiko) returned to Osaka's Nagai Stadium Sunday to do it again. Facing national record holder and relay teammate Yoshihide Kiryu (Asics) at the National Corporate meet for the first time Yamagata came up just short again, winning in 10.01 (+0.0 m/s) . Kiryu, off his best form this season, was 2nd in 10.22. After running 10.00 (+0.8 m/s) at last month's Jakarta Asian Games Yamagata had been dead set on joining Kiryu sub-10 at this meet. Seeming to be stable at the level he's now at, one of these times it's going to come together. In distance action, Rosemary Wanjiru (Starts) took the women's 5000 m title in 15:15.03 by a second over teammate Grace Kimanzi . Tomoka Kimura (Universal Entertainment) was the top Japanese woman with her fastest time of the year, 15:...

The 2018 National Corporate Track and Field Championships continued Saturday at Osaka's Nagai Stadium with a pair of records to mark the day. On the women's side, Nanako Fujii (Edion) set a junior national record of 44:13.37 to finish 2nd in the 10000 m racewalk behind winner Kumiko Okada (Bic Camera). On the men's side, Takumi Murashima (Fukui Pref. Sports Assoc.)  took half a second off the previous 800 m meet record set by former national record holder Masato Yokota , winning in 1:47.97. 2nd and 3rd-placers Taichi Ichino (Roble) and Naoto Arayasu (Fujitsu) were also under Yokota's record, making the 800 m the race of the day. In other noteworthy results, men's 20 km race walk world record Yusuke Suzuki (Fujitsu) returned from a six-month suspension for fudging expense claims to win the 10000 m race walk in 39:05.19.  Joel Mwaura (Kurosaki Harima) won the regular 10000 m in 27:45.31, leading the top five under 28 minutes. 2017 national XC champ Takas...