japan running news

The 41st Kurayoshi Women's Ekiden and 45th Nihonkai Ekiden took place Oct. 4 in Kurayoshi, Tottori, the first big national-level high school ekidens of the season. In the 5-stage, 21.0975 km Kurayoshi race, the Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin girls' A team won for the third year in a row in 1:09:11, its 5th win in event history. Kunei Joshi 3rd-year Mai Fukumoto got them off to a good start with a 3rd-place finish on the 6.0 km First Stage in 19:30. 1500 m national high school champion Waka Murai , also a 3rd-year, ran the fastest time on the 4.0975 km Second Stage, 12:46, to make up the 11-second gap to the leader and move into 1st. From there on out the younger runners on the team excelled. 1st-year Mei Imanishi extended the lead to 31 seconds on the 3.0 km Third Stage, and 2nd-years Kaia Okuno and Kotoko Asahi placed near the top on the 3.0 km Fourth Stage and 5.0 km Fifth Stage to give Kunei Joshi the overall win by 1:10. Kanagawa's Hakuho Joshi H.S. was 2nd in 1:10:21...

Representatives from the towns of Taragi, Yunomae, Asagiri and Mizukami met with the Kumamoto Track and Field Association last week to finalize plans for a new Okukuma Women's Ekiden to be held for the first time on Mar. 15 next year. The new event will have two divisions, one for high school teams and one for collegiate and corporate league teams, with both divisions racing 16 km in 5 legs. Applications will be open from Dec. 1 through Feb. 6 next year. The area launched the Okukuma Ekiden for men in 2022, and since then participating teams have called for a women's event to be added. The women's race will be held in March because at that point in the season there are typically a lot of college and corporate league teams doing training camps nearby in Miyazaki, which organizers think will make it easier to assemble a good field. The course is planned to start in front of Asagiri Station and follow Route 219 to a turnaround point in Mizukami before finishing in front of Y...

Ekiden season saw two of its first important races happen this weekend. Modeled after January's Kitakyushu Women's Invitational Ekiden, Sunday's Okukuma Ekiden in Kumamoto put corporate, collegiate and high school teams together on a marathon-length course with teams of 4 all running double-digit distances and high schoolers with teams of 7 and all but the 10.0 km First Stage split into two parts. Tosu Kogyo H.S. starting runner Taiyo Iwasa led corporate leaguer Tomoya Ogikubo (Hiramatsu Byoin) by 2 seconds on the First Stage, with Omuta H.S. third runner Yuma Matsuda passing both teams to take the lead. It took until the anchor stage for Hiramatsu Byoin's Yeneblo Biyazen to catch Omuta, crossing the line in 2:06:39 with Omuta anchor Nobuyuki Anai 7 seconds back for 1st in the high school division. Soka University was the only other team to go under 2:07, 3rd overall and 2nd in the college/corporate division in 2:06:57. Rakunan H.S. was next in 2:07:07, with e...

The fastest Japanese men's half marathon time of the weekend came overseas, where 2018 Fukuoka International Marathon winner Yuma Hattori followed up his New Year Ekiden-winning anchor run for Toyota with a 1:02:49 for 6th at the Santa Pola International Half Marathon in Spain almost 3 minutes behind winner Andamlak Belihu of Ethiopia. In a bit of synchronicity, 2020 Fukuoka winner Yuya Yoshida ran the fastest time of the weekend on home soil, outrunning GMO teammate Yuta Shimoda by 16 seconds to win Kumamoto's Okukuma Half Marathon in 1:03:07. Kazuto Kawabata (SGH) was 3rd in 1:03:26 as the only other runner to clear 64 minutes. Ibusuki Nanohana Marathon winner Yuki Kawauchi (ANDS) was in 27th at 5 km in 15:08 and faded a minute per 5 km from there to end up 37th in 1:10:17. Close behind him, women-only marathon NR holder Mao Ichiyama (Shiseido) had a surprisingly narrow win over relative unknown Yukari Nagatomo (Memolead) 1:12:26 to 1:12:38, Ichiyama's 3rd-st...

The 9th Okukuma Road Race , a JAAF-certified half marathon, took place Jan. 15 across the towns of Mizukami, Yunomae and Taragi in rural Kumamoto. In its first edition in 3 years after pandemic-era cancelations in 2021 and 2022, a total of 364 people finished in the event's 6 categories. In the men's half marathon, Hiroko Hashimoto (SG Holdings) won in 1:02:19, the fastest time ever at the race by a Japanese athlete. Former Hakone Ekiden uphill star Daichi Kamino (Cell Source) also ran, finishing 23rd in 1:06:11. Tokyo Olympics women's marathon 8th-placer and course record holder Mao Ichiyama (Shiseido) won the women's half marathon in 1:12:34. "I want to keep getting back into good shape and to earn my ticket to the Paris Olympics," she said post-race. Rio Olympics 5000 m finalist Miyuki Uehara (Kagoshima Ginko) was 12th in 1:22:27. 9th Okukuma Road Race Half Marathon Kumamoto, 15 Jan. 2023 complete results Men 1. Hiroki Hashimoto (SG Holdings) - 1:02:19 ...

A new event bringing together top high school, college, corporate league and club men's teams, the Okukuma Ekiden was held for the first time Sunday in Kumamoto. 42.195 km split into 7 stages for the high school boys' division and 4 stages for the others, the race saw Nagano's Saku Chosei H.S. become the first team across its finish line in 2:07:16. The Toyota Kyushu corporate team was 2nd overall in 2:07:32, with local Kyushu Gakuin H.S. 3rd in 2:07:52. The new ekiden, which mirrors the format of the Kitakyushu Women's Invitational Ekiden, was originally scheduled to have taken place in 2020. But after two years of pandemic-era cancelations, the inaugural running didn't take place until this year. It was an impressive success. The high school boys' stage lengths were almost the same as those at December's National High School Ekiden, 10 km, 3 km, 8.25 km, 7.9 km, 3 km, 5 km, and 5.045 km. Other divisions ran stages 10 km, 11.25 km, 10.9 km, and 10.045 ...

On Aug. 31 the organizers of the new Okukuma Ekiden announced that this year's first running on Oct. 4 has been postponed one year due to the ongoing coronavirus saga. The 42.195 event was to bring together top high school, university and corporate league teams for the ultimate showdown with all teams starting together, collegiate and corporate runners covering the distance in four stages and high schoolers in seven. The new race was announced in late April and gained attention following the cancelation of the Oct. 11 Izumo Ekiden, the traditional start of university men's ekiden season, when several top university programs voiced plans to instead run Okukuma to begin their seasons. But following discussions with representatives from the four towns involved in the race, the decision to move the inaugural race to 2021 was finalized. A spokesperson for the organizers commented, "We apologize for not being able to meet the expectations of the athletes, coaches, officia...

It seems like the only news about Japanese road racing these days is that all the races are shutting down, already all the way until mid-March at this point. But there are a few races that have offered some hope by going ahead or planning to. The June 20  Arakawa Smile Marathon was the first one to happen since early March this year, a small amateur event along a Tokyo riverbank with a variety of distances up to 30 km. It followed up July 4 with another edition. At this point it has editions planned monthly until January , with an extra running planned in Shizuoka in October. Last weekend the Hokkaido University Ekiden also took place on a short loop course in a Sapporo park with five men's teams and four women's teams. And that's it so far. Looking forward, along with the Smile event's upcoming editions, the elite-level Okukuma Ekiden  on Oct. 4 insists that it will go ahead with its first running despite the coronavirus crisis and large-scale flood damage in ...

Ten top men's university ekiden teams centered in the competitive Kanto Region are expected to run the first edition of the Okukuma Ekiden in Tanagi, Kumamoto on Oct. 4. The new event will feature high school, university and corporate league teams racing each other over a 42.195 km course. Starting together, the  university and corporate team divisions will be divided into four stages, with the high school division dividing the longer stages to cover the same total distance in seven stages. In addition to the ongoing coronavirus crisis the Tanagi area has been battered by severe rain and flooding in recent weeks, but race organizers remain determined to stage the event with measures potentially including barring spectators from the course. "The roads on the course suffered no damage from the flooding," commented a race official. "The determining factor on whether the event can go ahead will be the situation regarding the coronavirus. We will make a series of dec...

On July 2 it was learned that 2020 Hakone Ekiden champion Aoyama Gakuin University plans to take part in the new Okukuma Ekiden Oct. 4 in the wildlands of Kumamoto. The new event will feature high school, university and corporate league teams competing side by side. Runners in each division will start together, with different stage lengths depending on the division. The 42.195 km course will feature four stages for university and corporate league runners and seven stages for high school teams. All runners will start together, with scoring and awards split into two categories, high school and university/open men. Stage lengths in the university/open men's division will be 10 km, 11.1 km, 11.05 km and 10.045 km. Stages in the high school division will reflect those at December's National High School Ekiden Championships, 10.0 km, 3.0 km, 8.1 km, 8.05 km, 3.0 km, 5.0 km, and 5.045 km, with the second through seventh stages subdividing the longer second through four stages in...

click photo for complete video of race 3rd two years ago and runner-up last year, Joel Mwaura (Kurosaki Harima) finally got the better of two-time champ Jeremiah Thuku Karemi (Toyota Kyushu), breaking away inside the first 5 km to solo a 1:00:44 for the win and taking more than 30 seconds off Karemi's course record at the Okukuma Road Race  half marathon.  Hiroshi Ichida (Asahi Kasei) led a small group of Japanese men who tried to follow Mwaura's move, while Karemi initially hung back. Once Karemi caught back up, he and Ichida ran past halfway together before he put on a surge at a water station to drop Ichida and try to close the gap to Mwaura. But a third-straight title in his last race in Japan wasn't to be, as Karemi finished just over a minute behind Mwaura in 1:01:49. Ichida held on to the top Japanese spot at 3rd in a 3-second PB of 1:02:21. The women's race initially played out as a head-to-head between duos from the Wacoal and Kyocera corporate teams,...

For the second year in a row Japan-based Kenyan Jeremiah Thuku Karemi (Toyota Kyushu) broke the course record at Kumamoto's Okukuma Half Marathon . Coached by 1992 Barcelona Olympics marathon silver medalist Koichi Morishita , Karemi took 27 seconds off his winning time last year to win by over a minute in 1:01:21. Joel Mwaura (Kurosaki Harima) was a distant 2nd in 1:02:40, with Karemi's teammate Yuki Oshikawa (Toyota Kyushu) taking the top Japanese spot at 3rd in 1:03:13. Yuki Kawauchi  (Saitama Pref. Gov't) was 9th in 1:04:04 a week after running the Ibusuki Nanohana Marathon. In the women's race, Anna Matsuda (Kyocera), coached by former men's half  marathon national record holder Atsushi Sato , took 26 seconds off the course record to win in 1:13:10. Not far off, Kotomi Tsubokura (Wacoal) was a clear 2nd in 1:03:27 with Maki Saito (Higo Ginko) improving on her 10th-place finish last year to take 3rd in 1:14:46. Also Sunday, up in Tokyo the Akabane Ha...

As championship ekiden season wraps up Japan’s athletes have started the transition to the winter road season, with four decently competitive half marathons highlighting the first half of January. At the hilly Okukuma Half Marathon , locally-based Africans Jeremiah Thuku Karemi (Toyota Kyushu) and Melaku Abera (Kurosaki Harima) duked it out one-on-one, Karemi through in a series of surges in the last 5 km before breaking away decisively with 1 km to go. Crossing the finish line in 1:01:48, Karemi took nearly two minutes off the course record with Abera just under 62 for 2nd. 2nd on the Hakone Ekiden’s Seventh Stage less than two weeks ago, Masanori Sumida (Nittai Univ.) outran corporate league competition Taku Fujimoto (Toyota) and Shohei Kurata (GMO) to take the top Japanese spot at 4th in 1:03:11. Spending most of the race behind a pack led by 2015 National Univeristy Half Marathon champion Tadashi Isshiki (GMO) and 2:07:39 marathoner Masato Imai (Toyota Kyushu), Yuki Ka...

by Brett Larner click lower photo for video courtesy of TKU 奥球磨ロードレース ハーフの部 優勝は藤本拓くん（トヨタ） 1:03:51 pic.twitter.com/wYxFOd6uoI — つきこ (@t_tsuki) January 15, 2017 Two weeks after they clashed on the New Year Ekiden 's opening stage, Taku Fujimoto (Team Toyota) got payback for his one second loss to newcomer Atsuya Imai (Team Toyota Kyushu), beating Imai by ten seconds to win the 5th running of the Okukuma Road Race  half marathon in 1:03:51.  Imai led a solid showing of three men from the Koichi Morishita -coached Toyota Kyushu team in the top five, with only Junpei Nishi of the New Year Ekiden national champion Asahi Kasei team joining Fujimoto in breaking up the Toyota Kyushu hegemony.  Running his second half marathon of the year, last year's runner-up Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) was 6th in 1:04:17. Takeru Kobayakawa of Hakone Ekiden runner-up Toyo University was the top collegiate runner at 8th in 1:04:39. 5th Okukuma Road Race Okukuma, K...

by Brett Larner videos by you?_yu 奥球磨ロードレース ハーフマラソンスタート❗️ pic.twitter.com/a2lwQy6OGy — you?_yu (@murasuyu) January 17, 2016 In cold conditions corporate runners Shintaro Miwa (Team NTN) and Noriko Higuchi (Team Wacoal) turned in winning runs at the 4th edition of the Okukuma Road Race half marathon in Kumamoto.  In the men's race Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) did most of the leading, pushing the first 10 km through in 30:06 and gradually shaving down the lead pack from 20 to 7.  In the final kilometers he and Miwa broke away, but with a course record win at last weekend's Ibusuki Nanohana Marathon still in his legs Kawauchi couldn't match the fresher Miwa.  Miwa broke the tape in 1:03:58 with Kawauchi two seconds back.  Yuya Ito (Team Toyota) was 3rd in 1:04:06. 奥球磨ハーフゴール pic.twitter.com/20Sds3KEyl — you?_yu (@murasuyu) January 17, 2016 Reflecting Kumamoto's conservative reputation, in its first three runnings the Okukuma Road Race limited...

by Brett Larner In a period that sees many of Japan's long-standing small elite races folding or changing to mass-participation formats the Okukuma Road Race, launched in 2013 in one of the most conservative areas of southern Japan, is something of a throwback, a small race of around 100 men with an accompanying high school boys' 10 km and women restricted to 5 km because, well, that's how they roll in Kumamoto. In its third edition, Kyushu-based Kenyan John Kariuki (Daiichi Kogyo Univ.) led the top four at the Okukuma Half Marathon under last year's course record for the win in a new record of 1:03:16.  Essentially unchallenged, Kariuki had a lead of around 10 seconds at 10 km and held that margin to win by 13 seconds over London Olympics marathoner Ryo Yamamoto (SGH Group) with Shun Inoura , an alternate for Komazawa University 's Hakone Ekiden runner-up team, another 3 seconds back in 1:03:32. Still recovering from a sprained ankle a few weeks back, A...

by Brett Larner In just its second running the Okukuma Road Race continued to develop into Japan's leading January half marathon, with the Koichi Morishita -coached  Yuki Oshikawa (Team Toyota Kyushu) taking nearly a minute off teammate Hayato Ideue 's course record to win a tight pack race in 1:03:36.  In a lead group of nine including Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't), 2013 NYC Marathon 6th-place Masato Imai  (Team Toyota Kyushu), Hakone Ekiden runners Takahiro Gunji  (Komazawa Univ.) and Shota Kai (Nittai Univ.), 2013 Tamana Half Marathon winner Daichi Kato  (Team Toyota Kyushu) and more, Oshikawa pushed hard near the race's end to get away from Kawauchi and Gunji, opening a lead of 4 seconds over Kawauchi for the win. Kawauchi, 2nd at last weekend's Tanigawa Mari Half Marathon, was runner-up again in 1:03:40, taking some consolation from bettering Imai, Kato and 2014 New Year Ekiden anchor stage winner Ryuji Watanabe  (Team Toyota Kyushu), a...

by Brett Larner This Sunday's 19th National Men's Ekiden in Hiroshima brings Japan's 2013-2014 national championship ekiden to a close with one of the most entertaining races of them all. Teams from each of Japan's 47 prefectures made up of junior high school, high school, university and pro runners race over 7 stages and 48 km, one of the few chances of the year to see the best of the corporate league's New Year Ekiden men duel with the university circuit's Hakone Ekiden stars and often the first glimpse of upcoming stars running young.  It's all broadcast live nationwide and commercial-free on NHK starting at 12:30 p.m.  As usual, JRN will cover the race live on Twitter @JRNLive . This year university runners seem to outweigh the pros, with many of the Hakone stage winners and upper-echelon men taking the top positions on a number of teams.  That may in part be due to this year's World Half Marathon Championships being held in March and the Nati...