japan running news

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...

Coming off a seventh-straight win at October's Morinomiyako Ekiden, five-time Mount Fuji Women's Ekiden national champion Meijo University led start to finish to win it again for the sixth year in a row Saturday in Shizuoka. Meijo's first four runners, Azumi Nagira , Nanaka Yonezawa , Miyu Yamada and Asuka Ishimatsu all won their stages to give Meijo what was pretty much an unbreakable lead. Undefeated in collegiate ekiden competition up to this point in her career, Meijo 3rd-year Nanase Tanimoto lost to Daito Bunka University 1st-year Sarah Wanjiru by 24 seconds on the 10.5 km Fifth Stage but still handed off to captain Yuka Masubuchi 1:04 ahead. Masubuchi ran a CR 19:27 for her 6.0 km to hand off to anchor Saki Harada on course record pace. On the tough anchor stage, 8.3 km climbing 175 m mostly in its second half, Harada proved the weak link on the team at only 5th-fastest in the field, but while that wasn't enough for Meijo to better its own CR Harada had no ...