japan running news

After tuning up with a 3:40.19 win in the men's 1500 m A-heat in Fukagawa on Wednesday , South Korean Jae Ung Lee turned in the performance of the day at the second Hokuren Distance Challenge meet in Shibetsu Saturday. Going to the front after 900 m, Lee ran a 3:38.55 for the win, just enough to achieve his goal of breaking the 1993-era Korean national record of 3:38.60 and almost 6 seconds up on nearest Japanese competitor Rikuto Iijima (Ami AC), 2nd in 3:44.27. Na Yeon Park also repeated her Fukagawa win, slightly slower this time in 4:15.58 over Rose Wangui (Daiso), 2nd in 4:16.09. Other standout performances included an 8:55.45 win in the women's 3000 m by Yvonne Jepchirchir Chepkosgei (Higo Ginko), a 7:52.11 win by Isaac Ndiema (Mazda) in the men's 3000 m, and a 14:55.45 win by Caroline Kariba (Japan Post) in the women's 5000 m. No Japanese athletes hit the qualifying standards for next month's National Championships at any distance. The next meet in t...

Streaming of the Hokuren Distance Challenge Shibetsu Meet, part 2 of this year's 5-meet time trial series, starts today at 14:00 local time, with the main program kicking off at 16:00. Start lists are here , with live results here . Shibetsu will be the last main chance for people to hit qualifying standards for next month's National Championships. © 2025 Brett Larner , all rights reserved

The first meet in this year's Hokuren Distance Challenge  in Hokkaido was the main meet of the weekend, but there was more action near Tokyo than in a normal year too as organizers sought to keep the number of people in one location down. At the HDC Shibetsu Meet the men's 3000 m was the highlight, with Yohei Ikeda  (Kanebo) winning in 7:56.10 to lead the top eight under eight minutes. Even just five years ago it was rare to see more than one Japanese man break eight in an entire year, a sign of how much things have changed in both shoes and priorities.  Titus Wambua  (SID Group) ran 13:22.49 for 1st in the men's 5000 m A-heat, Kenyans sweeping the top four spots. In 5th Kotaro Kondo  set a new school record for ekiden power Aoyama Gakuin University , running 13:34.88.  34-year-old Yuki Sato  (SGH Group) was 6th in 13:35.74, bettering the time he ran at Nationals less than two weeks ago by 3 seconds. Women's results in Shibetsu were low-key, Sakiko Na...

The five-meet Hokuren Distance Challenge series in Hokkaido kicks off Saturday at 16:30 local Japan time in Shibetsu with ten women's and men's races from 1500 m to 5000 m. Start lists and the meet schedule c an be found here . Look for the remaining four meets every 3~4 days through the 17th. © 2021 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

On May 14 the JAAF announced the schedule and program for the five-meet Hokuren Distance Challenge series in Hokkaido. Scheduled after the end of the Olympic qualifying period, the series will still play a key role for middle and long distance athletes tuning up for the Tokyo Olympics and fall ekiden season. Sat. July 3 - Shibetsu Meet men:  1500 m, 3000 m, 5000 m women:  1500 m, 3000 m, 5000 m Wed. July 7 - Fukagawa Meet men:  5000 m, 10000 m women:  3000 m, 5000 m, 10000 m Sat. July 10 - Abashiri Meet men:  1500 m, 5000 m, T11-13 5000 m, 10000 m, 3000 mSC women:  1500 m, 3000 m, 5000 m, T11-13 5000 m, 10000 m, 3000 mSC Wed. July 14 - Kitami Meet men:  800 m, 5000 m, T11-13 5000 m, 10000 m women:  1500 m, 3000 m, 5000 m, T11-13 5000 m Sat. July 17 - Chitose Meet men:  800 m, 1500 m, 5000 m, 2000 mSC women:  800 m, 1500 m, 3000 m, 5000 m, 10000 m, 2000 mSC Entires for all five meets are open June 7-18 for all athletes who have met the ...

Elite-level track racing returns to Japan Saturday, July 4 with a scaled-back version of the scaled-down Hokuren Distance Challenge 's opening meet in Shibetsu, Hokkaido. Twelve women's and men's races over 1500 m, 3000 m and 5000 m with from 10 to 23 runners per race will happen starting at 15:30 local time and going until 19:15, and it's all being live streamed at the link above. Key names on the start list include Japan's best bet in the Olympic women's 5000 m, Ririka Hironaka (Japan Post), women's Olympic marathon trials winner Honami Maeda (Tenmaya), 2018's Shibetsu 5000 m winner Yuka Hori (Panasonic), 2017 Pre Classic men's mile winner Ronald Kwemoi (Komor Corp.), men's 3000 m H.S. and U20 national record holder Hyuga Endo (Sumitomo Denko), defending men's 1500 m champ Masaki Toda (Sunbelx), men's 1500 m, 3000 m and 5000 m J.H.S. NR holder Kosuke Ishida (Tokyo Nogyo Daini H.S.), 2:07 marathoners Toshiki Sadakat a (MHPS)...

Distance action at the senior level was split between three main meets this weekend. One contingent of Japanese women and men headed to Europe for a mini tour of the circuit, starting things off Saturday at Belgium's Kortrijkse Guildensporenmeeting . One of Japan's top current half marathoners, Mao Ichiyama (Wacoal) ran a season best 15:36.11 for 4th in the women's 5000 m to lead the five Japanese women in the race. National XC runner-up Kosei Yamaguchi (Aisan Kogyo) led the Japanese men in the 3000 m SC in 8:37.81. The popular Hazuma Hattori (Toenec) was the fastest Japanese man in the 1500 m at 3:45.17, with Nokoka Hosaka (Tokyo Nogyo Univ.) delivering the fastest Japanese women's time at 4:25.40. Also Saturday back home in Hokkaido, the Hokuren Distance Challenge series wrapped up with the Shibetsu meet . Women's 5000 m A-heat winner Yuka Hori (Panasonic) was just off Ichiyama's Belgian time in 15:37.51 just ahead of Honami Maeda (Tenmaya), who cont...

by Brett Larner With the demise of the Sapporo International Half Marathon, Hokkaido's Shibetsu Half Marathon has taken on a bigger role as a major domestic summer half marathon, especially for members of Japanese national teams for international championships.  Despite generally hot conditions and the apparent cutting of the elite women's 10 km this year, both the women's and men's races featured solid fields. Kenyan Winfredah Kebaso , the main support of the fledgling Nitori corporate women's team, easily took the win in 1:12:36 over Mai Ito (Team Otsuka Seiyaku), one of the three Japanese women in the marathon at next month's Beijing World Championships.  Ito was a distant 2nd behind Kebaso in 1:14:47 but had little trouble holding off teammate Yui Okada , 3rd in 1:15:13.  Runners from the Noritz corporate team featured prominently, taking 4 of the top 10 places, while Nitori's Remi Nakazato continued her comeback from a cancer diagnosis last Nove...

by Brett Larner Japan's major mid-summer distance series, the Hokuren Distance Challenge kicked off later than usual this week with meets in the towns of Shibetsu and Fukagawa on the northern island of Hokkaido, where distance runners from high school to pro head in the summer to escape the heat and put in mileage for the fall ekiden season. At the series-opening Shibetsu Meet, the biggest news came in the men's 5000 m A-heat.  Last December Fukushima 10th-grader Hyuga Endo (Gakuho Ishikawa H.S.) exploded into the news with a 13:58.93, the fastest-ever 5000 m by a Japanese 16-year-old.  Now an 11th-grader but still 16 for another month, in Shibetsu Endo smashed his own record with a 13:50.51 PB to finish just behind 2014 Asian Games marathon silver medalist Kohei Matsumura (Team Mitsubishi HPS), the 9th-best time ever by a Japanese high schooler and 2nd-best by an under-18 Japanese runner.  Hilsawat Mamiyo Nuguse (Ethiopia/Team Yasukawa Denki), a newcomer to the Ja...

http://mainichi.jp/sponichi/news/20140813spn00m050012000c.html translated and edited by Brett Larner 2014 Incheon Asian Games men's marathon team member Yuki Kawauchi (27, Saitama Pref. Gov't) has confirmed that he will run the Aug. 31 City to Surf Marathon in Perth, Australia.  The race has been on his tentative schedule for some time but he did not officially commit to it until Aug. 12.  It will be Kawauchi's final marathon before the Oct. 3 Asian Games. Kawauchi has run many Australian marathons in recent years, winning the Gold Coast Airport Marathon and Sydney Marathon and finishing 2nd at the Melbourne Marathon.  Famous for running while maintaining his career as a civil servant, interviews with him have been published in Australian running magazines.  A familiar and comfortable place for him, Kawauchi hopes that another quick spin through Australia will help him succeed in his ambitions for the Asian Games. Before Perth, Kawauchi will run Sunday's Hop...

by Brett Larner The 2011 Hokuren Distance Challenge series wrapped up June 29 with its fourth and final event, the Shibetsu Meet. Despite warm and humid conditions, significant marks came in the women's 5000 m and men's 1500 m. In the women's 5000 m, Kenyan Sally Chepyego (Team Kyudenko) marked her latest PB of the season, 15:10.53, to take the win. Just behind her, National Championships 5000 m runner-up Hitomi Niiya , sporting her new Team Universal Entertainment jersey for the first time after a few months as an independent following being fired from Team Toyota Jidoshokki, just cleared the World Championships A-standard with a new PB of 15:13.12. Niiya's mark all but assures she will join national champion Megumi Kinukawa (Team Mizuno) in Daegu and secures her as the all-time Japanese #10 over 5000 m. Her former teammate, 1500 m national record holder Yuriko Kobayashi (Team Toyota Jidoshokki), was a regrettable DNF after a long period lost to injury. In the ...

by Brett Larner for photos click here or here Half marathon national record holder and 2010 double 5000 and 10000 m national champion Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal) quietly returned to the half marathon distance without fanfare after a three and a half year absence with a win at the 24th Shibetsu Half Marathon on July 25 in Shibetsu, Hokkaido. Fukushi ran the race together in a pack of three with defending champion and 2010 World Half Marathon team member Hiroko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera) and marathoner Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren). Akaba fell behind after 15 km while Miyauchi managed to hang on until the final 2 km when Fukushi pulled away to the win in 1:12:25, her slowest time ever over the distance and no doubt a minimum-effort victory. Miyauchi, who was 4th behind Fukushi and Akaba in the Nationals 10000 m last month, was 2nd. Akaba, 3rd at Nationals, was again 3rd. Both women joined Fukushi in going under 1:13 on the hot and sunny race day which saw temperatures of 25 degrees at th...

http://www.hokkaido-np.co.jp/news/sports/106230.html translated by Brett Larner At the Rikuren-certified 22nd Shibetsu Half Marathon on July 20th, Kenyan Kibet Kipgenon (Daiichi Kogyo Univ.) won the men`s race in a time of 1:04:29, while Noriko Higuchi (Team Wacoal) ran 1:13:52 to record her first win. Kipgenon broke from the pack at the 15 km point with a long spurt, while Higuchi came from the rear of the lead pack to win. Kipgenon commented after the race, "That was close to my race plan, and I set a new PB so I am quite happy." Noguchi, training in Shibetsu at a Kansai Jitsugyodan training camp, said of her race, "I followed my coach`s plan to 'stick to the lead pack like blood.' Winning here is going to help me run better in the ekiden season this fall." A total of 1415 men and women entered the half marathon, 10 km, 5 km and 2 km races, with 660 in the half marathon alone. 1377 finished the race, including 629 in the half marathon.

http://sankei.jp.msn.com/sports/other/080626/oth0806262146023-n1.htm translated by Brett Larner Beijing Olympics men`s marathon team member Atsushi Sato (Team Chugoku Denryoku) has cancelled his planned July high-altitude training in St. Moritz, Switzerland and will instead remain in Japan for his final preparations. Suffering from exhaustion, Sato finished 35th in the June 15th Sapporo International Half Marathon with a time of 1:04:01. Sato`s coach Yasushi Sakaguchi explained that in the past Sato has had a tendency to overwork in high altitude training, leading to poor results. As Sato is already showing signs of overwork, Sakaguchi opted to cancel the St. Moritz camp. Instead, Sato will do his Olympic training in Shibetsu and Abashiri, Hokkaido.