japan running news

The Hakodate Half Marathon and Marathon took place June 28 on a course starting and finishing at Hakodate Dotsuku Sports Garden. 4,448 people ran the half marathon, with another 3,866 in the marathon for a total participant number of 8,314. Cheered on by the crowds, runners chased PBs through the exotic atmosphere of Hakodate's streets. A record-breaking 9.271 people entered the race, 5,037 in the half marathon and 4,234 in the marathon. At the opening ceremony mayor Jun Oizumi told onlookers, "I hope that the warm cheers of our local people along the course give runners strength, and that they enjoy the race til the very end." When the starting gun fired at 9:00 a.m. the runners rook off. True to the mayor's words, locals and official cheering squads supported them with loud cheering and performances. At Midorinoshima, a longstanding local restaurant served up curry and other dishes, giving participants a taste of Hakodate's delicious local cuisine. Jin Yuasa ...

Soka University 's Stephen Muthini broke the course record at the Hakodate Half Marathon Sunday to win in a PB 1:01:08. Muthini led from the early going, dragging a lead group of 10 behind him. Past 10 km he picked up the pace, cutting the lead group down to 6, including 2025 Tokyo World Championships marathon team member Yuya Yoshida (GMO). Near 15 km Takuma Yamakawa of Komazawa University went to the front, but Muthini was quick to retake the lead and gradually pulled away from Yamakawa and Yoshida. Yoshida ended up 2nd behind Muthini in a PB of 1:01:23, with Yamakawa 3rd also in a new PB of 1:01:25. Times were fast across the board, with 8 of the top 10 men running lifetime PBs. Yoshida, a 2-time winner of the Fukuoka International Marathon including a 2:05:16 CR last December, is Japan's leading hope of ending its dry spell of World Championships marathon medals, the last being Tsuyoshi Ogata 's bronze at the 2025 Helsinki World Championships. His Tokyo Worlds team...

Following up last weekend's NR-breaking Marugame Half where the top 24 men went under 61 minutes, today's National Corporate Half Marathon delivered another big one. Yuma Nishizawa (Toyota Boshoku) and Shadrack Kipchirchir (Chudenko) broke away from the pack mid-race and opened a substantial lead, but in the last few km Tsubasa Ichiyama (Sunbelx) closed the gap and passed them by. Ichiyama took almost a minute off his PB to win in 1:00:22, the 8th-fastest time ever by a Japanese man. Favorite Tatsuhiko Ito (Honda) closed hard to pass Nishizawa and Kipchirchir on the track but couldn't catch Ichiyama, 5 seconds behind in 2nd in 1:00:27 with Nishizawa right behind in 1:00:29 for 3rd. Coming off an injury in November that held him back at last month's New Year Ekiden , Ichiyama told JRN post-race, "This was a big confidence builder for my next race." That would be next month's Tokyo Marathon. The top 14 men were all under 61 minutes. Compared to that th...

Margaret Akidor made it three in a row at the Sanyo Ladies Road Race half marathon, breaking the course record with a PB 1:07:45 for the win. Akidor was part of a lead quartet with Shiori Yoshizono , Nanaka Izawa and the debuting Tabitha Njeri Kamau that went through 5 km together in 15:55. Yoshizono and Izawa dropped back over the next 5 km, falling 12 seconds behind as Akidor and Kamau hit 10 km in 31:55. From there Akidor started to inch away from Kamau, rolling on alone the rest of the way to the win. Yoshizono and Izawa caught the fading Kamau just before 20 km and went right by, Yoshizono taking 2nd in 1:08:21 and Izawa 3rd in 1:08:25. Kamau was another 10 seconds back in 4th, almost 2 minutes up on 5th-placer Yuri Mitsune . Yoshizono and Izawa both broke into the Japanese all-time lists, Yoshizono coming in a 9th and Izawa at 10th. 3rd in the 10 km race last year, Kaede Kawamura got the win this time in 32:16, holding off Deborah Chemutai by 2 seconds in Chemutai's deb...

The 41st Sanyo Ladies Road Race takes place Dec. 18 in Okayama. 119 athletes including qualifiers for the MGC Race 2024 Olympic marathon trials are entered in the half marathon, with another 155 in the 10 km bringing the total to 274 entrants. MGC qualifiers Kanako Takemoto (Daihatsu), Reia Iwade (Denso) and Mirai Waku (Universal Ent.) lead the half marathon field. Other top names include last year's first Japanese finisher Yumi Yoshikawa (Uniqlo), 5000 m U18 NR holder Shuri Ogasawara (Denso), and local Tenmaya team members Rei Ohara and Shiori Yoshizono . Last year foreign athletes swept the podium. This year all three are set to return, with Zeyituna Husan (Denso) going for the first threepeat in event history. In the 10 km Agnes Mwikali (Kyocera) will likewise being going for the first-ever threepeat, with pressure from 2021 runner-up Naomi Muthoni (Universal Ent.) and others. MGC qualifier Mao Uesugi (Starts) and Tenmaya rookie Shiho Tachizako are also in the field...