japan running news

The Osaka Marathon is Monday, with a live ad-free national broadcast starting at 9:00 a.m. local time on NHK that you'll probably need a VPN to pick up online. No word yet on live results, but maybe try the separate elite field site . We'll post a link if something surfaces, and whatever we can from on the ground in Osaka. Anyway, there are some pretty good story lines this time around. Last year the big one was Izumo Ekiden and National University Ekiden Koku Gakuin University runner Kiyoto Hirabayashi winning with a debut and collegiate record of 2:06:18. That was eclipsed at the start of this month by Hiroki Wakabayashi from Hakone Ekiden winner Aoyama Gakuin University with a 2:06:07 at Beppu-Oita , and with the arguably more talented 2025-26 AGU captain Asahi Kuroda making his debut in Osaka that might not even last til the end of the month. But you want story? Here's story: On Wednesday right after his 21st birthday Wakabayashi and Kuroda's teammate Sena M...

Another week and another big Japanese road race announces its elite field. This year's Osaka Marathon looks set to be a 2:05 race for the men, with Ronald Korir , Bethwel Kibet , Boniface Kimutai , Abdisa Tola , Derseh Kindie and Yihunilign Adane set to pull NR holder Kengo Suzuki to a good comeback and a crew of 2:06 Japanese men led by Paris Olympian Naoki Koyama and Yusuke Nishiyama to faster PBs. Osaka factors into men's team selection for this year's Tokyo World Championships, so expect it to go big. There are 4 sub-61 half marathoners on the debut list too, led by Ryota Kondo with a 1:00:32 at the 2023 National Corporate Half and last year's Corporate Half winner Shunsuke Shikama , 1:00:41. And hot on the heels of Hiroki Wakabayashi 's 2:06:07 collegiate and debut marathon record in Beppu-Oita on Sunday, his Aoyama Gakuin University teammate Asahi Kuroda , the top Japanese man on the Hakone Ekiden's competitive Second Stage last year and even fast...

The Jan. 28 Osaka International Women's Marathon and Osaka Half Marathon organizers announced the elite fields for both races today. The marathon is all about whether a Japanese woman can run 2:21:41 to steal the third spot on the Paris Olympic team from Ai Hosoda , the 3rd-placer at October's MGC Olympic marathon trials. Only one Japanese woman in the field has done that, Mizuki Matsuda (Daihatsu) with a 2:20:52 in Osaka International two years ago, and to help her try to get there organizers have pulled in Workenesh Edesa (Ethiopia), 2:18:51 in Berlin 2022, Stella Chesang (Uganda), 2:20:23 in Hamburg this past spring, and Sisay Meseret Gola (Ethiopia), 2:20:50 in Seville 2022. 2021 Tokyo Olympian Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) is probably Matsuda's strongest domestic competition at 2:22:32 earlier this year in Nagoya, with Sayaka Sato (Sekisui Kagaku) and Natsumi Matsushita (Tenmaya) more distantly in range. But with Nagoya coming in March with others in pursuit of the ...

Fresh off the announcement of the Tokyo Marathon elite field yesterday, Japan's first major marathon of the year takes place Sunday with the Osaka International Women's Marathon . Fuji TV will broadcast it live starting at noon local time, with streaming on TVer . With a reworked course that's hillier but which organizers hope will somehow still be faster, Osaka Women's is positioned for a 2:20 race with three women, Kenya's Maurine Chepkemoi and Ethiopians Haven Haile Desse and Sisay Meseret Gola at that level. The top tier of Japanese women, Sayaka Sato , Yuka Ando and Mao Uesugi , all ran 2:22 last year, so it'll be a jump up for them to stay with the front group. There's also a high-potential debut from 1:09:14 half marathoner Sakiho Tsutsui , who so far has looked to be stronger as the distance increases. Sato, Ando and Uesugi have all already qualified for October's Olympic marathon trials, so their being in the race raises the bar for anyon...

Amateur Japanese club runner Haruka Yamaguchi  (AC Kita) and Ugandan Geoffrey Kusuro had dominant wins at the 9th running of the Kobe Marathon Sunday, both running PBs and winning by almost 4 minutes in course record time. Yamaguchi, who ran a PB 2:33:06 in Sydney in September and dropped a surprise 31:58 at last weekend's East Japan Women's Ekiden , slipped away early, never challenged by the pack of invited African elites or by friend and rival club runner Shiho Kaneshige (GRlab Kanto). Going through halfway faster than her half marathon PB in 1:13:08. She slowed slightly in the second half, especially on the large bridge out to the island finish line, but her win was never in doubt as she broke the tape in 2:27:39. Previously, the fastest pure amateur Japanese women's marathon performance was Chihiro Tanaka 's 2:29:30 in Nagoya in 2002. Breaking that by almost two minutes, Yamaguchi staked her claim as Japan's best-ever amateur. 2nd through 5th wer...