japan running news

The East Asia Half Marathon Championships took place Mar. 29 in Yangzhou, China. Taiga Hirayama won the men's gold medal in 1:02:50 by a margin of 49 seconds over 2nd place. A native of Tochigi, Hirayama graduated from Utsunomiya H.S. and Tsukuba University before joining the Konica Minolta corporate team in 2024. He won the Jan. 25 Osaka Half Marathon in a PB of 1:00:50, then came back 2 weeks later to win the National Corporate Half Marathon in another PB of 1:00:44 on Feb. 8. Kokoro Nakachi (Sysmex) was 4th in the women's race in 1:12:46. First held in 2023, this was the second time the East Asia Half Marathon Championships have been held. Japanese athletes took the men's and women's silver medals at the previous edition, but Hirayama's win was Japan's first gold. source article: https://www.rikujyokyogi.co.jp/archives/203306 translated by Brett Larner

With heavy snow hitting most of the country the National Corporate Half Marathon and 10 km in Yamaguchi almost dodged a bullet. Almost. It was -2˚ and windy at the start, but with sunny skies it wasn't too bad. The men went out 15 minutes ahead of the women on sub-61 pace with a massive pack trailing early leader Daisuke Shimojo (ND Software). At times snow was in the air, but even right up to the end the sun was still breaking through. From a few km out a lead trio coalesced of last year's winner Tsubasa Ichiyama (Sunbelx), Kenyan Boniface Mulwa (ND Software) and Taiga Hirayama (Konica Minolta), CR-breaking winner at the Osaka Half Marathon 2 weeks ago. Ichiyama made a break for it with 500 m to go, but on the track at the end Muluwa reeled him back it. Entering the home straight Hirayama threw down and passed them both, bettering his Osaka time by 6 seconds to win in 1:00:44. Muluwa was next in 1:00:45, with Ichiyama, in training for the Tokyo Marathon in 3 weeks, 3rd in...

The Osaka Half Marathon took another big step up the domestic half marathon rankings from a mass-participation race run alongside the Osaka International Women's Marathon to one of the country's top-tier races. In the women's race, the debuting Jecinta Nyokabi (Denso) went out fast, only to be run down by veteran Yumi Yoshikawa (Canon AC) by 10 km. Nyokabi faded to 6th in 1:10:41, but Yoshikawa pushed on to a PB 1:09:14 for the win. Rina Shimizu (Noritz), Yuna Takahashi (Shimamura) and Makoto Tsuchiya (Ritsumeikan Univ.) all broke 70 minutes, Tsuchiya taking the Kansai Region collegiate title in 1:09:32 for 4th overall. Everyone in the top 10 who wasn't debuting ran a PB, a mark of how fast the day was even with cold and windy conditions. The men's race went out on sub-61 pace courtesy of Yudai Shimazu (GMO), then got a big injection of speed when Kyuma Yokota (Toyota Kyushu) took off close to 60-flat pace. Yokota opened a 10-second lead by 15 km, but over ...