japan running news

Meet 4 of 5 in this year's Hokuren Distance Challenge series took place Wednesday in Kitami, Hokkaido. The men's 5000 m A-heat was the race of the day, with Tokyo 2020 steeplechase squad members Ryuji Miura  (Juntendo Univ.) and Ryoma Aoki  (Honda) going 1-2 in PBs of 13:26.78 and 13:32.31. Still just 19, Miura moved up to all-time Japanese U20 #2 less than a second behind record holder and rival Yamato Yoshii 's record of 13:25.87. Another steepler, although not part of the Olympic team, Yasunari Kusu  (Ami AC) ran a PB of 13:48.40 to win the 5000 m B-heat. Three women went under 15:20 in the women's 5000 m A-heat, Kenyans  Agnes Mwikali  (Kyocera) and Tabitha Njeri Kamau  (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) getting the top spots in 15:15.82 and 15:16.73 and planned Olympic doubler Nozomi Tanaka  (Toyota Jidoshokki) 3rd in 15:17.93. Paralympic team member Misato Michishita  (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) was off the time she ran on Saturday in Abashiri but s...

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...

There was a lot of distance action this weekend, but the biggest performance in Japan came at the Fuse Sprint meet in Tottori. Lucking out with a maxed out legal tailwind of 2.0 m/s, Ryota Yamagata  (Seiko) took 0.02 off the national record in his first sub-10 clocking to win in 9.95. 2nd-place Shuhei Tada (Sumitomo Denko) also scored a PB of 10.01, with sub-10 man Yuki Koike (Sumitomo Denko) 3rd in 10.13. Despite a scratch from former NR holder Yoshihide Kiryu  and a weak run from relay regular Aska Cambridge , the Japanese men's 4x100 m looks to be in a stronger position than ever. Fuse also produced a national record in the women's 100 m hurdles thanks in part to an ideal +1.8 m/s tailwind. Masumi Aoki  (77 Ginko) equalled the 12.87 NR held by Asuka Terada  (Japan Create) for the win, with Terada running 12.89 for 2nd. Both women are still short of the Olympic qualifying standard, but the solid runs will push them up further from their current positions of 32...

With world-leading marks at all three meets in the series so far, the 2020 Hokuren Distance Challenge wrapped Saturday in Chitose with an unexpected bang as 18-year-old Juntendo University first-year Ryuji Miura delivered a world-leading 8:19.37 to win the men's 3000 m steeplechase. Showing zero fear over the last lap, in a sprint finish Miura overtook Kenyan Philemon Kiplagat Ruto (Aisan Kogyo) in the last 50 m for the win, taking down the collegiate and U20 national records in the process and just missing the straight up national record, set when Miura was a one-year-old, by 0.44, ranking him all-time #2. 3rd-placer Kosei Yamaguchi (Aisan Kogyo) and 4th-placer Ryoma Aoki (Honda) also broke into the all-time Japanese top ten, Yamaguchi coming in at #5 in 8:25.04 and Aoki #6 in 8:25.85. And there were other records and all-time marks. On the women's side the best came in the 5000 m A-heat, where a lead group of eight went out even with NR pace with a 2:59 opening 1000 ...

Tokyo Kokusai University made history Sunday night at Kanagawa’s Sagamihara Gion Stadium, winning the Kanto Region Qualifier for November’s National University Ekiden to make the national championship ekiden for the first time. One of the wave of new programs to break onto the Hakone scene in recent years, won by a margin of just 13 seconds for the combined times of its eight runners in four heats of 10000 m, downing major established schools like Meiji University , Waseda University and Nittai University to take the top spot. A big part of that was first-year Vincent Yegon , who won the most competitive heat in 28:04.56 to give Tokyo Kokusai an edge on cumulative time. But with a margin of more than 2:40 over the final qualifying team, 5th-place Chuo Gakuin University , the rest of the team pulled its weight and would have almost certainly qualified even without the boost from Yegon. Chuo University was the unlucky 6th-placer at less than 18 seconds behind Chuo Gakuin, abou...