japan running news

Japan had a team of 14 at the World Athletics Road Running Championships this weekend in Copenhagen, Denmark, opting not to send any women in the road mile. That was actually where the best Japan-adjacent performance came, as Mirriam Cherop , who returned to Kenya this year after several seasons with the Kansai-based Shin Nihon Jusetsu team, took bronze in 4:25.71. The best Japanese placing was in the men's mile, where Waseda University 's Ojiro Honda was 16th in a PB of 3:57.50, 0.50 off the NR but almost 4 seconds behind what Keita Satoh ran at last weekend's Fifth Avenue Mile in New York. Top placings in the other events were all in the mid-20s, Kana Mizumoto 24th in the women's 5 km in 15:42, Rui Suzuki 28th in the men's 5 km in 13:38, Yumi Yoshikawa 25th in the women's half marathon in 1:09:34, and Yuma Nishizawa 26th in the men's half marathon in 1:01:17. In half marathon team scoring, the Japanese men were 6th and the women 8th, disappointing...

Re-upping an earlier post on Japan's team lineup for this weekend's  Copenhagen World Road Running Championships . The JAAF chose not to name any women to the team in the mile. Women 5 km Kana Mizumoto (Edion) - 15:06.98 Rina Kusu (Sekisui Kagaku) - 15:10.91 Half Marathon Yumi Yoshikawa (Canon) - 1:09:14 Wakana Kabasawa (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 1:09:20 Rina Shimizu (Noritz) - 1:09:22 Yuna Takahashi (Shimamura) - 1:09:23 Men Mile Ojiro Honda (Waseda Univ.) - 3:37.53 (1500 m) Tomoki Nakano (Toenec) - 3:37.92 (1500 m) 5 km Yota Mashiko (Waseda Univ.) - 13:20.35 Rui Suzuki (Waseda Univ.) - 13:20.64 Half Marathon Tomoya Ogikubo (Hiramatsu Byoin) - 1:00:22 Yuma Nishizawa (Toyota Boshoku) - 1:00:26 Neo Namiki (Subaru) - 1:00:29 Daisuke Sato (Chuo Univ.) - 1:00:40 © 2026 Brett Larner , all rights reserved

Following an earlier announcement of the half marathon teams for September's Copenhagen World Road Running Championships , on June 26 the JAAF announced the mile and 5 km squads that will join them. No women were named to the mile. Women 5 km Kana Mizumoto (Edion) - 15:06.98 Rina Kusu (Sekisui Kagaku) - 15:10.91 Half Marathon Yumi Yoshikawa (Canon) - 1:09:14 Wakana Kabasawa (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 1:09:20 Rina Shimizu (Noritz) - 1:09:22 Yuna Takahashi (Shimamura) - 1:09:23 Men Mile Ojiro Honda (Waseda Univ.) - 3:37.53 (1500 m) Tomoki Nakano (Toenec) - 3:37.92 (1500 m) 5 km Yota Mashiko (Waseda Univ.) - 13:20.35 Rui Suzuki (Waseda Univ.) - 13:20.64 Half Marathon Tomoya Ogikubo (Hiramatsu Byoin) - 1:00:22 Yuma Nishizawa (Toyota Boshoku) - 1:00:26 Neo Namiki (Subaru) - 1:00:29 Daisuke Sato (Chuo Univ.) - 1:00:40 © 2026 Brett Larner , all rights reserved

Day two of the 103rd Kanto Regionals meet took place Friday at Tokyo's National Stadium and other facilities. The 1500 m was the only mid or long-distance final on the program, and in the D1 women's final 4th-yr Yuiri Ogata (Nittai Univ.) scored a dominant win with a 4:19.08 PB that put her 2 1/2 seconds up on 2nd-placer Yui Yoshii (Daito Bunka Univ.). 4th-yr Hiroto Takamura (Nittai Univ.) won the D1 men's title in 3:45.65, with 2nd-yr Ryoto Aoki (Rikkyo Univ.) taking the top spot in a strategic D2 men's final in 3:52.93. D2 men also had a round of 5000 m qualifiers on the program. Kenyans took the top four spots in Heat 1 led by newcomer Brian Kiptoo (Reitaku Univ.) in 13:50.47, with Hakone Ekiden runner-up Komazawa University 4th-yr Kota Nakaya outrunning Hakone champ Aoyama Gakuin University 1st-yr Sota Orita for 1st in the slower Heat 2, 14:04.47 to 14:04.95. The final happens Sunday alongside the D1 men's and women's races. In other noteworthy per...