japan running news

video highlights by NHK Bringing together the country's best high school athletes in Kyoto, the Dec. 22 National High School Ekiden Championships saw Miyagi prefecture's Sendai Ikuei H.S. dominate, taking the national titles in both the girls' and boys' races. It was the first time in 26 years for Sendai Ikuei to achieve the double at Nationals. The girls' race, a half marathon distance split into five sections, featured an early duel between last year's winner Kamimura Gakuen H.S. of Kagoshima prefecture and Sendai Ikuei, 3rd last year. A stage-winning run from third runner Moe Shimizu put Sendai Ikuei into the top position, and from there to the end it held on to the lead to win in 1:07:00, its fourth national title and the fifth-fastest time in event history. Only one other school, Aichi prefecture's Toyokawa H.S. , has ever won Nationals four times. Anchor and team captain Rina Kimura was overjoyed as she commented, "We started the race t...

The thirteen events of the 74th National Sports Festival track and field competition took place Oct. 4th through 8th in Ibaraki prefecture. Representing Tokyo, Ririka Hironaka (Japan Post) won the senior women's 5000 m in 15:34.38. In the race, the pace stayed slow through 3000 m. Hironaka held back around the 3rd-place and 4th-place position before surging at that point, covering the remaining 2000 m in six minutes flat. "I ran exactly the way I'd envisioned," she said with the same kind of enthusiastic smile she had in high school. Hironaka still wore the Nagasaki uniform when she was the top Japanese woman and 3rd overall in the junior women's 3000 m last year. She joined the Tokyo-based Japan Post team after graduating from Nagasaki Shogyo H.S. this spring, finishing 3rd in the National Championships 5000 m. Her assertive win here capped a successful track season. She had thought about running in the Nagasaki uniform again this time, but, she said, ...