japan running news

The 105th Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships will be held May 21-24 in Tochigi's Kanseki Stadium. Featuring World Championships national team members and Hakone Ekiden stars, it is the first time the meet is being held in Tochigi prefecture. The Kanto Regionals meet is open to member universities of the KGRR , with individual performances scoring points that determine the overall champion university program. The meet's history is even longer than that of the KGRR's flagship event, the Hakone Ekiden. All 22 events on the meet program except the men's half marathon, which was held separately on April 5 as part of the Yaizu Minato Half Marathon , will be held at Kanseki Stadium and the neighboring multipurpose field for throwing events. The entry list published on May 12 features Tokyo World Championships relay team member Arie Aoki (Nittai Univ.) in the 400 m. The men's 5000 m includes both Hakone Ekiden uphill Fifth Stage star Shinsaku Kudo (Was...

The men's half marathon component of the Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships relocated this year away from the main part of the meet in May to be held as part of the Yaizu Minato Half Marathon in Shizuoka, a longstanding part of the collegiate half marathon calendar with its Pair Marathon team competition. At Kanto Regionals D1 and D2 teams are usually split into 2 separate starts with a time stagger and run on a loop course. This time around they started together, giving people who wouldn't usually be racing together the chance to go head-to-head. Soka University 3rd-year Shoki Yamaguchi was the only one to try to go with Yamanashi Gakuin University 4th-year Brian Kipyegon , both hitting 5 km in 14:28 before Kipyegon said goodbye. Kipyegon rolled on solo to take the D1 title in 1:01:23, just 9 seconds off his own meet record on a different course. Yamaguchi hung on well enough for 1st in the D2 field in 1:02:55, runner-up Kuranosuke Yoshida of last year...

The organizing committee of the Yaizu Minato Half Marathon announced this week that its 41st edition on Apr. 5 will host the 105th Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships. Launched in 1919, with over 100 years of history Kanto Regionals is Japan's premier college track meet. Every year it is held over the course of 4 days in mid-to-late May, with this year's 105th edition scheduled for May 21-24 at Tochigi's Kanseki Stadium. This year the half marathon, typically held on a short loop course around the host stadium, will be held a month and a half earlier in Yaizu in conjunction with that race's longstanding pair marathon collegiate race that combines the top 2 times from participating universities to determine a team score. he Kanto Regionals half marathon was staged as a 25-mile race at the meet's first edition, then as a marathon for its 29th through 47th editions and a 30 km for the 48th through 67th editions before settling into its current format...

The 40th annual Yaizu Minato Half Marathon and 39th National University Pair Marathon took place Sunday in Yaizu, Shizuoka. Kyosuke Hiramatsu of 2025 Hakone Ekiden champ Aoyama Gakuin University took the overall win in 1:03:02. Approximately 50 university athletes from 19 schools across the Kanto Region took part, with the race kicking off in rainy conditions. The lead group went through 5 km in 14:50, with 20 of them sticking close together until late in the race. As people began to fade, the first real move came near 17 km. Hiramatsu went to the front to break the group up, then attacked again at 20 km to get clear of those who were left. Toma Tanaka (Koku Gakuin Univ.) and Yumeto Ito (Chuo Univ.) tried to follow, but Hiramatsu pulled it off perfectly to make it two AGU wins a row following Masaya Tsurukawa 's victory last year. Tanaka and Ito both clocked 1:03:08, with Tanaka getting 2nd and Ito 3rd. Ryusei Kawachi (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) was 4th in 1:03:10. In the National ...

The 39th Yaizu Minato Half Marathon happened Sunday, starting and finishing in the fishing port area of Yaizu, Shizuoka. In Yaizu Minato's unique Pair Marathon team competition that combines the two fastest times from competing universities to determine the winner, 2024 Hakone Ekiden champ Aoyama Gakuin University took the team title thanks to 4th-year Masaya Tsurukawa 's overall win in 1:02:49 and 3rd-year Daichi Kanda 's 1:03:04 for 3rd for a combined time of 2:05:53. Non-scoring member Sena Minawatari was 4th in 1:03:07, showing Aoyama Gakuin's depth of strength in Yaizu too. Toyo University was 2nd in 2:06:041, with Taiga Usune running 1:03:10 and Hiroto Baba 1:03:31. Koku Gakuin University took 3rd in 2:06:51, Toma Tanaka at 1:03:18 and Shoma Kamada 1:03:33. Tokai University 's Yuki Kani ran an excellent 1:02:59 for 2nd. But although the Yaizu Minato Half Marathon is a JAAF-certified course, a mistake by the organizers in placing a cone at the turnaro...

Runners returned to the city of Yaizu on Sunday for the 37th Yaizu Minato Half Marathon , its first running since 2019 after two years in a row of pandemic cancelations. In addition to the event's Pair Marathon university team competition, 5389 people were entered in the mass-participation race, which was limited to residents of Shizuoka Prefecture. The first hot day of the year saw them traversing Yaizu's roads, with Toyo University  4th-year Daichi Kimoto leading them home in a course record-tying 1:03:42. The Pair Marathon scored each of the 19 competing universities on the combined times of its top two registered finishers. Along with 2nd-year teammate Shu Yoshida , 4th in 1:04:29, Kimoto also helped Toyo win the team scoring competition in 2:08:11, a course record and Toyo's first win in 16 years. Post-race Kimoto smiled as he said, "We came here to get the overall and team wins." At January's Hakone Ekiden Kimoto was only 19th out of 21 teams on the 4th...

Kenyan James Ndiwa Bunuka took the top spot at Sunday's Yaizo Minato Half Marathon , the first runner from Surugadai University to win in Yaizu's 33-year history. Bunuka had pressure early on from three members of 2017 Izumo Ekiden winner Tokai University , but over the second half he pulled away to win by a 22-second margin in 1:03:49. Haruki Minatoya led teammates Shun Yuzawa and Takeshi Nishida in 2nd in 1:04:11. 第30回記念大学ペアマラソン[結果] 優勝 ブヌカ・ジェームス(1)1'03"49 6位 西沢 晃佑(4)1'05"07 河合 拓巳(2)1'07"25 総合2位 2'08"56 応援ありがとうございました！ pic.twitter.com/q0Ut9Lgr0F — 駿河台大学 駅伝部 (@surugadi) April 8, 2018 Yaizu Minato features a unique "pair marathon" team scoring competition, with universities entering three-runner teams from which the top two's times are combined to produce the pair marathon score. Tokai won the pair marathon in 2:08:28, Surugadai a surprise 2nd in 2:08:56. 21 other teams took part, Asia University rounding out...

It's a busy weekend on and off the roads at home and abroad. Led by 2018 Hakone Ekiden First Stage winner Kazuya Nishiyama (Toyo Univ.) and 2017 World University Games women's half marathon gold medalist Yuki Munehisa (Tokyo Nogyo Univ.), Japan is fielding quality men's and women's teams for Saturday's World University Cross Country Championships in St. Gallen, Switzerland. At home, the first big track meet of the season takes place Saturday in Kumamoto at the Kanaguri Memorial Meet where the main focus will be on 5000 m. Livestream to be had here . 3000 m will be the main order of the day at the year's first Setagaya Time Trials meet in Tokyo, while top members of Waseda University and other Hakone teams will square off at the Tokyo Six-University Meet at Keio University . Sunday the emphasis shifts to the roads, with yet more Hakone talent racing the Yaizu Minato Half Marathon thanks to its unique "pair marathon" team scoring. Overseas...

On April 5 it was learned that the family of a 24-year-old woman who passed away last fall are suing the city of Yaizu and the city sports association for 100 million yen [~$933,000 USD] , claiming she died because of negligence on their part after the woman fell off a quay into the ocean while resting during a road road race four years ago. According to the lawsuit, roughly an hour after the start of the event's 5 km race the woman stopped running and began to vomit. The woman entered a parking lot adjacent to the course along the Yaizu waterfront and fell into the ocean while taking a break. People nearby saw her in the water, but when they tried to help her they found her heart had already stopped. The woman never regained consciousness and passed away last October. The lawsuit claimed, "Security staff were stationed in the area but neglected to carry out their duty to protect participants. The procedures for medical staff to provide emergency treatment were also non-...

by Brett Larner 焼津みなとマラソン 大学生ばかり載せてましたが、一般の川内選手は大会新記録でした( •̀ᄇ• ́)ﻭ✧ pic.twitter.com/e4Y4N6NDon — テツジマン (@tetsujiman) April 10, 2016 Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) won Sunday's Yaizu Minato Half Marathon by almost a minute in 1:03:47, outrunning dozens of university men to turn in his fastest half marathon since November.  His third time at Yaizu Minato, it was Kawauchi's fastest run on the flat seaside course and the fastest-ever by a general division entrant.  For his win Kawauchi was awarded the fishing town of Yaizu's local specialty, a large bonito. 焼津みなとマラソンで優勝した明治大学藪下くんのインタビュー pic.twitter.com/RKJbo2s3RX — ひろ (@sh2167_kmmn) April 10, 2016 Ryota Yabushita (Meiji Univ.) was 2nd across the line, beating Takumi Komatsu (Nittai Univ.) by 5 seconds to lead the university division in 1:04:39.  University teams in Yaizu Minato are scored by the combined times of their fastest two finishers, the Pair Marathon winners earning more bonito for their tea...

by Brett Larner The biggest domestic road action of the weekend took place in Shizuoka at the Yaizu Minato Half Marathon where Yoshiki Koizumi  of 2013 Hakone Ekiden winner Nittai University  battled last year's winner Tomoyasu Matsui  (Meiji Univ.) from start to finish, both breaking the course record as Koizumi claimed the win in 1:03:26. 2013 National University Men's Ekiden champion Komazawa University  had the next two men across the line, both Kohei Futaoka  and Shoya Kurokawa  timed at 1:03:48.  Komazawa took the win in Yaizu's University Pair Marathon team scoring based on the combined times of its top two finishers, setting a new record of 2:07:36. Nittai was just a second behind, likewise clearing the old record in 2:07:37.  The top non-collegiate runner was Yuki Kawauchi  (Saitama Pref. Gov't), 9th overall in 1:04:19 a week after his latest marathon course record win in Saga.  Almost simultaneously, his youngest brother Ko...

by Brett Larner Following up on last year's record-setting race , the Yaizu Minato Half Marathon returned for the 25th anniversary of its unique pair marathon university championship format with some of Japan's best university teams scoring the top two of their three members in the race.   Meiji University , one of the potential favorites for the 2013-14 ekiden season, took the team title in 2:09:43 as Tomoyasu Matsui  and Shin Kimura  went 1-2 a second apart in 1:04:51 and 1:04:52.  2012 Izumo Ekiden course record-setter Aoyama Gakuin University  was 2nd in 2:10:30 with all three of its runners making the top ten, with 2012 National University Ekiden course record-setter Komazawa University  3rd in 2:10:56 despite not getting anyone into the top five.   Shota Kai  of 2013 Hakone Ekiden winner Nittai University  was 3rd overall, but Nittai did not make the team podium. 28th Yaizu Minato Half Marathon 25th National University Pair Marath...

by Brett Larner Kawauchi on the podium. Despite windy conditions, times were fast across the board at the  27th Yaizu Minato Half Marathon  in Shizuoka prefecture, a race deep in university competition.  The top three men cracked the fourteen-year-old course record of 1:03:54, two of them in the university division including winner Yusuke Ota (Nittai Univ.) who set a new overall CR of 1:03:42,  Meiji University 's winning team set a record for the combined times of the top two runners from the school in Yaizu's unique National University Pair Marathon Championships division, and just a week after a loss in a 10-miler against Toyo University ace Yuta Shitara , marathoner Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref.) came up 2nd overall again with a new general division course record of 1:03:48. Kawauchi's participation was unannounced, and when he appeared on the start line a murmur among the university runners quickly grew into an ovation from t...