japan running news

The 66th Karatsu Road Race took place Feb. 8 in Karatsu, Saga. In his first time running the men's 10 mile, Taisei Kiyono (Chugoku Denryoku) ran 47:12 to win. The race came down to a 4-way sprint finish, with Kiyono pulling away on the track to beat 2nd place by just 1 second. 2nd on the 12.3 km opening leg at the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden , Kiyono already had proven ability. "I was pretty confident of my chances if it came down to a kick," he said. "I didn't think there was any way I was going to lose on the track." Kiyono was making his debut over 10 miles in windy conditions. "I couldn't tell what the pace was, so it se long," he said. "Winning it was a great experience." After this Kiyono will shift focus to outdoor track season. "I want to make the 5000 m and 10000 m at the National Championships," he said. In the women's 10 km, Miu Saito (Panasonic), who represented Japan in the 3000 mSC at last fall's Tokyo Wo...

The Tachikawa City Half Marathon took place Sunday, Mar. 9 in Showa Kinen Park, Tokyo. Chuo Gakuin University 's new 2025-26 season captain Hiro Konda ran 1:02:11 to take the overall win. 2nd last year, Kondo showed the growth of his strength. "We all ran with the image of the Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai* in our minds," he said. "Every second, every meter mattered, so I was totally focused on winning." Yuta Asakawa of Teikyo University was 2nd in 1:02:29, with Yusei Tomita of Nihon University 3rd in 1:02:47. With the win the priority over time, Konda's plan was to take the lead in middle of the race once they hit the hillier part of the course. But feeling that the pace was too slow while he looked for a place to make a move, Konda picked it up on a downhill with about 3 km to go. "Just like I expected, I started to pull away, so I pushed it from there," he said. The Tachikawa City Half had hosted the National University Men's Half Marathon Ch...

  The 47th Kanagawa Half Marathon took place Sunday in Yokohama on a course starting and finishing outside the Nissin Oil Group's Isogo factory. First across the finish line was the winner of December's Fukuoka International Half Marathon and Aoyama Gakuin University  alumnus  Yuya Yoshida  (GMO), who clocked 1:02:12. Aoyama Gakuin 3rd-year  Shunya Udagawa  was next in a 1:02:20 PB, with Yusei Tomita  of Nihon University  3rd in 1:02:20 and  Yumiki Kunigo  setting a Heisei Kokusai University  school record 1:02:24 for 4th. Last year's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon runner-up Yuta Shimoda , another Aoyama Gakuin graduate running for GMO, ran 1:02:43. Fresh off a 32:08 win in last week's Katsuta Marathon 10 km, Hakuho Joshi H.S.  3rd-year Jecinta Nyokabi  won the women's 10 km here too in 31:53. Elsewhere, Jun Kojima  of Ryutsu Keizai University  won the Moriya Half Marathon in Ibaraki in 1:03:48. Kana Numata ...