japan running news

On August 25 the organizing committee of the 2025 Tokyo World Athletics Championships determined that the final decision whether to go ahead with the competition in the event of heat, typhoon or other extreme circumstances will be in the hands of World Athletics. Given that multiple venues will be in use simultaneously throughout the World Championships, a Venue General Manager will be in place to oversee competition venues, warm-up venues, athlete hotels, and on-site decision-making. A liaison, ceremony and control team led by the organizing committee head will operate within the National Stadium to handle important issues and communicate with World Athletics and other relevant parties. In the event of a disaster such as an earthquake or typhoon, or in case of a serious accident or other incident, the event crisis management led by the organizing committee chairperson will make the necessary decisions and lead the on-site crisis response. The crisis management plan is still in finaliz...

A statement published by the organizers of the Tohoku Miyagi Fukko Marathon on their race website. JRN's Mika Tokairin  was involved with the organization of the first edition in 2017, and we traveled to the tsunami-hit areas that year to see the race. Read Tokairin's article on it here . In 2017 we launched the Tohoku Miyagi Fukko [reconstruction] Marathon along the coastal areas impacted by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami as part of an effort to support recovery and redevelopment of the area. Along the way there were cancelations due to typhoons and the COVID-19 pandemic, but even so the race returned in 2023 and 2024 with over 10,000 runners from all 47 of Japan's prefectures and from abroad. Participants praised the course, which let them see the progress of the ongoing recovery, the aid stations full of local flavor, and the warm hospitality of the volunteers. The support and cooperation of a wide range of people and organizations, including local ...

  The Kobe Marathon took place Nov. 19 in central Kobe, memorializing the Great Hanshin Earthquake with the theme "Gratitude and Friendship" and the slogan "'Thanks' to This City." Almost 20,000 runners passed through the city streets. At their front, Kenyan Barnaba Kipkoech won in 2:11:19, with Misato Horie (Sysmex) taking the women's race in 2:33:04. During the opening ceremony in front of Kobe City Hall there was a moment of silence for the victims of the earthquake and for those in areas affected nationwide. As the song "To Bring You Joy" played, runners wearing gloves designed to look like sunflowers, a symbol of the reconstruction, raised their arms above their heads to transform the Flower Road into a sea of yellow. After the starting gun fired runners headed west, passing by the Tetsujin #28 monument near Shin-Nagata Station and Akashi Kaikyo Bridge before turning around near Nishimaiko Station. En route to the finish they climbed t...

  The town of Kokonoe, Oita canceled the 28th Kokonoe Kyushu Invitational High School Ekiden on Sept. 24 after athletes were stung by killer hornets and the nest could not be removed. The ekiden had been previously canceled due to typhoons and the coronavirus pandemic, but it was the first time in its history that it was canceled because of killer hornets. According to the town's Board of Education, 18 boys' teams from schools from the prefectures in Kyushu and from Tokushima Prefecture had been invited by organizers to run the ekiden, a 7-stage, 42.195 km race around the Kokonoe countryside. While practicing on the course the day before the race, a total of 22 high school athletes from teams located in Fukuoka, Saga, Miyazaki and Kagoshima were attacked and stung by killer hornets. At least 3 athletes from Miyazaki and Kagoshima were taken to the hospital for treatment, but there were no serious injuries. After the incident was reported, town officials investigated and located...

On Sept. 29 the KGRR released guidelines for cheering at the 99th Hakone Ekiden Qualifying Half Marathon, scheduled for Oct. 15. The race will be put on in compliance with the JAAF's road race guidelines. For the last two years it was held on a closed course around the runway of the SDF Tachikawa Air Base runway in order to keep spectators out and reduce the risk of coronavirus infection. This year it will return to its traditional course starting on the runway, heading out onto the Tachikawa city streets, and finishing in Showa Kinen Park next to the SDF base. But the KGRR guidelines call for spectators to stay away, saying, "Athletes can feel your support even if you're not along the course. We ask all ekidens to watch this year's race on TV." All athletes and team staff, race organizers and other official personnel must file information on their physical condition for the 10 days before the race. Only those categories of people and university cheerleader tea...

Scheduled to happen Oct. 16 for the first time in three years, the 28th Shimantogawa Ultramarathon has been abruptly canceled. Shimanto mayor Masahiro Nakahira , chairperson of the event's organizing committee, announced the decision at a press conference. The mayor cited the difficulty in locating volunteers due to the ongoing pandemic situation in the city and area, and concerns that the local medical system could be overwhelmed. Whether the race will go ahead next year remains undetermined. Applications for the race were open until July 29. 1506 people paid to sign up for the 1800 slots available in the 100 km division, with the 60 km division attracting 524 paid entrants out of a maximum field size of 600. Mayor Nakahira commented, "In the past we've always had more applicants than available slots, and there were even years where the number of applicants was triple the field maximum field size. This is one impact of the coronavirus pandemic." The number of volun...

On Sept. 1 the Koga Hanamomo Marathon in Koga, Ibaraki announced that its 10th running, scheduled for Mar. 12, 2023, has been postponed one year due to the coronavirus pandemic. In its last running in 2019, Koga Hanamomo had 8,766 finishers in its marathon, with additional numbers in its accompanying shorter races bringing its finisher total to more than 10,000. In a Facebook post race organizers wrote, "With the arrival of the novel coronavirus pandemic's 7th wave we have made the determination that it would not be possible to guarantee the kind of medical support system necessary for the race to go ahead. We thank you for your understanding. Details on an alternative event and other new information will be posted on the race website." A longer official announcement of the race's "one-year postponement" in Japanese can be found here. This news comes shortly after the organizers of the similar-sized Shizuoka Marathon announced their event was being discont...

On Aug. 24 the organizing committee of Sunday's Hokkaido Marathon announced that elite women Mao Uesugi (Starts) and Chiharu Ikeda (Hitachi) have withdrawn from the race. Uesugi has tested positive for coronavirus, while Ikeda sustained an injury to her left ankle during training. Translator's note: This news follows last week's announcement that 2020 Olympic marathon trial winner Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) had withdrawn from Hokkaido with COVID-19. With a 2:22:29 in Osaka in January Uesugi was the fastest woman in the original field , with Maeda 3rd at 2:23:30 and Ikeda 5th at 2:26:50. Uesugi is also entered in November's New York City Marathon. Still on the women's list in Hokkaido, a major chance to qualify for next year's Olympic marathon trials, are: Natsumi Matsushita (Tenmaya) - 2:23:05 (3rd, Osaka Int'l 2022) Haruka Yamaguchi (AC Kita) - 2:26:35 (7th, Osaka Int'l 2020) Miharu Shimokado (SID Group) - 2:29:20 (12th, Tokyo 2022) Yui Okada (Otsuka Se...

A popular race that brought in 10,000 participants every year pre-pandemic, the organizers of the Shizuoka Marathon have announced that the event is being discontinued due to the difficulties of handling coronavirus protocols and of covering race expenses. Launched in 2014, the Shizuoka Marathon's course passed local landmarks related to shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa and offered views of Mt. Fuji, leading to its popularity as a mass-participation race. But amid the coronavirus pandemic its last three editions were all canceled. On Aug. 23 the Shizuoka Marathon's executive committee, made up of members of the Shizuoka Chamber of Commerce and Industry and of the city government, announced that the race would be discontinued indefinitely. The committee cited the difficulty of preventing crowded conditions and of taking other measures against the coronavirus, as well as paying for the expenses involved in putting the race on amid soaring labor and material costs. A spokesperson for the ...

On July 18, JAAF sprint director  Hiroyasu Tsuchie announced that another coach and three more athletes at the Oregon 22 World Championships, 200 m and 4x100 m team member Yuki Koike , 110 m hurdler Shunsuke Izumiya , and 400 m hurdler Takayuki Kishimoto , have tested positive for COVID-19. They bring the total number of people on the Japanese national team to have tested positive at the Championships to 15. "The impact is enormous," said Tsuchie. "Our team this team included a core of younger athletes who had been set to gain valuable experience." The first athletes to test positive were three of the marathoners, but it has now spread to the sprints and hurdles squads. Koike reported having a fever the morning of the 200 m heats, and when his test results came back positive he was forced to withdraw from what would have been his first race, the 200 m heats. He has also withdrawn from the 4x100 m relay. Tsuchie commented, "Up to this point he had been peaking ...

Scheduled to happen Nov. 3 with a field of over 10,000 runners, the Hiroshima International Peace Marathon  has been canceled for the third year in a row due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The event's organizing committee announced the news saying, "While there are signs that activities within society are beginning to return, there is still uncertainty about the future course of the pandemic, and in our determination it would be difficult to put on an event with over 10,000 participants in a way that could guarantee the safety of all those involved." The Hiroshima International Peace Marathon starts and finishes at Balcom BMW Stadium in western Hiroshima, running around the Commerce and Industry Center. Over 10,000 runners from across the country take part across the event's 10 km, 5 km, 1 km and wheelchair 5 km divisions, but since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 it has now been canceled for three straight years. Translator's note: The ...

 https://www.rfi.fr/en/asian-games-postponed-as-china-battles-covid Japan had already announced its marathon teams and other qualifiers for the Hangzhou Asian Games.

The organizers of the 2022 Tohoku Fudo Marathon , scheduled for Apr. 24, have announced that it has been canceled due to extensive damage in the host town of Tome, Miyagi from the earthquake that struck the region on Mar. 16. In its place, organizers will hold a virtual race. According to city government officials, roads and other public facilities in the area sustained over 765 million yen [$6.1 million USD] damage in the earthquake. "The famous Dutch windmill in Naganuma Foodopia Park, the main staging ground for the race, was damaged, and damage to the roads used in the marathon has been found in more than ten locations," said a spokesperson. Given the race's original purpose and the safety risk to runners the decision was made to cancel. The virtual race will take place from Apr. 24 to May 21 using the ASICS Runkeeper fitness tracking app, and will include three distances, 5 km, half marathon and full marathon. Each division costs 1500 yen and is limited to 2000 run...

More than 1300 entrants have withdrawn from the Apr. 17 Kaga Onsenkyo Marathon  in Ishikawa since organizers announced that a negative PCR test would be required from all participants as part of the event's measures against the coronavirus pandemic. People who had planned to run the race have complained about the new policy, which was enacted by the local city government. At the city council's Education and Civil Welfare Committee meeting on Apr. 8, the city reported on the event's status with regard to cancelations as of that morning. Out of 3,178 entrants in the full marathon division, almost a quarter, 810 people, had canceled. In the 10 km, nearly a third, 491 out of 1415 people, had withdrawn. The Kaga city government, which organizes the race, changed the policy to require PCR tests following the cancelation of a partial state of emergency and the resulting countermeasures in Ishikawa prefecture on Mar. 21. The race's guidelines had already required that participa...

Canceled for the last two years amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the organizing committee of the Kobe Marathon announced on Mar. 30 that the race will return for its tenth running on Nov. 20 with a field of 20,000 entrants. Entries open in mid-June, with 1500 spots reserved for people who failed to get into the entry lottery for the last five consecutive editions. The race will be run on its traditional course starting in front of Kobe City Hall, turning around on the west side of Akashi Kaikyo Bridge and finishing at Port Island. As measures to reduce crowding, starting corrals will be increased from 13 to 20 and more drink stations will be added. As per JAAF guidelines, spectators will be discouraged from cheering for the runners along the course, but viewing stations will be set up in parks located on the course. Michiaki Yoshii , chair of the organizing committee and head of the Hyogo Prefecture Athletics Association, said, "We hope that this will be the first step in b...

a press release by the Nagoya Women's Marathon organizers The largest women’s marathon in the world and the only all-women World Athletics Elite Platinum Label road race, the Nagoya Women’s Marathon 2022 was held on Sunday, March 13. Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya won the race in a new event record of 2:17:18.  Nagoya has been hosting the marathon every year during the COVID-19 pandemic while placing top priority on safety and security, with 110 elite participants in 2020 and 4,704 domestic elite and mass-participation runners in 2021 . This year, a total of 8,698 elite and amateur runners ran the race and filled the streets of Nagoya with colorful running outfits.  The Nagoya Women’s Marathon 2022 became the highest-paying road race in the world with its increased first prize of $250,000 USD. The fact that the largest prize in marathon running would be given to women rather than men gathered global attention. The proud winner was Chepngetich, who dominated the competition in th...

At the current time the number of coronavirus cases is on the decline across Japan, and bright signs have begun to appear on the road toward a resumption of normal activity. But in Hokkaido infections remain a serious issue, and with a resumption of activity a resurgence in numbers due to the increased movement and interaction of people can be expected. As such, it is almost impossible to foresee an end to the pandemic. The Lake Saroma 100 km Ultramarathon is an event that brings together thousands of runners from across the country as well as over 2,000 local junior high, high school and university students, volunteers and race staff. With new variants of the virus remaining an ongoing concern, the organizing committee has determined that it would not be possible to stage the race this year in a way that would be safe for both runners and the locals who put it on.  We are very disappointed that again this year we will not be able to welcome you all to the shores of Lake Saroma, b...

Miyagi Stadium and Miyagi Sports Park Pool in the Sendai suburb of Rifu both sustained heavy damage in the Mar. 16 earthquake which struck the region. With no timeline for repairs, upcoming races at both facilities are set to be canceled. At Miyagi Stadium, the force of the earthquake bent the upper tier of spectator seating near its middle section. A 30 m section of the reinforced concrete base supporting the seating was bent, with part of it collapsing. Due to continuing aftershocks the stadium's safety and structural integrity cannot be assessed, and as a result the 2022 National Sports Festival prefectural track and field qualifying meet scheduled to be held there next month will be moved elsewhere. At the pool, a 20 m section of the ceiling collapsed during the earthquake, with debris scattered across the pool's diving platforms and spectator seating. The rest of the ceiling has been deemed unstable, leading to the cancelation of a time trial meet and diving competition s...

On Feb. 15, Osaka governor Hirofumi Yoshimura  indicated that the mass-participation field of 20,000 for the Osaka Marathon 's 10th running on Feb. 27 is to be cut and that the race will go ahead with only its elite field of 300. The race is jointly organized by the Osaka metropolitan and prefectural governments.  In response to a question from a reporter, Governor Yoshimura stated, "The final decision is to be made by the organizing committee, but I believe that the mass-participation component of the Osaka Marathon will be canceled. I'd like to express my regret to all the amateur runners who had prepared for this race with anticipation, but given the current reality of the pandemic numbers, from the perspective of combatting further spread of the virus I ask for your understanding of the decision to cancel." With regard to refunding entry fees, the governor said, "That is a decision to be made by the organizers, but I think refunds should be given to those who...

On Feb. 7 the Himeji Castle Marathon announced that it has been canceled for the third year in a row. A total of 6200 people had been entered to run in the full marathon and accompanying fun runs on Feb. 27, but with no end in sight to the rise of new cases in the coronavirus' 6th wave organizers were forced to cancel. Runners who had already done almost all of their training and local residents who had been excited about the race's return could only shrug their disappointment off with a sigh. "Up until a few weeks ago I really thought I was going to get to run this time," said a 54-year-old local resident who had been entered. "The course is mostly flat and very easy to run, so this was a very popular race. I might do the virtual race instead, but I want to see if my friends are going to do it too first." Another entrant, a 42-year-old who owns a specialty shop making shoe insoles, has been training hard since December in the belief that the race would ha...