japan running news

Japan got one step closer to its first sub-27 minute 10000 m Saturday at the Hachioji Long Distance meet. Conditions were as perfect as they could have been, and as the heats went by it was clear that something big was coming. The E and D-heats both had winning times under 28:10. In the C-heat Hiromichi Nonaka held off alum and former collegiate marathon record holder Kiyoto Hirabayashi to set a Koku Gakuin University school record 27:36.64, Hirabayashi right behind in a 27:37.13 PB and the top 7 all under 28. The B-heat went even faster, Yuto Imae kicking to win in 27:33.84, 4th-placer Kaisei Okada setting a Chuo University school record 27:37.06, and the top 17 all under 28 minutes. Close by another meet was happening at the same time, the MARCH Taikosen time trial meet made up of the Meiji University , Aoyama Gakuin University , Rikkyo University , Chuo, and Hosei University teams. The A-heat there was massive too, with collegiate marathon record holder Asahi Kuroda runnin...

https://worldathletics.org/competitions/diamond-league/news/monaco-herculis-2025-lyles-wanyonyi-bol

Having bettered the Japanese women's 400 m national record by 0.04 in winning May's Shizuoka International Meet in a 51.71 collegiate record, on June 18 it was learned that Nittai University 3rd-year Arie Flores , 21, has completed the naturalization process and been granted Japanese citizenship. Born in Shizuoka, Flores is the daughter of a Japanese-Peruvian father and Italian-Peruvian mother. Because her citizenship application had not been finalized yet in May, her win in Shizuoka was done under Peruvian citizenship and was not counted as a new Japanese NR. The approval of Flores' application means she is able to run in July's National Championships. She hopes to compete in September's Tokyo World Championships. source article: https://www.jiji.com/jc/article?k=2025061800441&g=spo translated by Brett Larner

In its 77th edition the Marugame Half Marathon had what had to have been the best conditions in its history, and the deep fields made the most of it in both the men's and women's races. 15 hours of heavy rain that let up 2 hours before the start combined with single-digit temperatures and almost no wind to make a cool mist that hung over the area throughout the race. The men's race was hot from the start, 2 pacers taking it through 5 km in 14:05 and 10 km in 28:02, 59:09 pace vs the Japanese NR of 1:00:00. That kind of heat burned off all but 6 people, CR holder Alexander Mutiso , Emmanuel Maru , James Mutuku , Tomoki Ota , Kotaro Shinohara and Kento Baba , but Bedan Karoki and others including a trio of university men were only another few second behind. Baba, a Rikkyo University runner with a PB of only 1:02:35, was the first to drop off, followed by Mutuku from Yamanashi Gakuin University . Ota and Shinohara, training partners under Komazawa University great Hiroaki...

The East Japan Corporate Federation published featured athlete entry lists for next month's Hachioji Long Distance meet on its website on Oct. 10. The meet takes place Nov. 23 at Hachioji's Kamiyugi Field and will include 5000 m races this year along with its usual program of 10000 m races. In addition, a special heat of 10000 m is being set up to target the Japanese national record of 27:09.80 and the Tokyo World Championships qualifying standard, 27:00.00. Announced for that heat are NR holder Kazuya Shiojiri (27:09.80, Fujitsu), 2024 national champion and Paris Olympian Jun Kasai (27:17.46, Asahi Kasei), and 2022 and 2023 World Championships team member Ren Tazawa (27:22.31, Toyota). Tazawa commented, "There aren't that many races either in Japan or overseas that are set up for 26 minutes, so this is a really important chance to become the first Japanese athlete to run under 27 minutes." Others on featured athlete list include Mebuki Suzuki (27:26.67, Toyo...

After missing the men's 800 m national record by 0.07 at last month's National Championships, 17-year-old Ko Ochiai of Shiga Gakuen H.S. made history as the first Japanese man to break 1:45 with a 1:44.80 NR to win today's National High School Championships 800 m. Ochiai got lucky when Seita Kikuchi (Morioka Daiyon H.S.) took it out fast, going through 200 m just under 25 seconds and hitting 400 m in 52. Ochiai went to the front a step past 400 m, but he got another big break when Felix Muthiani (Yamanashi Gakuin H.S.) surged past him just before 600 m. That forced him to keep working, and Ochiai pulled even again with 50 m to go. Both went way under Ochiai's 1:45.82 high school record from Nationals last month , Ochiai cutting 0.95 off the senior national record in 1:44.80 and Muthiani, 19, next in an almost 4-second PB of 1:45.10. In an interesting article in mid-June , national champion Saku Chosei H.S. head coach Masaru Takamizawa speculated that the controve...

At the July 15 Long Distance Time Trials meet in Nara, Higashi Osaka Keiai H.S. 2nd-year Rin Kubo , 16, added the 800 m national record to her national title two weeks ago and 4x800 m NR on Friday, becoming the first Japanese woman to break 2 minutes with a new NR of 1:59.93. The previous NR of 2:00.45 was set on June 5, 2005 by Miho Sugimori . Kubo cut 0.52 seconds off that time, set almost three years before Kubo was born, and in doing it she achieved one of her major goals, becoming Japan's first woman to break the 2-minute barrier. It also majorly improved her own U18 NR of 2:03.13 set at Nationals two weeks ago, and bettered her 2:01.9 split in the NR-setting 4x800 m three days ago where she went through the first 400 m in 56.8. Translator's note: Kubo's 100 m splits per the stadium announcer: 14-28-43-58-1:13-1:29-1:44-1:59.93 Worldwide, her 1:59.93 is the 2nd-fastest U18 time in the world this year behind the 1:57.86 run by 17-year-old Phoebe Gill of Great Britai...

  Japanese men's 400 m national record holder Kentaro Sato (Fujitsu) sat for online interviews on June 18. Sato's 44.77 NR cleared the Paris Olympics qualifying standard of 45.00, and if he wins the National Championships later this month in Niigata he'll be named to the Paris team. "To put it simply, it's the meet that decides who's #1 in Japan," he said. "I haven't won a national title yet. I'm preparing to run for time, for place, and for an Olympic spot." As he trains Sato is paying close attention to the condition of his left Achilles tendon, which he injured two years ago. "I'm more focused on time than place," he said. "If I can run 44 at Nationals then I'll get the place I'm looking for. If I can put together a 400 m the way I want to do it then I can run a national record. That means focusing on something faster than just the NR. Sub-44.5 is what I'm thinking." Also entered at Nationals are to...

Translator's note: Over his 2nd year at four-time national champion Komazawa University , 1500 m, 3000 m, indoor 3000 m and 5000 m U20 NR holder Keita Sato spent a total of three months training with OAC with support from JRN, one week in Boulder last spring, three weeks in St. Moritz during the summer, and the last two months back in Boulder. During that time he ran the equivalent of a 27:57 road 10 km and 59:22 half marathon in ekidens and U20 Asian area best 27:28.50 for 10000 m, all at age 19, and since turning 20 in January an indoor 5000 m NR of 13:09.45, an indoor 3000 m NR of 7:42.56, and an Asian area best 8:14.71 for 2 miles indoor. This interview by journalist Tatsuo Terada took place in late February before The TEN, where Sato ran 27:34.66. Komazawa University 2nd-year Keita Sato had a great indoor track season. On January 26 in Boston just after his 20th birthday he ran a 13:09.45 indoor 5000 m national record, the 2nd-fastest time ever by a Japanese man behind o...

Indoor track isn't really part of the vocabulary for Japanese middle and long distance athletes, but three turned in a string of new national records in the U.S. this weekend. At the BU David Hemery Valentine Invitational on Saturday in Boston, Olympic steepler Ryoma Aoki (Honda) ran a new mile national record of 3:54.84 to finish 4th in Heat 2, taking 1.17 off the previous 3:56.01 NR set in Boston last year by Kazuto Iizawa (Tokai Univ.). Like Iizawa's old mark, as the fastest mile time ever by a Japanese man Aoki's new record will count as both the indoor NR and outright NR. 6th in Heat 4, Keisuke Morita (Subaru) also got under 4 minutes with a 3:59.03, with Nanami Arai (Honda) 9th behind Morita in 4:00.45. Hibiki Obara (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) took the top spot in Heat 12 in 4:01.34. Sunday at the Millrose Games in New York, Nozomi Tanaka (New Balance) beat both her indoor 3000 m NR of 8:45.64 and outdoor NR of 8:40.84, splitting 8:40.05 en route in the women's ...

Workenesh Edesa and Honami Maeda made history at the Osaka International Women's Marathon , both going under 2:19 and Maeda breaking the 2005-era Japanese women's national record. Five pacers took the lead group of Edesa, Maeda, Stella Chesang , Mizuki Matsuda and Sayaka Sato through halfway in 1:09:46, well under pace for the 2:21:41 time the top Japanese woman would need to replace Olympic marathon trials 3rd-placer Ai Hosoda on the Paris team but 10 seconds behind pace to hit Mizuki Noguchi 's 2:19:12 NR from the 2005 Berlin Marathon when the three Japanese women up front were still in elementary school. Right at halfway Maeda, the 30 km NR holder, threw in a brash 3:11 km to open up on the pacers and rest of the pack, and it was pretty clear she had something special in mind. As the rest of the pack tried to change gears and catch back up Matsuda lost touch. Maeda went through 25 km with a projected finish time of 2:19:08, but the pack still regained ground. Then ...

Three weeks after running a 59:22 half marathon equivalent at the Hakone Ekiden, Komazawa University 2nd-year Keita Sato became only the second Japanese man ever to break 13:10 for 5000, taking over 18 seconds off the indoor 5000 m NR with a 13:09.45 for 10th at Boston University's John Thomas Terrier Classic . After Hakone on Jan. 2 Sato took a week off to recover from what had been his first race longer than 11 km. Phasing back into training the week after that during exams, on Jan. 18 he flew to Boulder, Colorado for six weeks of training with OAC . On Jan. 22 he celebrated his 20th birthday, and on Jan. 24 the group flew to Boston. Throughout the race he stayed near the middle of the front pack, splitting 2:38.24-2:37:17-2:38.76-2:38.01-2:37.28 en route. His 3000 m split of 7:54.16 was 2 seconds faster than the only other indoor race he had ever run, a 7:56.41 for silver at last spring's Asian Indoor Championships. Sato had been totally focused on building volume for his ...

Komazawa University Takes Overall Hakone Win for First-Ever Triple Crown Ekiden Season Sweep - Jan. 2-3 After winning the first day of the 2023 Hakone Ekiden , Komazawa University joined the exclusive club of teams to pull off the triple crown of wins at the Izumo Ekiden, National University Ekiden and Hakone, dominating the second day to win by just under two minutes over Chuo University . Both teams and 3rd-place Aoyama Gakuin University made the all-time top 10 fastest times , and five men ran the equivalent of a sub-1:01 half marathon. TV viewership was high, with ratings of 35.0% . JRN's pre-race preview . Suzuki, Ichiyama, Koyama and Akasaki Paris-Bound - Japan's Olympic Marathon Trials - Oct. 15 At the Marathon Grand Championship race, Japan's trials for the Paris Olympics and the most difficult marathon ever to qualify for, Yuka Suzuki , Mao Ichiyama , Naoki Koyama and Akira Akasaki all scored places on the Olympic team by finishing in the top two. Ai Hosoda ...

This National Championship was the biggest day in Japanese 10000 m history, four women going under 31 minutes and three men breaking the national record thanks to a combination of the fast track at Tokyo's National Stadium, the Wavelight pacing system, superb pacing work from Kenyans, perfect weather, the continuing evolution in shoe tech, fans allowed onto the track at the Olympic stadium to roar their support, and the carrot of the Paris Olympics hanging just out of reach. In a lot of ways it was the same race twice, with both the women's and men's races seeing packs of four Japanese athletes, including two teammates, led by a Japan-resident Kenyan pacer locked onto the Wavelight, steady splits just off a historic mark, and a fast last 200 m by the winner to clear the mark. In the women's case it was Judy Jepngetich (Shiseido) leading teammates Rino Goshima and Yuka Takashima , former 5000 m NR holder Ririka Hironaka (Japan Post) and underdog Haruka Kokai (Daiich...

Conditions couldn't have been better for Saturday's Hachioji Long Distance meet in western Tokyo's Minami Osawa, with zero wind, 9.5˚C temps and humidity in the low 40% range, the Wavelight ready, and experienced pacers across the seven heats of 10000 m. The field took complete advantage of it, with these winning times in the first five races: Race 1: Shotaro Hosokawa (Sekino Kosan) - 29:27.57 Race 2: Hiromi Suzuki (Sekino Kosan) - 28:47.27 Race 3: Yudai Shimazu (GMO) - 28:27.32 Race 4: Tetsu Yokoyama (Logisteed) - 28:14.05 Race 5: Yuki Muta (Logisteed) - 28:04.41 Things really took off in Race 6, where Shadrack Rono (Subaru) front ran a 27:42.37 to lead the top 17 under 28 minutes. Waseda University grad Ryuto Igawa (Asahi Kasei) ran a 12-second PB of 27:47.21 for top Japanese honors at 4th, with teammate Shuho Dairokuno just behind in 27:49.31 for 6th and three other Japanese men getting under 28. With that kind of progression in winning times across the first six ra...

  https://worldathletics.org/news/report/brussels-van-damme-memorial-ingebrigtsen-world-2000m-record-jackson

Following yesterday's mishap in the opening heats , Soma Nagahara (Saku Chosei H.S.) delivered the performance of this year's National High School Track and Field Championships. Straight to the front form the guy, Nagahara broke 3000 mSC national record holder Ryuji Miura 's high school NR by over 7 seconds to win the national title in 8:32.12. Still a senior in high school, that time was also good enough to rank him at all-time #3 on the Japanese U20 lists and #3 in the world this year among U20 athletes. And it wasn't just him. The race as a whole was the best high school steeple ever, with 2nd-placer Zen Kuroda (Tamano Konan H.S.) running 8:40.71 for #4 on the high school all-time lists, 3rd-placer Taisei Endo (Saku Chosei H.S.) 8:45.47 for #6, and 4th-placer Oju Tsujimoto (Hamamatsu Kaiseizan H.S.) 8:46.85 for #8. By comparison, the American H.S. NR for the 3000 mSC is 8:47.04. Still in college, Miura really looks to have opened the door for other Japanese athl...