japan running news

https://www.paralympic.org/news/rabat-2026-records-fall-stars-rise-inaugural-grand-prix-season While Yudai Shimazu 's 14:03.45 debut as a para athlete in Rabat was a T13-class world record by over 17 seconds, his actual PB is 13:33.83 from last May's Golden Games in Nobeoka. Expect him to take this WR, and others in his class, a lot further. His other current PBs vs. the existing T13 WR : 3000 m : 7:58.34 (Kitami 2024) / 8:07.64 (Mikey Brannigan/USA 2017) 10000 m: 28:24.69 (Hachioji 2024) / 31:41.85 (Said Gomez/PAN 1988) half marathon: 1:01:32 (Yamaguchi 2025) / no existing record marathon: 2:11:20 (Osaka 2024) / 2:22:25 (Carlos Talbot/USA 1988)

On July 23 the Fujitsu corporate team announced that men's 20 km race walk world record holder and 2019 50 km world champion Yusuke Suzuki , 36, and three-time men's 400 m national champion Julian Walsh , 27, are retiring at the end of the month. Suzuki competed in the 2012 London Olympics in the 20 km race walk. In 2015 he set a world record of 1:16:36 for 20 km at the National Race Walk Championships in Nomi. At the 2019 Doha World Championships he won the 50 km race walk, the first time a Japanese athlete won gold at an international championships including the Olympics. After that, he suffered setbacks from overtraining and other issues and did not try to make the Tokyo Olympic team in 2021. After leaving Fujitsu Suzuki will become a coach at Niigata University of Food and Agriculture . "I want to give the next generation of athletes the same kind of support that I received in my time as an athlete," he said. A member of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro and 2021 Tokyo Ol...

  In the midst of a lot of talk about how to keep the aging population young, there are people with long lives who are showing extraordinary physical abilities. One of them is Hiroo Tanaka , 93, a multiple world champion in masters track and field. Tanaka began running when he was 60, before which he'd never competed in his adult life. "He's so fast he's world-class." "His running form is so beautiful. It's like he's flying." Tanaka trains at an indoor track in Aomori five days a week. Asked about him, that's the kind of thing the people there say. Tanaka holds multiple masters track and field world records, where age is divided into five-year groups. Last year at the World Masters Track and Field Championships in Poland he set a new world record of 38.79 for 200 m in the M90 class (men's 90-94 age group). People around the world were amazed at the time, which was almost unbelievable for a 92-year-old. After retiring from his job as an el...

Video from my friend Eszter of Miho gutting it out for the World Record after reaching the timing mat at 270km 🚀🌖! So much pain, heart, and strength to make it happen 👏👏! pic.twitter.com/39eVYwkyOu — Camille Herron 🦸‍♀️ (@runcamille) December 2, 2023 https://iau-ultramarathon.org/2023-iau-24h-world-championships-results-2dec2023.html

https://worldathletics.org/news/report/tigst-assefa-world-marathon-record-berlin-kipchoge-2023 Japanese half marathon national record holders Yusuke Ogura (Yakult) and Hitomi Niiya (Sekisui Kagaku) both ran the Berlin Marathon. Ogura finished 51st in 2:17:39 a few steps ahead of women's runner-up Sheila Chepkirui of Kenya, with Niiya 11th in 2:23:08. Although Niiya’s run was billed as an attempt at the 2:19:12 national record, she was never on NR pace and slowed continuously after 10 km.  Complete results .

After dropping out of a shot at the world record at last month's Shibamata 100 km , 2022 World Championships silver medalist Jumpei Yamaguchi (Eldoreso) was back to give it another go at Sunday's Lake Saroma 100 km Ultramarathon in Hokkaido. Running into a 1~2 m/s headwind for much of the race, Yamaguchi started fast, splitting 35:55 at 10 km, just on track for sub-6 hours. '22 gold medalist and Shibamata winner Haruki Okayama (Comodi Iida), two-time world champ Hideaki Yamauchi (Hamamatsu Hotniks), 2017 Lake Saroma winner Tatsuya Itagaki (Tokinosumika) and others went with him, but by 30 km it was down to just Yamauchi, Itagaki and Okayama in 1:47:48. After hitting the marathon point in 2:31:39, still sub-6 pace, Okayama fell off and ultimately dropped out. Itagaki stayed with Yamaguchi until 60 km in 3:37:09 before letting go. As the temperature hit 20˚ under cloudless skies and climbed on to 22˚ Yamaguchi's 10 km splits slowed into the 37-minute range, and the m...

https://worldathletics.org/news/report/paris-kipyegon-girma-ingebrigtsen-5000m-steeplechase-two-miles-world-record-best Men's 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura (Juntendo Univ.) shaved 0.01 off his record at the Paris Diamond League meet, running a new NR of 8:09.91 for 2nd behind WR breaker Lamecha Girma of Ethiopia. NR holder Haruka Kitaguchi (JAL) won the women's javelin throw by over 2.5 m with a throw of 65.09. Complete results .

Continuing a stellar season that saw him run a 26:55.04 10000 m best in October, Benard Kibet Koech (Kyudenko) took 20 seconds off Haile Gebrselassie 's world best for 10 miles with a 44:04 win at the Kumamoto Kosa 10-Mile Road Race on Sunday. Alone early, Koech checked his watch repeatedly as he hammered the course, his only competition the great Gebrselassie's 17-year-old record. In the end nobody came within a minute and a half of him, Jonathan Ndiku (Hitachi Butsuryu) winning a three-way race for 2nd in 45:47 and Cleophas Kandie (Mitsubishi Juko) 3rd in 45:49. Takashi Namba (Toenec) was 4th in 45:50, just 10 seconds off Masanari Shintaku 's 45:40 national record from 1984. Kento Nishi (Osaka Gas) and Masashi Nonaka (Osaka Gas) were both under 46 minutes, and altogether 100 people were under 49:30, making it one of the deepest 10-milers in history. The high school boys' 10 km was also solid, with the top 9 all under 30 minutes. Maynard Nganga (Senshu Tamana H...

At the Aomori Masters Track and Field Meet on the Sept. 19 public holiday in Hirosaki, Aomori, a group of local men in their 90s set new men's 90-94 pending world records of 1:33.52 for 4x100 m relay and 9:23.29 for the 4x400 m. Both marks bettered the world records the same group set last year and are expected to be ratified as official world records by World Masters Athletics. The meet took place in excellent conditions on a perfect day with partly sunny skies and no wind. The 4x100 m featured rookie  Nobuo Miura , 90, a professional Noh performer, on the third leg. With the fresh blood he brought to the team they sliced over 10 seconds off last year's world record . The crowd at the track included former students from Miura's days as a high school teacher, there to cheer him on in his debut with the team. "I was a bit nervous," he said, "but I just went out there and ran my own race." The 4x400 m featured the same lineup as last year, Matashiro Surug...

2022 Oregon World Championships marathon team members Kengo Suzuki (Fujitsu) and Mao Ichiyama (Shiseido) have been officially recognized as holders of the world record for fastest combined time by a married couple in the same marathon. Guinness World Records tweeted a video of the couple receiving their world record certification on its official Twitter account on May 11. At the Mar. 6 Tokyo Marathon , Suzuki, the men's national record holder, ran the 2nd-fastest Japanese men's time ever, 2:05:28, to finish 4th overall. Ichiyama, the women-only national record holder and 8th-placer in the Tokyo Olympics marathon, ran 2:21:02 for 6th. Their combined time of 4:26:30 beat the previous Guinness World Record by over a minute, earning them the distinction of becoming the world's fastest married couple. お待たせしました🌟今年の東京マラソンでギネス世界記録「夫婦によるマラソン完走の最速合計タイム」を更新した一山麻緒選手と鈴木健吾選手に無事公式認定証をお届けすることができました！改めて、記録達成おめでとうございます😆🎉💕 pic.twitter.com/M2eo4OP4Nn — ギネス世界記録｜書籍『ギネス世界記録2022』OUT NOW (@GW...

Tokyo Paralympics men's 5000 m blind division silver medalist Kenya Karasawa  set a world record 14:55.39 for the T-11 class Dec. 25 at the Nittai University Time Trials meet in Yokohama. According to Japan Para Athletics, Karasawa had run 15:09.94, better than the previous record of 15:11.07, earlier this year, but once his new time is ratified it will mark the first official improvement to the world record since the Athens Paralympics in 2004. "I was able to run hard right from the start," he commented. "I didn't win gold at the Tokyo Paralympics, so in three years my target will be gold at the Paris Paralympics." Japan Para Athletics will apply to World Para Athletics via the Japan Blind Marathon Association for world record ratification. source article: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20211225/k10013404491000.html translated and edited by Brett Larner

With two big ekidens, a half marathon, two track meets and previews for two major ekidens in the first three days of 2022 still to come this year, we're going to take advantage of a bit of a lull in the action to take care of some year-end stories.  First up is a list of JRN's 10 most-read stories this year, from an inside look at life in the corporate leagues to a cool new indoor track to the end of the elite men-only marathon format in Japan. Thanks as always for your support and for making these your picks.   1.  Letting Go of Preconceived Ideas - Australian Melissa Duncan on Her Time in the Corporate Leagues - Mar. 8 Australian Melissa Duncan  ran for the Shiseido  women's corporate team for two years. After her contract was up and she returned to Australia she wrote about the highs and lows of her experience. Her article provoked strong reactions both in Japan and abroad. In the following season Shiseido finished 2nd in the Queens Ekiden corporate women's ...

75 years, 75 stories from the people who made Fukuoka international.  75 legendary marathoners spanning 1957 to 2020 from over 30 countries, including 26 Olympic and World Championships medalists and 5 marathon world record breakers, remember running the Fukuoka International Marathon ahead of its final running on Dec. 5. Premiering Friday, Dec. 3, 2021 at 19:00 Japan time, 21:00 in Sydney, 13:00 in Nairobi, 11:00 in Berlin, 10:00 in London, 5:00 a.m. in NYC and 2:00 a.m. in L.A.  A JRN production. Support JRN:

At a track and field meet over the weekend, a relay team made up of four men in their 90s living in Aomori prefecture set new 90+ age group world records for the 4x100 m and 4x400 m. Meet organizers are applying to have both records officially ratified. 130 people from age 23 to 92 took part in the Aomori Masters Track and Field Championships on Aug. 29 in Hirosaki, Aomori. Among them were the relay team made up of Aomori natives Matashiro Suruga , 92, Yuzo Kudo , 92, Kozo Mitsuya , 90, and Hiro Tanaka , 90. Despite temperatures that rose to nearly 30˚C, the team members exhibited smooth baton work as they ran 1:43.69 in the 4x100 m. Their time took almost 40 seconds off the previous M90 record of 2:22.37. Just two and a half hours later the Aomori team took on the 4x400 m. In front of strong crowd support they clocked 9:56.36, bettering the previous record set by an American team in 2014 by around 2:45. In May this year the same Aomori team had run 8:49.01 , but because they were the ...

At Sunday's Aomori Masters Time Trials meet a Japanese men's team set a 4x400 m relay world record of 8:49.01 in the men's 90+ age category, taking nearly four minutes off the previous world record of 12:41.69 set in the United States in 2014.  Starting from a crouching start, leading runner Matashiro Suruga , 91, split roughly 2:07.5 before handing off to second runner Yuzo Kudo , 92. Kudo split 2:34.5, with third runner Kozo Mitsuya , 90, splitting 2:27.0 But anchor Hiro Tanaka , 90, delivered the biggest run of the day.  Out smooth and readily steadily, the stadium announcer predicted on the first curve that Tanaka would bring the team home under ten minutes. Hie was fast enough that less than 200 m later she revised that prediction to under nine minutes. Kicking in the last 100 m, Tanaka split an impressive 1:40 to bring the team home to the record. Without a doubt, it was the performance of the weekend worldwide. We have all the splits 200 by 200, @JRNHeadlines 2:07....

Women's 60+ marathon world record holder Mariko Yugeta , 62, bettered her 2:52:13 record Saturday at Tokyo's Itabashi Trial Marathon . Part of the Trial Marathon Series, a nationwide series of professionally-operated uncertified micro-races that has popped up during the coronavirus pandemic, the Itabashi Trial Marathon covered almost 17 laps of a flat 2.5 km course along the Arakawa River on Tokyo's northern border.  Yugeta went out at just under 4:00/km, going through halfway in 1:24:04 and making it to 30 km in 2:00:08 before her pace started to slip. Ultimately she ran 2:52:01, 1st among the 21 female finishers and 14th overall . "That's it for marathons for this season," she told JRN post-race. "I didn't make it to sub-2:50, but I'll be training hard to go for it at the Tokyo Marathon this fall." text and photo © 2021 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

 https://www.maurten.com/mariko-yugeta A photo essay with text on women's 60+ marathon world record holder Mariko Yugeta . Photos by Kaoru Fukui, text by Mika Tokairin.

JRN talked to women's 60+ marathon world record holder Mariko Yugeta for Runner's World ahead of her planned shot at breaking her own record at this weekend's Nagoya Women's Marathon. Read it here: https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a35702201/mariko-yugeta-marathoner/ photo © 2021 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

At Sunday's Osaka International Women's Marathon  62-year-old Mariko Yugeta ran 2:52:13 for 48th, massively improving her own women's 60+ world record of 2:56:54. "It was hard, but I'm glad I could improve my best," she said post-race.  photo: Yugeta, in pink hat, at around 15 km in Osaka. Yugeta's training load is incredible. In the summer she runs 800 km per month, and she typically runs a marathon every month. Her new record was the result of hard work. Where she has had problems with slowing down after 20 km in the past, this time that didn't happen. But at the same time she experienced fatigue in her build-up to the race, and on Jan. 3 she felt pain in her right gluteus maximus. For two weeks she had acupuncture treatments and went to hot springs to try to take care of the problems. For the race she also used taping, and she was able to run it pain-free. Yugeta is entered in the Mar. 14 Nagoya Women's Marathon. Ever ambitious, of her goals fo...

American Jim Walmsley  gave the men's world record set two and a half years ago by Japan's Nao Kazami  a serious scare this weekend at the Project Carbon X 2 100 km. A quick look at their splits shows two different race strategies, Kazami essentially going out hard and slowing the second half and Walmsley running the first half more conservatively and then trying to negative split. Both had relatively slow starts before zeroing in on their first half target pace, Kazami settling in around 36:20 per 10 km and Walmsley around 36:50 until they hit halfway. At that point Kazami was projecting a 6:04:10 world record, with Walmsley's 50 km split projecting to a record of 6:08:30. From there they swapped, Kazami going 36:52 from 50 km to 60 km and Walmsley 36:22. That proved Walmsley's fastest split of the day, as although he stayed close to that pace through 80 km  he began to slow for every remaining 10 km split until the finish. In Kazami's case he hit a rough patch bet...