japan running news

The Jan. 28 Osaka International Women's Marathon and Osaka Half Marathon organizers announced the elite fields for both races today. The marathon is all about whether a Japanese woman can run 2:21:41 to steal the third spot on the Paris Olympic team from Ai Hosoda , the 3rd-placer at October's MGC Olympic marathon trials. Only one Japanese woman in the field has done that, Mizuki Matsuda (Daihatsu) with a 2:20:52 in Osaka International two years ago, and to help her try to get there organizers have pulled in Workenesh Edesa (Ethiopia), 2:18:51 in Berlin 2022, Stella Chesang (Uganda), 2:20:23 in Hamburg this past spring, and Sisay Meseret Gola (Ethiopia), 2:20:50 in Seville 2022. 2021 Tokyo Olympian Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) is probably Matsuda's strongest domestic competition at 2:22:32 earlier this year in Nagoya, with Sayaka Sato (Sekisui Kagaku) and Natsumi Matsushita (Tenmaya) more distantly in range. But with Nagoya coming in March with others in pursuit of the ...

  On Jan. 2nd and 3rd the Hakone Ekiden will celebrate its 100th running. The race has become a part of the New Year's tradition, and its broadcast produces extremely high ratings. Asked in a poll by the Asahi Newspaper whether they plan to watch the 100th edition, over 70% of 2,878 respondents answered yes. At the same time, when asked whether they wanted to cheer in person along the course, almost as many people answered no. Spending the New Year's holidays watching the race on TV seems to be the majority preference. Questions asked in the poll and top responses: Do you plan to watch the Hakone Ekiden? 71% - yes 29% - no Among people who responded yes, why will you watch? ・It's a New Year's tradition. - 1406 people ・I like the team aspect of the ekiden as a sport. - 924 people ・Collegiate athletes competing from the heart moves me. - 865 people ・My alma mater or another university I like is running. - 553 people ・There's nothing else to watch. - 403 people ・The s...

The National High School Ekiden happened Sunday in Kyoto, its 35th edition for girls and 74th for boys. With last year's 3rd-place Kamimura Gakuen H.S. set to run last year's anchor stage winner Caroline Kariba on anchor again, it was all about trying to open as much room as they could over the first four stages for girls' race favorites Sendai Ikuei H.S. and Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. Sendai Ikuei moved up from 3rd to 1st on the 4.0975 km 2nd leg thanks to a stage-winning run by Daisy Jerop and stayed there over the next two legs. Ritsumeikan Uji was in 2nd the entire way, closing the gap to Sendai Ikuei to 30 seconds by the end of the 4th leg after 3rd and 4th runners Nodoka Ashida and Yua Sato won their stages. Kamimura Gakuen started slow at 13th after the first leg but moved up through the field every stage until it was in 3rd when Kariba started. With 5.0 km to work with she was 50 seconds behind Ritsumeikan Uji and 1:20 behind Sendai Ikuei, an almost impossible ma...

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 ...

That's right, it's the best time of the year, championship ekiden season, five major championship ekidens across six days of competition spread over 11 days starting Sunday. We'll be focusing all of next week on the lead-up to the peak of it all, the 100th Hakone Ekiden, and won't be able to do detailed previews of the other races, but below is a quick guide to what's coming up, when, and who is broadcasting it. In pretty much all cases there's no official streaming, so if you're outside Japan you either need to get a VPN, subscribe to a service that lets you watch Japanese TV internationally, or take your chances with something like mov3.co . Sunday, Dec. 24, 10:20 a.m.: 35th National High School Girls' Ekiden The top high school girls' team from each of Japan's 47 prefectures and 11 regional champion teams head to Kyoto to race 21.0975 km divided into five stages. Last year Nagano Higashi H.S. had a surprise victory over top-tier Sendai Ikuei...

  Fired by Rikkyo University as head coach of its track and field program four days before October's Hakone Ekiden qualifier half marathon after evidence emerged of an inappropriate relationship with a female team member , Yuichiro Ueno , 38, is set to join the Saga-based Hiramatsu Byoin corporate team in a return to a career as an athlete. Multiple corporate teams are said to have made offers for a "second chance" to Ueno, who was known as "the fastest coach in Japan," due to his ability and extensive knowledge and experience. Ueno appears to have selected the rapidly-growing Hiramatsu Byoin team from among the offers. A former star runner at Saku Chosei H.S. , Chuo University and S&B , Ueno was named head coach at Rikkyo in 2018 to lead the program back to the Hakone Ekiden in time for its 100th running in January, 2024. As part of his idiosyncratic coaching style he was known for running with the Rikkyo athletes. At last year's Hakone Ekiden qualif...

The Kyoyama J.H.S. girls and boys won Sunday's National Junior High School Ekiden in Shiga's Kibogaoka Bunka Park, becoming only the second school in the event's 31-year history to sweep both titles. In the five-stage, 12.0 km girls' race, Kyoyama's Haruka Higuchi was 9th on the 3.0 km opening leg. Running 2.0 km each, Wakana Minami and Mei Iwasaki moved up through the field into 2nd, and with a stage-winning run Mayu Ishihara put them into the lead. Anchoring the Kyoyama girls was National Junior High School Championships 1500 m winner Rikka Kuroda . Kuroda comes from a strong running family, with her father Masayoshi Kuroda having run the Hakone Ekiden for Hosei University , her oldest brother Asahi Kuroda having won his stage at this year's Izumo Ekiden for Aoyama Gakuin University , and her middle brother Zen Kuroda of Tamano Konan H.S. having placed 2nd in the 3000 mSC at this year's National High School Championships. Kuroda dropped 2nd-place...

Japan's last big non-ekiden road race of the year happened Sunday in Okayama at the Sanyo Ladies Road Race 10 km and half marathon. In the 10 km, CR holder Agnes Mwikali (Kyocera) soloed a 31:09 CR for the win. 2 seconds up on rival Janet Nyiva (Panasonic) at 5 km in 15:34, Mwikali held steady over the second half to cut 2 seconds off her old CR of 31:11 from 2021. Nyiva faded to 31:57 but held on to 2nd, with Kaede Kawamura (Iwatani Sangyo) passing Eva Cherono (Toto) for 3rd in 32:22. In the half marathon, a lead group of four stayed together through 15 km before 2022 winner  Margaret Akidor (Comodi Iida) surged over the last 5 km. Taking almost 2 minutes off her PB, Akidor took the top spot in 1:09:29, beating #1-ranked Dolphine Nyaboke Omare (U.S.E.) by 18 seconds. Joanne Kipkemoi (Kyudenko) was 3rd in 1:10:01, with Yuri Karasawa (Kyudenko) scoring the top Japanese spot at 5th in 1:10:48. Also Sunday in Chiba was the 137th running of the Kanto 10-Miler. After a DNF at...