japan running news

Day 4 of the 2026 National High School Championships saw this year's first meet record. In a breakaway race Bilith Boi (Sapporo Yamanote H.S.) dropped the rest of the lead quartet to take the boys' 5000 m in a 13:34.53 MR, outrunning crosstown rival Sei Yoshida (Tokaidai Sapporo H.S.) whose 13:36.34 was the fastest-ever by a Japanese-born runner at Nationals. 3rd-placer Kogo Yonenaga (Kagoshima Kogyo H.S.) just made it under 13:40 too in 13:39.86, with Kemboi Kiprop (Kurashiki H.S.) dropping off for 4th in 13:42.76. In a season that's already seen a girls' heptathlon high school NR from Sawa Okada , Mirei Eguchi (Tokaidai Sagami H.S.) stayed solid throughout the second day of the heptathlon to win in a 5447 PB. That was enough to move her up to all-time #3 on the Japanese high school lists behind Okada's 5559 from May and previous record holder Meg Hemphill 's 5519. The girls' 400 mH final had great times up front too. Yuna Kusuda (Kagoshima Joshi H.S...

In maybe the most competitive event so far at the 2026 National High School Championships , Chihiro Obata (Iida H.S.) took the win in the boys' 5000 m race walk in 20:07.28 by 3 seconds over Yuki Kaida (Chuodai Yokohama H.S.) and other 3 seconds over Koya Hayashi (Tosu Kogyo H.S.) - 20:13.12. Right behind Hayashi, the next 3 were all under 20:17 and 2 more under 20:28, with almost everyone in the top 15 clocking a new PB. Impressive given the hot and humid summer conditions. Girls' 3000 m winner Mirriam Njeri (Sendai Ikuei H.S.) also impressed, putting 7 seconds on Nami Kawakami (Nagano Higashi H.S.) to win in 9:02.42. Other winners included Yui Yoshinaga (Nagasaki Nichidai H.S.), 11.57 (+0.7) in the girls' 100 m, Sekito Matsushita (Shizuoka H.S.), 10.27 (+0.7) in the boys' 100 m, Nana Ishihara (Hakuodai Ashikaga H.S.), 6.31 m (+1.1) in the girls' long jump, and Rinoa Akagi (Shigakudai Kagawa Nishi H.S.), 50.35 m for the win in the girls' javelin throw. ...

Day 2 of the 2026 National High School Championships saw dominant wins in both the girls' and boys' 400 m finals, with heavy favorite Haru Balogun (Ichikawa H.S.) winning the girls' race by over a second in 53.74 and Kodai Okumura (Saikyo H.S.) taking the boys' race by almost as much in 46.82. 4th-fastest in the qualifying rounds, Aika Murai (Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.) outran Rikka Kuroda (Sendai Ikuei H.S.), the younger sister of collegiate marathon record holder Asahi Kuroda for the win 4:23.62 to 4:24.10, Haru Azuma (Suma Gakuen H.S.) holding off Moe Imon (St. Catalina Gakuen H.S.) for 3rd in 4:24.21. Also 4th-fastest in qualifying, Sei Yoshida (Tokaidai Sapporo H.S.) took the boys' title in 3:44.31 over top-ranked Sota Iihoshi (Chiben College H.S.) and Kain Inagaki (Rakunan H.S.). Mio Toshida (Kasukabe Joshi H.S.) held off Hikari Osaka (Shiritsu Nishinomiya H.S.) by 2 seconds to win a close girls' 5000 m race walk in 22:33.27. Reon Kitamura (Raku...

The 2026 National High School Championships started Thursday in Otsu, Shiga. Finals on the opening day were limited to boys' events, with Rintaro Sasho (Bunan H.S.) taking the high jump with a 2.07 m clearance and Issa Matsumoto (Morimura Gakuen H.S.) the javelin throw at 64.77 m. Reon Kitamura got Kyoto's Rakunan H.S. off to a good start, leading Day 1 of the boys' octathlon by 21 points with a score of 3157. Rakunan also did well in the boys' 1500 m heats, with 3 runners, Koki Ishihara , Kain Inagaki and Yuma Tanaka , making the final. Sota Iihoshi (Chinen Gakuen H.S.) was the fastest qualifier with a 3:48.23 to lead Heat 2, while Taro Yoshida (Tottori Johoku H.S.) and Yuki Kita (Tokushima Kagaku Gijitsu H.S.) advanced on protest after a collision in Heat 1. Kana Inoue (Yamagata Johoku H.S.) led the girls' 1500 m final qualifiers in 4:23.01 in Heat 3. Joto H.S. was the only school to advance more than one runner, with Riona Tateishi and Sarina Tateishi ...

Kaishin H.S. in Kumamoto has named its newly-built running course "Akasaki Road." The course is named after Kaishin alumnus Akira Akasaki , 6th in the marathon at the Paris Olympics. Akasaki turned up in person to run on the course at its opening. "To be honest it's a bit embarrassing," Akasaki said, "but I'd be very happy if someday another Olympian appeared from off Akasaki Road." The Kaishin H.S. ekiden team has traditionally run in the area around the school for training sessions, but to ensure the safety of both the team members and local residents the school spent around 55 million yen ( ~$336,000 USD ) to construct the new running course. One lap of the course covers 400 m and features two small hills. Along with the ekiden team, it is expected that classes and other school sports teams will make use of it. source article: https://newsdig.tbs.co.jp/articles/rkk/2829424?display=1 translated by Brett Larner

A fixture on runners' schedule for 79 years, the Fuji Mountain Race took place July 24 in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi. 3521 runners from across the country and around the world took on the challenge of racing up Mt. Fuji. The event is divided into 2 distances, the Summit Course of 21 km with 3000 m of ascent, and the Fifth Stage Course of 15 km with 1480 m climb. The Summit Course turns steep after the Seventh Stage, with runners slipping and stumbling on the loose rock on the trail as they near the peak. In the Summit Course race Ruy Ueda , 32, won for the second year in a row. Yuri Yoshizumi , 40, achieved an 8th-straight victory in the women's summit race. A local Fujiyoshida resident, post-race Yoshizumi said, "I mostly train on Mount Fuji too. All the local people cheering me on helped me to push harder." Takashi Mino won the men's title in the Fifth Stage Course, with Mirei Sugai taking the women's title. 79th Fuji Mountain Race Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi, 24 ...

On July 24 the organizing committee of September's Nagoya Asian Games announced the courses for the marathon and race walk events. The marathon will cover two laps of a roughly 20 km course starting and finishing at Paloma Mizuho Stadium. Athletes will turn right at Mizuho Sports Park West after leaving the stadium and then enter the 20 km loop. The course heads north along the same roads used for the Nagoya Women's Marathon, then turns left at Uchiyama-cho. From there it turns right at Sakuradori Otsu near the Nagoya TV tower, then makes a U-turn at Meijo Park before returning to Mizuho Sports Park West. Although there is minimal elevation change overall, there are some undulations in front of Nagoya City Hall, a key section of the Nagoya Women's Marathon, that are sure to play a critical role in how the Asian Games races unfold. The race walk events will be held on a 1 km loop in the area of Nagoya City Hall, Nagoya Castle, and Aichi Prefectural Government building. A te...

The JOC announced the full lineups for the men's and women's teams for September's Nagoya Asian Games . Being hosted in Japan the Asian Games are a pretty big deal, and it's pretty close to the maximum of 2 athletes per event. The men's and women's triple jump, the women's 400 m and the women's discus throw only have 1 athlete on the Japanese team, and it's a big FU to the shot putters apparently as nobody was named to either the men's or women's teams even though people ranked lower in the World Athletics Asian rankings than top JPN shot putters Daichi Morishita and Chiharu Saka did make the team in other events. But, let's focus on what it is, not what it isn't. Going off this week's Asian rankings 8 men and 5 women are ranked #1 in their event, with a total of 19 men and 14 women ranked in the top 3. Factor in a limit of 2 per nationality and the relays and Japan's chances of scoring a great medal haul are looking good. M...