japan running news

The first big meet of Japan's outdoor season happens in Kumamoto Apr. 12 with the Kanakuri Memorial Meet , where the men's and women's 10000 m double as the National Championships and other events count as key selection races for May's Asian Championships in South Korea. Top entries per event below with best times within the qualifying window. Complete 10000 m entries here, other distances here . Men's 10000 m National Championships Emmanuel Maru (Kenya/Toyota Boshoku) - 27:09.96 Jun Kasai (Asahi Kasei) - 27:17.46 Charles Kamau (Kenya/SGH) - 27:18.89  Mebuki Suzuki (Toyota) - 27:20.33 Tomoki Ota (Toyota) - 27:20.94 Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu) - 27:36.37 Tomoya Ogikubo (Hiramatsu Byoin) - 27:38.28 Yuto Imae (GMO) - 27:42.65 Yamato Yoshii (Toyota) - 27:42.88 Ryo Saito (Asahi Kasei) - 27:45.08 Shoya Saito (Josai Univ.) - 27:45.12 Yuya Yoshida (GMO) - 27:45.85 Hayate Honma (Chuo Univ.) - 27:46.60 Tsuyoshi Bando (Osaka Gas) - 27:48.53 Kazuki Tamura (Sumitomo Denko) - 27:...

On Mar. 25 the KGRR , organizers of the Hakone Ekiden, announced the start time for mid-October's 102nd Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai qualifying half marathon in Tachikawa, Tokyo will be changed from its traditional starting time of 9:35 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. as a measure against rising temperatures. The KGRR explained, "We have explored what options we have to maximize the safety of our athletes from the effects of global warming. With that in mind we have decided to move the start time earlier to reduce the risk from heat." At the Yosenkai half marathon schools may run up to 12 team members, with their first 10 finishers scoring based on their combined finish times. With places at the world's biggest road race on the line competition is fierce and the young student athletes push their bodies and minds to their absolute limits. Last year's race on Oct. 19 had unseasonably hot weather that turned into a battle of attrition. At the 9:35 a.m. start it was 23.2˚, rising to summ...

After 54 years at the Asahi Kasei corporate team, first as athlete and then as coach, Takeshi Soh will retire at the end of this month. Together with his twin brother Shigeru Soh they formed a duo who were icons of the Japanese marathoning world and went all the way to the Olympics. After retiring from competition Takeshi devoted himself to coaching young athletes and came to play a primary role in the leadership of Japanese long distance. His list of achievements is long, and so is the list of those he influenced and inspired. His twin Shigeru was chosen for three Olympic teams in the marathon, Montreal in 1976, Moscow in 1980 and Los Angeles in 1984. Takeshi was named to the Moscow and Los Angeles teams, placing 4th in L.A. to confirm his position as one of the greatest names in the sport in that era. After becoming a coach the twins helped lead Hiromi Taniguchi to gold at the 1991 Tokyo World Championships, Koichi Morishita to silver a year later at the Barcelona Olympics, and o...

60 mH and 110 mH national record holder Shunsuke Izumiya came the closest to medaling on the small Japanese team at the Nanjing World Indoor Championships , taking 4th in the men's long jump on the final day of competition Sunday. Medalists Mattia Furlani , Wayne Pinnock and Liam Adcock were each only a cm apart, Furlani taking gold with a best jump of 8.30 m. Izumiya was 7 cm off Adcock, jumping a PB 8.21 m for 4th and continuing a steady progression in long jump since 2021. Hibiki Tsuha was last in the field of 13 at 7.13 m. With a stronger 2nd day that saw him make single-digit placings in each event, Yuma Maruyama took 9th in the heptathlon, scoring 5807. His best performance came in the pole vault, where Maruyama cleared 4.80 m for 8th of 12. In the women's 60 mH, Yumi Tanaka took 4th in her opening round heat in 8.06 to advance to the semifinals. There she ran 8.03 for 5th in SF2, missing a time qualifying spot by 0.07. With no other Japanese athletes making finals ...

As with yesterday , only one Japanese athlete competed in a final on the 2nd day of the Nanjing World Indoor Championships . Ranked 7th on SB in the field of 12 in the women's 3000 m, NR holder Nozomi Tanaka finished 10th in 8:47.93 over 10 seconds behind winner Freweyni Hailu of Ethiopia. Yuma Maruyama was also in action on the first day of heptathlon competition, sitting at 11th of 12 at the end of the day with 3135 points. Maruyama's best individual event placings were 9th in both the 60 m and long jump. In the men's 60 mH Tetsuro Nishi was the fastest time qualifier for the semifinals, running 7.79 for 5th in Heat 2. It would have taken at least 7.61 to get through the semis to the final, but Nishi could only turn in a 7.83 for 6th in SF2 and did not advance. The Nanjing World Indoor Championships wrap up Sunday. © 2025 Brett Larner , all rights reserved

Indoor track isn't much of a thing in Japan, but there's still a small national team at this weekend's Nanjing World Indoor Championships . High jumpers Naoto Hasegawa and Sota Haraguchi were the only Japanese athletes in action in final on Friday's opening day. Hasegawa became the first Japanese man to make top 8 in a World Indoor Championships high jump final, taking 7th with a 2.20 m SB. Haraguchi was 13th of 13 with a 2.14 m SB clearance. In the men's 400 m Fuga Sato made it through the opening heats with a 46.60 SB for 2nd in Heat 3, while Ryo Yoshikawa ran only 47.47 for 5th in Heat 2 and did not advance. Sato was eliminated in the semifinals after he was last in SF1 in 48.31. Yoshiki Kinashi and Naoki Nishioka both made it through the men's 60 m heats, Kinashi running 6.60 m for 2nd in Heat 8 and Nishioka 6.67 for 3rd in Heat 4. In the semifinals both were eliminated, Nishioka improving to 6.62 for 4th in SF3 and Kinashi running 6.63 for 5th in SF2....

In a quest to make its first Hakone Ekiden, Shibaura Kogyo University announced this week that former Surugadai University head coach Kazuyoshi Tokumoto , 45, and former Reitaku University head coach Tatsuya Yamakawa , 40, will take over as head and assistant coach starting in April. In a statement issued by the university Tokumoto commented, "I'm pleased to have been named head coach of Shibaura Kogyo University's track and field team. When they came to feel me I could feel their passion about achieving their dream of becoming the first science and technology university to compete in the Hakone Ekiden. I was happy to accept because I felt that this was an environment in which I could grow too. It's my responsibility to help them become the 45th university ever to compete in Hakone. I hope that you'll enjoy Act II of the Tokumoto Show and cheer us on as Shibaura Kogyo heads down the road to Hakone." Yamakawa's comments read, "I arrived early in Feb...