After being provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) on Nov. 30 last year following a positive test for triamcinolone acetonide, Rwandan marathoner John Hakizimana has been handed a two-year suspension beginning Oct. 27, 2023. Additionally, Hakizimana loses all results from Aug. 27, 2023 on, meaning the cancelation of his 9th-place finish in the Budapest World Championships ..read more

The two-day Hyogo Relay Carnival was the biggest meet of the weekend on the Japanese calendar. Sarah Wanjiru (Daito Bunka Univ.) kicked off her 2nd academic year with a 31:48.11 win in the GP women's 10000 m, beating Pauline Kamulu (Route Inn Hotels) by 4 seconds. Emmanuel Kiplagat (Mitsubishi Juko) had a tighter win in the GP men's 10000 m, 27:58.01 to 27:58.35 over Jonson Mugeni (Asia Univ ..read more

Returning to the roads after his 2:06:18 win at February's Osaka Marathon, Kiyoto Hirabayashi (Koku Gakuin University) took 5th at Sunday's Shanghai Half Marathon in a PB 1:01:23, just under a minute behind winner Roncer Kipkorir Konga (Kenya) who clocked a CR 1:00:29. After inexplicably running the equivalent of a sub-59 half marathon to win the Hakone Ekiden's Third Stage, Aoi Ota (Aoyama ..read more

With three sub-2:09 Japanese men in the race and good weather conditions by Boston standards the chances were decent that somebody was going to follow 1981 winner Toshihiko Seko's 2:09:26 and score a sub-2:10 at the Boston Marathon. But nobody thought it was going to be by a 2:14 amateur.Paris Olympic team member Suguru Osako had taken 3rd in Boston in 2:10:28 in his debut seven years ago, and ..read more

Two big meets happened Saturday, one in Kumamoto and the other in Yokohama. At Kumamoto's Kanaguri Memorial Meet, Benard Koech (Kyudenko) turned in the performance of the day with a 13:13.52 meet record to win the men's 5000 m A-heat by just 0.11 seconds over Emmanuel Kipchirchir (SGH). The top four were all under 13:20, with 10000 m national record holder Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu) bouncing back ..read more

 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 ..read more

 Following 400 m hurdler Masaki Toyoda's suspension for a violation of anti-doping regulations, the Fujitsu corporate team published a statement on its website, including comments from Toyoda's legal team, explaining the ruling and the circumstances surrounding the case.Toyoda was a member of the 2019 Doha World Championships team and holds a best of 48.87. Early in the morning of May 19 ..read more

NHK has reported finding that 40% of mass-participation races across the country sponsored or co-sponsored by local prefectural governments reported lower participation levels. Experts in the field suggested that events need to take creative approaches to increase their popularity. February's Kochi Ryoma Marathon had a maximum field size of 12,000, but only 9,300 people entered. It was the second ..read more

 On April 8 the Japan Sports Arbitration Agency upheld a two-year doping suspension against 2019 Doha World Championships team member Masaki Toyoda, 26, of the Fujitsu corporate team, rejecting an appeal from the Japan Anti-Doping Agency for a stricter sentence.Metabolites of the prohibited substance trenbolone were detected in a urine sample taken from Toyoda during a drug test in May, 2022 ..read more

The 39th Yaizu Minato Half Marathon happened Sunday, starting and finishing in the fishing port area of Yaizu, Shizuoka. In Yaizu Minato's unique Pair Marathon team competition that combines the two fastest times from competing universities to determine the winner, 2024 Hakone Ekiden champ Aoyama Gakuin University took the team title thanks to 4th-year Masaya Tsurukawa's overall win in 1:02:49 ..read more