More Records – Brett Larner – Japan Running News

In Spain, women-only half marathon NR holder Rino Goshima of 2022 National Corporate Women’s Ekiden champ team Shiseido ran a 30:55 road 10 km NR for 3rd in the Maraton de Castellon’s mixed-gender 10 km race. With the previous record having stood at just 31:44 for a women-only race and 31:49 for a mixed race it was a pretty soft record to break, but given how often top-level Japanese women run under that, even under 31 minutes, on the long stages at ekidens it was good to see someone take a serious swing at putting a quality mark in the books.

Her teammates Tomoka Kimura and Yuka Takashima were 4th and 8th, Kimura under the old record too in 31:01 and Takashima just off in 32:05. Goshima’s split at 5 km was 15:20, also under the official NR of 15:34 for women-only and 15:52 for a mixed race, so here’s to more of these coming soon.

Back in Japan at the Soja Kibiji Half Marathon in Okayama, Yuta Minamisaka, the First Leg runner for CR-breaking National High School Boys‘ Ekiden champion Kurashiki H.S. in December, took almost a minute off the high school half marathon NR, winning in 1:03:15. Teammate Shunta Uetsuki, who ran the Second Leg at Nationals, wasn’t far off the old 1:04:08 H.S. NR either, taking 2nd in 1:04:55, with Sixth Leg runner Hiroto Hishida 3rd in 1:05:57. Minamisaka, who has a 5000 m PB of 13:54.90, will start the new school year at Tokai University in April.

Kurashiki’s alternate Emmanuel Kipchirchir won the 10 km in Soja in 28:07, with Fourth Leg runner Shunsuke Kuwata 2nd in 28:56. Local high school Okayama Shoka H.S. assistant coach Kodai Toyoda was 3rd in 29:38. Kurashiki’s Janet Nyiva won the women’s race in 31:36, the only runner under 38 minutes.