Skip to main content

Daiichi Kogyo University Takes Western Japan Ekiden Championship

by Brett Larner

Buoyed by its finishes as the top-placing western Japan university at October's Izumo Ekiden and the National University Ekiden Championships earlier this month, #3-ranked Daiichi Kogyo University upset defending champion Ritsumeikan University at the Nov. 15 Biwako University Ekiden (alternate site here), western Japan's equivalent to eastern Japan's Hakone Ekiden. 22 teams competed in the 8-stage, 84.3 km championship. Ritsumeikan, which has not finished out of the top 2 since 2001, when it was 3rd, could never close the gap on Daiichi Kogyo's runners after trailing its rival by 6 seconds on the 11.1 km 1st stage.

Nara Sangyo University Tanzanian Jackson Kwarai scored the stage best of 33:07 on the opening leg, with Daiichi Kogyo's Shoto Atsuchi 3 seconds behind and Ritsumeikan's Takuya Kawakami another 6 seconds back. Despite running only 1 of its 2 Kenyans and missing ace Ryohei Nakano, Daiichi Kogyo took stage best titles on 4 of the remaining 7 stages including Ryo Taniguchi's new stage record of 32:40 on the 11.0 km 3rd stage, keeping them comfortably ahead of Ritsumeikan which picked up only 2 stage bests. Ritsumeikan's anchor Shogo Furubayashi took one of the 2 titles, outrunning Daiichi Kogyo anchor Akifumi Mantani by 26 seconds over 7.7 km but unable to singlehandedly bridge the 1:33 gap to the leader. Daiichi Kogyo won in a time of 4:12:47, with Ritsumeikan 2nd in 4:13:43. Last year's runner-up Kyoto Sangyo University was a distant 3rd in 4:18:25.

2008 Biwako University Ekiden
Stage Best Performances
1st stage (11.1 km): Jackson Kwarai (Nara Sangyo Univ.) - 33:07
2nd stage (7.3 km): Ryo Yamamoto (Daiichi Kogyo Univ.) - 21:23
3rd stage (11.0 km): Ryo Taniguchi (Daiichi Kogyo Univ.) - 32:40 - new stage record
4th stage (9.6 km): Junichi Nishimura (Kyoto Sangyo Univ.) - 29:00
5th stage (8.8 km): Eiji Teramoto (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 27:13
6th stage (12.8 km): Seidai Shinohara (Daiichi Kogyo Univ.) - 39:06
7th stage (15.1 km): Kibet Kipgenon (Daiichi Kogyo Univ.) - 44:53
8th stage (7.7 km): Shogo Furubayashi (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 24:06

Top Team Performances
1. Daiichi Kogyo Univ. - 4:12:47
2. Ritsumeikan Univ. - 4:13:54
3. Kyoto Sangyo Univ. - 4:18:25
4. Osaka Taiku Univ. - 4:21:24
5. Kansai Univ. - 4:21:32
6. Nara Sangyo Univ. - 4:21:37
7. Aichi Kogyo Univ. - 4:22:02
8. Kansai Gakuin Univ. - 4:22:26
9. Osaka Keizai Univ. - 4:23:20
10. Osaka Kyoiku Univ. - 4:23:43

Complete results are available here.

(c) 2008 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Hakone Champ AGU Hits 50 km a Day in Spring Break Training Camp

Having scored its 3rd-straight Hakone Ekiden win this past January, Aoyama Gakuin University spent the Golden Week spring holidays training on the Myoko Plateau in Niigata from May 2-6. Along with the champion men's ekiden team, the first 2 members of AGU's new women's long distance team Nodoka Ashida and Kairi Ikeno , and AGU alumni and 2026 New Year Ekiden champion GMO team members Yuya Yoshida and Asahi Kuroda also took part in the training camp. Depending on the day's training schedule, mileage at the camp was over 50 km a day. AGU men's captain Kaito Nakamura confidently said, "This Golden Week training camp is where we lay the foundations for our 4th-straight Hakone title." A lot of people spend Golden Week on vacation, but the AGU ekiden team spent their time working hard on Myoko's rolling land amid the sprouting leaves of spring. On the 2nd day of the camp, May 3, team members woke up at 5:00 a.m. to do their warmup. The team assembled a...
1 comment
Read more

Ochiai, Kawamura, Usuki and Mishima Set NR - Golden Week Track Roundup

There was a lot of action on the track over Japan's Golden Week holidays. Highlights: Shizuoka International Meet - Fukuroi, 3 May Men's 800 m NR holder Ko Ochiai (Komazawa Univ.) broke his own record with a 1:43.90 win. Daigo Usuki (18 Ginko) and Gakuto Mishima (Nippatsu) both broke the NR in the T20 men's 400 m, Usuki getting the win in 49.08 and Mishima 2nd in 49.15. Lauren Bruce (New Zealand) threw a meet record 67.44 m on her final attempt in the women's hammer throw, but even her shortest throw of 64.31 m was over 3 m better than the rest of the field. Kazuki Kurokawa (Sumitomo Denko) got the men's 400 mH meet record with a 48.50 for the win. Women's 3000 mSC NR holder Miu Saito (Panasonic) won the steeple in 9:31.83, the 2nd-best time in her career so far, despite falling. 2nd through 4th all broke 10 minutes. National University Men's Ekiden Kanto Region Qualifier - Hiratsuka, 4 May The top 8 teams at November's National University Men...
Post a Comment
Read more

Everything You Need to Know About the 2026 Hakone Ekiden

The Hakone Ekiden is the world's biggest road race, 2 days of road relay action with Japan's 20 best university teams racing 10 half marathon-scale legs from central Tokyo to the mountains east of Mount Fuji and back. The level just keeps going higher and higher , hitting the point this year where there are teams with 10-runner averages of 13:33.10 for 5000 m, 27:55.98 for 10000 m, and 1:01:20 for the half marathon. It's never been better, and with great weather in the forecast it's safe to say this could be one of the best races in Hakone's 102-year history, especially on Day One. If you've seen it then you know NTV's live broadcast is the best sports broadcast in the world, with the pre-race show kicking off at 7:00 a.m. Japan time on the 2nd and 3rd and the race starting at 8:00 a.m. sharp. If you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it on TVer starting at 7:50 a.m. on the 2nd , and again at 7:50 a.m. on the 3rd . There's even a 2-hour high...
3 comments
Read more