by Brett Larner
Click photo for video highlights courtesy of NHK.
Following the All-Japan High School Girls Ekiden Championships, the seven stage, 42.195 km Boys Ekiden took place Dec. 21 in Kyoto. While conditions in the morning had been warm and sunny for the girls' race, an approaching storm front brought clouds and increasing rain for the afternoon boys' race. Defending champion Sendai Ikuei High School, alma mater of greats including Samuel Wanjiru and Daniel Njenga, was presented with a tough battle against rivals Saku Chosei High School and Sera High School, facing on one hand the mid-season loss of head coach Takao Watanabe, who quit the school to become future marathon great Megumi Kinukawa's personal coach, and on the other a new rule designed partly to minimize the efficacy of non-Japanese runners in ekidens. Government sponsored-broadcaster NHK's otherwise excellent live, commercial-free nationwide coverage of the Boys Ekiden was seriously marred by its promotion of the new rule without explanation of the reasons for the change and by a pervading politely but unabashedly xenophobic tone to the live race commentary.
1st Stage - 10.0 km
As the 59th All-Japan High School Boys Ekiden got underway, race announcers Yasuyuki Onozuka and Shigeru Soh, the latter one of Japan's most revered marathoners, proudly proclaimed the first stage to be Japanese-only for the first time in 16 years, claiming that the absence of foreigners on the first stage would make the race more interesting. As with the girls' race, the first kilometer was far slower than last year's in the absence of Kenyan fearlessness, 3:00 versus last year's 2:47. 2 km passed in 6:00 with the entire field still in attendance.
The close-quartered conditions brought a series of collisions and falls approaching 3 km, which the pack reached in 9:05. The two most talented runners in the field, 2007 runner-up Saku Chosei's Kenta Chiba and defending champion Sendai Ikuei's Wataru Ueno, refused to take the lead as the pack reached 4 km all together in 12:08. Not until into the fifth kilometer did any change take place, as a dozen of the weaker runners fell away from the pack. Approaching 5 km the runners at the front of the pack were exchanging glances, waiting for someone to make a move. 5 km came in 15:15.
Chiba ran just off the shoulder of Saitama Sakae's Kensuke Gotoda at the front of the pack, biding his time. Approaching 6 km Ueno moved into position just behind Chiba. Just after 7 km Gotoda put on a spurt to break up the field. Chiba and a handful of other runners including Dai Nakahara of powerhouse Sera followed him, but Ueno was left adrift in no-man's land. After Gotoda relaxed Ueno regained contact, then at 8 km he took off, stringing out the leaders and pursued closely by Chiba. Chiba moved up next to Ueno just before 9 km, then attacked around a sharp lefthand corner. Ueno followed as the pair's lead widened. With 500 m to go Ueno attacked again, opening a 3-second lead over Chiba. Oita Tomei's Ikuto Yufu came in 3rd, just ahead of Omuta's Kyohei Nishi. Nakahara fell to 9th.
Ueno showed remarkable maturity in his racing and looks poised to be both the top recruit in this year's graduating high school class and a major university runner. In a post-race interview he nonchalantly said that he had been looking forward to racing Saku Chosei's star Akinobu Murasawa, but that since Saku Chosei had only put up Chiba against him he knew he had to win the stage.
2nd Stage - 3.0 km
Oita Tomei's Koshu Ozaki went out aggressively, closing the gap on Saku Chosei's Takumi Matsushita within 700 m even as Matsushita caught Sendai Ikuei's Yuta Yokoyama. At 1 km Omuta's Yusuke Nakayama joined the leaders, and the four ran together for just over a kilometer until Nakayama, spent from playing catchup, lost contact and slipped away. Behind him Sera's Kazuki Takeuchi advanced rapidly through the field. Matsushita attacked first, dropping Ozaki, but Yokoyama had the stronger kick and passed off to Kenyan ace Paul Kuira a step ahead. Takeuchi overtook Nakayama to move into 4th.
3rd Stage - 8.1075 km
Kuira ran easily, effortlessly widened his lead over Saku Chosei's Akinobu Murasawa. Kuira, the 2008 national high school 5000 m champion, had the stage best time on the 3rd leg last year and dominated again as he chased Sendai Ikuei alumnus Samuel Wanjiru's stage record of 22:40 from the 2004 championships. Saitama Sakae's Shota Hottori overtook Sera's Kaido Kita and Omuta's Ko Takajo, forming a chase pack of three pursued closely by a larger pack of five led by last year's 3rd place finisher Nishiwaki Kogyo. Hottori continued past into 4th, with Kita and Takajo fading into their followers. At halfway Kuira had a lead of 13 seconds over Murasawa. Oita Tomei's Shunsuke Yuji was another 27 seconds back.
Hottori continued to move up on Yuji, but Nishiwaki Kogyo's Fuminori Shikata broke from the chase pack and simultaneously advanced on him, making for a three-man race for 3rd. Hottori gained contact first, moving past Yuji as 6.5 km. Shikata stalled and was caught by Kyushuze, as Takajo and Kita hung a short distance behind.
Kuira finished in 23:07, well short of Wanjiru's record, but Murasawa ran 23:38, the fastest time ever on the stage by a Japanese runner as announcers Onozuka and Soh quickly pointed out. Hottori was a clear 3rd, but a mad scramble for the finish saw Yuji 4th, Kyushuze 5th, Kita 6th and Shikata 7th. Kuira said afterwards that he had trouble moving, not due to the weather, but was still happy with his performance.
4th Stage - 8.0875 km
Sendai Ikuei's Takashi Saito seemed relatively secure from Saku Chosei's Shota Hiraga with a lead of over 30 seconds, but back in the chase pack Sera's Kenyan Bitan Karoki, who won the 1st stage last year, advanced through the ranks after starting 1:33 back from the lead. Hiraga ran with impeccably beautiful form, gradually shortening the gap to Saito, but behind him Karoki became larger and larger. At halfway Hiraga was only 11 seconds behind the laboring Saito. Karoki was 27 seconds behind Hiraga, meaning he had already cut almost a minute off the lead.
With two kilometers to go Hiraga was 4 seconds back, Karoki less than 20 seconds further back. Saito picked up his pace, gasping and crying out with the effort, and it became unclear whether Hiraga could finish closing the gap and if so whether it would happen before Karoki came for him. With 1 km left the answer was no. Saito had pulled away another 2 seconds, and Karoki was right behind Hiraga. Karoki took 2nd with 670 m to go, 7 seconds behind Saito and well on pace to break Saku Chosei superstar alumnus Yuki Sato's stage record. With 500 m Saito launched a desperate last kick to try to hold off Karoki and prevent Sera from taking the lead, his face red, eyes bulging and mouth wide. It worked. He finished 7 seconds ahead of the Kenyan, who in turn finished 12 seconds ahead of Sato's stage record in 22:32.
5th Stage - 3.0 km
Saku Chosei's Tsubasa Fujii immediately retook 2nd from Sera`s Takuya Fujikawa as he tried to take the lead. Like Hiraga, he showed beautiful form as he narrowed the gap. Just before 800 m he flew past Sendai Ikuei's Kento Sato to give Saku Chosei its first clear lead of the ekiden. After 2 km he had created a 9-second lead, and although he didn't have much of a last sprint he finished 18 seconds ahead in 8:24, just shy of the stage record of 8:22. Sato was 18 seconds behind the lead in 3rd. Saitama Sakae's Kentaro Yano also just missed the stage record with an excellent 8:26 to move his team back into the top five.
6th Stage - 5.0 km
Saku Chosei captain Hiroyuki Sasaki began extremely strong, again running with beautiful form. At 1 km he was 30 seconds ahead of Sendai Ikuei's Takashi Nagazawa, who appeared relaxed and unhurried. At halfway it became clear that Saku Chosei was potentially on course record pace for a school with only Japanese runners. Sera's Hiromu Yamazaki was likewise running strong in pursuit of Nagazawa, but behind him Saitama Sakae's Kento Tabe and Aomori Yamada were pushing each other further ahead.
Race announcers Onozuka and Soh continually stressed the impending 'Japanese-only' course record aspect of Saku Chosei's performance as Sasaki continued to run strongly toward the final handoff zone. With 1 km to go he had a lead of 1:06, and Saku Chosei's victory looked all but certain. He finished in 14:14, a new stage record by 2 seconds. Nagazawa struggled to the finish in 2nd, 1:14 behind. Tabe tried his best to catch 3rd but finished just short, one second behind Yamazaki. Yamada Aomori stayed ahead of Oita Tomei's Kotaro Sato to take 5th.
7th Stage - 5.0 km
With no realistic chance of a challenge from Sendai Ikuei, Saku Chosei's anchor Suguru Osako had the primary task of bringing the school home to its first-ever victory as the rain became heavier and heavier. The announcers mentioned that Saku Chosei's team trained up to 50 km a day in preparation for the championships and that one of its assistant coaches, Masaru Takamizawa, won this past summer's Hokkaido Marathon after doing the majority of his training with the team. The intensive workload payed off as Osako finished in 2:02:18, the 3rd-fastest time ever on the course and the best mark for a team without non-Japanese runners, 46 seconds shy of the actual record.
Although announcer and legendary marathoner Shigeru Soh mentioned the fact that the all-Japanese Saku Chosei team missed breaking the overall record due to the relatively lazy pace of the runners on the new all-Japanese first stage, he failed to state the corollary that the first stage pace was slow this year because of the lack of foreign runners, or to make the logical connection that the elimination of fast non-Japanese runners from the first stage might therefore have prevented Saku Chosei from setting an actual new record. Instead, he and co-announcer Onozuka celebrated the 'Japanese-only' record, their message to the high school runners and television audience and that of the administrative bodies responsible for the rule changes this year seeming to be that Japanese runners are not good enough to face foreign competition but that this is OK. Actually winning and becoming the best doesn't matter as long as you are the top Japanese. To facilitate this you will not be put in a situation where you might lose to non-Japanese athletes. This seems to be in contradiction to statements made by Japanese officials following the Olympics and Fukuoka International Marathon, but words and actions are different things. The solution of creating a Japanese winner by eliminating foreign competition is certainly a creative alternative approach.
Sendai Ikuei's Naoya Sugawara faired gamely but could not bridge the impossible gap. Sendai Ikuei, national high school record holder and owner of the two fastest-ever times on the course, finished 2nd in 2:04:10, losing its title but still achieving a respectable result considering the coaching change partway through this year's season.
Saitama Sakae's Takumi Taguchi quickly caught Sera`s Tomoyasu Matsui, the two running together in a tight battle for 3rd. Entering the stadium together, Taguchi had the stronger finish, coming in 3rd in 2:04:46 to Matsui's 2:04:50 4th place mark.
Aomori Yamada's Ryo Kurokawa and Oita Tomei's Ryosuke Baba likewise came in together, Baba outkicking his rival to take 5th place and Oita Tomei's best-ever finish, well ahead of its top-8 goal. Nishiwaki Kogyo, 3rd last year, was a disappointing 7th. Early contender Omuto ended 10th.
NHK's race website offers complete team results, individual stage performances, a photo gallery, and other highlights.
2008 All-Japan High School Boys Ekiden Championships
Stage Best Performances
1st Stage (10.0 km) - Wataru Ueno (3rd yr., Sendai Ikuei) - 29:50
2nd Stage (3.0 km) - Akihiro Fujiwara (3rd yr., Kyushu Gakuin) - 8:17
3rd Stage (8.1075 km) - Paul Kuira (3rd yr., Sendai Ikuei) - 23:07
4th Stage (8.0875 km) - Bitan Karoki (2nd yr., Sera) - 22:32 - new stage record
5th Stage (3.0 km) - Tsubasa Fujii (3rd yr., Saku Chosei) - 8:24
6th Stage (5.0 km) - Hiroyuki Sasaki (3rd yr., Saku Chosei) - 14:14 - new stage record
7th Stage (5.0 km) - Suguru Osako (2nd yr., Saku Chosei) - 14:11
Top Team Performances
1. Saku Chosei (Nagano Pref.) - 2:02:18
2. Sendai Ikuei (Miyagi Pref.) - 2:04:10
3. Saitama Sakae (Saitama Pref.) - 2:04:46
4. Sera (Hiroshima Pref.) - 2:04:51
5. Oita Tomei (Oita Pref.) - 2:05:17
6. Aomori Yamada (Aomori Pref.) - 2:05:17
7. Nishiwaki Kogyo (Hyogo Pref.) - 2:05:23
8. Kyushu Gakuin (Kumamoto Pref.) - 2:05:43
9. Kobayashi (Miyazaki Pref.) - 2:06:01
10. Omuta (Fukuoka Pref.) - 2:06:39
(c) 2008 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Click photo for video highlights courtesy of NHK.
Following the All-Japan High School Girls Ekiden Championships, the seven stage, 42.195 km Boys Ekiden took place Dec. 21 in Kyoto. While conditions in the morning had been warm and sunny for the girls' race, an approaching storm front brought clouds and increasing rain for the afternoon boys' race. Defending champion Sendai Ikuei High School, alma mater of greats including Samuel Wanjiru and Daniel Njenga, was presented with a tough battle against rivals Saku Chosei High School and Sera High School, facing on one hand the mid-season loss of head coach Takao Watanabe, who quit the school to become future marathon great Megumi Kinukawa's personal coach, and on the other a new rule designed partly to minimize the efficacy of non-Japanese runners in ekidens. Government sponsored-broadcaster NHK's otherwise excellent live, commercial-free nationwide coverage of the Boys Ekiden was seriously marred by its promotion of the new rule without explanation of the reasons for the change and by a pervading politely but unabashedly xenophobic tone to the live race commentary.
1st Stage - 10.0 km
As the 59th All-Japan High School Boys Ekiden got underway, race announcers Yasuyuki Onozuka and Shigeru Soh, the latter one of Japan's most revered marathoners, proudly proclaimed the first stage to be Japanese-only for the first time in 16 years, claiming that the absence of foreigners on the first stage would make the race more interesting. As with the girls' race, the first kilometer was far slower than last year's in the absence of Kenyan fearlessness, 3:00 versus last year's 2:47. 2 km passed in 6:00 with the entire field still in attendance.
The close-quartered conditions brought a series of collisions and falls approaching 3 km, which the pack reached in 9:05. The two most talented runners in the field, 2007 runner-up Saku Chosei's Kenta Chiba and defending champion Sendai Ikuei's Wataru Ueno, refused to take the lead as the pack reached 4 km all together in 12:08. Not until into the fifth kilometer did any change take place, as a dozen of the weaker runners fell away from the pack. Approaching 5 km the runners at the front of the pack were exchanging glances, waiting for someone to make a move. 5 km came in 15:15.
Chiba ran just off the shoulder of Saitama Sakae's Kensuke Gotoda at the front of the pack, biding his time. Approaching 6 km Ueno moved into position just behind Chiba. Just after 7 km Gotoda put on a spurt to break up the field. Chiba and a handful of other runners including Dai Nakahara of powerhouse Sera followed him, but Ueno was left adrift in no-man's land. After Gotoda relaxed Ueno regained contact, then at 8 km he took off, stringing out the leaders and pursued closely by Chiba. Chiba moved up next to Ueno just before 9 km, then attacked around a sharp lefthand corner. Ueno followed as the pair's lead widened. With 500 m to go Ueno attacked again, opening a 3-second lead over Chiba. Oita Tomei's Ikuto Yufu came in 3rd, just ahead of Omuta's Kyohei Nishi. Nakahara fell to 9th.
Ueno showed remarkable maturity in his racing and looks poised to be both the top recruit in this year's graduating high school class and a major university runner. In a post-race interview he nonchalantly said that he had been looking forward to racing Saku Chosei's star Akinobu Murasawa, but that since Saku Chosei had only put up Chiba against him he knew he had to win the stage.
2nd Stage - 3.0 km
Oita Tomei's Koshu Ozaki went out aggressively, closing the gap on Saku Chosei's Takumi Matsushita within 700 m even as Matsushita caught Sendai Ikuei's Yuta Yokoyama. At 1 km Omuta's Yusuke Nakayama joined the leaders, and the four ran together for just over a kilometer until Nakayama, spent from playing catchup, lost contact and slipped away. Behind him Sera's Kazuki Takeuchi advanced rapidly through the field. Matsushita attacked first, dropping Ozaki, but Yokoyama had the stronger kick and passed off to Kenyan ace Paul Kuira a step ahead. Takeuchi overtook Nakayama to move into 4th.
3rd Stage - 8.1075 km
Kuira ran easily, effortlessly widened his lead over Saku Chosei's Akinobu Murasawa. Kuira, the 2008 national high school 5000 m champion, had the stage best time on the 3rd leg last year and dominated again as he chased Sendai Ikuei alumnus Samuel Wanjiru's stage record of 22:40 from the 2004 championships. Saitama Sakae's Shota Hottori overtook Sera's Kaido Kita and Omuta's Ko Takajo, forming a chase pack of three pursued closely by a larger pack of five led by last year's 3rd place finisher Nishiwaki Kogyo. Hottori continued past into 4th, with Kita and Takajo fading into their followers. At halfway Kuira had a lead of 13 seconds over Murasawa. Oita Tomei's Shunsuke Yuji was another 27 seconds back.
Hottori continued to move up on Yuji, but Nishiwaki Kogyo's Fuminori Shikata broke from the chase pack and simultaneously advanced on him, making for a three-man race for 3rd. Hottori gained contact first, moving past Yuji as 6.5 km. Shikata stalled and was caught by Kyushuze, as Takajo and Kita hung a short distance behind.
Kuira finished in 23:07, well short of Wanjiru's record, but Murasawa ran 23:38, the fastest time ever on the stage by a Japanese runner as announcers Onozuka and Soh quickly pointed out. Hottori was a clear 3rd, but a mad scramble for the finish saw Yuji 4th, Kyushuze 5th, Kita 6th and Shikata 7th. Kuira said afterwards that he had trouble moving, not due to the weather, but was still happy with his performance.
4th Stage - 8.0875 km
Sendai Ikuei's Takashi Saito seemed relatively secure from Saku Chosei's Shota Hiraga with a lead of over 30 seconds, but back in the chase pack Sera's Kenyan Bitan Karoki, who won the 1st stage last year, advanced through the ranks after starting 1:33 back from the lead. Hiraga ran with impeccably beautiful form, gradually shortening the gap to Saito, but behind him Karoki became larger and larger. At halfway Hiraga was only 11 seconds behind the laboring Saito. Karoki was 27 seconds behind Hiraga, meaning he had already cut almost a minute off the lead.
With two kilometers to go Hiraga was 4 seconds back, Karoki less than 20 seconds further back. Saito picked up his pace, gasping and crying out with the effort, and it became unclear whether Hiraga could finish closing the gap and if so whether it would happen before Karoki came for him. With 1 km left the answer was no. Saito had pulled away another 2 seconds, and Karoki was right behind Hiraga. Karoki took 2nd with 670 m to go, 7 seconds behind Saito and well on pace to break Saku Chosei superstar alumnus Yuki Sato's stage record. With 500 m Saito launched a desperate last kick to try to hold off Karoki and prevent Sera from taking the lead, his face red, eyes bulging and mouth wide. It worked. He finished 7 seconds ahead of the Kenyan, who in turn finished 12 seconds ahead of Sato's stage record in 22:32.
5th Stage - 3.0 km
Saku Chosei's Tsubasa Fujii immediately retook 2nd from Sera`s Takuya Fujikawa as he tried to take the lead. Like Hiraga, he showed beautiful form as he narrowed the gap. Just before 800 m he flew past Sendai Ikuei's Kento Sato to give Saku Chosei its first clear lead of the ekiden. After 2 km he had created a 9-second lead, and although he didn't have much of a last sprint he finished 18 seconds ahead in 8:24, just shy of the stage record of 8:22. Sato was 18 seconds behind the lead in 3rd. Saitama Sakae's Kentaro Yano also just missed the stage record with an excellent 8:26 to move his team back into the top five.
6th Stage - 5.0 km
Saku Chosei captain Hiroyuki Sasaki began extremely strong, again running with beautiful form. At 1 km he was 30 seconds ahead of Sendai Ikuei's Takashi Nagazawa, who appeared relaxed and unhurried. At halfway it became clear that Saku Chosei was potentially on course record pace for a school with only Japanese runners. Sera's Hiromu Yamazaki was likewise running strong in pursuit of Nagazawa, but behind him Saitama Sakae's Kento Tabe and Aomori Yamada were pushing each other further ahead.
Race announcers Onozuka and Soh continually stressed the impending 'Japanese-only' course record aspect of Saku Chosei's performance as Sasaki continued to run strongly toward the final handoff zone. With 1 km to go he had a lead of 1:06, and Saku Chosei's victory looked all but certain. He finished in 14:14, a new stage record by 2 seconds. Nagazawa struggled to the finish in 2nd, 1:14 behind. Tabe tried his best to catch 3rd but finished just short, one second behind Yamazaki. Yamada Aomori stayed ahead of Oita Tomei's Kotaro Sato to take 5th.
7th Stage - 5.0 km
With no realistic chance of a challenge from Sendai Ikuei, Saku Chosei's anchor Suguru Osako had the primary task of bringing the school home to its first-ever victory as the rain became heavier and heavier. The announcers mentioned that Saku Chosei's team trained up to 50 km a day in preparation for the championships and that one of its assistant coaches, Masaru Takamizawa, won this past summer's Hokkaido Marathon after doing the majority of his training with the team. The intensive workload payed off as Osako finished in 2:02:18, the 3rd-fastest time ever on the course and the best mark for a team without non-Japanese runners, 46 seconds shy of the actual record.
Although announcer and legendary marathoner Shigeru Soh mentioned the fact that the all-Japanese Saku Chosei team missed breaking the overall record due to the relatively lazy pace of the runners on the new all-Japanese first stage, he failed to state the corollary that the first stage pace was slow this year because of the lack of foreign runners, or to make the logical connection that the elimination of fast non-Japanese runners from the first stage might therefore have prevented Saku Chosei from setting an actual new record. Instead, he and co-announcer Onozuka celebrated the 'Japanese-only' record, their message to the high school runners and television audience and that of the administrative bodies responsible for the rule changes this year seeming to be that Japanese runners are not good enough to face foreign competition but that this is OK. Actually winning and becoming the best doesn't matter as long as you are the top Japanese. To facilitate this you will not be put in a situation where you might lose to non-Japanese athletes. This seems to be in contradiction to statements made by Japanese officials following the Olympics and Fukuoka International Marathon, but words and actions are different things. The solution of creating a Japanese winner by eliminating foreign competition is certainly a creative alternative approach.
Sendai Ikuei's Naoya Sugawara faired gamely but could not bridge the impossible gap. Sendai Ikuei, national high school record holder and owner of the two fastest-ever times on the course, finished 2nd in 2:04:10, losing its title but still achieving a respectable result considering the coaching change partway through this year's season.
Saitama Sakae's Takumi Taguchi quickly caught Sera`s Tomoyasu Matsui, the two running together in a tight battle for 3rd. Entering the stadium together, Taguchi had the stronger finish, coming in 3rd in 2:04:46 to Matsui's 2:04:50 4th place mark.
Aomori Yamada's Ryo Kurokawa and Oita Tomei's Ryosuke Baba likewise came in together, Baba outkicking his rival to take 5th place and Oita Tomei's best-ever finish, well ahead of its top-8 goal. Nishiwaki Kogyo, 3rd last year, was a disappointing 7th. Early contender Omuto ended 10th.
NHK's race website offers complete team results, individual stage performances, a photo gallery, and other highlights.
2008 All-Japan High School Boys Ekiden Championships
Stage Best Performances
1st Stage (10.0 km) - Wataru Ueno (3rd yr., Sendai Ikuei) - 29:50
2nd Stage (3.0 km) - Akihiro Fujiwara (3rd yr., Kyushu Gakuin) - 8:17
3rd Stage (8.1075 km) - Paul Kuira (3rd yr., Sendai Ikuei) - 23:07
4th Stage (8.0875 km) - Bitan Karoki (2nd yr., Sera) - 22:32 - new stage record
5th Stage (3.0 km) - Tsubasa Fujii (3rd yr., Saku Chosei) - 8:24
6th Stage (5.0 km) - Hiroyuki Sasaki (3rd yr., Saku Chosei) - 14:14 - new stage record
7th Stage (5.0 km) - Suguru Osako (2nd yr., Saku Chosei) - 14:11
Top Team Performances
1. Saku Chosei (Nagano Pref.) - 2:02:18
2. Sendai Ikuei (Miyagi Pref.) - 2:04:10
3. Saitama Sakae (Saitama Pref.) - 2:04:46
4. Sera (Hiroshima Pref.) - 2:04:51
5. Oita Tomei (Oita Pref.) - 2:05:17
6. Aomori Yamada (Aomori Pref.) - 2:05:17
7. Nishiwaki Kogyo (Hyogo Pref.) - 2:05:23
8. Kyushu Gakuin (Kumamoto Pref.) - 2:05:43
9. Kobayashi (Miyazaki Pref.) - 2:06:01
10. Omuta (Fukuoka Pref.) - 2:06:39
(c) 2008 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
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