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Nagano Set For National Interprefectural Ekiden Title Defense

http://www.jiji.com/jc/zc?k=200901/2009011500556&rel=j&g=spo
http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2009011700250

translated and edited by Brett Larner

The 14th annual National Interprefectural Men's Ekiden takes place Jan. 18, covering a 7-stage, 48-km course starting and finishing at Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park. This year's race looks set to be a battle between defending champion Nagano Prefecture and 2007 winner Hyogo Prefecture.

Last year Nagano took its fourth national title in five years; this year the team is even stronger thanks to the addition of the heart of Nagano's Saku Chosei High School team, the 2008 National High School Boys' Ekiden champion. Saku Chosei's Akinobu Murasawa, Sugeru Osako, Shota Hiraga and Kenta Chiba will all run for Nagano, along with Hakone Ekiden greats Yuki Sato (Tokai Univ.), Kodai Matsumoto (Meiji Univ.) and Yuichiro Ueno (Team S&B), all three of whom are Saku Chosei alumni. Barring an accident a repeat win for Nagano looks all but inevitable.

Nagano's strongest challenger may be Hyogo Prefecture, ranked #1 among the 47 prefectural teams based on aggregate time and the last team to beat Nagano. Much will depend upon Hyogo's contingent from the powerhouses Nishiwaki Kogyo High School and Suma Gakuen High School, but the return of Hakone star Masato Kihara (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) on the 3rd stage and of anchor Satoru Kitamura (Team Nissin Shokuhin), now a nationally-ranked professional, will make the race extremely interesting to say the least.

Fukushima may well be the most anticipated of the 47 teams, as Ryuji Kashiwabara (Toyo Univ.), who became a national star after running a spectacular new stage record on the 5th leg of this year's Hakone Ekiden, will run the 3rd stage for the team. Beijing Olympics marathoner Atsushi Sato (Team Chugoku Denryoku) will likewise return to anchor his 'hometown' Fukushima team. Hurting Fukushima's chances is the decision of Masato Imai (Team Toyota Kyushu), whose 'unbreakable' Hakone Ekiden 5th stage record Kashiwabara took down this year, to run for his current base of Fukuoka rather than returning home to join Kashiwabara and Sato. Sato's fellow Beijing Olympian Takayuki Matsumiya will run for his native Akita Prefecture.

Other strong teams looking for their first wins include hosts Hiroshima, along with Saitama, Yamaguchi, Aichi, Kagoshima and Fukuoka.
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