Skip to main content

Tenmaya and Kojokan Win Kita-Kyushu Women's Ekiden

http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/general/track/news/20100125k0000m050090000c.html

translated by Brett Larner

At the last major women's ekiden of the season, the 21st Kita-Kyushu Women's Invitational Ekiden on Jan. 24 in Kita-Kyushu, Team Tenmaya won the five-stage, 32.8 km open division for the first time in 15 years. Top-ranked Kojokan H.S. took its first win the six-stage, 32.8 km high school division. Both teams hail from Okayama Prefecture and carried over the momentum from Okayama's win at last week's National Interprefectural Women's Ekiden.

Tenmaya's Second Stage runner Yuka Izumi took the lead which Third and Fourth Stage runners Yoshie Kurisu and Kaori Urata lengthened with stage best runs. Tenmaya's anchor, Beijing Olympian Yurika Nakamura, was never seriously threatened as she cruised home for the win. Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo took 2nd after advancing in the later stages, while early leader Team Juhachi Ginko fell to 3rd. Team Acom, which will disband at the end of March, finished 7th.

Kojokan H.S. Second Stage runner Mahiro Akamatsu took the tasuki in 4th but moved all the way up to the lead with a stage best performance. The team fell to 3rd on the Fifth Stage, but anchor Katsuki Suga was able to get back on top. Kamimura Gakuen H.S. was 2nd thanks to stage best runs from Fourth and Fifth leg runners Eri Tayama and Ayaka Shibata. National runner-up Suma Gakuen H.S. was 3rd, while two-time defending champion Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. was 6th. Conditions at the start were cool and sunny with light southerly winds.

2010 Kita-Kyushu Women's Invitational Ekiden - Top Team Results
Open Division
1. Team Tenmaya - 1:47:03
2. Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo - 1:47:42
3. Team Juhachi Ginko - 1:48:11
4. Team Yamada Denki - 1:49:17
5. Team Deodeo - 1:49:28

High School Division
1. Kojokan H.S. - 1:47:21
2. Kamimura Gakuen H.S. - 1:48:31
3. Suma Gakuen H.S. - 1:48:38
4. Kita-Kyushu Civic H.S. - 1:49:18
5. Chikushi Joshi Gakuen H.S. - 1:50:02

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Arao Becomes 1st Man in 40 Years to Score Back-to-Back Ome Road Race Wins

30 km is an under-appreciated distance, and both of Japan's big races at that distance happened Sunday. At the Ome Road Race in western Tokyo's mountains, Sydney Marathon 6th-placer Masato Arao (ND Software) became the first man since the great Kunimitsu Ito in 1985-1986 to win back-to-back years. Arao, who finished 39th of 40 on his leg at the New Year Ekiden last month, stayed in the pack through 20 km before going on the attack, putting over a minute on New Year Ekiden Sixth Stage CR breaker Yudai Shimazu (GMO). Sub-1:31 winning times are rare on the tough and hilly Ome course, but Arao's 1:30:54 almost equaled his 1:30:50 from last year, making him the first Japanese man ever to do it twice and second only to CR holder Ezekiel Cheboitibin . Next up Arao races the Tokyo Marathon, where he is targeting sub-2:06. Shimazu was 2nd in 1:31:58 and Yuta Nakayama (JR Higashi Nihon) 3rd in 1:32:07. Cheboitibin was only 9th, running almost 8 minutes off his CR in 1:36:42. Shi...

'Kobe 2024: Aitchison, Athmani Lead Record-Breaking Thursday'

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-aitchison-athmani-lead-record-breaking-thursday Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships are here .

Nagoya Women's Marathon Elite Field

Last year's top 3 Sheila Chepkirui , Sayaka Sato and Eunice Chebichii Chumba are back for this year's Nagoya Women's Marathon on Mar. 8, but things are being set up more for it to be a race between Chepkirui, 2:17:49 in Berlin 2023, Aynalem Desta , 2:17:37 in Amsterdam last fall, and Japanese NR holder Honami Maeda , 2:18:59 at the Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2024. Aynalem has the freshest sub-2:20 of the 3, with neither Chepkirui nor Maeda having done it in 2 years. Maeda's only recent result is a 1:10:07 from Houston last month, but when she ran her NR she didn't have any kind of tuneup race to indicate her fitness so it's probably best not to read too much into that. If it goes out as a 2:18 race those are the only 3 who can probably hang with it. If it turns out to be more of a 2:20 race like when Chepkirui won in 2:20:40 last year then there's a group of 7 at the 2:20-2:22 level who will be in the picture, including Chumba, Selly Chep...