Skip to main content

Toilet Maker Toto Claims Princess Ekiden Throne to Qualify for National Corporate Women's Ekiden

http://news.tbs.co.jp/newseye/tbs_newseye2898668.htm

translated and edited by Brett Larner

The Princess Ekiden, gateway to the throne of Japan's ekiden queens.  28 teams competed Oct. 23 for the 14 remaining spots at next month's National Corporate Women's Ekiden Championships.

The fierce battle to sit atop the throne started right out of the gate.  Its big movement came on the 3.8 km Fourth Stage.  Shuru Bulo, making her debut for toilet and washlet maker Toto, made up a 46-second deficit to put Toto into the lead by 4 seconds.  From there on out Toto sailed on smoothly and without straining to score its first Princess Ekiden title by 45 seconds over rival Noritz.  The win meant a fourth-straight appearance at Nationals for the Toto team.  Can they become the queens of tomorrow?

More drama was to found further back in the field in the race for the 14th and final ticket to Nationals.  In 14th on the second-to-last stage, the Juhachi Ginko team was overtaken by Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo, dropping out of the qualifying bracket.  With just 1 km to go Juhachi Ginko anchor Yuka Koga caught Route Inn Hotels anchor Suzune Ishikawa, moving back into 14th and sealing ints place on the national stage by a final margin of 12 seconds.

Princess Ekiden
National Corporate Women's Ekiden Championships Qualifier
Munakata, Fukuoka, 10/23/16
24 teams, 6 stages, 42.195 km
click here for complete results

Stage Best Performances
First Stage - 7.0 km: Haruna Maekawa (Juhachi Ginko) - 22:34 - CR
Second Stage - 4.0 km: Misaki Tanabe (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 12:23 - CR
Third Stage - 10.3 km: Mizuki Matsuda (Daihatsu) - 33:04
Fourth Stage - 3.8 km: Pauline Kamulu (Route Inn Hotels) - 11:47
Fifth Stage - 10.4 km: Kyoka Nakagawa (Japan Post) - 35:30
Sixth Stage - 6.695 km: Nozomi Terauchi (Japan Post) - 22:04

Top Team Performances
1. Toto - 2:19:15
2. Noritz - 2:20:00
3. Kyocera - 2:20:11
4. Panasonic - 2:20:14
5. Hokuren - 2:20:16
6. Shimamura - 2:20:25
7. Hitachi - 2:20:42
8. Japan Post - 2:20:45
9. Shiseido - 2:20:50
10. Daihatsu - 2:21:26
11. Wacoal - 2:21:33
12. Yutaka Giken - 2:21:50
13. Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo - 2:22:20
14. Juhachi Ginko - 2:22:45
----- top 14 teams qualify for Nationals
15. Route Inn Hotels - 2:22:57
16. Uniqlo - 2:23:02
17. Otsuka Seiyaku - 2:23:25
18. Edion - 2:23:29
19. Miyazaki Ginko - 2:23:56
20. Sysmex - 2:25:08

Comments

TokyoRacer said…
...without straining, eh?

Most-Read This Week

Japan Announces Complete London Olympics Athletics Team

by Brett Larner Click here for JRN's complete video coverage of the 2012 Japanese Olympic Trials, 27 videos making up nearly three hours of footage. The Japanese Federation and Olympic Committee announced the complete lineup of Japan's team of 48 athletes for this summer's London Olympics track and field events at a press conference on June 11.  The team features 11 national record holders and 18 current national champions and is young overall, with a heavy preponderance of first-time Olympians including a World Junior gold medalist, 13 collegiates and one high schooler.  The Fujitsu corporate team is overwhelmingly the best-represented, boasting 8 Olympic team members, while Chukyo University tops the collegiate list with 3 athletes on the team.  Suzuki, whose Suzuki Hamamatsu AC club team exists outside the corporate league, also has 3 Olympians. No Olympic team selection process is free of controversial decisions, and the omission of women's 10000 m Jr. NR hold

Yamagata-Based Alexander Mutiso Aims to Be #1 in Paris Olympics Marathon

Having been named to the Kenyan men's team for this summer's Paris Olympics, Alexander Mutiso , 27, of the Nanyo, Yamagata-based ND Software corporate team, told the Yamagata Newspaper on May 13 that his goal for the Olympic marathon is "to be #1." Having lived in Yamagata for 10 years, Mutiso has strong attachment to the area and credits its environment for helping him develop, saying, "Ever since I came to Yamagata I've been running well." He left for Kenya on May 14 to join the Kenyan national team training camp, aiming to be in perfect condition when he arrives in Paris for the main event. Mutiso came to Japan in 2015, joining the ND Software team and taking up residence in Nanyo. "I don't like the cold winters in Yamagata so much, but the other seasons are nice." From that base he has grown into the athlete he is now, competing in races across Japan and around the world. Compared to the track, his strengths lie more in long road races

'Reinstate Olympic Marathon Prospects Unfairly Disqualified by World Athletics'

A petition for World Athletics to allow the ten men who made the Paris Olympics marathon quota via world rankings but were replaced by unqualified universality place athletes to run. Sent to JRN by the race director of a major marathon.