Skip to main content

Shitara Runs Down Defending Champ Nagano to Give Saitama 2018 National Men's Ekiden Title

Half marathon national record holder Yuta Shitara lived up to his pre-race words, running down everyone who stood between him and the finish line to bring Saitama Prefecture its second-ever national title at the 2018 National Men's Ekiden.

Defending champ Nagano, whose win last year gave it a record seven wins in the National Men's Ekiden's 21-year history, was the favorite for the win, its roster packed with members of 2017 National High School Ekiden winner Saku Chosei H.S. and 2017 Izumo Ekiden winner Tokai University. Shitara was unfazed, saying pre-race that he'd run down anyone within 50 seconds of him on the 13.0 km anchor stage.

Nagano started strong, taking 2nd on the opening leg behind a nearly record-setting run from Ryuto Igawa (Kumamoto). Hoping for its first-ever top-three finish Ibaraki was unexpectedly strong, 5th on the leadoff leg, overtaking Nagano on the Second Stage and then advancing to 1st on the Third Stage thanks to a strong run from 2018 Hakone Ekiden Second Stage winner Homare Morita.

Ibaraki held on to 1st on the Fourth Stage, but on next one, the longest high school stage at 8.5 km, it fell victim to Nagano's Yuhi Nakaya, star member of Saku Chosei H.S. with a 5000 m best of 13:47.22. Nakaya and Nagano's sixth runner Haruta Koshi needed to open a lead of around a minute over Saitama to give anchor Hayato Seki a chance of holding Shitara off, but it wasn't to be.

Behind them, Saitama had spent most of the race hovering around 5th after a slow start. 45 seconds behind after Nakaya's stage-winning run, Saitama's sixth runner Shura Shinoki turned it around with a stage-winning 8:50 for the 3.0 km junior high school stage, taking advantage of a weak run from Koshi to pull with 13 seconds of the lead.

That was all Shitara needed, running down Seki and the intervening teams by 2.5 km and then dropping Seki effortlessly at 5.0 km to solo his way to the win in 2:19:10, one second slower than Nagano's winning time last year but still the 4th-fastest winning time in history. Last year Shitara won the 13.0 km anchor stage in 37:43 ahead of an ambitious debut at the Tokyo Marathon. A year older now with a half marathon national record, a 10000 m PB and two sub-2:10 marathons behind him, this year Shitara covered the same course in 37:12. After one last tuneup at the Marugame Half in two weeks Shitara will return to Tokyo, where he plans to take Toshinari Takaoka's 2:06:16 national record and the million-dollar bonus on offer for it.

Struggling after 10 k m, Seki still managed a quality run to keep 2nd for Nagano in 2:19:56, Chiba coming through in 2:20:34 for its best-ever placing at 3rd. Last year's runner-up Fukuoka was 4th in 2:20:55, powered in part by a brilliant Second Stage course record run by 1500 m, 3000 m and 5000 m junior high school national record holder Kosuke Ishida. 2018 Hakone Ekiden First Stage winner Kazuya Nishiyama, a first-year at Toyo University, had another brilliant run to mark him as the inheritor of Shitara's legacy at Toyo, taking the second-fastest anchor time to outkick Yamaguchi and give Gunma 5th overall. Just back, Kanagawa marked its best-ever placing at 7th, with longtime leader Ibaraki dropping to 8th just 1 second ahead of Fukushima. Tokyo rounded out the top ten thanks to a superb finish from 2017 World University Games half marathon gold medalist Kei Katanishi.

With championship ekiden season now wrapped up, like Shitara Japan's top-level men now turn their focus to the half marathon, where places on the 2018 World Half Marathon Championships team are still up for grabs in Marugame and the National Corporate Half Marathon, and the marathon, where the attention is on qualifying for the MGC Race, Japan's new 2020 Olympic Trials for its marathon squad. Along with Suguru Osako (NOP), Shitara looks right now like one of the best bets to make that high-pressure team.

23rd National Men's Ekiden

Hiroshima, 1/21/18
47 teams, 7 stages, 48.0 km
click here for complete results

Top Team Results
1. Saitama - 2:19:10
2. Nagano - 2:19:56
3. Chiba - 2:20:34
4. Fukuoka - 2:20:55
5. Gunma - 2:20:59
6. Yamaguchi - 2:21:01
7. Kanagawa - 2:21:09
8. Ibaraki - 2:21:24
9. Fukushima - 2:21:25
10. Tokyo - 2:21:51

Top Individual Stage Results
First Stage (7.0 km, H.S.)
1. Ryuto Igawa (Kumamoto) - 19:56
2. Sakito Matsuzaki (Nagano) - 20:00
3. Reito Hanzawa (Fukushima) - 20:01

Second Stage (3.0 km, J.H.S.)
1. Kosuke Ishida (Fukuoka) - 8:14 - CR
2. Hiroki Wakabayashi (Wakayama) - 8:28
3. Takanobu Igarashi (Ibaraki) - 8:31
3. Masaya Tsurukawa (Kumamoto) - 8:31

Third Stage (8.5 km, univ/pro)
1. Kazuki Tamura (Yamaguchi) - 23:43
2. Kazuya Shiojiri (Gunma) - 23:49
3. Hiroki Matsueda (Chiba) - 24:09

Fourth Stage (5.0 km, H.S.)
1. Keita Honma (Nagano) - 14:26
2. Kiyoto Suzuki (Ibaraki) - 14:30
2. Shinya Kojima (Osaka) - 14:30

Fifth Stage (8.5 km, H.S.)
1. Yuhi Nakaya (Nagano) - 24:37
2. Takuro Miura (Hyogo) - 24:52
3. Issei Sato (Chiba) - 25:02
3. Koki Kamata (Kanagawa) - 25:02

Sixth Stage (3.0 km, J.H.S.)
1. Shura Shinoki (Saitama) - 8:50
2. Hibiki Yoshida (Shizuoka) - 8:53
2. Keita Sato (Kyoto) - 8:53

Seventh Stage (13.0 km, univ/pro)
1. Yuta Shitara (Saitama) - 37:12
2. Kazuya Nishiyama (Gunma) - 38:01
3. Naoya Takahashi (Fukuoka) - 38:08

© 2018 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

TokyoRacer said…
Yes, that Ishida kid was a joy to watch. Beautiful form, smooth as silk, just flying past the other runners, who were no slouches. Remember that name.
January 22, 2018 at 8:02 AM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Kobe Marathon Elite Field

Sunday's Kobe Marathon has announced its elite fields, finally. Japanese athletes have a shot at qualifying for next fall's MGC Race, the official trials race for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, if they go sub-2:27 for the first Japanese woman across the line or sub-2:09 for the first 3 Japanese men to do it. There aren't a lot of contenders to pull it off. On the women's side, Kaede Hagitani , Ayaka Shimoyamada and Kotomi Tsubokura all ran 2:31-32 PBs in the spring and will need to step it up a couple of notches to get there. 2:23 Kenyan Antonina Kwambai is perfectly positioned to help. On the men's side, Keijiro Mogi is closest with a 2:09:06 at last year's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, Hiroto Kanamori his closest domestic competition with a 2:10:01 PB in Osaka in February. The international trio of last year's winner Barnaba Kipkoech , Elisha Rotich and Goitom Kifle all have recent 2:06-7 times and should help set it up for someone to get there, wh...
1 comment
Read more

Hofu Yomiuri Marathon Elite Field (updated)

Another big race on the MGC qualifying calendar has posted its elite fields, the Dec. 6 Hofu Yomiuri Marathon . It looks like a good race for the single MGC spot up for women under 2:27, and the 6 spots for men sub-2:09. Yuka Ando is the favorite in the women's race with a 2:21:18 in Nagoya 2 years ago, with her only real competition coming from Ayumi Morita , who broke 2:27 in Hofu last year but missed qualifying by not being the first Japanese woman across the line. CR holder Workneh Derese is back after his 2:06:58 win last year, leading Kenyan veteran Bedan Karoki and 4 Japanese men with a solid chance at sub-2:09, Tatsuya Maruyama , Ryoma Takeuchi , Shuho Dairokuno and Kento Nishi . Takeuchi set his 2:08:20 PB at Gold Coast in July, and Dairokuno is fresh off a great run at the final Kyushu Corporate Ekiden. Masatoshi Sakata , Yota Ifuku , Madoka Tanihara and Daiji Kawai have both come close to sub-2:09 in recent races and could factor in. 57th Hofu Yomiuri Marathon Elite...
1 comment
Read more

Kenyan Graduate Student Athlete Posts Job Hunt for Ekiden Team on Twitter

A Kenyan runner who had tried to help lead his team to the Hakone Ekiden has taken an unusual approach to finding a post-graduation sponsor. Last week Patrick Kamau posted his job hunt on his Twitter account , saying, "I am looking for a club team or a corporate team where I can run in ekidens. I would be happy to run for any team that gave me a chance. I would be grateful for any opportunity and take it on with a positive attitude!" Kamau was 5th at the Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai qualifying race half marathon in 1:01:10 last year during his 4th year at Jobu University . But despite his efforts, Jobu never qualified for Hakone during his 4 years there. He is currently working on a graduate degree while looking for "a team that will let me continue my competitive career." Fans responded to Kamau's job search posting, saying, "I hope it works out for you!" "Good luck comes to those who work hard" and "Kamau is going to graduate school? Given...
Post a Comment
Read more