Fujitsu and Kurosaki Harima Win East Japan and Kyushu Region New Year Ekiden Qualifiers

The first two regional qualifiers for the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden corporate men's national championships happened Nov. 3 in Saitama and Kyushu. At the East Japan Race in Saitama, 2021 New Year Ekiden winner Fujitsu outran 2022 champ Honda by 40 seconds for 1st. Honda started and finished strong with stages wins from its lead and anchor runners Hideto Kosode and Naoki Koyama, but Fujitsu had a solid lineup mid-race led by a stage record win on the Fourth Stage by Ken Yokote that gave it the lead it needed for the win.

Most of the big names qualified without any surprises. Local supermarket chain Sunbelx did surprise, spending much of the race as high as 3rd before finishing an excellent 5th overall. Down near the 12th-place cutoff for New Year qualification, Saitama Ika Daigaku Group had a nail-biter as it dueled with the Comodi Iida supermarket team, ND Software and Komori Corporation to stay in the ring for its second-ever qualification. Despite a sub-par run from #1 man Kenta Uchida it came through, beating the usually-strong Komori for 12th by 1:13.

In the Kyushu region, both of the main two powerhouses Asahi Kasei and Mitsubishi Juko struggled, finishing only 5th and 6th out of the eight qualifying teams. The ascendant Kurosaki Harima team dominated, sub-61 half marathoner Yusuke Tamura leading off with the first of the team's four stage wins and 2:06 marathoner Kyohei Hosoya making a quick turnaround from his 6th-place finish at the Chicago Marathon last month to win the Fifth Stage.

Down in the race for the final qualifying spot at 8th, Togami Denki easily held off Hiramatsu Byoin by over 6 minutes to make the cut. Qualification continues Nov. 13 with the Chugoku, Chubu, Kansai and Hokuriku regional qualifying race.

63rd East Japan Corporate Men's Ekiden

Kumagaya, Saitama, 3 Nov. 2022

31 teams, 7 stages, 76.9 km

complete results

Top Individual Stage Results

First Stage (11.6 km) - Hideto Kosode (Honda) - 34:27

Second Stage (8.0 km) - Benson Kiplangat (Subaru) - 21:17 - CR

Third Stage (16.5 km) - Akito Terui (Subaru) - 48:01

Fourth Stage (9.5 km) - Ken Yokote (Fujitsu) - 27:09 - CR

Fifth Stage (7.8 km) - Tetsu Yokoyama (Hitachi Butsuryu) - 22:25

Sixth Stage (10.6 km) - Yuya Yoshida (GMO) - 30:10

Seventh Stage (12.9 km) - Naoki Koyama (Honda) - 37:26 - CR

Top Team Results

top 12 teams qualify for New Year Ekiden

1. Fujitsu - 3:42:01

2. Honda - 3:42:41

3. Hitachi Butsuryu - 3:42:57

4. Yakult - 3:43:11

5. Sunbelx - 3:43:16

6. GMO - 3:43:56

7. Subaru - 3:45:07

8. Kao - 3:45:36

9. JR Higashi Nihon - 3:46:39

10. Konica Minolta - 3:47:09

11. Comodi Iida - 3:48:19

12. SID Group - 3:48:31

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13. Komori Corp. - 3:49:44

14. Press Kogyo - 3:50:49

15. SDF Academy - 3:52:10

59th Kyushu Corporate Men's Ekiden

Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, 3 Nov. 2022

19 teams, 7 stages, 80.2 km

complete results

Top Individual Stage Results

First Stage (12.9 km) - Yusuke Tamura (Kurosaki Harima) - 36:58

Second Stage (7.0 km) - Benard Koech (Kyudenko) - 18:40

Third Stage (10.9 km) - Keito Makise (Toyota Kyushu) / Takashi Ichida (Asahi Kasei) - 31:21

Fourth Stage (9.5 km) - Tomonobu Tamura (Kurosaki Harima) - 27:21

Fifth Stage (13.0 km) - Kyohei Hosoya (Kurosaki Harima) - 38:03

Sixth Stage (10.9 km) - Masami Nagakura (Kurosaki Harima) - 31:39

Seventh Stage (16.0 km) - Shohei Otsuka (Kyudenko) - 47:01

Top Team Results

top 8 teams qualify for New Year Ekiden

1. Kurosaki Harima - 3:52:29

2. Kyudenko - 3:54:03

3. Toyota Kyushu - 3:54:23

4. Yasukawa Denki - 3:55:49

5. Asahi Kasei - 3:55:53

6. Mitsubishi Juko - 3:56:48

OP - Corporate Select Team A - 3:57:37

7. Nishitetsu - 3:59:01

OP - Corporate Select Team B - 4:00:29

8. Togami Denki - 4:00:41

OP - Corporate Select Team C - 4:02:22

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9. Hiramatsu Byoin - 4:07:07

10. Hioki City Hall - 4:16:03

Fukuoka International Marathon Elite Field

The Dec. 1 Fukuoka International Marathon is the first of this winter season's big selection races for the home soil team for next year's Tokyo World Championships, and the domestic field is a great one. Kenya Sonota , 2:05:59 in Tokyo last year, and 2:06 men Yusuke Nishiyama , Yuya Yoshida , Kazuya Nishiyama and Daisuke Doi make up the main contenders to get a spot, with internationals Lemeck Too , Jie He , Bethwel Yegon , Vincent Raimoi , last year's winner Michael Githae , and Shaohui Yang perfectly positioned to add momentum to the shot at the 2:06:30 Worlds standard that they'll all be taking. 8 other Japanese men in the 2:07 to 2:09 range make it one of the most competitive Fukuoka editions in a long, long time. Last year Githae outkicked Yang by 1 second to win 2:07:08 to 2:07:09, Yang with a Chinese NR that was broken a few months later by He in Wuxi. Chinese men's marathoning has momentum right now too, and it wouldn't be surprising to see either He

Saku Chosei High School's Hamaguchi Runs 13:31.62 at Nittai

2023 National High School Ekiden champion Saku Chosei H.S. was out in force Sunday in the 5000 m fast heats at the 317th Nittai University Time Trials meet in Yokohama. 3rd-year Yamato Hamaguchi ran 13:31.62, the 4th-fastest time ever by a Japanese-born high schooler, and 3rd-year Tetsu Sasaki went under 14 minutes for the first time with an excellent 13:40.02. The race took place as light rain fell. Hamaguchi and Sasaki ran alongside African university and corporate league runners. From the start they were conservative, staying in the pack as the race went along. With splits of 2:42 and 1000 m and 8:11 at 3000 m the high school record of 13:22.99 set 2 years ago by Saku Chosei alum Hiroto Yoshioka was out of reach, but right til the last sprint Hamaguchi stayed in contact with the lead. Hamaguchi took almost 7 seconds off his 13:38.40 PB from last year, with Sasaki rewriting his 14:03.51 best by nearly 24 seconds. Both beat Yamanashi Gakuin H.S. 2nd-year Felix Muthiani , who ran

Saitama Wins Final East Japan Women's Ekiden With Dramatic Anchor Stage Turnaround by Yamanouchi

The final edition of the East Japan Women's Ekiden was held Nov. 10 in Fukushima, with teams of 9 athletes ranging from junior high school students to corporate leaguers representing the 18 prefectures in eastern and northern Japan competing over 42.195 km. For the first time in 18 years Saitama took the win, running 2:19:07 to score its fourth title in the event's 39-year history despite not taking a single individual stage title. Gunma was 2nd, with Tokyo placing 3rd. Saitama's lead runner Wakana Fukuyama , a 2nd-year at Saitama Sakae H.S. , started them off in 8th after the 6.0 km 1st leg. Over the next three legs Saitama moved up as high as 3rd, fluctuating a few spots over the stages of that but advancing to 2nd thanks to a great run from Tamai J.H.S. 3rd- year Momoka Ono on the second-to-last stage. That put Saitama's anchor Minami Yamanouchi from the Shimamura corporate team 30 seconds back from the leader, and with 10.0 km to work with and a strong run s

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