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

Goshima and Kasai Win 10000 m National Titles, Maeda Breaks U20 Asian Record

Rino Goshima and Jun Kasai stepped up with PBs to win the 2024 National Championships 10000 m titles Friday at Shizuoka's Ecopa Stadium. In the women's race, Goshima, 4th in last December's 2023 National Championships 10000 m, went out front from the start with Kenyan teammate Judy Jepngetich pacing and 2023 3rd-placer Haruka Kokai in tow. Things were never on track to hit the 30:40.00 Paris Olympics standard, but except for a brief dip to 3:08 at 7000 m Goshima held steady at 3:05 to 3:06/km even as Kokai and Jepngetich fell off. With blood dripping from her left knee after getting spiked by Jepngetich, Goshima closed in 3:03 to take 5 seconds off her best from December's Nationals and win in 30:53.31, moving up to all-time Japanese #6. Jepngetich also PBd at 31:09.42 without counting in the standings, with Kokai 2nd in 31:10.53 and Kazuna Kanetomo 3rd in a PB 31:59.29. The runner-up last time, Yuka Takashima was last in 33:33.27. The men's race went out in a

Ichiyama 8th at Copenhagen Marathon

Currently the #10-ranked Japanese man in the marathon with the fastest-ever domestic time at the elite Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, Tsubasa Ichiyama (Sunbelx) made his international debut at Sunday's Copenhagen Marathon , literally an international debut as it was his first time outside the country. Ichiyama hoped to be in contention to break the 2:08:23 CR and go for the win, and with cool and breezy conditions ran easy in the lead group through 30 km. But something ate away at almost everyone as time went by, several people in the lead men's and women's groups saying humidity, and past 30 km Ichiyama fell off. Falling as low as 9th, he rallied after 40 km to finish 8th in 2:13:07. "It was different than in Japanese races," he said. "I'm used to bigger packs and more even pacing, but this was a kind of racing I hadn't done before. There's a lot to think about. I didn't feel like I was sweating a lot, but I got really thirsty and started sk

Golden Games in Nobeoka Top Results

For everyone not running yesterday's 10000 m National Championships , where the Asahi Kasei corporate team dominated the men's race with four out of four men sub-28 including winner Jun Kasai , 27:17.46, the grand dame of Japan's long distance time trial circuit was happening on AK's home ground in Miyazaki at the Golden Games in Nobeoka . Not including kids' races, a total of 74 women and 227 men ran in 14 heats of 5000 m, with a packed-in crowd of fans lining the track beating on metal sponsor boards with batons. It's a pretty awesome meet, and memorable performances included: National champion Kamimura Gakuen H.S. standout Caroline Kariba continued to kill it in the second month of her corporate league career, winning the 5000 m A-heat in 15:00.95 in a race where 3 out of the top 4 including her ran PBs. National champion Meijo University seemed flat at this point in the season, with none of its people under 16 minutes and star Nanase Tanimoto leading

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