Skip to main content

Ekiden Season Kicks Off in Kanto and Okukuma


Ekiden season saw two of its first important races happen this weekend. Modeled after January's Kitakyushu Women's Invitational Ekiden, Sunday's Okukuma Ekiden in Kumamoto put corporate, collegiate and high school teams together on a marathon-length course with teams of 4 all running double-digit distances and high schoolers with teams of 7 and all but the 10.0 km First Stage split into two parts.

Tosu Kogyo H.S. starting runner Taiyo Iwasa led corporate leaguer Tomoya Ogikubo (Hiramatsu Byoin) by 2 seconds on the First Stage, with Omuta H.S. third runner Yuma Matsuda passing both teams to take the lead. It took until the anchor stage for Hiramatsu Byoin's Yeneblo Biyazen to catch Omuta, crossing the line in 2:06:39 with Omuta anchor Nobuyuki Anai 7 seconds back for 1st in the high school division. Soka University was the only other team to go under 2:07, 3rd overall and 2nd in the college/corporate division in 2:06:57. Rakunan H.S. was next in 2:07:07, with early leader Tosu Kogyo 3rd in the high school division and 5th overall in 2:07:44.


Saturday in Chiba, Kanto-region women's university teams faced off to qualify for the Oct. 27 Morinomiyako Ekiden national championships, 21 teams of 6 racing a total of 34.4 km with the top 7 teams advancing. Things were surprisingly fast, with 5 of the 6 stages seeing new course records, most with multiple people breaking the old CRs. Suzuna Kinoshita (Chuo Univ.) led off with a 13:35 CR on the 4.3 km First Stage, Yura Tanaka (Tsukuba Univ.) taking over the lead on the 3.0 km Second Stage with a 9:24 CR. Favorites Daito Bunka University got off to a slow start in 6th, but Sarah Wanjiru took over the lead on the 8.6 km Third Stage with a 27:46 CR and the rest of the DBU women kept them there, winning in 1:53:01.

The 5.6 km Fourth Stage was the only one not to see a new CR, as Mao Kogure (Juntendo Univ.) ran a 23:59 CR on the 7.3 km Fifth Stage and Yuka Komatsu (Tsukuba Univ.) an 18:14 CR on the 5.6 km anchor stage. Along with DBU, Nittai University, Tsukuba, Josai University, Juntendo and Chuo made the cut. Collegiate 10000 m record holder Seira Fuwa didn't run, but Takushoku University still took the last qualifying spot in 7th in 1:55:44, beating Teikyo Kagaku University by just 8 seconds to get there.

In non-ekiden road action:
  • Hidetoshi Hara of Koku Gakuin University won a competitive Yamagata Marugoto Half Marathon in 1:04:03, just 5 seconds up on teammate Rintaro Motoyama. Haruna Takano (PTC) won the women's race in 1:17:02.
  • Haruku Gyoten of Hosei University won the Takashimadaira Half Marathon in 1:04:42, with Akihiro Kaneko (Comodi Iida) taking the men's 10 km in 28:55 and Kenyan Margaret Akidor (Comodi Iida) winning the 5 km outright in 15:31. Former elite athlete Yuki Kawauchi was 246th among men and 268th overall in 1:33:38.
  • 2024 Hakone Ekiden runner-up Komazawa University's Seiryu Morishige won the Sapporo Half Marathon, soloing a 1:05:58 that put him over 5 minutes ahead of 2nd. Local Hina Shiozaki (Oligonol) won the women's race in 1:21:13.
  • Overseas, Uniqlo teammates Miku Hirashima and Yumi Yoshikawa were at the Twin Cities Marathon in the U.S. Hirashima took 7th in the marathon in 2:39:35 behind winner Molly Bookmyer's 2:28:52 PB, with Yoshikawa 8th in the 10-mile race in 53:58. Natosha Rogers won in 52:29.
On the track:
  • In Gifu the Chubu Region Corporate Track and Field Championships men's 10000 m saw Emmanuel Maru (Toyota Boshoku) lead the top 4 under 28 minutes with a quality 27:35.84. Former Chuo star Yamato Yoshii (Toyota) was one of the ones to get under 28 minutes, running a PB 27:58.79 for 4th.
  • At the Kansai Distance Challenge meet in Nara Shogo Hifumi (Osaka Police Dept.) go under 14 minutes with a 13:58.26 for the win in the men's 5000 m A-heat, with Yuri Tasaki (Sysmex) taking the women's 5000 m in 16:01.06.
  • The Tokai University Time Trials meet in Kanagawa had a decent men's 10000 m, with Kenta Sekiguchi (SGH) winning in 28:45.38 by 3 seconds over Chuo's Koichi Shoji.

3rd Okukuma Ekiden

Kumamoto, 6 Oct. 2024
open: 16 teams, 4 stages, 42.195 km
H.S.: 53 teams, 7 stages, 42.195 km

Top Individual Stage Results - High School
First Stage (10.0 km) - Taiyo Iwasa (Tosu Kogyo H.S. A) - 30:08
Second Stage (3.0 km) - Felix Muthiani (Yamanashi Gakuin H.S.) - 8:03
Third Stage (8.25 km) - Yuma Matsuda (Omuta H.S. A) - 24:39
Fourth Stage (7.9 km) - Shu Morimoto (Omuta H.S. A) - 24:15
Fifth Stage (3.0 km) - Ibuki Sugiyama (Kyushu Gakuin H.S.) - 8:26
Sixth Stage (5.2 km) - Raiki Ichinose (Kyushu Gakuin H.S.) - 15:19
Seventh Stage (4.845 km) - Takafumi Okuno (Rakunan H.S.) - 13:47

Top Individual Stage Results - University / Corporate
First Stage (10.0 km) - Tomoya Ogikubo (Hiramatsu Byoin A) - 30:10
Second Stage (11.25 km) - Yuichiro Ueno (Hiramatsu Byoin A) - 33:57
Third Stage (10.9 km) - Shoki Yamaguchi (Soka Univ. A) - 32:38
Fourth Stage (10.045 km) - Yeneblo Biyazen (Hiramatsu Byoin A) - 29:12

Top Team Results - High School
1. Omuta H.S. A - 2:06:46
2. Rakunan H.S. - 2:07:07
3. Tosu Kogyo H.S. A - 2:07:44
4. Kyushu Gakuin H.S. - 2:08:45
5. Saikyo H.S. - 2:09:21
6. Suma Gakuen H.S. - 2:09:31
7. Shiritsu Funabashi H.S. - 2:10:14
8. Tokyo Nogyo Daini H.S. - 2:10:26
9. Kobayashi H.S. A - 2:11:21
10. Chinzei Gakuin H.S. A - 2:11:27

Top Team Results - University / Corporate
1. Hiramatsu Byoin A - 2:06:39
2. Soka University A - 2:06:57
3. Aoyama Gakuin University A - 2:10:23
4. Soka University B - 2:10:51
5. Chugoku Denryoku - 2:11:13
6. Hiramatsu Byoin B - 2:11:16
7. Rikkyo Univ. - 2:11:33
8. Team Nitro - 2:12:40
9. Hiramatsu Byoin C - 2:14:28
10. Surugadai University - 2:14:40

Morinomiyako Ekiden Kanto Region Qualifier

Chiba, 5 Oct. 2024
21 teams, 6 stages, 34.4 km

Top Individual Stage Results
First Stage (4.3 km) - Suzuna Kinoshita (Chuo Univ.) - 13:35 - CR
Second Stage (3.0 km) - Yura Tanaka (Tsukuba Univ.) - 9:24 - CR
Third Stage (8.6 km) - Sarah Wanjiru (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 27:46 - CR
Fourth Stage (5.6 km) - Airi Tajima (Juntendo Univ.) - 18:22
Fifth Stage (7.3 km) - Mao Kogure (Juntendo Univ.) - 23:59 - CR
Sixth Stage (5.6 km) - Yuka Komatsu (Tsukuba Univ.) - 18:14 - CR

Top Team Results - top 7 qualify for Morinomiyako Ekiden
1. Daito Bunka University - 1:53:01
2. Nittai University - 1:53:25
3. Tsukuba University - 1:53:45
4. Josai University - 1:54:21
5. Juntendo University - 1:54:47
6. Chuo University - 1:55:07
7. Takushoku University - 1:55:44
-----
8. Teikyo Kagaku University - 1:55:52
9. Tamagawa University - 1:56:29
10. Toyo University - 1:56:38

© 2024 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

2026 Tokyo Marathon Elite Field

The Mar. 1 Tokyo Marathon has great fields this year, so let's get right to it. The women's field has 3 of last year's top 10, winner for the 2nd year in a row and Tokyo CR holder Sutume Asefa Kebede , 3rd-placer and 2025 Chicago winner Hawi Feysa , and 5th-placer and 2025 Berlin winner Rosemary Wanjiru , plus 2024 Valencia winner Megertu Alemu , 2025 Prague winner Bertukan Welde , 2024 Paris winner Mestawut Fikir , 2024 Osaka winner Waganesh Mekasha , former WR holder Brigid Kosgei , and a lot more. Japanese hopes pretty much go to all-time #7 Ai Hosoda , 2:20:31 in Berlin 2024 but who announced this month that she is retiring after Tokyo despite having qualified for the 2028 Olympic marathon trials with her 2:23:27 for 6th in Sydney last year. Other internationals include Canadian Malindi Elmore , American Sara Hall , a big Chinese group led by Yuyu Xia , Poland's Aleksandra Brzezińska and Australian Vanessa Wilson . The men's race has 5 of last year's top 1...
4 comments
Read more

Measuring Marathon Courses by Bicycle

http://news.searchina.ne.jp/disp.cgi?y=2013&d=0110&f=column_0110_034.shtml translated by Brett Larner The full marathon is a sport where you compete over 42.195 km, but how do they go about measuring that distance?  Today we're going to look a little bit at how they go about certifying the distance of a marathon. The reality is that major international marathons use a bicycle to measure the distance.  This rule is an international standard, and the same method of measurement is used everywhere.  It was put into place in 1986.  In order to ensure that the same method is used everywhere, a bicycle that meets IAAF specifications must be used for measurement. In the case of Japan's major marathons, to be certain that the distance is correct a provisional measurement is first made.  Before the course is certified using a bicycle the course is measured using a 50 m-long length of wire to determine that it is in fact 42.195 km.  When a bicycle is u...
2 comments
Read more

Ai Hosoda Announces Retirement

photo © 2025 Victah Sailer/Photo Run, all rights reserved On Jan. 8 the Edion women's corporate team announced that Ai Hosoda , 30, will retire at the end of March this year. The Tokyo Marathon will be her last race. At Nagano Higashi H.S. Hosoda ran in the National High School Ekiden her 2nd and 3rd years. During her 3rd year at Nittai University she won both the 5000 m and 10000 m at the Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships, going on to win the bronze medal in the 10000 m at the World University Games in her 4th year at Nittai. After graduating she joined the Daihatsu corporate team, debuting at the 2019 Nagoya Women's Marathon in 2:29:27. 2 years later she transferred to Edion. She qualified for the Paris Olympics marathon trials at the 2022 Nagoya Women's Marathon and finished 3rd in the trials in the fall of 2023, but was later bumped down to Olympic alternate after another athlete ran a faster time. Instead of the Olympics, Hosoda ran the 2024 Ber...
2 comments
Read more