Skip to main content

Shiori Nagumo Makes It to Queens Ekiden Two Years After Giving Birth


Kagoshima's Higo Ginko women's corporate team ran Sunday's Princess Ekiden in a successful shot at making November's Queens Ekiden national championship. On its roster was a runner who looks forward to taking her daughter to the big show.


Handling First Stage duties for the Higo Ginko team, Shiori Nagumo's driving force was her 2-year-old daughter Itoha Nagumo. Shiori, 29, brings Itoha with her on team training camps and to races. When Shiori trains, Itoha is there to give her water. "It's a good thing, you know," said Higo Ginko head coach Shigeharu Watanabe, 55. "Even after becoming a mother, she's still able to focus on being an athlete."

Shiori was once a key member of the top-tier Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo team, but she retired to give birth. Afterward she still felt motivated to return to running, and when her former Mitsui Sumitomo coach Watanabe got in touch she agreed to join Higo Ginko in July last year. "It's not easy to get a position on a team once you have a child," said Shiori. "I feel like they saved me."

The Princess Ekiden took place Sunday in Fukuoka. Itoha was there with her father Jun Nagumo to cheer for Shiori at the 1 km to go point on her leg. "Can you cheer, 'Let's go! Let's go!, Itoha?" he asked her. "Uh-huh," Itoha nodded. When Shiori came Jun shouted encouragement to her, making Itoha jump and start crying in surprise at how loud his voice was.

Shiori finished 2nd on the First Stage, just 5 seconds back from the leader. Fourth runner Diana Cherotich, 18, also ran well to keep Higo Ginko in excellent position. In the last phase of the race it dropped back through the field, but its final position of 9th was enough to qualify for Queens Ekiden and make the group of supports who had come from Kumamoto to cheer happy. "I'm always grateful to my family for supporting me and giving me strength," Shiori said.

Asked if she plans to bring Itoha to the Queens Ekiden, Shiori said, "Yes, I'll bring her. We're going to Sendai!" Itoha nodded at being included in Higo Ginko's first trip to the national championship race in two years.

source article:

Labels:

Comments

Stefan said…
Great article. I love hearing happy stories like this and my goodness, she ran well to finish 2nd in her leg! I'm hoping her Queen's Ekiden is a happy memory too.
October 23, 2024 at 2:28 PM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

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
Post a Comment
Read more

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
Post a Comment
Read more

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
Post a Comment
Read more