by Brett Larner
Nagano anchor Aki Odagiri tries to hold off Kanagawa's Mika Yoshikawa with 450 m to go. Click photo for video highlights courtesy of Fukushima TV.
On Japan's busiest weekend of ekiden action, some of the best of it came at the first major event held in Fukushima since March's disasters, the East Japan Women's Ekiden, a regional version of January's National Women's Ekiden with 18 prefectural teams made up of runners ranging from junior high to pro.
2009 winner Nagano Pref.'s Yuko Shimizu took the race out hard, winning the 6.0 km First Stage by 18 seconds over Miyagi Pref.'s Hiroko Shoi as pre-race favorites Kanagawa Pref. and Chiba Pref. sat back in 7th and 14th. Kanagawa's second runner Hitomi Nakamura ran a stage best to bring her team with 13 seconds of the lead, but over the next two stages the gap grew again to 22 seconds. The remaining five stages were tense and dramatic as each of Kanagawa's runners in turn closed the g…
Nagano anchor Aki Odagiri tries to hold off Kanagawa's Mika Yoshikawa with 450 m to go. Click photo for video highlights courtesy of Fukushima TV.
On Japan's busiest weekend of ekiden action, some of the best of it came at the first major event held in Fukushima since March's disasters, the East Japan Women's Ekiden, a regional version of January's National Women's Ekiden with 18 prefectural teams made up of runners ranging from junior high to pro.
2009 winner Nagano Pref.'s Yuko Shimizu took the race out hard, winning the 6.0 km First Stage by 18 seconds over Miyagi Pref.'s Hiroko Shoi as pre-race favorites Kanagawa Pref. and Chiba Pref. sat back in 7th and 14th. Kanagawa's second runner Hitomi Nakamura ran a stage best to bring her team with 13 seconds of the lead, but over the next two stages the gap grew again to 22 seconds. The remaining five stages were tense and dramatic as each of Kanagawa's runners in turn closed the g…