Nissin Shokuhin and Daiichi Seimei On Top at Record-Setting East Japan Corporate Ekiden Championships, World Champ Jeilan 4th Behind 3-Way Kenyan Sweep
by Brett Larner The East Japan regional qualifiers for December's National Jitsugyodan Women's Ekiden Championships and the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden men's national corporate championships took place Nov. 3 in Saitama, northwest of Tokyo. Run in perfect conditions, there were new records on five of the seven men's stages and four of the six women's stages with the winning men's team just three seconds off the overall course record. 27:38 man Yuki Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin) set the tone for the day, taking 52 seconds off the record for the 11.6 km first stage and winning by a margin of 36 seconds after leading wire to wire. The entire field was aggressive, with the top nine all clearing the old stage record of 33:52. 27:41 man Tsuyoshi Ugachi (Team Konica Minolta) nearly closed the gap on the 15.3 km second stage, coming within 10 seconds of leader Hiroyuki Ono (Team Nissin Shokuhin) and breaking his own stage record by 21 seconds. Much of t...