Overseas viewers should be able to watch the 2009 Hakone Ekiden live online through this site. The race will be broadcast on NTV beginning at 7:00 a.m. Japan time on both Jan. 2 and 3. Each day will begin with a 1-hour preview show with the race starting at 8:00 a.m.
Heavy-duty favorite Sheila Chepkirui took the win at Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon , pulling away after 30 km to cruise in for 1st in 2:20:40. Erratic pacing early saw the first and second groups only seconds apart for much of the first half of the race, the top group slower than planned and the 2nd group a bit ahead of schedule. At halfway in 1:10:37 the front group included Chepkirui, #2-ranked Ruti Aga and last year's runner-up Eunice Chumba , and Japanese contingent Sayaka Sato , Rika Kaseda , Natsuki Omori and Mao Uesugi . Omori was the first to drop, then Uesugi, then Aga, who ultimately dropped out before 30 km. When the pacers stopped at 30 km Chepkirui made a move that dropped Kaseda and strung out Chumba and Sato behind her, but all four came back together once before another surge put Kaseda away for good. As Chepkirui inched away Sato and Chumba passed each other repeatedly, and Chumba could only watch as the top Japanese runner got away from her again thi...
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I read on NHK that Yuki Yagi is in the "backup" group for Waseda...is he hurt?
Glad to hear it. Kashiwabara was something else.....
I haven't heard that Yagi is injured. Schools often don't include their big stars in the initial start list in order to hide their strategy. Yuki Sato, for example, wasn't listed until they announced the changes this morning. Waseda will probably announce Yagi as a replacement tomorrow morning.