The 32nd National Junior High School Ekiden took place Sunday at Kibogaoka Bunka Koen in Shiga. In the girls' race, Okayama's Kyoyama J.H.S. scored back-to-back titles with a 41:18 for the 5-leg, 12.0 km course. After a slow start from lead runner Wakana Minami , the Kyoyama girls moved up steadily, third runner Mei Iwasaki taking the lead with a stage win and fourth runner Chisato Shimoda setting a new stage record of 6:41 for her 2.0 km leg. It was only the sixth successful title defense in Nationals history, with Kyoyama joining past two-time champions Gotemba J.H.S. (Shizuoka), Nakanojo J.H.S. (Gunma), Fujimi J.H.S. (Gunma), Katsura J.H.S. (Kyoto), and Inami J.H.S. (Hyogo). 47 seconds back in 2nd was Osawano J.H.S. (Toyama), whose fifth runner Shiho Kurokawa , winner of last year's third leg, had the fastest time on her leg again. Kamimura Gakuen J.H.S. (Kagoshima) was 3rd, whose anchor Kirari Takeda , fastest on the second leg win last year, passed 3 people ...
It's about 2 1/2 hours til the start of the Tokyo Marathon. I don't think it's going to be a fast day - it's 14 degrees C and cloudy, but winds are about 35 km/hr and from the south so on the course there will be a headwind from 8 to 15 km and again most of the way from ~27.5 km to the end. There's supposed to be a storm later in the day, but before that it's going to get warmer and windier.
Comments
Thanks for all of the leadup to this race!