Skip to main content

Honda Takes First Asahi Ekiden Win

http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/general/news/20100112k0000m050027000c.html

translated by Brett Larner

17 teams competed in the 61st Asahi Ekiden on Jan. 11, a seven-stage, 99.9 km elite competition stretching from Fukuoka to Kita-Kyushu. Team Honda ran 4:47:33 to take its first-ever Asahi Ekiden win. Honda's Sixth Stage runner Yacob Jarso of Ethiopia started the stage in 3rd place 1:40 behind the leader but broke the existing stage record on his way to taking the lead. Honda anchor Suehiro Ishikawa managed to hold on to the lead to bring the team home on top. Trying for a fourth-straight win, Team Asahi Kasei anchor Tomoya Onishi ran the stage's best time but could not catch Ishikawa and had to settle for 2nd. Team Kyudenko finished 3rd, while last year's Kyushu Jitsugyodan Ekiden winner Team Yasukawa Denki was 4th. Alongside Jarso's mark, Kenyan student runner Kiragu Njuguna (Daiichi Kogyo Univ.) also set a new record on the first stage.

2010 Asahi Ekiden - 7 Stages, 99.9 km
Stage Best Performances
First Stage (14.6 km) - Kiragu Njuguna (Daiichi Kogyo Univ.) - 41:06 - new stage record
Second Stage (9.9 km) - Joseph Gitau (Team JFE Steel) - 29:50
Third Stage (11.2 km) - Kazuhiro Maeda (Team Kyudenko) - 30:37
Fourth Stage (14.8 km) - Paul Tanui (Team Kyudenko) - 42:26
Fifth Stage (15.9 km) - Minoru Okuda (Team Honda) - 46:09
Sixth Stage (16.8 km) - Yacob Jarso (Team Honda) - 46:11 - new stage record
Seventh Stage (16.7 km) - Tomoya Onishi (Team Asahi Kasei) - 46:48

Top Team Results
1. Honda - 4:47:33
2. Asahi Kasei - 4:48:00
3. Kyudenko - 4:48:43
4. Yasukawa Denki - 4:51:56
5. JFE Steel - 4:55:03
6. Nishitetsu - 4:56:02
7. Toyota Kyushu - 4:56:46
8. Mitsubishi Juko Nagasaki - 4:57:29
9. Daiichi Kogyo Univ. - 5:04:20
10. Kurosaki Harima - 5:04:35
Labels:

Comments

Simon Phillips said…
Interested to know a little background to the Asahi Ekiden: Is it a case of the corporate teams peaking for the New Year Ekiden and then trying to hold onto that form for a couple more weeks or does it take equal priority as part of ekiden season? Do the teams have to qualify? Info appreciated.

Enquiring minds et cetera...
January 13, 2010 at 12:54 AM
Brett Larner said…
To be honest I don't know too much about it. I believe it predates the New Year Ekiden, and being in Kyushu it has a lot of local prestige. Kyushu is the heart of old-school men's distance running, with a large number of elite local races many of which, like the Asahi Ekiden, are only broadcast in Kyushu and the surrounding area.
January 13, 2010 at 6:20 PM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

'Kobe 2024: Aitchison, Athmani Lead Record-Breaking Thursday'

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-aitchison-athmani-lead-record-breaking-thursday Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships are here .
Post a Comment
Read more

Chesang Wins Osaka Women's Marathon in 2:19:31, Yada Drops 2:19:57 Debut NR

This year's Osaka International Women's Marathon was a race run with a high level of methodicalness, starting slower than the planned 3:19/km but ramping up until the lead pack was skimming around the 2:20:15-30 projected finish level. After hitting halfway in 1:10:13 with a group of 6, by 25 km only 4 were left up front, sub-2:19 runners Workenesh Edesa , Stella Chesang and Bedatu Hirpa , and the debuting Mikuni Yada , and when the last 2 pacers stepped off at 30 km it was Yada who went to the front. Despite never have raced longer than the 10.6 km Third Stage at November's Queens Ekiden where she had helped the Edion team score its first-ever national title, Yada was very, very impressive, fearlessly surging from 12 km and never letting up, even laughing and smiling to fans along the course. When she started sustaining a pace around 3:15/km the projected finish dropped under 2:20 and all the way down to 2:19:28 by 35 km, and even when all 3 of the more experienced ru...
2 comments
Read more

Hirayama Breaks Osaka Half CR, Martinez Set Puerto Rican NR

The Osaka Half Marathon took another big step up the domestic half marathon rankings from a mass-participation race run alongside the Osaka International Women's Marathon to one of the country's top-tier races. In the women's race, the debuting Jecinta Nyokabi (Denso) went out fast, only to be run down by veteran Yumi Yoshikawa (Canon AC) by 10 km. Nyokabi faded to 6th in 1:10:41, but Yoshikawa pushed on to a PB 1:09:14 for the win. Rina Shimizu (Noritz), Yuna Takahashi (Shimamura) and Makoto Tsuchiya (Ritsumeikan Univ.) all broke 70 minutes, Tsuchiya taking the Kansai Region collegiate title in 1:09:32 for 4th overall. Everyone in the top 10 who wasn't debuting ran a PB, a mark of how fast the day was even with cold and windy conditions. The men's race went out on sub-61 pace courtesy of Yudai Shimazu (GMO), then got a big injection of speed when Kyuma Yokota (Toyota Kyushu) took off close to 60-flat pace. Yokota opened a 10-second lead by 15 km, but over ...
Post a Comment
Read more