Skip to main content

Paul Tanui Leads Kyudenko to Win at Final Asahi Ekiden

http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2011011000281

translated by Brett Larner

In the 62nd and final edition of the seven-stage, 99.9 km Asahi Ekiden from Fukuoka to Kita-Kyushu, Team Kyudenko took its third win and first in five years, clocking 4:50:58. New Year Ekiden 4th placers Team Yasukawa Denki were 2nd, while Team Asahi Kasei finished 3rd. Defending champion Team Honda was only 4th.

Kyudenko's Paul Tanui put the team ahead on the First Stage, and all the way to anchor Mao Fukuyama Kyudenko's runners finished in the top three on stage time, keeping the team in 1st by a margin of 50 seconds over Yasukawa Denki.

Translator's note: The majority of Team Yasukawa Denki actually outperformed Team Kyudenko, with more Yasukawa Denki runners taking 1st or 2nd on their stage than Kyudenko runners. Yasukawa Denki was within four seconds of Kyudenko at the end of the Third Stage, but, reinforcing that you are only as strong as your weakest link, a poor performance on the Fourth Stage by Yasukawa Denki's Hisanori Kitajima, brilliant at last week's New Year Ekiden, put them down over two minutes after Kyudenko's Kazuhiro Maeda took the stage best. Yasukawa Denki's final three runners all outran Kyudenko's but could not close the gap.

Maeda, 2nd in his marathon debut at the 2009 Tokyo Marathon, will run next month's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon.


2011 Asahi Ekiden
Top Team Results - 99.9 km
1. Team Kyudenko - 4:50:58
2. Team Yasukawa Denki - 4:51:48
3. Team Asahi Kasei - 4:53:13
4. Team Honda - 4:54:21
5. Team Kanebo - 4:55:11

Stage Best Performances
First Stage (14.6 km) - Paul Tanui (Team Kyudenko/Kenya) - 42:30
Second Stage (9.9 km) - Makoto Tobimatsu (Team Yasukawa Denki) - 30:08
Third Stage (11.2 km) - Masayuki Obata (Team Yasukawa Denki) - 30:35
Fourth Stage (14.8 km) - Kazuhiro Maeda (Team Kyudenko) - 42:43
Fifth Stage (15.9 km) - Desta Alemu (Team Yasukawa Denki/Ethiopia) and Satoru Sasaki (Team Asahi Kasei) - 46:13
Sixth Stage (16.8 km) - Ibrahim Jeilan (Team Honda/Ethiopia) - 47:21
Seventh Stage (16.7 km) - Minoru Ikebe (Team Honda) - 46:49

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Nagoya Asian Games Test Event Canceled After Insulation Falls From Venue Ceiling

A section of insulation material fell from the ceiling of Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, the official venue for squash competition at September's Nagoya Asian Games. There were no injuries, but the city suspended use of the arena until its safety could be guaranteed, resulting in the cancelation of the Asian Games squash test event which was scheduled to have begun on May 14. It is not yet clear whether the arena will be usable for the Asian Games as planned. According to city officials, arena staff found that the insulation material had fallen onto a work walkway 13 m above the ground on the night of May 11. The fallen material was 3.6 m long, 50 cm wide and 2.5 km thick, and was found to be waterlogged. The cause of the accident is unknown, but it is possible that it was caused by rainwater leaking in from the roof. The same insulation material is installed across the entire ceiling, and the city plans to check for the extent of the possible flooding. Asked whether the arena will be re...

Hakone Ekiden Qualifying Race Entry Roster Sizes Increased from 14 to 16

Hakone Ekiden organizers KGRR have announced details for the qualifying half marathon for next year's 103rd Hakone Ekiden. The Yosenkai qualifying race will be held Oct. 17 in Tachikawa, Tokyo. The combined times of the 10 fastest finishers from each participating team will be used for team scoring, with the 10 fastest teams going on the the main event next January and top-placing individuals from teams that do not qualify being names to the Kanto Region Student Alliance select team. One change from previous years is that the number of runners each school can enter has been increased from 14 to 16. Teams will still only be allowed to have from 10 to 12 athletes on the starting line, but the move gives coaches greater flexibility in making the final decision on their starting rosters. No changes have been made to the qualifying times of 34:00 for 10000 m or 1:13:00 for the half marathon, and the new earlier starting time of 8:30 a.m. introduced last year in an effort to mitigate ...

Nomura and Odagiri Go 3-4 at Zevenheuvelenloop 15 km

2010 Zevenheuvelenloop 15 km Nijmegen, Netherlands, 11/21/10 Women click here for complete women's results 1. Genet Getaneh (Ethiopia) - 47:53 2. Florence Kiplagat (Kenya) - 48:07 3. Sayo Nomura (Meijo Univ.) - 49:43 4. Aki Odagiri (Meijo Univ.) - 51:37 5. Benita Willis (Australia) - 51:51 Men click here for complete men's results 1. Leonard Patrick Komon (Kenya) - 41:13 - WR 2. Abera Kuma (Ethiopia) - 42:01 3. Ayele Abshiro (Ethiopia) - 42:01 4. Abraham Kiplimo (Uganda) - 43:03 5. Berhanu Delale (Ethiopia) - 43:08 ----- 14. Kazuya Watanabe (Team Sanyo Tokushu Seiko) - 45:31