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Noguchi and Fukushi on Entry List for Sendai National Corporate Women's Ekiden Champs

http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/111201/spg1112011953000-n1.htm

translated and edited by Brett Larner

On Dec. 18 the six-stage, 42.195 km  National Jitsugyodan Women's Ekiden Championships will be held for the first time in Sendai, Miyagi.  On Dec. 1 organizers released the entry list lineups for the 33 teams in the field.  Included in the list are Japan's top two prospects for the 2012 London Olympics marathon, 2004 Athens Olympics gold medalist and national record holder Mizuki Noguchi (Team Sysmex) and half-marathon national record holder Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal).  Defending champion Team Tenmaya will field past Olympic marathoners Naoko Sakamoto and Yurika Nakamura, with last year's runner up Team Daiichi Seimei including 2009 World Championships marathon silver medalist Yoshimi Ozaki on its roster.  Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo has veterans Yoko Shibui and, still shooting for a comeback following a maternity leave Reiko Tosa.

This year the National Jitsugyodan Women's Ekiden Championships expanded the number of places available in the field as a memorial to the victims of March's earthquake and tsunami disasters in the Sendai region.

Translator's note: Click here for the complete entry list.  All five members of Japan's Daegu World Championships marathon squad are included on their teams' rosters.
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Comments

Kevin said…
I think it's safe to say Aki Fujikawa, Madoka Ogi, Noriko Matsuoka, Miki Ohira, Masako Chiba, Mizuho Nasukawa, Yasuko Hashimoto, and Yuri Kano retired. Noriko Matsuoka didn't race after London 2011 and Yuri Kano hasn't run a marathon since 2010. There's no way Yuri Kano will make the olympic team after running 1:14:59 nyc half marathon. Why does Yuri Kano think she'll make the London team when she didn't make the olympics in 2008?
December 2, 2011 at 8:00 PM
Kevin said…
Can you tell us if Yuri Kano retired or is she racing Osaka and Nagoya Marathon? Like she'll make the team after running 2:36:40 marathon and she doesn't want to correct that in 2011. Why Yuri Kano runs 0 marathons in 2011?
December 3, 2011 at 7:31 PM
Brett Larner said…
You are mistaken about at least two of the people on the list in your first comment. With regard to your second comment, yes, I can tell you that Kano is neither retired nor running Osaka and Nagoya. I expect we will see her in only one of those races. Kano was scheduled to run Nagoya this spring until it was cancelled in the wake of the disasters and opted not to try to maintain her training until London like some others did. She then changed coaches, hence her absence from the marathon circuit this fall.
December 3, 2011 at 8:06 PM
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