Skip to main content

Mitsubishi Overpowers National Champions Asahi Kasei at Kyushu Corporate Men's Ekiden


For the second year in a row, the Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems corporate team edged defending national champion Asahi Kasei to win the 54th Kyushu Corporate Men's Ekiden Championships, the final qualifying race for the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden national championships.

Fresh out of the blocks, London World Championships marathon team member Hiroto Inoue got Mitsubishi off to a good start with a win by 8 seconds over 2016 national XC champion Takashi Ichida of Asahi Kasei on the 12.4 km First Stage. Mitsubishi increased its lead over Asahi Kasei to 1:54 by the end of the Fourth Stage thanks to stage wins from 2nd and 4th men Enock Omwamba and Ryota Matono.

Over the second half Asahi Kasei fought back with its 5th and 6th runners Shuho Dairokuno and Takuya Fukatsu winning their stages, Fukatsu breaking the Sixth Stage record by 11 seconds to put Asahi Kasei into the lead by 4 seconds at the final exchange. Mitsubishi anchor Toshiki Sadakata wasted no time in trying to turn that around, quickly catching Asahi Kasei's Taiki Yoshimura and edging away to break the tape in 1st, his 17-second margin of victory even tighter than last year's 27-second separation between the two rival teams.


With the number of qualifying spots available to Kyushu team increased by one this year thanks to Asahi Kasei's 2017 national title there was no danger of any of the big name teams not qualifying. Asahi Kasei had enough in reserved to run a B-team that included 10000 m national record holder Kota Murayama and his twin brother Kenta, the B-team taking 7th overall but not eligible for another New Year spot.

Inoue's London teammate Kentaro Nakamoto finished only 9th on the Fifth Stage but nevertheless helped the Yasukawa Denki team qualify with ease at 4th overall. Qualifying for the first time, the Hiramatsu Byoin hospital team took the bonus spot available this year thanks in part to a strong anchor run from former independent Aritaka Kajiwara.

54th Kyushu Corporate Men's Ekiden Championships

Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, 11/23/17
20 teams, 7 stages, 81.8 km
click here for complete results

Top Team Results - top 8 qualify for New Year Ekiden
1. Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems - 4:02:31
2. Asahi Kasei A - 4:02:48
3. Kyudenko - 4:05:04
4. Yasukawa Denki - 4:07:33
5. Toyota Kyushu - 4:07:52
6. Kurosaki Harima - 4:08:15
7. Asahi Kasei B - 4:10:00*
8. Nishitetsu - 4:10:43
9. Jitsugyodan Select Team - 4:12:47*
10. Hiramatsu Byoin - 4:15:44
* not eligible for New Year Ekiden

Top Individual Stage Results
First Stage - 12.4 km
1. Hiroto Inoue (MHPS) - 36:26
2. Shinichiro Nakamura (Kyudenko) - 36:26
3. Takashi Ichida (Asahi Kasei A) - 36:34

Second Stage - 7.4 km
1. Enock Omwamba (MHPS) - 20:57
2. Abraham Kipyatich (Asahi Kasei A) - 21:14
3. Paull Tanui (Kyudenko) - 21:17

Third Stage - 13.0 km
1. Keijiro Mogi (Asahi Kasei B) - 37:14
2. Naoya Takahashi (Yasukawa Denki) - 37:26
3. Hayato Mera (MHPS) - 37:35

Fourth Stage - 8.2 km
1. Ryota Matono (MHPS) - 24:55
2. Ryo Saito (Asahi Kasei B) - 25:13
3. Takumi Honda (Asahi Kasei A) - 25:44

Fifth Stage - 13.4 km
1. Shuho Dairokuno (Asahi Kasei A) - 39:53
2. Shohei Otsuka (Kyudenko) - 40:25
3. Masashi Sakamoto (Toyota Kyushu) - 40:33

Sixth Stage - 13.0 km
1. Takuya Fukatsu (Asahi Kasei A) - 37:29 - CR
2. Yuma Eda (Toyota Kyushu) - 37:56
3. Shinji Yoshimoto (Kurosaki Harima) - 38:02

Seventh Stage - 14.3 km
1. Toshiki Sadakata (MHPS) - 43:18
2. Taiki Yoshimura (Asahi Kasei A) - 43:39
3. Aritaka Kajiwara (Hiramatsu Byoin) - 43:44

© 2017 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

M.I.A.

Sorry to have been silent for a while. JRN associate editor Mika Tokairin  was in Taiwan for Ironman Penghu, where she won her age group to qualify for Kona for the first time. Right after that we moved for the first time in 14 years, and immediately after that I headed to the U.S. to help Keita Sato  get settled in his new training base in Flagstaff. We'll be resuming normal operations shortly with a big roundup of results over the last 2 weeks. Brett Larner
Post a Comment
Read more

Everything You Need to Know About the 2026 Hakone Ekiden

The Hakone Ekiden is the world's biggest road race, 2 days of road relay action with Japan's 20 best university teams racing 10 half marathon-scale legs from central Tokyo to the mountains east of Mount Fuji and back. The level just keeps going higher and higher , hitting the point this year where there are teams with 10-runner averages of 13:33.10 for 5000 m, 27:55.98 for 10000 m, and 1:01:20 for the half marathon. It's never been better, and with great weather in the forecast it's safe to say this could be one of the best races in Hakone's 102-year history, especially on Day One. If you've seen it then you know NTV's live broadcast is the best sports broadcast in the world, with the pre-race show kicking off at 7:00 a.m. Japan time on the 2nd and 3rd and the race starting at 8:00 a.m. sharp. If you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it on TVer starting at 7:50 a.m. on the 2nd , and again at 7:50 a.m. on the 3rd . There's even a 2-hour high...
3 comments
Read more