Hyogo Scores First National Women's Ekiden Title in Fourteen Years

Hyogo Prefecture dominated the second half of Sunday’s National Women’s Ekiden, moving up through the field with three straight stage wins to take its first national title in 14 years.

In a repeat of her performance at last month’s National High School Ekiden, Hyogo’s Nozomi Tanaka went out front early before getting run down late in the opening stage, leading Hyogo off in 5th. Over the first half of the race the perpetually strong Osaka and Nagano emerged as the frontrunners before a brilliant Fourth Stage course record by Ririka Hironaka brought Nagasaki into the picture.

Nagasaki’s fifth runner Chikako Mori extended the lead Hironaka built to 37 seconds with a stage win, but behind her Hyogo’s Mai Ota brought a big run to pass Osaka and Nagano and move into 2nd. A stage win from sixth runner Yume Goto put Hyogo just 2 seconds behind Nagasaki, and with another pair of stage wins from its next two runners Chinatsu Tarumoto and Asuka Ishimatsu Nagasaki was over a minute up going into the 10 km final stage.

Barring disaster there was little chance that Hyogo anchor Yui Fukuda would be caught, and with a solid 31:51 she brought the team to a surprise national title. Further back Mao Ichiyama and Rei Ohara, two of the stars of last month’s Sanyo Ladies Half Marathon, shook up the top five with the two fastest times on the anchor leg, Ichiyama outkicking Nagasaki’s Keiko Nogami in the home straight to move hosts Kyoto into 2nd and Ohara delivering a stage-winning 31:38 to overtake Osaka for 4th. Early contender Nagano fell to 9th by race’s end, just 3 seconds outside the eight-deep podium.

36th National Women’s Ekiden

Kyoto, 1/14/18
47 teams, 9 stages, 42.195 km
click here for complete results

Stage Best Performances
First Stage (6.0 km) – Rina Nabeshima (Kochi) – 19:29
Second Stage (4.0 km) – Yuna Wada (Nagano) – 12:25
Third Stage (3.0 km) – Seira Fuwa (Gunma) – 9:14
Fourth Stage (4.0 km) – Ririka Hironaka (Nagasaki) – 12:32 – CR
Fifth Stage (4.1075 km) – Chikako Mori (Nagasaki) / Reimi Yoshimura (Kanagawa) – 13:04
Sixth Stage (4.0875 km) – Yume Goto (Hyogo) – 12:56
Seventh Stage (4.0 km) – Chinatsu Tarumoto (Hyogo) – 12:27
Eighth Stage (3.0 km) – Asuka Ishimatsu (Hyogo) – 9:42
Ninth Stage (10.0 km) – Rei Ohara (Okayama) – 31:38

Top Team Results
1. Hyogo – 2:15:28
2. Kyoto – 2:16:41
3. Nagasaki – 2:16:42
4. Okayama – 2:17:00
5. Osaka – 2:17:15
6. Kanagawa – 2:17:23
7. Fukuoka – 2:17:40
8. Aichi – 2:17:44
9. Nagano – 2:17:47
10. Shizuoka – 2:17:59

© 2018 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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

japan running news

Search This Blog