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SGH Group, Toyota and YKK Win Final Three New Year Ekiden Qualifiers



The last two qualifying races for the 64th New Year Ekiden corporate men's national championships on Jan.1 took place Nov. 17. At the 62nd Kansai Corporate Ekiden in Wakayama, 14 teams competed for the 4 spots available at the New Year Ekiden. The SGH Group team covered the 7-stage, 80.45 km course in 3:57:43 to claim its first win in 2 years. Sumitomo Denko was 2nd just 13 seconds back from SGH Group, with Osaka Gas taking 3rd in a team record performance. Last year's winner NTT Nishi Nihon placed 4th to round out the list of qualifiers.



At the Chubu / Hokuriku Corporate Ekiden, local powerhouse Toyota ran 3:55:38 for the 7-stage, 80.5 km course to win the Chubu region division for the sixth year in a row. On the Fourth Stage Toyota dropped back from leader Toyota Boshoku, but after getting back on track with quality runs from captain Minato Oishi on the Fifth Stage and 2020 Olympic marathon team member Yuma Hattori on the anchor stage the team succeeded in opening a 2:14 margin of victory over 2nd place. Head coach Toshinobu Sato commented, "Basically I'm relieved that we won, but there were cracks. We can't win the New Year if we run like this, so I want to pull everything together so we can legitimately target the national title."

YKK led the 3 teams in the simultaneous Hokuriku region division in 4:02:26 to qualify for the New Year Ekiden.

62nd Kansai Corporate Ekiden

Wakayama, 11/17/19
14 teams, 7 stages, 80.45 km
complete results

Top Team Results - top 4 qualify for New Year Ekiden
1. SGH Group - 3:57.43
2. Sumitomo Denko - 3:57:56
3. Osaka Gas - 3:59:00
4. NTT Nishi Nihon - 3:59:02
-----
5. Otsuka Seiyaku - 4:00:23
6. Osaka Police - 4:03:09
7. Sanyo Tokushu Seiko - 4:03:48
8. Osaka City Hall - 4:36:32

Top Individual Stage Performances
First Stage (12.6 km) - Kai Takeshita (SGH Group) - 37:53
Second Stage (7.68 km) - Patrick Mathenge Wambui (NTT Nishi Nihon) - 21:59 - CR
Third Stage (10.87 km) - Takumi Komatsu (NTT Nishi Nihon) - 30:43
Fourth Stage (9.5 km) - Masaya Kakihara (SGH Group) - 27:03
Fifth Stage (16.0 km) - Koki Takada (Sumitomo Denko) - 47:39
Sixth Stage (11.0 km) - Takuma Kumagai (Sumitomo Denko) - 33:07
Seventh Stage (12.8 km) - Taisei Hashizume (SGH Group) - 37:28

59th Chubu Corporate Ekiden / 49th Hokuriku Corporate Ekiden

Aichi, 11/17/19
12 teams, 7 stages, 80.5 km
complete results

Top Chubu Team Results - top 7 qualify for New Year Ekiden
1. Toyota A - 3:55:38
2. Aisan Kogyo - 3:57:52
(OP) Toyota B - 3:58:20
3. Toyota Boshoku - 3:58:28
4. Toenec - 3:59:04
5. Aichi Seiko - 3:59:49
6. NTN - 4:02:58
7. Chuo Hatsujou - 4:03:52
-----
8. Gotemba Takigahara SDF Base - 4:12:06

Top Hokuriku Team Results - top 2 qualify for New Year Ekiden
1. YKK - 4:02:26 - CR
2. Sekino Kosan - 4:04:07
-----
3. Takada SDF Base - 4:17:28

Top Individual Stage Results
First Stage (12.0 km) - Taku Fujimoto (Toyota A) - 34:52 - CR
Second Stage (8.3 km) - Evans Keitany (Toyota Boshoku) - 23:02
Third Stage (12.2 km) - Yusuke Nishiyama (Toyota A) - 34:50 - CR
Fourth Stage (15.5 km) - Kento Kikutani (Toyota Boshoku) - 45:28 - CR
Fifth Stage (12.2 km) - Minato Oishi (Toyota A) - 35:50 - CR
Sixth Stage (8.5 km) - Tsubasa Hayakawa (Toyota A) - 25:04
Seventh Stage (11.8 km) - Yuma Hattori (Toyota A) - 34:39

source articles:
https://www.chunichi.co.jp/article/aichi/20191118/CK2019111802000054.html
https://mainichi.jp/articles/20191117/k00/00m/050/117000c
translated and edited by Brett Larner

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