Meijo University ran up to expectations, breaking its own course record to win a third-straight Mount Fuji Women's Ekiden national title. Head coach Katsuro Yoneda had confidently predicted a perfect win, Meijo runners taking all seven stage titles and the overall win for the hilly 43.4 km course, but on the very first stage Karin Akahori (Nittai Univ.) shot that down, beating Meijo's Tomomi Musembi Takamatsu by 6 seconds to win the stage. But the setback didn't last long, as second runner Yuna Wada tied her stage's record to put Meijo out front.
From there Meijo stretched its lead out to 1:26 by the start of the 10.5 km Fifth Stage, the longest of the day. There Yuka Suzuki (Daito Bunka Univ.), the 2019 World University Games half marathon gold medalist, gave Meijo's Rika Kaseda, the silver medalist in the same race, a scare as she cut Meijo's lead down by 42 seconds. But record-breaking runs on the last two uphill stages from Yuka Masubuchi and Narumi Kobayashi turned Meijo's momentum back around, carrying it on to take a minute off its own overall course record for the win in 2:21:38.
Perpetual runner-up Daito Bunka was over two and a half minutes behind by the end of the race, taking 2nd yet again in 2:24:16. Former dynastic power Ritsumeikan University was solid throughout, taking 3rd in 2:27:00. After stage wins on the First and Third Stages, Nittai held steady around 4th until anchor Akari Nakamura ran into trouble on the steepest climb in the final third of the stage. Matsuyama University, Osaka Gakuin University and Josai University all took advantage of the situation to knock Nittai back to 7th on the 8-deep podium, all three finishing within a minute of Ritsumeikan.
Strong early on, Kansai University rounded out the podium almost eight minutes behind Meijo in 2:29:19. In just its second Mount Fuji appearance Fukuoka University was the first team to miss a podium finish, taking 9th in 2:30:16. With no National Women's Ekiden in January, for most runners in the field this was the last ekiden of the season. A few more chances to race remain on the calendar until the end of the academic year in March, including January's Kitakyushu Invitational Women's Ekiden. Japan's corona numbers are going up quickly, but if that and other races go ahead you can expect to see Suzuki, Kaseda, Kobayashi and others at least once more before the season wraps for good.
2020 Mount Fuji Women's Ekiden
University Women's National Championships Invitational
Shizuoka, 30 Dec. 2020
21 teams, 7 stages, 43.4 km
Top Team Results
1. Meijo University - 2:21:38 - CR
2. Daito Bunka University - 2:24:16
3. Ritsumeikan University - 2:27:00
4. Matsuyama University - 2:27:42
5. Osaka Gakuin University - 2:27:53
6. Josai University - 2:27:59
7. Nittai University - 2:28:21
8. Kansai University - 2:29:19
----- 8-deep podium
9. Fukuoka University - 2:30:16
10. Kansai Gaikokugo University - 2:30:51
Top Individual Stage Results
First Stage (4.1 km) - Karin Akahori (Nittai Univ.) - 13:04
Second Stage (6.8 km) - Yuna Wada (Meijo Univ.) - 20:40 - CR tie
Third Stage (3.3 km) - Haruko Hosaka (Nittai Univ.) / Sae Hanada (Juntendo Univ.) - 10:22
Fourth Stage (4.4 km) - Yuma Yamamoto (Meijo Univ.) - 13:55 - CR tie
Fifth Stage (10.5 km) - Yuka Suzuki (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 34:29
Sixth Stage (6.0 km) - Yuka Masubuchi (Meijo Univ.) - 19:31 - CR
Seventh Stage (8.3 km, ~130 m uphill) - Narumi Kobayashi (Meijo Univ.) - 28:26 - CR
© 2020 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
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