Shiseido Breaks Princess Ekiden Course Record

Coming back from a scandal earlier this year in which a non-Japanese former team member spoke out about abusive behavior by male coaches toward the team's female athletes, Shiseido was back with what looked like a more positive team culture, dominating Sunday's Princess Ekiden with a course record win.

Shiseido didn't quite lead start-to-finish, but it came close. Tomoka Kimura got it rolling with a 21:44 stage record on the 7.0 km opening leg, 38 seconds under the old record. Former national champ Daiichi Seimei's Hibiki Sakuragawa broke the course record on the Second Stage to put her team 5 seconds ahead of Shiseido, but it didn't last long as on the next stage Shiseido's Naruha Sato retook the lead and built up a margin that Shiseido's last three runners held. Anchor Kain Maeda brought the team home in 2:16:41 for the full 42.195 km distance, 21 seconds under the previous course record and securing the team's place at next month's Queens Ekiden corporate women's national championship race.

Times were fast all around. Along with Shiseido's overall course record and stage records from Kimura and fifth runner Yuka Takashima, the Second and Fourth Stages also saw new records. Hibiki Onishi (Universal) was fastest on the 3.6 km Second Stage, the race's shortest, 29 seconds under the old record in 10:48. Teresiah Muthoni (Daiso) took 3 seconds off the 3.8 km Fourth Stage record, winning it in 11:25.

Muthoni gave a boost to the young Daiso team that helped it finish 15th and qualify for the Queens Ekiden for the first time. Also giving it a boost was the fact that the qualifying bracket was expanded from 14 to 20 teams this year. Iwatani Sango took 12th to make Nationals for the first time, fair and square, and like Daiso the Nitori and Saitama Ika Daigaku Group teams made the relaxed grade for the first time, finishing 17th and 19th. Another newer team, Comodi Iida, was locked in a tough duel with Canon over the final two stages for the final qualifying spot, but Canon anchor Natsumi Furukawa was too strong for Comodi Iida's Kaho Nishizawa, opening a gap of 16 seconds by the end of the 6.695 km Sixth Stage to send Comodi Iida home.

The influx of new teams was a good sign, and with Iwatani Sangyo's sponsor company having been one of the race broadcast's main advertisers their success at making it to Nationals was a win for the entire system. They and the rest of the qualifiers will join the top 8 from last year's Nationals at the main event on Nov. 28.

7th Princess Ekiden

National Corporate Women's Ekiden Qualifier

Munakata, Fukuoka, 24 Oct., 2021

31 teams, 6 stages, 42.195 km

complete results

Top Individual Stage Results

First Stage - 7.0 km

1. Tomoka Kimura (Shiseido) - 21:44 - CR

2. Haruka Kokai (Daiichi Seimei) - 21:51

3. Misaki Nishida (Edion) - 22:16

Second Stage - 3.6 km

1. Hibiki Onishi (Universal) - 10:48 - CR

2. Hibiki Sakuragawa (Daiichi Seimei) - 11:03

3. Yui Yabuta (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 11:07

Third Stage - 10.7 km

1. Kaede Hagitani (Edion) - 34:18

2. Naruha Sato (Shiseido) - 34:40

3. Natsumi Matsushita (Tenmaya) - 34:51

Fourth Stage - 3.8 km

1. Teresiah Muthoni (Daiso) - 11:25 - CR

2. Margaret Akidor (Comodi Iida) - 11:27

3. Naomi Muthoni (Universal) - 11:28

Fifth Stage - 10.4 km

1. Yuka Takashima (Shiseido) - 34:18 - CR

2. Honoka Tanaike (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 34:44

3. Yuna Daito (Tenmaya) - 34:46

Sixth Stage - 6.695 km

1. Yukari Abe (Shimamura) - 21:47

2. Momoko Watanabe (Tenmaya) - 22:09

3. Ayari Harada (Daiichi Seimei) - 22:16

Top Team Results

top 20 teams qualify for National Corporate Women's Ekiden

1. Shiseido - 2:16:41 - CR

2. Tenmaya - 2:18:02

3. Daiichi Seimei - 2:18:32

4. Otsuka Seiyaku - 2:18:49

5. Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo - 2:19:05

6. Edion - 2:19:16

7. Hitachi - 2:19:29

8. Daihatsu - 2:19:45

9. Uniqlo - 2:20:11

10. Route Inn Hotels - 2:20:14

11. Shimamura - 2:20:27

12. Iwatani Sangyo - 2:20:37

13. Starts - 2:20:44

14. Universal - 2:20:49

15. Daiso - 2:20:51

16. Kyocera - 2:21:00

17. Nitori - 2:21:35

18. Sysmex - 2:22:21

19. Saitama Ika Daigaku Group - 2:22:39

20. Canon - 2:23:39

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21. Comodi Iida - 2:23:55

19-Yr-Old Munakata Breaks Miura's U20 NR to Win Ageo City Half Marathon

The Ageo City Half Marathon is always big, the main race that the coaches of Hakone Ekiden-bound university men's teams use for firming up their entry rosters for the big show. That makes what's basically an idyllic small town race into one of the world's great road races, with depth unmatched anywhere. One of the top-tier people on the start list at 1:02:07, Kodai Miyaoka (Hosei Univ.) took the race out fast, but the entire pack was keying off the fastest man in the race, Reishi Yoshida (Chuo Gakuin Univ.), 1:00:31. Yoshida reeled Miyaoka in before 5 km and kept things steady in the low-1:01 range, wearing down the lead group to around 10 including his CGU teammate Taisei Ichikawa , a quartet from Izumo and National University Ekiden runner-up Komazawa University , 2 runners from local Daito Bunka University , 2:07:54 marathoner Atsumi Ashiwa (Honda), and Australian Ed Goddard . Right after 15 km Komazawa went into action, Yudai Kiyama , Hibiki Murakami and Haru Tanin

Ageo City Half Marathon Preview and Streaming

This weekend's big race is the Ageo City Half Marathon , the next stop on the collegiate men's circuit. Most of the universities bound for the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden use Ageo to thin down the list of contenders for their final Hakone rosters, and with JRN's development program that sends the first two Japanese collegiate finishers in Ageo to the United Airlines NYC Half every year a lot of coaches put in some of their A-listers too. That gives Ageo legendary depth and fast front-end speed, with a 1:00:47 course record last year from Kenyan corporate leaguer Paul Kuira (JR Higashi Nihon) and the top 26 all clearing 63 minutes. Since a lot of programs just enter everybody on their rosters you never really know who on the entry list is actually going to show up, but if even a quarter of the people at the top end of this year's list run it'll be a great race, even if conditions are looking likely to be a bit warmer than ideal. Chuo Gakuin University 's Reishi Yoshi

10000 m NR Attempt In the Works Saturday at Hachioji Long Distance - Streaming and Preview

There are a bunch of other time trial meets this weekend and next, but Saturday's Hachioji Long Distance is the last big meet for Japanese men, 8 heats of Wavelight-paced 10000 m finely graded from target times of 28:50 down to 26:59 for the fastest heat. Heat 6 at 17:55 local time is effectively the B-race, with 35 Japan-based Kenyans targeting 27:10 at the front end, and in a lot of cases a spot on their teams at the New Year Ekiden national championship on Jan. 1. Corporate teams are only allowed to field one non-Japanese athlete in the New Year Ekiden, and only on its shortest stage, and getting to that has a big impact on African athletes' contracts and renewal prospects. Toyota Boshoku , Yasukawa Denki , Chugoku Denryoku , Aisan Kogyo , JR Higashi Nihon , Subaru and 2024 national champion Toyota are all fielding two Kenyans, and Aichi Seiko three. For people like Toyota's Felix Korir and Samuel Kibathi , getting as close to the 27:10 target time as they can and

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