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Sekisui Kagaku Wins First Queens Ekiden Title, Defending Champ Japan Post 4th


The 41st edition of the 6-stage, 42.195 km National Corporate Women's Ekiden Championships took place Nov. 28 in Sendai, Miyagi. 28 teams took part, with Sekisui Kagaku running a course record 2:13:03 to win its first national title. Shiseido was 52 seconds behind in 2nd and Denso 3rd, with 2-time defending champ Japan Post coming up short of a three-peat at 4th.

On the race's longest and most competitive stage, the 10.9 km Third Stage, Sekisui Kagaku's Sayaka Sato took over the lead, and solid runs from the rest of its runners helped protect the team's lead all the way to the end. 

Queens Ekiden

41st National Corporate Women's Ekiden Championships
Sendai, Miyagi, 28 Nov., 2021
28 teams, 6 stages, 42.195 km

Top Individual Stage Performances
First Stage (7.6 km) - Harumi Okamoto (Yamada Holdings) - 23:52
Second Stage (3.3 km) - Ran Urabe (Sekisui Kagaku) - 10:07 - CR
Third Stage (10.9 km) - Ririka Hironaka (Japan Post) - 34:24
Fourth Stage (3.6 km) - Teresia Muthoni (Daiso) - 10:53 CR tie
Fifth Stage (10.0 km) - Rino Goshima (Shiseido) - 31:28 - CR
Sixth Stage (6.795 km) - Momoko Watanabe (Tenmaya) - 21:01

Top Team Performances - top 8 auto-qualify for 2022
1. Sekisui Kagaku - 2:13:03 - CR
2. Shiseido - 2:13:55
3. Denso - 2:15:03
4. Japan Post - 2:15:35
5. Daihatsu - 2:15:47
6. Yamada Holdings - 2:16:24
7. Universal Entertainment - 2:16:37
8. Wacoal - 2:16:44
-----
9. Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo - 2:17:16
10. Uniqlo - 2:17:24
11. Edion - 2:17:34
12. Tenmaya - 2:17:37
13. Daiichi Seimei - 2:17:42
14. Kyudenko - 2:17:50

source article:
translated by Brett Larner

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Stefan said…
What a great victory to the Sekisui team and what a great third leg from Sayaka Sato. She was only 5 seconds shy of Ririka Hironaka's time. Her run was critical to the team and she delivered big time. I've been watching her for a while and she is always consistently performing well and improving ever so slightly. It was a wonderful team effort from the Sekisui team. Ran Urabe did an excellent in the 2nd leg to break the Course Record and so did Hitomi Niiya to be one second shy of the best run in the 5th leg. Great run considering her disappointment at the Olympics. It appears Mao Ichiyama and Ayuko Suzuki are suffering from post Olympic blues which is understandable. Perhaps motivation or injury/fatigue has taken their toll?

I noticed the absence of Honami Maeda in the Tenmaya team. Is she injured?

TBS did an excellent job with their YouTube coverage.
November 29, 2021 at 8:20 AM
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