Toyota Boshoku, YKK, SGH and Chudenko Win Final New Year Ekiden Qualifying Races

Qualification for the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden corporate men's national championships wrapped up Sunday with the last four regional corporate ekidens. In the highly competitive Chubu Region race, Toyota, the winner the last 7 years, struggled when Bedan Karoki finished only 8th on the Second Stage. Despite Toyota's fourth runner Tomoki Ota making up a lot of the ground with a sensational 43:48 CR on his 15.5 km stage, almost a minute under the old record and 45:18 pace for 10 miles, Toyota faced pressure throughout the race from Toyota Boshoku. A 34:07 course record for the 11.8 km Seventh Stage by anchor Yuji Onoda was enough to seal the win for Toyota Boshoku, finishing the 80.5 km race 39 seconds up on Toyota in 3:54:15.

Aichi Seiko was the top team to miss the qualifying cutoff, almost two minutes behind the last qualifier, Chuo Hatsujo, in 3:59:13. Held simultaneously with the Chubu Region race, the Hokuriku Region saw an even closer margin of victory, with perpetual Hokuriku leader YKK holding off Sekino Kosan by just 26 seconds in 3:59:10.

In the Kansai Region race, SGH runners won four of the seven stages including a 26:41 CR on the 9.5 km Fourth Stage by Naoki Chiba. That was enough to give SGH the overall win in a course record 3:55:00 for 80.45 km. The Osaka Police outran Osaka Gas by 30 seconds for the final qualifying spot in 3:58:48, thanks in part to a win on the opening leg by officer Akihito Eishin.

In the Chugoku Region, Chudenko had a strong overall team performance to win in 4:01:43 for 80.8 km, only one of its runners, Amos Kurgat, winning his stage but all but one of the rest finishing in the top 3. The minor Hoshizaki team gave Takeda Yakuhin a scare in the race for the final qualifying spot, but ultimately Takeda emerged the stronger, finishing 5th in 4:19:46 by just over 2 minutes over Hoshizaki.

With the field now set for the New Year Ekiden the attention turns to the major tuneup events. For many that will be the Nov. 27 Hachioji Long Distance meet focusing on 10000 m. The Kumamoto Kosa 10-Miler, originally scheduled for Dec. 5, would normally be another major tuneup, but this year it's again among the events canceled due to pandemic fears. Some will line up in the final Fukuoka International Marathon on Dec. 5, attempting a quick turnaround in time for the New Year just under four weeks later.

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

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