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Meijo Wins 4th-Straight Mt. Fuji Women's Ekiden National Title, Fuwa Strikes Again


Course record holder and 3-time defending champ Meijo University was unstoppable again, leading start to finish to win the 2021 Mt. Fuji Women's Ekiden university women's national title Dec. 30 in Shizuoka. 

1st-year Nanase Tanimoto got things rolling with a 12:49 win on the 4.1 km opening leg to give Meijo a 7-second lead that increased to 51 seconds over the next three legs, 2nd runner Tomomi Musembi Takamatsu holding the margin and 3rd and 4th runners Hana Inoue and Yuma Yamamoto running the fastest times on their stages. On the longest leg, the 10.5 km Fifth Stage, Yuna Wada took 45 seconds off the course record to further open Meijo's lead to 1:13, and the team's last two runners Yuka Masubuchi and Narumi Kobayashi both did their parts, Masubuchi taking the lead to 1:59 and Kobayashi to 2:58 on the tough uphill anchor stage to bring Meijo in for the win in 2:22:24 for the full 43.4 km course. 

But the race's main action happened far back from Meijo's frontrunning win. Takushoku University 1st-year Seira Fuwa has had an incredible debut season culminating in a 30:45.21 track 10000 m debut earlier this month that made her the second-fastest Japanese woman ever at just age 18. She started the 10.5 km Fifth Stage in 12th place, a hopeless 2:22 behind Wada. And right away, she had company for the first time this season. 2019 World University Games Half Marathon gold medalist Yuka Suzuki of 3-time 2nd-placer Daito Bunka University rode right up on on Fuwa in the first few hundred m after starting just 2 seconds behind. 1 km into the stage Fuwa split 2:59 and Suzuki 2:57, hammering down the teams ahead of them one by one.

Suzuki, who has run 31:37.88 on the track, lasted almost to 3 km before losing touch, while Fuwa kept rolling through a 15:09 split at 5 km. Around 7 km she looked a bit tired for the first time, but after 8 km she pulled it back together well enough to move from 12th into 2nd and to within 1:13 of Meijo. That's how long Wada's new course record lasted, Fuwa beating it by over a minute with a 32:23. Suzuki didn't give up either after getting dropped, moving up from 13th to 3rd and also bettering Wada's time and the old course record in 33:07. For 10 km those would equate to 31:56 for Wada, 31:32 for Suzuki, and 30:50 for Fuwa, right in line with their other performances, especially Fuwa's.

Post-race Suzuki showed respect for the younger Fuwa, saying, "I was just focused on moving forward. But when I caught up to her, yeah, I was pretty nervous." When the announcer said, "She was amazing, but you were amazing too," Suzuki just laughed and shook her head. For her part Fuwa said, "In terms of the team our goal is to finish in the top 8, so I'm happy with putting us into 2nd. In terms of my own goal, I wanted to go into 1st, so I'm really disappointed I couldn't accomplish that. I hope our last two runners can keep us in the top 8."

Fuwa got her wish, Takushoku ultimately placing 6th to make the 8-deep podium for the first time. DBU was 2nd again thanks to solid uphill runs on the last two stages after Suzuki's excellent leg, almost 3 minutes behind Meijo in 2:25:22 despite missing its other star runner, steepler Reimi Yoshimura. Nittai University moved into 3rd on the anchor stage for its best-ever team placing, with Ritsumeikan University maintaining its unbroken streak of top-4 placings every year since the event began in 2004. Last year's 4th-placer Matsuyama University was 5th ahead of Takushoku, with Josai University and the National University Select Team rounding out the podium.

Some of the women in the race will line up in next month's National Women's Ekiden to represent their home prefectures. But for many it marked the end of their collegiate careers, one last race before heading to the corporate leagues or hanging them up to head out into normal life. Meijo's Takamatsu, Inoue and Wada all graduate this year, Takamatsu and Inoue among those saying goodbye to the sport. Their graduation is a hit to Meijo's chances next year, but with Tanimoto winning her stage at both of her debut season's major ekidens there's at least one athlete their level coming up through the team's ranks.

Mt. Fuji Women's Ekiden

16th National University Women's Invitational Ekiden Championships
Shizuoka, 30 Dec. 2021
24 teams, 7 stages, 43.4 km

Top Individual Stage Results
First Stage (4.1 km)
1. Nanase Tanimoto (Meijo Univ.) - 12:49
2. Yuki Tagawa (Matsuyama Univ.) - 12:56
3. Yuiri Ogata (Nittai Univ.) - 13:03

Second Stage (6.8 km)
1. Hikaru Kitagawa (Osaka Geijutsu Univ.) - 21:21
1. Kako Kanazawa (Tohoku Fukushi Univ.) - 21:21
3. Saya Nakajima (Select Team) - 21:23

Third Stage (3.3 km)
1. Hana Inoue (Meijo Univ.) - 10:20
2. Momoko Shimada (Nittai Univ.) - 10:23
3. Mai Misaki (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 10:33

Fourth Stage (4.4 km)
1. Yuma Yamamoto (Meijo Univ.) - 14:26
2. Akari Nakamura (Nittai Univ.) - 15:07
3. Kokoro Nakachi (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 15:16
3. Yuna Kyuki (Bukkyo Univ.) - 15:16

Fifth Stage (10.5 km)
1. Seira Fuwa (Takushoku Univ.) - 32:23 - CR
2. Yuka Suzuki (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 33:07 (CR)
3. Yuna Wada (Meijo Univ.) - 33:32 (CR)

Sixth Stage (6.0 km)
1. Rinka Hida (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 19:31 CR tie
2. Yuka Masubuchi (Meijo Univ.) - 19:50
3. Mio Kuroda (Nittai Univ.) - 19:51

Seventh Stage (8.3 km, >150 m ascent)
1. Narumi Kobayashi (Meijo Univ.) - 29:55
2. Asa Kobayashi (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 30:20
3. Mizuho Yamaga (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 30:29

Top Team Performances - eight-deep podium
1. Meijo University - 2:22:24
2. Daito Bunka University - 2:25:22
3. Nittai University - 2:25:59
4. Ritsumeikan University - 2:26:19
5. Matsuyama University - 2:26:24
6. Takushoku University - 2:26:33
7. Josai University - 2:28:09
8. National University Select Team - 2:28:15
-----
9. Osaka Geijutsu University - 2:28:21
10. Osaka Gakuin University - 2:28:55
11. Kansai Gaikokugo University - 2:29:14
12. Tohoku Fukushi University - 2:29:36

© 2021 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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Comments

RigaJags said…
What a run by Fuwa, it was seriously super impressive. She was running in a league on her own.
Outstanding!
December 30, 2021 at 10:21 PM
Andrew Armiger said…
Some outstanding running and Fuwa brought the fireworks!
December 31, 2021 at 1:04 AM
Stefan said…
That 5th leg was amazing. The top 3 were incredible but Seira Fuwa is in a different class. I just hope she can stay injury free and consolidate her wonderful performances into 2022. She certainly is a big draw these days and I, for one, look forward to watching her next race.
December 31, 2021 at 5:09 PM
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