One of the only races to resist the pressure to cancel as Japan's COVID numbers break new ground, the Kitakyushu Women's Invitational Ekiden took place Sunday in northern Fukuoka with top high school, college, club and corporate teams racing a short 27.2 km course through cold rain.
Only 21 of the 40 teams on the entry list started, but among them was defending open division champ Denso. Denso took the lead on the 3.8 km Second Stage with another course record run from CR holder Husan Zeyituna and held on through midway on the 10.4 km Fifth Stage, when anchor Yuka Matsumoto was caught by Nozomi Tanaka of the non-scoring Meijo/Toyota Select Team. The Meijo/Toyota hybrid crossed the line first in 1:28:05, Denso 51 seconds back to score 1st in the open division and claim a 2nd-straight win. But they were actually 3rd across the line.
© 2022 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
The local Chikushi Joshi Gakuen H.S. team led the high school division from the start, falling back a bit on the Second Stage but clocking the fastest high school times on three of the remaining stages to move up through the field. With the open divison's anchor leg split into two shorter stages of 5.9 km and 4.5 km Chikushi's closing duo of Azumi Nagira and Mako Nakasai turned in two of the best performances of the day, Nagira breaking her stage's CR by 6 seconds in 18:56 and Nakasai overtaking Denso anchor Yuka Matsumoto with 600 m to go. Nakasai crossed the finish line 2nd, 5 seconds up on Matsumoto and winning the high school division by 46 seconds over Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.
With today's National Men's Ekiden canceled Kitakyushu marked the end of championship ekiden season. Few races remain on the calendar, but expect to see some of the athletes who ran today at next weekend's Osaka International Women's Ekiden and next month at the National Corporate 10 km and Half Marathon.
33rd Kitayushu Women's Invitational Ekiden
Fukuoka, 23 Jan. 2022
open division: 10 teams, 5 stages, 27.2 km
high school division: 11 teams, 6 stages, 27.2 km
Top Individual Stage Results
First Stage (5.3 km) - Hibiki Onishi (Univ. Ent.) - 17:02
Second Stage (3.8 km) - Jackline Chepwogon Rotich (Toto) - 11:22 - CR
Third Stage (3.9 km) - Asuka Ishimatsu (Suma Gakuen H.S.) - 12:36
Fourth Stage (3.8 km) - Yuna Wada (Meijo/Toyota) - 11:48
Open Fifth Stage (10.4 km) - Nozomi Tanaka (Meijo/Toyota) - 33:57
H.S. Fifth Stage (5.9 km) - Azumi Nagira (Chikushi Joshi Gakuen H.S.) - 18:56 - CR
H.S. Sixth Stage (4.5 km) - Mako Nakasai (Chikushi Joshi Gakuen H.S.) - 14:48
Top Open Division Team Results
OP - Meijo/Toyota Select Team - 1:28:05
1. Denso - 1:28:56
2. Universal Entertainment - 1:29:40
3. Kyudenko - 1:29:42
4. Kyocera - 1:30:42
5. Toto - 1:31:08
Top High School Division Team Results
1. Chikushi Joshi Gakuen H.S. - 1:28:51
2. Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. - 1:29:37
3. Suma Gakuen H.S. - 1:31:09
4. Chiharadai H.S. - 1:31:16
5. Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. - 1:31:30
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