Denso and Chikushi Joshi Gakuen Win Kitakyushu Women's Invitational Ekiden

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.

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

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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