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

Nat'l University Ekiden Updates Here

Looks like I just went over my update limit on Twitter - sorry, it's the first time I've tried to use it for this. I'll look for another option next time. In the meantime I'll add updates to the comments below. Not sure if that has a max too but I guess we'll find out. Update: Part one of the Nationals commentary can be found here .

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...

Japan's Team for Nagoya Asian Games

The JOC announced the full lineups for the men's and women's teams for September's Nagoya Asian Games . Being hosted in Japan the Asian Games are a pretty big deal, and it's pretty close to the maximum of 2 athletes per event. The men's and women's triple jump, the women's 400 m and the women's discus throw only have 1 athlete on the Japanese team, and it's a big FU to the shot putters apparently as nobody was named to either the men's or women's teams even though people ranked lower in the World Athletics Asian rankings than top JPN shot putters Daichi Morishita and Chiharu Saka did make the team in other events. But, let's focus on what it is, not what it isn't. Going off this week's Asian rankings 8 men and 5 women are ranked #1 in their event, with a total of 19 men and 14 women ranked in the top 3. Factor in a limit of 2 per nationality and the relays and Japan's chances of scoring a great medal haul are looking good. M...

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