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Dec. 18 National Junior High School Ekiden to be Broadcast Live on TV for First Time


The organizers of the Dec. 18 30th anniversary National Junior High School Ekiden Championships have announced that the race will be broadcast live by BS NTV for the first time in the event's history. First held in Kumamoto in 1993, the National JHS Ekiden has been staged in Shiga, Yamaguchi and Chiba.

But despite changes in its venue it has always hosted some of Japan's best future talent in the earliest years of their careers, including Olympians Yuriko Kobayashi and Ran Urabe, 4-time World Championships team member Kazuhiro Maeda, former half marathon and marathon NR holder Yuta Shitara and his twin brother Keita Shitara.

NHK and commercial broadcasters have recorded the race for later showing, and last year it was broadcast live on Youtube. But thanks to the efforts of the Shiga T&F Association and sponsor companies this will be its first live TV broadcast.

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translated by Brett Larner

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