Fujitsu and Kurosaki Harima Win East Japan and Kyushu Region New Year Ekiden Qualifiers

The first two regional qualifiers for the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden corporate men's national championships happened Nov. 3 in Saitama and Kyushu. At the East Japan Race in Saitama, 2021 New Year Ekiden winner Fujitsu outran 2022 champ Honda by 40 seconds for 1st. Honda started and finished strong with stages wins from its lead and anchor runners Hideto Kosode and Naoki Koyama, but Fujitsu had a solid lineup mid-race led by a stage record win on the Fourth Stage by Ken Yokote that gave it the lead it needed for the win.

Most of the big names qualified without any surprises. Local supermarket chain Sunbelx did surprise, spending much of the race as high as 3rd before finishing an excellent 5th overall. Down near the 12th-place cutoff for New Year qualification, Saitama Ika Daigaku Group had a nail-biter as it dueled with the Comodi Iida supermarket team, ND Software and Komori Corporation to stay in the ring for its second-ever qualification. Despite a sub-par run from #1 man Kenta Uchida it came through, beating the usually-strong Komori for 12th by 1:13.

In the Kyushu region, both of the main two powerhouses Asahi Kasei and Mitsubishi Juko struggled, finishing only 5th and 6th out of the eight qualifying teams. The ascendant Kurosaki Harima team dominated, sub-61 half marathoner Yusuke Tamura leading off with the first of the team's four stage wins and 2:06 marathoner Kyohei Hosoya making a quick turnaround from his 6th-place finish at the Chicago Marathon last month to win the Fifth Stage.

Down in the race for the final qualifying spot at 8th, Togami Denki easily held off Hiramatsu Byoin by over 6 minutes to make the cut. Qualification continues Nov. 13 with the Chugoku, Chubu, Kansai and Hokuriku regional qualifying race.

63rd East Japan Corporate Men's Ekiden

Kumagaya, Saitama, 3 Nov. 2022

31 teams, 7 stages, 76.9 km

complete results

Top Individual Stage Results

First Stage (11.6 km) - Hideto Kosode (Honda) - 34:27

Second Stage (8.0 km) - Benson Kiplangat (Subaru) - 21:17 - CR

Third Stage (16.5 km) - Akito Terui (Subaru) - 48:01

Fourth Stage (9.5 km) - Ken Yokote (Fujitsu) - 27:09 - CR

Fifth Stage (7.8 km) - Tetsu Yokoyama (Hitachi Butsuryu) - 22:25

Sixth Stage (10.6 km) - Yuya Yoshida (GMO) - 30:10

Seventh Stage (12.9 km) - Naoki Koyama (Honda) - 37:26 - CR

Top Team Results

top 12 teams qualify for New Year Ekiden

1. Fujitsu - 3:42:01

2. Honda - 3:42:41

3. Hitachi Butsuryu - 3:42:57

4. Yakult - 3:43:11

5. Sunbelx - 3:43:16

6. GMO - 3:43:56

7. Subaru - 3:45:07

8. Kao - 3:45:36

9. JR Higashi Nihon - 3:46:39

10. Konica Minolta - 3:47:09

11. Comodi Iida - 3:48:19

12. SID Group - 3:48:31

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13. Komori Corp. - 3:49:44

14. Press Kogyo - 3:50:49

15. SDF Academy - 3:52:10

59th Kyushu Corporate Men's Ekiden

Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, 3 Nov. 2022

19 teams, 7 stages, 80.2 km

complete results

Top Individual Stage Results

First Stage (12.9 km) - Yusuke Tamura (Kurosaki Harima) - 36:58

Second Stage (7.0 km) - Benard Koech (Kyudenko) - 18:40

Third Stage (10.9 km) - Keito Makise (Toyota Kyushu) / Takashi Ichida (Asahi Kasei) - 31:21

Fourth Stage (9.5 km) - Tomonobu Tamura (Kurosaki Harima) - 27:21

Fifth Stage (13.0 km) - Kyohei Hosoya (Kurosaki Harima) - 38:03

Sixth Stage (10.9 km) - Masami Nagakura (Kurosaki Harima) - 31:39

Seventh Stage (16.0 km) - Shohei Otsuka (Kyudenko) - 47:01

Top Team Results

top 8 teams qualify for New Year Ekiden

1. Kurosaki Harima - 3:52:29

2. Kyudenko - 3:54:03

3. Toyota Kyushu - 3:54:23

4. Yasukawa Denki - 3:55:49

5. Asahi Kasei - 3:55:53

6. Mitsubishi Juko - 3:56:48

OP - Corporate Select Team A - 3:57:37

7. Nishitetsu - 3:59:01

OP - Corporate Select Team B - 4:00:29

8. Togami Denki - 4:00:41

OP - Corporate Select Team C - 4:02:22

-----

9. Hiramatsu Byoin - 4:07:07

10. Hioki City Hall - 4:16:03

Arao Becomes 1st Man in 40 Years to Score Back-to-Back Ome Road Race Wins

30 km is an under-appreciated distance, and both of Japan's big races at that distance happened Sunday. At the Ome Road Race in western Tokyo's mountains, Sydney Marathon 6th-placer Masato Arao (ND Software) became the first man since the great Kunimitsu Ito in 1985-1986 to win back-to-back years. Arao, who finished 39th of 40 on his leg at the New Year Ekiden last month, stayed in the pack through 20 km before going on the attack, putting over a minute on New Year Ekiden Sixth Stage CR breaker Yudai Shimazu (GMO). Sub-1:31 winning times are rare on the tough and hilly Ome course, but Arao's 1:30:54 almost equaled his 1:30:50 from last year, making him the first Japanese man ever to do it twice and second only to CR holder Ezekiel Cheboitibin . Next up Arao races the Tokyo Marathon, where he is targeting sub-2:06. Shimazu was 2nd in 1:31:58 and Yuta Nakayama (JR Higashi Nihon) 3rd in 1:32:07. Cheboitibin was only 9th, running almost 8 minutes off his CR in 1:36:42. Shi...

Osaka Marathon Preview

The Osaka Marathon is Sunday, one of Japan's biggest mass-participation races and the next stop on the calendar for its elite marathoners hoping to qualify for the L.A. Olympics marathon trials in the fall of 2027. Last year it snowed mid-race, but this year is looking warmer than ideal given the season, with sunny skies, almost no wind, and temps forecast to be 11˚ at the start and rising to 19˚ by the time the winners are finishing. NHK is broadcasting Osaka with a heavy emphasis on the men's race, and if you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it from overseas. There's also official streaming on Youtube starting at 8:30 a.m. local time, although it doesn't look like it's the same as what NHK will be showing. Given Osaka's history at the elite level as the continuation of the men-only Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, the women's field is small relative to the men's, just enough to tick World Athletics' label requirements and with almost no do...

Nagoya Women's Marathon Elite Field

Last year's top 3 Sheila Chepkirui , Sayaka Sato and Eunice Chebichii Chumba are back for this year's Nagoya Women's Marathon on Mar. 8, but things are being set up more for it to be a race between Chepkirui, 2:17:49 in Berlin 2023, Aynalem Desta , 2:17:37 in Amsterdam last fall, and Japanese NR holder Honami Maeda , 2:18:59 at the Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2024. Aynalem has the freshest sub-2:20 of the 3, with neither Chepkirui nor Maeda having done it in 2 years. Maeda's only recent result is a 1:10:07 from Houston last month, but when she ran her NR she didn't have any kind of tuneup race to indicate her fitness so it's probably best not to read too much into that. If it goes out as a 2:18 race those are the only 3 who can probably hang with it. If it turns out to be more of a 2:20 race like when Chepkirui won in 2:20:40 last year then there's a group of 7 at the 2:20-2:22 level who will be in the picture, including Chumba, Selly Chep...

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