Mt. Fuji Women's Ekiden Preview

The Mount Fuji Women's Ekiden, the year-ending national championship for university women, happens this Friday at 10:00 a.m. Japan time, kicking off four days of the year's best racing over the course of five. Fuji TV has the live broadcast starting at 9:50 a.m., TVer has the streaming, and @JRNLive will have the English coverage. When it comes to the collegiate men's ekiden circuit it's a given that Tokyo-area schools are going to win and, in most cases, fill the podium, but the college women's ekidens are more genuinely national, and in that way have a type of excitement the men's races lack.

The Mt. Fuji race has 7 hilly stages totaling 43.4 km, with a mostly downhill first two stages, a rolling middle four, and an anchor stage that climbs almost 170 m. And Meijo University is going to win. Meijo is the four-time defending champ and is fresh off a sixth-straight win at October's Morinomiyako Ekiden where it won 5 of the 6 stages, 3 in CR time. The runner-up there, Ritsumeikan University, won 11 of the 12 years prior to the start of Meijo's dynasty, but at Morinomiyako it was over two and a half minutes behind Meijo over the full 38.1 km course.

Star senior Narumi Kobayashi has struggled this year, but even with her at less than 100% at Morinomiyako Meijo was untouchable. Top recruit Nanaka Yonezawa played a key role in that, getting the team of with a stage win on the opening leg. It would take a combination of Kobayashi having an even worse day, someone else on the team having a breakdown, and/or the team not having a 7th runner at the same level, for them to blow it. Not likely.

The race for 2nd should be pretty good, though. Ritsumeikan is the best bet, but Osaka Gakuin University had a breakthrough run at Morinomiyako, just 1:13 behind Ritsumeikan in 3rd, and could follow up with something a lot better than last year's 10th-place finish. 2nd at Mt. Fuji from 2018 through 2021, Daito Bunka University is down a bit in strength this year and was 4th at Morinomiyako 28 seconds behind Osaka Gakuin. With any kind of improvement since then it could be back up in contention with Ritsumeikan.

But most eyes will be on last year's 6th-placer Takushoku University. Takushoku got there thanks in large part to 1st-year and collegiate 10000 m NR holder Seira Fuwa. Shortly after Mt. Fuji Fuwa had an Achilles tendon injury that ultimately kept her out of the 2022 World Championships, but she was back in time to help Takushoku finish 5th at Morinomiyako. Her individual performance there was a tier or two below her 2021 collegiate ekiden debut, but she ran it, did her part for the team, and seems to have survived without reinjury. If she has improved any since then, Takushoku should be in it for top 5. If not, making the 8-deep podium will still be an accomplishment. Kae Gyu and other team members have made a lot of progress this year, so at the least it's not all on Fuwa's shoulders.

2022 Mt. Fuji Women's Ekiden Field

Meijo University

Ritsumeikan University

Osaka Gakuin University

Daito Bunka University

Takushoku University

Nittai University

Josai University

Kansai University

Fukuoka University

Osaka Geijutsu University

Tokyo Nogyo University

Kansai Gaikokugo University

Chuo University

Toyo University

Tamagawa University

Juntendo University

Tsukuba University

Kyoto Kyoka Joshi University

Bukkyo University

Tohoku Fukushi University

Asia University

Kyoto Gakuin University

National University Select Team

Shizuoka Prefecture University Select Team

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...

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...

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...

japan running news

Search This Blog