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

Chepkirui Wins Nagoya Women's Marathon

Heavy-duty favorite Sheila Chepkirui took the win at Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon , pulling away after 30 km to cruise in for 1st in 2:20:40. Erratic pacing early saw the first and second groups only seconds apart for much of the first half of the race, the top group slower than planned and the 2nd group a bit ahead of schedule. At halfway in 1:10:37 the front group included Chepkirui, #2-ranked Ruti Aga and last year's runner-up Eunice Chumba , and Japanese contingent Sayaka Sato , Rika Kaseda , Natsuki Omori and Mao Uesugi . Omori was the first to drop, then Uesugi, then Aga, who ultimately dropped out before 30 km. When the pacers stopped at 30 km Chepkirui made a move that dropped Kaseda and strung out Chumba and Sato behind her, but all four came back together once before another surge put Kaseda away for good. As Chepkirui inched away Sato and Chumba passed each other repeatedly, and Chumba could only watch as the top Japanese runner got away from her again thi...

Who's Running Tokyo Worlds?

The Japanese marathon teams will be the most prestigious ones to be on for September's Tokyo World Championships, and with Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon the window for Japanese athletes to get onto the JAAF's shortlist closed. Who's on it? The final decision won't be made until Mar. 26, but let's look through the selection criteria and see who's guaranteed, who's pretty likely, and who has a chance. 1. Marathon medalists at the Paris Olympics - There weren't any, so nobody makes the team this way. Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) and Yuka Suzuki (Daiichi Seimei) were the top placers, both of them running PBs in the Olympics to finish 6th. You'd think that would count for something a year later, but you'd think wrong. 2. JMC Series IV Champions - The top point scorers in the Japan Marathon Championship Series IV, which ran from April, 2023 to March, 2025, earn places on the marathon teams along with cash prizes. For women that's Yuka ...

Tokyo Marathon Top Japanese Man Tsubasa Ichiyama Works 4 Days a Week, Walked On in College

38,000 people ran the 2025 Tokyo Marathon . Every runner had their own story, but one of the most special was Tsubasa Ichiyama (Sunbelx). Despite being on almost nobody's radar, he outran some of the best in the country to finish as the top Japanese man. Ichiyama ran most of the race in the 3rd pace group, going through halfway in 1:02:44 and 30 km in 1:29:13. When the pacers stopped, he showed what he could really do. "I'm not good at downhills, so in the first part it was hard to run smoothly," he said at the post-race press conference. "But after the downhill part ended I got into my rhythm, and I think that helped me over the 2nd half." After dropping Asian Games gold medalist Hiroto Inoue (Mitsubishi Juko) and others, he quickly bore down on the Japanese athletes who had gone out faster in the 2nd pace group. Overtaking Paris Olympics 6th placer Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) and Yuhei Urano (Fujitsu), at 39.8 km he caught all-time Japanese #2 man Yohei I...

japan running news

Search This Blog