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
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