Panasonic and Kamimura Gakuen H.S. Win Kitakyushu Women's Invitational Ekiden

The last major women's ekiden of the season happened north of Fukuoka Sunday at the 34th Kitakyushu Women's Invitational Ekiden. Top high school, university and corporate league teams run head-to-head at Kitakyushu, with the longest stage split into two for the high school division.

7th at November's National Corporate Women's Ekiden, Panasonic was first across the finish line after running down 2019 and 2020 high school division winner Kamimura Gakuen H.S. mid-race. After a good start from Panasonic's Nanami Watanabe, Kamimura Gakuen's Brenda Jepchirchir ran down Panasonic's Sakiko Naito on the 3.8 km 2nd stage. But Kaori Morita was quick to turn it back around for the Panasonic on the stage, turning a 2-second deficit into a 33-second lead in just 3.9 km. Morita handed off to her twin sister Shiori Morita, and from there the corporate leaguers ran unchallenged, winning for first time in 1:28:14.

Kamimura Gakuen, 3rd at December's National High School Ekiden, held on to 2nd place over the Kyudenko corporate team over the 3rd and 4th legs, but even with the advantage of having 5.9 km and 4.5 km segments versus the corporate leaguers' 10.4 km anchor stage they couldn't stay there. Kyudenko anchor Yuri Karasawa was just too strong for Kamimura Gakuen's Yuzuki Ueno and Hina Ogura, overtaking them by 8 seconds to cross the finish line 2nd in 1:28:48. Kamimura Gakuen was next in 1:28:56 to win the high school division for the third time in four editions.

34th Kitakyushu Women's Invitational Ekiden

Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, 22 Jan. 2023

complete results

Top Individual Stage Results

First Stage (5.3 km) - Mariya Noda (Kitakyushu Shiritsu H.S.) - 16:49 - CR

Second Stage (3.8 km) - Eva Cherono (Toto) - 11:34

Third Stage (3.9 km) - Kaori Morita (Panasonic) - 12:42

Fourth Stage (3.8 km) - Yuka Sarumida (Univ. Ent.) - 11:53

Fifth Stage (open - 10.4 km) - Yuri Karasawa (Kyudenko) - 34:30

Fifth Stage (H.S. - 5.9 km) - Kana Mizumoto (Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.) - 19:00

Sixth Stage (H.S. - 4.5 km) - Hina Ogura (Kamimura Gakuen H.S.) - 14:59

Top Team Results

Open - 9 teams, 5 stages, 27.2 km

1. Panasonic - 1:28:14

2. Kyudenko - 1:28:48

3. Universal Entertainment - 1:29:11

4. Higo Ginko - 1:31:04

5. Iwatani Sangyo - 1:31:13

High School - 17 teams, 6 stages, 27.2 km

1. Kamimura Gakuen H.S. - 1:28:56

2. Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. - 1:29:56

3. Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. - 1:30:32

4. Isahaya H.S. - 1:30:44

5. Kitakyushu Shiritsu H.S. - 1:32:27

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...

Nat'l University Ekiden Updates Here

Looks like I just went over my update limit on Twitter - sorry, it's the first time I've tried to use it for this. I'll look for another option next time. In the meantime I'll add updates to the comments below. Not sure if that has a max too but I guess we'll find out. Update: Part one of the Nationals commentary can be found here .

How it Happened

Ancient History I went to Wesleyan University, where the legend of four-time Boston Marathon champ and Wes alum Bill Rodgers hung heavy over the cross-country team. Inspired by Koichi Morishita and Young-Cho Hwang’s duel at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics I ran my first marathon in 1993, qualifying for Boston ’94 where Bill was kind enough to sign a star-struck 20-year-old me’s bib number at the expo. Three years later I moved to Japan for grad school, and through a long string of coincidences I came across a teenaged kid named Yuki Kawauchi down at my neighborhood track. I never imagined he’d become what he is, but right from the start there was just something different about him. After his 2:08:37 breakthrough at the 2011 Tokyo Marathon he called me up and asked me to help him get into races abroad. He’d finished 3rd on the brutal downhill Sixth Stage at the Hakone Ekiden, and given how he’d run the hills in the last 6 km at Tokyo ’11 I thought he’d do well at Boston or New York. “I...

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