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Corporate Federation Sets Up Special National Ekiden Championships Qualifying Rules for Teams With Athletes Running Olympic Marathon Trials

With the MGC Race, Japan's marathon trials for the 2024 Paris Olympics, scheduled to be held Oct. 15 in the middle of ekiden season, on Apr. 25 the National Corporate Federation (JITA) announced that special measures will be taken regarding the qualifying races for the National Corporate Ekiden Championship races. Teams with an athlete that has qualified for the MGC Race will be allowed to compete in the Queens Ekiden and New Year Ekiden as long as they finish at the qualifying races in October and November.

The Princess Ekiden, the qualifying race for the Queens Ekiden national, is scheduled for Oct. 22 in Fukuoka, while the six regional qualifying races for the New Year Ekiden will take place from Nov. 3 to Nov. 12. The top 8 teams at last year's Queens Ekiden are automatically qualified for this year's race and do not have to run the Princess Ekiden. With many teams' best athletes scheduled to run the MGC, a number of teams had expressed concerns to the JITA that they would be handicapped at the qualifying races due to the short turnaround from the marathon trials.

Translator's note: As of right now 65 men from 30 corporate teams and 29 women from 16 corporate teams have qualified for the MGC Race. The deadline for MGC qualification is May 31. At least 17 men including 5 from 3 teams with no athletes currently qualified are scheduled to run at the May 7 Prague Marathon or May 28 Ottawa Marathon.

source article:
translated by Brett Larner

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