The JITA, the corporate federation that organizes the National Corporate Women's Ekiden and New Year Ekiden corporate men's championships, has announced major changes to the New Year Ekiden course. The core of the changes is the combination of the existing 8.3 km 2nd leg and 13.6 km 3rd leg into a new 21.9 km 2nd leg, and the split of the current 22.4 km 4th leg into a new 3rd leg of around 15 km and a new 4th leg of 8 km.
The current 2nd leg is the shortest of the traditional New Year Ekiden and is where non-Japanese athletes are restricted to running, while the existing 4th leg is its longest and features most of the top marathoners. With only one leg before them, runners on the 2nd leg, primarily Kenyans, start relatively close together, making for one of the fastest, deepest and most exciting head-to-head road races in the world every year. Runners on the 4th leg are more dispersed, but with the long distance of the stage it gives the very top marathoners and half marathoners the chance to chase down those far ahead of them in classic ekiden style.
The announced changes eliminate both elements. As per the official announcement, moving the longest stage to the 2nd leg puts the best marathoners and half marathoners into more of a head-to-head racing situation like at the Hakone Ekiden. That may be good for TV, but given how the 1st leg often goes out slow and turns into a race between those with the best kick, having the best Japanese runners start closer together eliminates the hunt-and-hunted element that makes the existing 4th leg one of the highlights of the race and seems like it might lead to slower runs.
The other consequence is that having the "International Leg" later in the race means that Africans will start farther apart, and with only around 8 km to work with it means there'll be less chance of passing or being passed, especially since the final distance might be even shorter than the current 8.3 km. In short, non-Japanese athletes, the very best in the race, will be on TV for a shorter time and will have less of an impact on the overall action. That might be a win from the point of view of the TV broadcast producers, and other elements of Japanese society, but it's hard not to see it as a decision driven primarily by who gets screen time, a reduction in the quality of the event and a step backwards.
© 2023 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
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