In the first major race of 2024, Toyota took the lead on the 2nd leg to hold off two-time winner Honda for its first New Year Ekiden national title since 2016.
The 12.3 First Stage had a 7-way sprint finish, with Naoki Ota (Yakult) taking the top spot over Hazuma Hattori (NTT Nishi Nihon) in 34:42 and 35-year-old Minato Oishi (Toyota) 4 seconds back in his final New Year Ekiden before retiring. On the new 21.9 km Second Stage, Ota's older brother Tomoki Ota (Toyota) immediately went to the front, initially with company from 2:06 marathoner Yohei Ikeda (Kao) and Ken Nakayama (Honda) but soon on his own. Ota, 2nd at last month's NR-breaking 10000 m National Championships, took advantage of a tailwind to win the stage in 1:01:40, a 59:25 half marathon equivalent, and hand off to new teammate Ren Tazawa.
Tazawa, 4th at the 10000 m National Championships, split 27:35 en route on the 15.4 km Third Stage, and after Felix Korir held the lead on the new 7.8 km Fourth Leg it was an unchallenged run to the finish line. 5th and 6th Toyota men Hideyuki Tanaka and Yusuke Nishiyama both won their stages, and anchor Yuma Hattori was back close to 100% after a series of injuries with a stage 3rd-best run to bring Toyota in for the win in 4:49:02.
Honda was strong throughout, 5th on the opening leg, Nakayama moving them up to 3rd, Tatsuhiko Ito to 2nd on the Third Stage, and debuting Hakone Ekiden 2nd~4th leg winner Vincent Yegon cut Toyota's lead down by 18 seconds, but when Olympic steepler Ryoma Aoki and Paris Olympics marathon trials winner Naoki Koyama both lost ground it was all anchor Shin Kimura could do to hang on to 2nd in 4:51:11.
2017 through 2020 winner Asahi Kasei got off to a rocky start when top new recruit Sonata Nagashima got tripped from behind while leading the pack on the First Stage and spent the rest of the race trying to catch up. Despite missing a Kenyan from its lineup this year they got as high as 3rd by the Fifth Stage, and with a stage-winning run from anchor Takashi Ichida they got close enough that Honda's Kimura was looking back over his should the last few km. But in the end Ichida came 16 seconds short, finishing in 4:51:27. In the highlight of the race for fans, former 10000 m NR holder Akira Aizawa caught up to his college-era rival Ito from Honda early in the Third Stage, and the pair spent the rest of the race pushing each other like they had in Hakone days and on the track since.
Kurosaki Harima was as high as 3rd at one point, but ultimately finished in a team record 4th in 4:52:40, its highlight coming in a back-and-forth duel between 2:06 marathoners Kyohei Hosoya and Hiroto Inoue (Mitsubishi Juko) on the Second Stage. Mitsubishi Juko dropped to 10th when 2:05 marathoner Ichitaka Yamashita was only 24th on the Fifth Stage but rallied to take 5th in 4:53:45.
Kao and NTT Nishi Nihon ran down GMO's Yudai Shimazu on the anchor stage to take 6th and 7th, with GMO hanging on to the last podium spot in 8th. NTT's Ayumu Kobayashi had an exceptionally good Third Stage, splitting 27:17 en route to win it in 42:29 for 15.4 km. That was no small ask, as in winning Kobayashi, all-time JPN #7 over 10000 m, beat four of the six men on the list ahead of him including NR holder Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu). Fujitsu, a favorite for the win, was a wreck from the go, only two of its seven runners making the top five on their stage and the team as a whole landing off the podium by 25 seconds in 9th. Shiojiri, usually looking calm and collected in every race, was straining from the start and was 23rd on the Third Stage. Chugoku Denryoku rounded out the top 10 just 3 seconds behind Fujitsu.
2024 New Year Ekiden
National Corporate Men's Ekiden Championships
Gunma, 1 January 2024
41 teams, 7 stages, 100.0 km
Top Individual Stage Results
First Stage (12.3 km)
1. Naoki Ota (Yakult) - 34:42
2. Hazuma Hattori (NTT Nishi Nihon) - 34:44
3. Takuma Sunaoka (Konica Minolta) - 34:45
4. Minato Oishi (Toyota) - 34:46
5. Hideto Kosode (Honda) - 34:46
Second Stage (21.9 km)
1. Tomoki Ota (Toyota) - 1:01:40
2. Yohei Ikeda (Kao) - 1:02:06
3. Ken Nakayama (Honda) - 1:02:22
3. Shunya Kikuchi (Chugoku Denryoku) - 1:02:22
5. Kotaro Kondo (SGH) - 1:02:23
Third Stage (15.4 km)
1. Ayumu Kobayashi (NTT Nishi Nihon) - 42:29
2. Kazuki Tamura (Sumitomo Denko) - 42:58
3. Akira Aizawa (Asahi Kasei) - 43:04
4. Yusuke Tamura (Kurosaki Harima) - 43:06
5. Yuta Nakayama (JR Higashi Nihon) - 43:12
Fourth Stage (7.8 km)
1. Isaac Ndiema (Mazda) - 20:52
2. Sitonik Kiprono (Kurosaki Harima) - 21:02
3. Emmanuel Maru (Toyota Boshoku) - 21:03
3. Peter Kipui Wangari (NTN) - 21:03
5. Edwin Kisalsak (Fujisan no Meisui) - 21:11
Fifth Stage (15.8 km)
1. Hideyuki Tanaka (Toyota) - 46:33
2. Jun Sakai (Asahi Kasei) - 47:04
3. Ken Yokote (Fujitsu) - 47:19
4. Ryoma Aoki (Honda) - 47:22
5. Kento Kikutani (Toyota Boshoku) - 47:26
Sixth Stage (11.2 km)
1. Yusuke Nishiyama (Toyota) - 32:59
2. Suguru Osako (GMO) - 33:01
3. Sota Watanabe (Sunbelx) - 33:06
4. Toshiki Sadakata (Mitsubishi Juko) - 33:20
5. Kanta Ikeda (Chugoku Denryoku) - 33:33
Seventh Stage (15.6 km)
1. Takashi Ichida (Asahi Kasei) - 48:05
2. Daisuke Doi (Kurosaki Harima) - 48:08
3. Yuma Hattori (Toyota) - 48:10
4. Shin Kimura (Honda) - 48:14
5. Ryota Matono (Mitsubishi Juko) - 48:26
Top Team Results
1. Toyota - 4:49:02
2. Honda - 4:51:11
3. Asahi Kasei - 4:51:27
4. Kurosaki Harima - 4:52:40
5. Mitsubishi Juko - 4:53:45
6. Kao - 4:53:46
7. NTT Nishi Nihon - 4:53:47
8. GMO - 4:54:07
9. Fujitsu - 4:54:32
10. Chugoku Denryoku - 4:54:35
11. Toyota Boshoku - 4:54:39
12. Yasukawa Denki - 4:55:20
13. Toyota Kyushu - 4:55:21
14. Subaru - 4:55:34
15. Yakult - 4:56:42
16. Sunbelx - 4:56:45
17. JR Higashi Nihon - 4:56:45
18. SID Group - 4:56:45
19. SGH - 4:56:51
20. Kyudenko - 4:56:56
© 2024 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
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