Skip to main content

Ekiden Season Kicks Off in Kanto and Okukuma


Ekiden season saw two of its first important races happen this weekend. Modeled after January's Kitakyushu Women's Invitational Ekiden, Sunday's Okukuma Ekiden in Kumamoto put corporate, collegiate and high school teams together on a marathon-length course with teams of 4 all running double-digit distances and high schoolers with teams of 7 and all but the 10.0 km First Stage split into two parts.

Tosu Kogyo H.S. starting runner Taiyo Iwasa led corporate leaguer Tomoya Ogikubo (Hiramatsu Byoin) by 2 seconds on the First Stage, with Omuta H.S. third runner Yuma Matsuda passing both teams to take the lead. It took until the anchor stage for Hiramatsu Byoin's Yeneblo Biyazen to catch Omuta, crossing the line in 2:06:39 with Omuta anchor Nobuyuki Anai 7 seconds back for 1st in the high school division. Soka University was the only other team to go under 2:07, 3rd overall and 2nd in the college/corporate division in 2:06:57. Rakunan H.S. was next in 2:07:07, with early leader Tosu Kogyo 3rd in the high school division and 5th overall in 2:07:44.


Saturday in Chiba, Kanto-region women's university teams faced off to qualify for the Oct. 27 Morinomiyako Ekiden national championships, 21 teams of 6 racing a total of 34.4 km with the top 7 teams advancing. Things were surprisingly fast, with 5 of the 6 stages seeing new course records, most with multiple people breaking the old CRs. Suzuna Kinoshita (Chuo Univ.) led off with a 13:35 CR on the 4.3 km First Stage, Yura Tanaka (Tsukuba Univ.) taking over the lead on the 3.0 km Second Stage with a 9:24 CR. Favorites Daito Bunka University got off to a slow start in 6th, but Sarah Wanjiru took over the lead on the 8.6 km Third Stage with a 27:46 CR and the rest of the DBU women kept them there, winning in 1:53:01.

The 5.6 km Fourth Stage was the only one not to see a new CR, as Mao Kogure (Juntendo Univ.) ran a 23:59 CR on the 7.3 km Fifth Stage and Yuka Komatsu (Tsukuba Univ.) an 18:14 CR on the 5.6 km anchor stage. Along with DBU, Nittai University, Tsukuba, Josai University, Juntendo and Chuo made the cut. Collegiate 10000 m record holder Seira Fuwa didn't run, but Takushoku University still took the last qualifying spot in 7th in 1:55:44, beating Teikyo Kagaku University by just 8 seconds to get there.

In non-ekiden road action:
  • Hidetoshi Hara of Koku Gakuin University won a competitive Yamagata Marugoto Half Marathon in 1:04:03, just 5 seconds up on teammate Rintaro Motoyama. Haruna Takano (PTC) won the women's race in 1:17:02.
  • Haruku Gyoten of Hosei University won the Takashimadaira Half Marathon in 1:04:42, with Akihiro Kaneko (Comodi Iida) taking the men's 10 km in 28:55 and Kenyan Margaret Akidor (Comodi Iida) winning the 5 km outright in 15:31. Former elite athlete Yuki Kawauchi was 246th among men and 268th overall in 1:33:38.
  • 2024 Hakone Ekiden runner-up Komazawa University's Seiryu Morishige won the Sapporo Half Marathon, soloing a 1:05:58 that put him over 5 minutes ahead of 2nd. Local Hina Shiozaki (Oligonol) won the women's race in 1:21:13.
  • Overseas, Uniqlo teammates Miku Hirashima and Yumi Yoshikawa were at the Twin Cities Marathon in the U.S. Hirashima took 7th in the marathon in 2:39:35 behind winner Molly Bookmyer's 2:28:52 PB, with Yoshikawa 8th in the 10-mile race in 53:58. Natosha Rogers won in 52:29.
On the track:
  • In Gifu the Chubu Region Corporate Track and Field Championships men's 10000 m saw Emmanuel Maru (Toyota Boshoku) lead the top 4 under 28 minutes with a quality 27:35.84. Former Chuo star Yamato Yoshii (Toyota) was one of the ones to get under 28 minutes, running a PB 27:58.79 for 4th.
  • At the Kansai Distance Challenge meet in Nara Shogo Hifumi (Osaka Police Dept.) go under 14 minutes with a 13:58.26 for the win in the men's 5000 m A-heat, with Yuri Tasaki (Sysmex) taking the women's 5000 m in 16:01.06.
  • The Tokai University Time Trials meet in Kanagawa had a decent men's 10000 m, with Kenta Sekiguchi (SGH) winning in 28:45.38 by 3 seconds over Chuo's Koichi Shoji.

3rd Okukuma Ekiden

Kumamoto, 6 Oct. 2024
open: 16 teams, 4 stages, 42.195 km
H.S.: 53 teams, 7 stages, 42.195 km

Top Individual Stage Results - High School
First Stage (10.0 km) - Taiyo Iwasa (Tosu Kogyo H.S. A) - 30:08
Second Stage (3.0 km) - Felix Muthiani (Yamanashi Gakuin H.S.) - 8:03
Third Stage (8.25 km) - Yuma Matsuda (Omuta H.S. A) - 24:39
Fourth Stage (7.9 km) - Shu Morimoto (Omuta H.S. A) - 24:15
Fifth Stage (3.0 km) - Ibuki Sugiyama (Kyushu Gakuin H.S.) - 8:26
Sixth Stage (5.2 km) - Raiki Ichinose (Kyushu Gakuin H.S.) - 15:19
Seventh Stage (4.845 km) - Takafumi Okuno (Rakunan H.S.) - 13:47

Top Individual Stage Results - University / Corporate
First Stage (10.0 km) - Tomoya Ogikubo (Hiramatsu Byoin A) - 30:10
Second Stage (11.25 km) - Yuichiro Ueno (Hiramatsu Byoin A) - 33:57
Third Stage (10.9 km) - Shoki Yamaguchi (Soka Univ. A) - 32:38
Fourth Stage (10.045 km) - Yeneblo Biyazen (Hiramatsu Byoin A) - 29:12

Top Team Results - High School
1. Omuta H.S. A - 2:06:46
2. Rakunan H.S. - 2:07:07
3. Tosu Kogyo H.S. A - 2:07:44
4. Kyushu Gakuin H.S. - 2:08:45
5. Saikyo H.S. - 2:09:21
6. Suma Gakuen H.S. - 2:09:31
7. Shiritsu Funabashi H.S. - 2:10:14
8. Tokyo Nogyo Daini H.S. - 2:10:26
9. Kobayashi H.S. A - 2:11:21
10. Chinzei Gakuin H.S. A - 2:11:27

Top Team Results - University / Corporate
1. Hiramatsu Byoin A - 2:06:39
2. Soka University A - 2:06:57
3. Aoyama Gakuin University A - 2:10:23
4. Soka University B - 2:10:51
5. Chugoku Denryoku - 2:11:13
6. Hiramatsu Byoin B - 2:11:16
7. Rikkyo Univ. - 2:11:33
8. Team Nitro - 2:12:40
9. Hiramatsu Byoin C - 2:14:28
10. Surugadai University - 2:14:40

Morinomiyako Ekiden Kanto Region Qualifier

Chiba, 5 Oct. 2024
21 teams, 6 stages, 34.4 km

Top Individual Stage Results
First Stage (4.3 km) - Suzuna Kinoshita (Chuo Univ.) - 13:35 - CR
Second Stage (3.0 km) - Yura Tanaka (Tsukuba Univ.) - 9:24 - CR
Third Stage (8.6 km) - Sarah Wanjiru (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 27:46 - CR
Fourth Stage (5.6 km) - Airi Tajima (Juntendo Univ.) - 18:22
Fifth Stage (7.3 km) - Mao Kogure (Juntendo Univ.) - 23:59 - CR
Sixth Stage (5.6 km) - Yuka Komatsu (Tsukuba Univ.) - 18:14 - CR

Top Team Results - top 7 qualify for Morinomiyako Ekiden
1. Daito Bunka University - 1:53:01
2. Nittai University - 1:53:25
3. Tsukuba University - 1:53:45
4. Josai University - 1:54:21
5. Juntendo University - 1:54:47
6. Chuo University - 1:55:07
7. Takushoku University - 1:55:44
-----
8. Teikyo Kagaku University - 1:55:52
9. Tamagawa University - 1:56:29
10. Toyo University - 1:56:38

© 2024 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Waseda Leads Top 7 Teams Under Izumo Ekiden CR, Ivy League Best-Ever 3rd (updated)

3rd last year, Waseda University scored its first Izumo Ekiden win since 2010, taking almost 2 minutes off the CR and leading the top 7 teams under the old record of 2:07:51 for the complete 6-stage, 45.1 km course. Waseda was 16 seconds back in 7th after the First Stage, but its 2nd runner Ojiro Honda made that up easily and put them 6 seconds out front. A massive 22:56 CR for the 8.5 km Third Stage by Shadrack Kipkemei (Nihon Univ.) dropped Waseda back to 2nd even though its runner Ryuki Suzuki broke the old CR too, but back-to-back CR on the next 2 stages by 1st-year Haruki Niizuma and Shunpei Yamaguchi put anchor Shinsaku Kudo out of reach of the rest of the field. Kudo duly won the 10.2 km anchor stage in 29:00, bypassing a 2:06 time entirely for a new 2:05:56 CR, just under 2:48/km average pace for the complete course. Defending champ Koku Gakuin University struggled a bit in the first half of the race but came on strong in the longer second half with 4th and 5th runners...
8 comments
Read more

Kipyegon Repeats, Toyo Wins Hakone Ekiden Qualifier in First Appearance in 21 Years

Back for the first time in 21 years after a disastrous 14th-place finish at the 102nd Hakone Ekiden this past January, Toyo University hit one out of western Tokyo's Showa Kinen Park with a solid win at the Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai, the half marathon that serves as the official qualifying race for the 103rd Hakone Ekiden. The top 10 teams in the Hakone auto-qualify for the following year, with the rest having to run the Yosenkai in October with a squad of 10 to 16 runners out of which the top 10 score on aggregate time, with the 10 fastest schools joining the Hakone field and top individuals from non-qualifying teams names to the Kanto Region Student Alliance select team to make up the complete Hakone field of 21. Driven in large part by an aggressive run from 3rd-year Yu Miyazaki , one of only 2 Japanese athletes to go with the big African contingent up front, Toyo won in 10:31:30, 1:03:09 or 2:59.6/km per athlete. As the first team to have broken the 3:00/km average pace barrie...
1 comment
Read more

Ngetich and Mutiso Take Down Tokyo Legacy Half CR

In its 5th edition the Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon scored 2 new course records via Kenyans from the Ikaika agency, with 10 km WR holder Agnes Ngetich blasting 3 minutes off the old record to win by over 4 in 1:04:23, and Alexander Mutiso skimming just 1 second under the CR for the win by 5 seconds in 59:51. The 2 races played out completely differently, even if the paydays were the same for the winners. Surrounded by an envelope of male runners all the way to the final 100 m, Ngetich was out hard on the downhill in the first 5 km, hitting it on sub-64 pace in 15:08 before leveling out on the flat middle 10 km. Her next 2 splits projected to 1:04:09 and 1:04:17, and even with the uphill back to the stadium in the last 5 km she didn't fall far off from that, winning in 1:04:23. Runner-up Tabitha Njeri Kamau was nearly a mile back in 1:08:28, with Kamau's Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo teammate Kazuna Kanetomo dropping a 1:10:17 PB for 3rd. Now an independent, track Olympian Kaede Ha...
2 comments
Read more