Japan Post was back on top at the Queens Ekiden corporate women's national championships Sunday in Sendai, holding off last year's winner Sekisui Kagaku over the second half of a race that came as close as 1 second to take 1st with a final margin of victory of 27 seconds.
Sekisui Kagaku was out fast with a win on the 7.0 km opening leg by Erika Tanoura and a new CR for the 12:56 second leg by Yuma Yamamoto, 17 seconds better than her own CR from last year. Last year's 4th-placer Shiseido briefly led on the 10.6 km third leg with an excellent 33:17 stage win from Rino Goshima, but behind her Japan Post's Ririka Hironaka returned from her latest injury problems to pass Sekisui Kagaku's Sayaka Sato and hand off 6 seconds ahead.
New recruit Caroline Kariba ran Shiseido down on the 3.6 km fourth leg and put Japan Post 22 seconds ahead of Sekisui Kagaku, but a duel of marathoners between JP's Ayuko Suzuki and Sekisui's Hitomi Niiya on the 10.0 km fifth leg cut the difference down to only 1 second at the final exchange, Niiya at one point going ahead but Suzuki coming back to retake 1st. It all came down to Japan Post anchor Kotona Ota, who turned in a stage-winning 21:02 for the 6.795 km anchor leg, outrunning Sekisui's Chikako Mori by 26 seconds to put Japan Post in 1st in 2:13:54 to Sekisui Kagaku's 2:14:21.
18th last year, Shimamura was a surprise 3rd in 2:15:26 with especially good runs from last two runners Anna Suzuki and Yuna Takahashi. Last year's 3rd-placer Panasonic was 4th in 2:15:40, with Edion, Iwatani Sangyo and Daiichi Seimei taking the next three spots. Shiseido fell to 8th over the second half of the race, taking the final podium spot by only 9 seconds over Uniqlo, 2:17:00 to 2:17:09.
5th and 7th last year, Daihatsu and Tenmaya were off the podium this time, Tenmaya 10th in 2:17:38 and Daihatsu 11th in 2:18:05. The two debuting teams in the field, Tokyo Metro and Bears, were 20th in 2:21:19 and 23rd in 2:23:40. Still hurting from the transfer of star runner Mao Uesugi to Tokyo Metro, Starts was last in 2:23:54, 14 seconds behind Bears.
Queens Ekiden
44th Corporate Women's National Championships
Sendai, Miyagi, 24 Nov. 2024
24 teams, 6 stages, 42.195 km
Team Results
1. Japan Post - 2:13:54
2. Sekisui Kagaku - 2:14:21
3. Shimamura - 2:15:26
4. Panasonic - 2:15:40
5. Edion - 2:15:50
6. Iwatani Sangyo - 2:16:55
7. Daiichi Seimei - 2:16:57
8. Shiseido - 2:17:00
----- top 8 auto-qualify for 2025
9. Uniqlo 2:17:09
10. Tenmaya - 2:17:38
11. Daihatsu - 2:18:05
12. Toyota Jidoshokki - 2:18:15
13. Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo - 2:19:11
14. Sysmex - 2:19:31
15. Higo Ginko - 2:19:38
16. Otsuka Seiyaku - 2:19:42
17. Route Inn Hotels - 2:20:27
18. Hitachi - 2:20:32
19. Kyocera - 2:20:37
20. Tokyo Metro - 2:21:19 - debut
21. Denso - 2:22:31
22. Nitori - 2:23:25
23. Bears - 2:23:40 - debut
24. Starts - 2:23:54
Individual Stage Results
First Stage (7.0 km)
1. Erika Tanoura (Sekisui Kagaku) - 21:46
2. Shiori Yoshizono (Tenmaya) - 21:46
3. Miyaka Sugata (Japan Post) - 21:51
Second Stage (4.2 km)
1. Yuma Yamamoto (Sekisui Kagaku) - 12:56 - CR
2. Kae Gyu (Japan Post) - 13:08 (CR)
3. Ayano Ide (Shiseido) - 13:09 (CR)
Third Stage (10.6 km)
1. Rino Goshima (Shiseido) - 33:17
2. Ririka Hironaka (Japan Post) - 33:33
3. Nanami Watanabe (Panasonic) - 33:36
Fourth Stage (3.6 km)
1. Hellen Ekarare (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 10:59
2. Agnes Mwikali (Kyocera) - 11:09
3. Caroline Kariba (Japan Post) - 11:13
Fifth Stage (10.0 km)
1. Ai Hosoda (Edion) - 32:29
2. Anna Suzuki (Shimamura) - 32:42
3. Hitomi Niiya (Sekisui Kagaku) - 32:46
Sixth Stage (6.795 km)
1. Kotona Ota (Japan Post) - 21:02
2. Kazuna Kanetomo (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 21:21
3. Yuna Takahashi (Shimamura) - 21:26
© 2024 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
Comments
My takeaways from the race are:
1. There is a big difference between running a tactical marathon and running an Ekiden leg. Yuka Suzuki's pre race confidence and execution were miles apart. Erika Tanoura from Sekisui Kagaku was excellent and has been progressing very well this year in terms of her performances.
2. I get the feeling Mao Ichiyama is perhaps contemplating retirement or a break based on her post run comments. I understand she was meant to run the 4th stage but was put into the longer 5th stage at the last minute due to a right hamstring injury to Yuka Takashima so that goes a little way to explain her sub par performance.
https://www.rikujyokyogi.co.jp/archives/154207
3. Haruka Kokai and Wakana Kabasawa have performed below expectations post Olympics.
4. Rino Goshima is performing wonderfully well and perhaps should contemplate a move to the marathon distance.
5. Hitomi Niiya and Sayaka Sato performed well but below their best and this has been the trend with these two this year. I can't foresee Niiya breaking the marathon NR at the Houston marathon next year. I think she will finish 2:23 plus given her current condition. Ayuko Suzuki did very well to hang on to Niiya but interestingly, both were well behind Yuka Takashima's time from last year of 31:48 which demonstrates the drop in performance by Niiya.
6. Yuma Yamamoto continues to impress with her results. If she can improve her times then she will be a true force to be reckoned with. I believe she will be racing 5000m on 7th Dec in the Edion Distance Challenge with Haruka Kokai and Wakana Kabasawa amongst others where she hopes to get a PB. I will be interested to see what sort of time she can post.
7. Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo did not turn the tables on Uniqlo as I predicted. Maybe next year as I understand they recruited Seira Fuwa!
8. Fantastic TV coverage from TBS this year. They always do a great job and now with auto translate I can understand most of the commentary too which is excellent.