Skip to main content

Koku Gakuin Wins National University Ekiden for First Time in Anchor Stage Turnaround


Last month's Izumo Ekiden season opener was unusually action-packed with turnovers in the lead on every stage and a dramatic showdown between anchors Kotaro Shinohara (Komazawa Univ,), Aoi Ota (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) and Kiyoto Hirabayashi (Koku Gakuin Univ.). All three schools were expected to be up front again at today's National University Men's Ekiden, and race-morning lineup changes unexpectedly put Shinohara, Ota and Hirabayashi against each other again on the 2nd-to-last stage of the day.

Komazawa was immediately in trouble when its first two runners Kosuke Shimako and Shunsuke Kuwata tanked, falling to 16th. AGU was out front after two of the eight legs, with Hibiki Yoshida from Izumo 4th-placer Soka University giving him a run for it and both just missing the 2nd leg CR. AGU led the rest of the way, with a 33:03 CR for the 11.8 km 4th leg by Asahi Kuroda giving it a lead of almost 1:30 that it took another CR from KGU's Ayumu Yamamoto to cut back down to just 4 seconds.

That meant AGU's Ota had only a 4-second lead over KGU's Hirabayashi with 17.6 km to go to the final exchange. Shinohara, on the other hand, was almost 3 minutes behind in 5th. Both Ota and Hirabayashi clocked 50:07, meaning it would be up to anchors Shota Shiode and Ryuto Uehara to decide the win. Shinohara outran both by 10 seconds, his 49:57 making him only the third man to break 50 minutes on the 7th leg, but with a 2:37 deficit for Komazawa anchor Takuma Yamakawa Komazawa's chances of a 5th-straight win were gone. Or so it seemed.

One of the things about the ekiden is that it's hard to put together a team that's 100% strong and ready, and the weak links can be anywhere. For Komazawa that was early on, but for AGU and KGU it came at the very end. Shiode blew up hard, running only the 15th-fastest time on the stage and watching helplessly as KGU's Uehara disappeared ahead of him. But Uehara had problems of his own, only 9th-fastest on the stage despite taking the lead. Meanwhile Komazawa's Yamakawa was in the middle of dropping the 2nd-fastest time ever by a Japanese man on the anchor stage, blowing by Shiode and closing over two minutes on Uehara, who started looking back in a panic when he realized what was happening.

In the end Uehara held on to bring KGU home to its first-ever national title, covering the 106.8 km course in 5:09:56. Komazawa was next in 5:10:24, a solid run given its first two stages. AGU was 3rd in 5:10:41, with Soka 4th in 5:13:17 to duplicate the top 4 from Izumo. Minus Izumo's Ivy League team, the next two teams Waseda University and Josai University also duplicated their Izumo placings, with Rikkyo University running strong over the 2nd half of the race to take 7th in its Nationals debut and hold Izumo 8th-placer Teikyo University back to the last place on the 8-deep podium here too.

Doubling from the Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai qualifier half marathon two weeks ago, Tokyo Kokusai University was the first team off the podium at 9th. Strong on paper, Chuo University and Tokai University showed the same problems they had at the Yosenkai, Chuo only 12th and Tokai last among the Kanto Region teams in the race at 15th.

Next up on the calendar of important races on the collegiate men's calendar is the Ageo City Half Marathon in two weeks, where most Hakone-bound teams will run their complete rosters to help coaches thin down the short list for their Hakone lineup. A week after that is the Hachioji Long Distance meet, where the very top including Komazawa's Shinohara will be shooting for national records over 5000 m and 10000 m.

56th National University Men's Ekiden

Nagoya-Ise, 3 Nov. 2024
27 teams, 8 stages, 106.8 km

Top Individual Stage Performances
First Stage (9.5 km)
1. Ryuto Hirashima (Nittai Univ.) - 28:18
2. Junpei Kakazu (Koku Gakuin Univ.) - 28:20
3. Eiki Kogure (Soka Univ.) - 28:20

Second Stage (11.1 km)
1. Masaya Tsurukawa (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 31:04
2. Hibiki Yoshida (Soka Univ.) - 31:05
3. Amos Kibet (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) - 31:37

Third Stage (11.9 km)
1. Victor Kimutai (Josai Univ.) - 33:22
2. Aoi Ito (Komazawa Univ.) - 33:39
3. Hikari Tsujihara (Koku Gakuin Univ.) - 33:59

Fourth Stage (11.8 km)
1. Asahi Kuroda (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 33:03 - CR
2. Shoya Saito (Josai Univ.) - 33:41
3. Haru Taninaka (Komazawa Univ.) - 33:44

Fifth Stage (12.4 km)
1. Hiromichi Nonaka (Koku Gakuin Univ.) - 35:35
2. Stephen Muthini (Soka Univ.) - 35:41
3. Shunpei Yamaguchi (Waseda Univ.) - 36:08

Sixth Stage (12.8 km)
1. Ayumu Yamamoto (Koku Gakuin Univ.) - 36:47 - CR
2. Kosei Shiraishi (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 37:24
3. Kaisei Yasuhara (Komazawa Univ.) - 37:39

Seventh Stage (17.6 km)
1. Kotaro Shinohara (Komazawa Univ.) - 49:57
2. Kiyoto Hirabayashi (Koku Gakuin Univ.) - 50:07
2. Aoi Ota (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 50:07

Eighth Stage (19.7 km)
1. Takuma Yamakawa (Komazawa Univ.) - 57:09
2. Yuma Nozawa (Soka Univ.) - 57:48
3. Shinsaku Kudo (Waseda Univ.) - 58:12

Team Results
1. Koku Gakuin University - 5:09:56
2. Komazawa University - 5:10:24
3. Aoyama Gakuin University - 5:10:41
4. Soka University - 5:13:17
5. Waseda University - 5:14:24
6. Josai University - 5:14:57
7. Rikkyo University - 5:16:21
8. Teikyo University - 5:16:24
-----
9. Tokyo Kokusai University - 5:17:46
10. Nittai University - 5:17:52
11. Daito Bunka University - 5:18:08
12. Chuo University - 5:19:49
13. Toyo University - 5:20:08
OP - National University Select Team - 5:21:31
14. Kanagawa University - 5:22:42
15. Tokai University - 5:23:43
16. Kyoto Sangyo University - 5:28:58
17. Kogakkan University - 5:31:36
OP - Tokai Region University Select Team - 5:32:20
18. Osaka Keizai University - 5:32:53
19. Kansai University - 5:33:52
20. Sapporo Gakuin University - 5:35:50
21. Kagoshima University - 5:37:24
22. Ritsumeikan University - 5:38:18
23. Okayama University - 5:40:11
24. Niigata University - 5:40:28
25. Tohoku University - 5:57:12

© 2024 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Federation Tells World Championships Marathoner Horibata To Go On Diet

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20110307-OHT1T00258.htm translated by Brett Larner Having made the 2011 World Championships marathon team by running a PB of 2:09:25 to come in 3rd overall and as the top Japanese finisher at the Mar. 6 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Hiroyuki Horibata (24, Team Asahi Kasei), talked to the media at Osaka Airport on Mar. 7. Following Sunday's race Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki , 67, told Horibata, "Let's cut things down a bit until the World Championships," directing him to go on a diet. The 189 cm Horibata weighs 72 kg [~6'3", 160 lbs]. When he joined Team Asahi Kasei in 2005 at age 18 he weighed 65 kg, and this weight is still generally listed on his profile at races and in the media. "For some reason it never changes," he said with a grin. His coach Takeshi Soh , 58, commented, "If he was hungrier for glory his world would change completely," slapping the 'heavyweight division runner...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nagoya Asian Games Test Event Canceled After Insulation Falls From Venue Ceiling

A section of insulation material fell from the ceiling of Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, the official venue for squash competition at September's Nagoya Asian Games. There were no injuries, but the city suspended use of the arena until its safety could be guaranteed, resulting in the cancelation of the Asian Games squash test event which was scheduled to have begun on May 14. It is not yet clear whether the arena will be usable for the Asian Games as planned. According to city officials, arena staff found that the insulation material had fallen onto a work walkway 13 m above the ground on the night of May 11. The fallen material was 3.6 m long, 50 cm wide and 2.5 km thick, and was found to be waterlogged. The cause of the accident is unknown, but it is possible that it was caused by rainwater leaking in from the roof. The same insulation material is installed across the entire ceiling, and the city plans to check for the extent of the possible flooding. Asked whether the arena will be re...
Post a Comment
Read more

Everything You Need to Know About the 2026 Hakone Ekiden

The Hakone Ekiden is the world's biggest road race, 2 days of road relay action with Japan's 20 best university teams racing 10 half marathon-scale legs from central Tokyo to the mountains east of Mount Fuji and back. The level just keeps going higher and higher , hitting the point this year where there are teams with 10-runner averages of 13:33.10 for 5000 m, 27:55.98 for 10000 m, and 1:01:20 for the half marathon. It's never been better, and with great weather in the forecast it's safe to say this could be one of the best races in Hakone's 102-year history, especially on Day One. If you've seen it then you know NTV's live broadcast is the best sports broadcast in the world, with the pre-race show kicking off at 7:00 a.m. Japan time on the 2nd and 3rd and the race starting at 8:00 a.m. sharp. If you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it on TVer starting at 7:50 a.m. on the 2nd , and again at 7:50 a.m. on the 3rd . There's even a 2-hour high...
3 comments
Read more