Skip to main content

Saitama Wins Final East Japan Women's Ekiden With Dramatic Anchor Stage Turnaround by Yamanouchi


The final edition of the East Japan Women's Ekiden was held Nov. 10 in Fukushima, with teams of 9 athletes ranging from junior high school students to corporate leaguers representing the 18 prefectures in eastern and northern Japan competing over 42.195 km. For the first time in 18 years Saitama took the win, running 2:19:07 to score its fourth title in the event's 39-year history despite not taking a single individual stage title. Gunma was 2nd, with Tokyo placing 3rd.

Saitama's lead runner Wakana Fukuyama, a 2nd-year at Saitama Sakae H.S., started them off in 8th after the 6.0 km 1st leg. Over the next three legs Saitama moved up as high as 3rd, fluctuating a few spots over the stages of that but advancing to 2nd thanks to a great run from Tamai J.H.S. 3rd- year Momoka Ono on the second-to-last stage. That put Saitama's anchor Minami Yamanouchi from the Shimamura corporate team 30 seconds back from the leader, and with 10.0 km to work with and a strong run she was able to close it down and take the win.

39th East Japan Women's Ekiden

Fukushima, 10 Nov. 2024
18 teams, 9 stages, 42.195 km

Top Individual Stage Performances
First Stage (6.0 km) - Ayami Yoshida (Hokkaido) - 19:01
Second Stage (4.0 km) - Nami Kawakami (Nagano) - 12:52
Third Stage (3.0 km) - Yui Onotora (Miyagi) - 9:49
Fourth Stage (3.0 km) - Koko Fujisawa (Gunma) - 9:26
Fifth Stage (5.0875 km) - Aoi Hosokawa (Miyagi) - 16:33
Sixth Stage (4.1075 km) - Rena Imai (Nagano) - 12:51
Seventh Stage (4.0 km) - Koto Watanabe (Miyagi) - 13:09
Eighth Stage (3.0 km ) - Yuna Baba (Shizuoka) - 9:34
Ninth Stage (10.0 km ) - Kana Kobayashi (Gunma) - 31:55

Team Results
1. Saitama - 2:19:07
2. Gunma - 2:19:35
3. Tokyo - 2:19:52
4. Nagano - 2:19:58
5. Shizuoka - 2:20:11
6. Miyagi - 2:20:25
7. Fukushima - 2:20:37
8. Hokkaido - 2:22:03
9. Niigata - 2:22:12
10. Chiba - 2:22:38
11. Yamanashi - 2:22:46
12. Iwate - 2:23:18
13. Tochigi - 2:23:30
14. Ibaraki - 2:23:48
15. Kanagawa - 2:24:44
16. Akita - 2:25:51
17. Yamagata - 2:26:31
18. Aomori - 2:28:00


Comments

Most-Read This Week

'Kobe 2024: Aitchison, Athmani Lead Record-Breaking Thursday'

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-aitchison-athmani-lead-record-breaking-thursday Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships are here .

Japan's First Goldless Day - Asian Athletics Championships Day Four Highlights

Day 4 of the Bangkok Asian Athletics Championships was the first without a single gold medal going to Japan, but there were still enough silvers and bronzes to go around. Robyn Lauren Brown of the Philippines outclassed the rest of the women's 400 mH final field, taking gold in 57.50. Eri Utsunomiya and Ami Yamamoto made it a Japanese 2-3, Utsunomiya running 57.73 for silver and Yamamoto 57.80 for bronze. Yusaku Kodama also scored silver in the men's 400 mH, running 48.96 behind Qatari winner Bassem Hemeida 's 48.64. Yuki Yamasaki won bronze in the heptathlon with 5696 points, Uzbekistan's Ekaterina Voronina taking gold in 6098 and Swapna Barman silver in 5840. Teammate Karin Odama was 4th in 5487. Another bronze came in the mixed 4x400 m relay, with Japan running 3:15.71 behind India's 3:14.70 and Sri Lanka's 3:15.41. Naoto Hasegawa and Ryoichi Akamatsu both cleared 2.23 m in the men's high jump, Hasegawa finishing 4th overall and Akamatsu 5th. ...

'Kobe 2024: Monday Sees Shocking Wins on the Track and the Field'

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-monday-sees-shocking-wins-track-and-field Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships  are here .