Ekiden Weekend Breakdown

October is the official start of ekiden season, and this past weekend had the first 3 big races. Saturday in Chiba was the Kanto Region University Women's Ekiden, the regional qualifier for the Morinomiyako Ekiden in Sendai at the end of the month. Daito Bunka University, Josai University, Takushoku University and Tsukuba University were already qualified thanks to podium finishes at Morinomiyako last year, leaving 16 other schools in competition for 6 qualifying spots.

DBU and Josai both broke the overall CR for the 6-stage, 34.4 km course, DBU moving into the top spot on the 2nd leg and staying there the rest of the way to win in 1:50:05. It took until the 4th leg for Josai to move into 2nd, finishing in 1:51:21. Teikyo Kagaku University was the top new qualifier for Morinomiyako, 3rd in 1:53:58 after an early lead thanks to a new CR of 13:25 on the 4.3 km 1st leg by 1st-year Sayo Imanishi.

Tsukuba was as low down the field as 10th as late as the 4th leg but managed to claw its way up to 4th in 1:54:38 over the last 2 legs. Tamagawa University, Chuo University, Juntendo University, Nittai University and Surugadai University rounded out the list of qualifiers, with Tokyo Nogyo University beating Takushoku for 10th but not making the cut. Overall it was a really competitive day, with every leg seeing a new CR, 4 of them having multiple people under the old CR.

Sunday were the first 2 big high school ekidens, really one event but given different names for the girls' and boys' races. In the Kurayoshi Joshi Ekiden, the 5-stage, 21.0975 km girls' race, last year's National High School Ekiden 3rd-placer Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. dominated, its A-team winning in 1:08:25 with individual wins on 3 of the 5 legs, and its B-team taking 2nd in 1:10:14 over Hakuho Joshi H.S. Nationals 4th-placer Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. was 6th here, running only 1:12:03.

Yuzu Hasegawa of Higashi Osaka Keiai H.S. was one of the 2 girls to stop Osaka Kunei's A-team from taking every stage, outrunning Miyu Funaki by 1 second to win the 3.0 km 3rd leg in 9:44. Hakuho Joshi's Mary Akai was the other, 31 seconds faster than Osaka Kunei's Akari Niga to win the 3.0 km 4th leg in 9:27.

The Tottori Johoku H.S. A-team was the surprise winner in the 7-leg, 42.195 km Nihonkai Ekiden boys' race, outrunning National High School Ekiden champ Saku Chosei H.S. by almost 3 minutes to win for the first time in 2:04:24. Tottori Johoku's Ojiro Honda won the 10.0 km opening leg in 29:20, and his team never looked back the rest of the race. 3rd runner Junsei Murakami, 6th runner Takuma Minakata and anchor Ado Takenoshita all won their stages to contribute to the team's massive margin of victory.

Saku Chosei's B-team was a distant 2nd in 2:07:12, with its A-team just holding off the Rakuhoku H.S. A-team for 3rd 2:07:21 to 2:07:29. No Saku Chosei runners won their stages, the non-Tottori Johoku stage titles going to Antoni Ito Pareiyo (Fukuoka Daiichi H.S. B), 8:22 for the 3.0 km 2nd leg, Ren Kitamura (Kurashiki H.S.), 23:49 for the 8.0875 km 4th leg, and Kanade Iwasaki (Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S. A), 8:55 for the 3.1 km 5th leg.

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...

Hakone Ekiden Qualifying Race Entry Roster Sizes Increased from 14 to 16

Hakone Ekiden organizers KGRR have announced details for the qualifying half marathon for next year's 103rd Hakone Ekiden. The Yosenkai qualifying race will be held Oct. 17 in Tachikawa, Tokyo. The combined times of the 10 fastest finishers from each participating team will be used for team scoring, with the 10 fastest teams going on the the main event next January and top-placing individuals from teams that do not qualify being names to the Kanto Region Student Alliance select team. One change from previous years is that the number of runners each school can enter has been increased from 14 to 16. Teams will still only be allowed to have from 10 to 12 athletes on the starting line, but the move gives coaches greater flexibility in making the final decision on their starting rosters. No changes have been made to the qualifying times of 34:00 for 10000 m or 1:13:00 for the half marathon, and the new earlier starting time of 8:30 a.m. introduced last year in an effort to mitigate ...

Nomura and Odagiri Go 3-4 at Zevenheuvelenloop 15 km

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