Following last weekend's East Japan and Kyushu Region corporate ekidens, qualification for the New Year Ekiden corporate men's national championship wrapped up Sunday with 3 other qualifying races covering 4 corporate regions. As in East Japan and Kyushu, one extra slot per region was available in honor of the New Year Ekiden's 70th running to the top team finishing outside the designated number of qualifying spots in that region as long as the they finished within 10 minutes of the last team in the regular qualifying bracket.
In the combined Chubu and Hokuriku Region race, Toyota Boshoku took over the lead on the 3rd leg and never looked back, leading the 6 qualifying teams by 57 seconds in 3:54:00 for the 7-leg, 80.5 km course. Just over 2 minutes back from 6th finisher NTN, the Toenec team scored the special qualification slot in 4:00:35 for 7th.
Perennial top Hokuriku placer YKK had a relatively narrow win over Sekino Kosan 4:00:12 to 4:01:00, both teams going on to the big show on Jan. 1. 3rd-placer Finth missed out on the time qualifying spot and its first-ever New Year Ekiden by only 32 seconds when it was 3rd in 4:11:32. In a normal year Finth would be hopelessly out of range of getting to the New Year, making the near-miss extra painful.
4 New Year slots were available in the Chugoku Region, where Chugoku Denryoku and Chudenko battled back and forth in a close race for the win. Chugoku Denryoku got there first in 3:58:08 for 80.8 km thanks in big part to CR runs from 4th man Hayato Nomura and rookie anchor Yuta Kubode, a new arrival this season from Josai University. Mazda and JFE Steel took the other 2 qualifying spots, with 5th-placer Takeda Yakuhin missing the bonus spot by 1:20.
The Kansai Region also had 4 qualifying places to fill. Sumitomo Denko started out slow in 6th, but 2nd runner Haruki Sato took over the lead and they were never at risk again. Anchor Hiroki Nagayama ran a superfluous 36:33 CR for the 12.8 km 7th leg, giving Sumitomo Denko the win in 3:54:54 for 80.45 km. SG Holdings was exactly one minute back in 2nd, with Osaka Gas and Otsuka Seiyaku taking the other 2 places and the Osaka Police team qualifying in the bonus position in 5th 2:05 behind Otsuka Seiyaku. In the only upset of the 3 races, NTT Nishi Nihon failed to qualify despite leading after the 1st leg, ultimately finishing 6th 30 seconds behind the Osaka Police when 2 of its top members, Hazuma Hattori and Taishi Ito, where ran only the 6th-fastest times on their legs.
65th Chubu Region / 55th Hokuriku Region Corporate Ekiden
Tahara, Aichi, 9 Nov. 2025
16 teams, 7 stages, 80.5 km
top 6 Chubu teams qualify for New Year Ekiden
top 2 Hokuriku teams qualify
Top Chubu Region Team Results
1. Toyota Boshoku A - 3:54:00
2. Toyota A - 3:54:57
3. Aisan Kogyo - 3:56:12
4. Aichi Seiko - 3:57:33
5. Chuo Hatsujo - 3:57:40
OP - Toyota Boshoku B
6. NTN - 3:58:17
7. Toenec - 4:00:35
-----
OP - Toyota B - 4:00:59
8. Gotemba SDF Base - 4:16:05
Hokuriku Region Team Results
1. YKK - 4:00:12
2. Sekino Kosan - 4:01:00
-----
3. Finth - 4:11:32
4. Takada SDF Base - 4:13:47
Top Individual Stage Results
First Stage (12.0 km) - Shoya Kawase (NTN) - 35:27
Second Stage (8.3 km) - Kelvin Kiplagat (Aisan Kogyo) - 22:36 - CR tie
Third Stage (12.2 km) - Taishi Yamada (Aichi Seiko) - 34:55
Fourth Stage (15.5 km) - Yuma Nishizawa (Toyota Boshoku A) - 44:24
Fifth Stage (12.2 km) - Masashi Nonaka (Toyota A) - 36:27
Sixth Stage (8.5 km) - Kento Kikutani (Toyota Boshoku A) - 24:48
Seventh Stage (11.8 km) - Takuya Hanyu (Toyota Boshoku A) - 34:08
64th Chugoku Region Corporate Ekiden
Sera, Hiroshima, 9 Nov. 2025
11 teams, 7 stages, 80.8 km
top 4 teams qualify for New Year Ekiden
Top Team Results
1. Chugoku Denryoku - 3:58:08
2. Chudenko - 3:59:35
3. Mazda - 4:00:09
4. JFE Steel - 4:04:10
-----
5. Takeda Yakuhin - 4:15:30
Top Individual Stage Results
First Stage (12.5 km) - Shunya Kikuchi (Chugoku Denryoku) - 36:57
Second Stage (7.2 km) - Dan Kiplangat (JFE Steel) - 19:22
Third Stage (11.6 km) - Yuta Azuma (Chudenko) - 35:01
Fourth Stage (9.0 km) - Hayato Nomura (Chugoku Denryoku) - 25:35 - CR
Fifth Stage (9.0 km) - Hitoshi Okahara (Chudenko) - 26:59 - CR
Sixth Stage (19.0 km) - Kanta Ikeda (Chugoku Denryoku) - 55:58
Seventh Stage (12.5 km) - Jun Nobuto (Mazda) - 35:55 - CR
68th Kansai Region Corporate Ekiden
Wakayama, 9 Nov. 2025
13 teams, 7 stages, 80.45 km
top 4 teams qualify for New Year Ekiden
Top Team Results
1. Sumitomo Denko - 3:54:54
2. SG Holdings - 3:55:54
3. Osaka Gas - 3:56:42
4. Otsuka Seiyaku - 3:58:32
5. Osaka Police - 4:00:37
-----
6. NTT Nishi Nihon - 4:01:07
Top Individual Stage Results
First Stage (12.6 km) - Haruki Minatoya (NTT Nishi Nihon) - 38:26
Second Stage (7.68 km) - Haruki Sato (Sumitomo Denko) - 22:20
Third Stage (10.87 km) - Ren Umezaki (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 29:59 - CR
Fourth Stage (9.5 km) - Yuichiro Nishikawa (Sumitomo Denko) - 26:51
Fifth Stage (16.0 km) - Kento Nishi (Osaka Gas) - 46:45 - CR
Sixth Stage (11.0 km) - Shuya Iwami (Sumitomo Denko) - 32:57
Seventh Stage (12.8 km) - Hiroki Nagayama (Sumitomo Denko) - 36:33 - CR
© 2025 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
Comments