Kunei Joshi Gakuin Girls Threepeat, Saku Chosei and Kobayashi Boys Break CR in Season-Opening H.S. Ekidens
The 41st Kurayoshi Women's Ekiden and 45th Nihonkai Ekiden took place Oct. 4 in Kurayoshi, Tottori, the first big national-level high school ekidens of the season. In the 5-stage, 21.0975 km Kurayoshi race, the Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin girls' A team won for the third year in a row in 1:09:11, its 5th win in event history.
Kunei Joshi 3rd-year Mai Fukumoto got them off to a good start with a 3rd-place finish on the 6.0 km First Stage in 19:30. 1500 m national high school champion Waka Murai, also a 3rd-year, ran the fastest time on the 4.0975 km Second Stage, 12:46, to make up the 11-second gap to the leader and move into 1st.
From there on out the younger runners on the team excelled. 1st-year Mei Imanishi extended the lead to 31 seconds on the 3.0 km Third Stage, and 2nd-years Kaia Okuno and Kotoko Asahi placed near the top on the 3.0 km Fourth Stage and 5.0 km Fifth Stage to give Kunei Joshi the overall win by 1:10.
Kanagawa's Hakuho Joshi H.S. was 2nd in 1:10:21 thanks in part to a win on the opening stage by 2nd-year Mia Kushibuchi. Kyoto's Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. was 9 seconds back in 3rd in 1:10:30, with the Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin B-team placing 4th.
In the 7-stage, 42.195 km Nihonkai race, Nagano's Saku Chosei H.S. boys' A-team set a new course record of 2:03:16 for the win. 2nd-year Ryuji Sakai was 7th on the 10.0 km opening stage. The team's position improved to 5th by the start of the Fourth Stage, where 3rd-year Gaku Kokai ran 24:01 to take the top spot on the stage and move up into 3rd, 31 seconds behind leader Tottori Johoku H.S. A. Saku Chosei's 5th runner Naoto Akasaka was the fastest on his stage too, closing the gap to 10 seconds, and 6th runner Takehiro Azusawa shaved off a few more seconds to put anchor Hirotaka Sato into position for a last-stage reversal for the win.
Kyoto's Rakunan H.S. A-team was 2nd in 2:03:31. Lead runner Kain Inagaki was a strong 2nd on his stage, and 2nd runner Yuta Tanaka took the lead at one point. By the Sixth Stage Rakunan had dropped to 3th, but anchor Koki Ishihara ran the 2nd-fastest time on his leg to pass 2 people and put Rakunan into 2nd overall.
Saku Chosei's B-team, made up mostly of 2nd-years, was also solid. For the first three stages it was actually ahead of the A-team, and 6th runner Yawara Fukushima ran the fastest time on his stage, helping the B-team take 3rd overall in 2:03:38. Last year's winner Tottori Johoku was 4th in 2:03:40, with all 4 of the top teams bettering Tottori Johoku's 2025 winning time and breaking the CR.
A more recent rival event that puts high school, university and corporate league teams together in one race, Kumamoto's Okukuma Men's Ekiden had its 5th running on Sunday as well. Teams of 4 runners handles the 42.195 km distance in the university and corporate league divisions, with the high school division splitting the longer stages up with teams of 7.
Tokyo Nogyo Daini H.S. led on the 10.0 km opening leg. The first major action came on the high school division Second Stage, where the lead came down to a sprint battle between Tokyo Nogyo's Shunki Iori and Rui Araki of Miyazaki's Kobayashi H.S. With 5 of its 7 runners coming from Kumamoto, Kobayashi led all the way to the anchor stage. But it wasn't over, with last year's winner Kyushu Gakuin H.S. right behind them.
Kyushu Gakuin anchor Rikuto Sugiyama caught up to Kobayashi's Ryuta Noguchi, setting up a sprint battle for the win. Sugiyama went for it with 1 km to go, but Noguchi waited until the last 500 m to respond. It went right til the end, but Noguchi held on to give Kobayashi H.S. the win in a 2:02:44 CR. Kyushu Gakuin was 2nd, with top university division team Koku Gakuin University 3rd overall.
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translated and edited by Brett Larner
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