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Meijo Back With Morinomiyako Ekiden CR for National University Title


The last big dynasty school in Japanese women's distance running with 7-straight wins at October's Morinomiyako Ekiden from 2017 to 2023 and 6-straight titles at the season-ending Mt. Fuji Women's Ekiden from 2018 to 2023, Meijo University came back from a 3rd-place finish last year to win the 44th Morinomiyako Ekiden again, leading almost start-to-finish to set a 2:02:21 CR for the 6-stage, 38.0 km course in Sendai.

12 second back in 2nd after the opening leg, collegiate 3000 mSC champ Nozomi Kondo put Meijo out front with a 12:36 CR for the 4.0 km Second Stage, and the rest of the team never looked back. The biggest threat to a Meijo win was on the 9.2 m Fifth Stage, where this year's collegiate 10000 m winner Sarah Wanjiru from last year's runner-up Daito Bunka University started 50 seconds back from Meijo 1st-year Mao Kimura. In taking the 10000 m title Wanjiru had outrun Kimura by over a minute, but today Kimura was a revelation, strong and smooth out front as she outran Wanjiru by 18 seconds to win the stage in 28:50, a rare sub-29 clocking equivalent to a 31:20 10 km.

Meijo anchor Wakana Hashimoto had a cushion of over a minute but still delivered with an anchor stage best to bring Meijo home for the win in course record time. With only 2 people from today's roster set to graduate next spring we may be looking at the start of a new Meijo dynasty.

For Daito Bunka, the curse was real. 2nd 11 times in the last 13 years at Morinomiyako and 5 times in the last 8 at Mt. Fuji, DBU was a devastated 2nd again in 2:03:31. Despite crushing the Kanto Region University Women's Ekiden CR every year, they just can't win when it really counts. A peaking problem maybe? Either way, with some of its top people including Wanjiru and anchor Mariya Noda graduating DBU will have one last chance to break the curse at Mt. Fuji in December.

Defending champ Josai University was a mess from the start, 13th after the First Stage, dropping to 15th after the Second, then clawing its way up to an eventual 3rd-place finish in 2:05:02. That was an improvement over its DNF at the Kanto race earlier this season, but after getting beaten by almost a kilometer today it has a long way to go to be ready to challenge Meijo at Mt. Fuji.

A school-record 4th last year, local Tohoku Fukushi University managed 4th again today in 2:05:27 despite missing one of its star seniors Amisa Murayama, who struggled to be ready after her marathon debut in Hokkaido in August. 4th-year anchor Hikari Kobayashi was the highlight of TFU's lineup this time, running the 3rd-fastest time behind Hashimoto and Noda to move TFU up from 6th to 4th. If Murayama is back in time for Mt. Fuji then a 2nd-straight top 3 finish there could be in the cards.

Spending most of the race hovering around 3rd-4th, Juntendo University made the 8-deep podium for the first time with a 2:05:51 for 5th. Tsukuba University and Nittai University took 6th and 7th to make it 5 Kanto Region teams on the podium, with Osaka Gakuin University anchor coming through with a big run to move up into 8th and keep OGU's decade-plus podium streak going.

2024 winner Ritsumeikan University was the biggest disaster of the day, finishing off the podium for the first time since 1997 at 9th. Toyo University rounded out the top 10, but 11th-placer Teikyo Kagaku University deserves a special mention. A new program that debuted at Morinomiyako in 2024 with a 12th-place finish and repeated with another 12th last year, TKU scored its first-ever stage win when 2nd-year Sayo Imanishi won the First Stage by 12 seconds. It's not unusual to see 2nd-tier teams with one good runner put them on First and then disappear, but TKU stayed in it most of the way, its 2nd runner Misaki Nagahama taking 3rd on her stage and 4th runner Ema Yamada 5th on hers. 5th runner Mao Ishikawa dropped back toward the back of the podium before anchor Momoka Watanabe dropped to its ultimate position of 11th. But even that was a school record, and with a the entire team returning next year look for TKU to be a podium contender next time around.

Special recognition also to 21st-place Nihon Fukushi University. Making its Morinomiyako debut with a lineup that included collegiate triathlon champ Ayame Hayashi on the opening leg, NFU was the last team to avoid getting white sashed and finish the race with the same tasuki Hayashi wore at the start, NFU managed what 6 other more experienced teams couldn't. And in the ekiden world, that counts for a lot.

The Mt. Fuji Women's Ekiden is the next big race on the collegiate women's calendar, ending the year on Dec. 30.

Morinomiyako Ekiden

44th National University Women's Ekiden
Sendai, Miyagi, 25 October 2026
27 teams, 6 stages, 38.0 km

Top Individual Stage Performances
First Stage (6.6 km)
1. Sayo Imanishi (2nd yr., Teikyo Kagaku Univ.) - 20:57
2. Airi Mashiba (1st yr., Meijo Univ.) - 21:09
3. Airi Tajima (4th yr., Juntendo Univ.) - 21:09
4. Misato Kon (4th yr., Tsukuba Univ.) - 21:23
5. Momoko Fujishige (1st yr., Toyo Univ.) - 21:25

Second Stage (4.0 km)
1. Nozomi Kondo (3rd yr., Meijo Univ.) - 12:36 - CR
2. Ayaka Suzuki (2nd yr., Daito Bunka Univ.) - 12:51
3. Misaki Nagahama (1st yr., Teikyo Kagaku Univ.) - 12:57
4. Erina Kon (4th yr., Kyoto Sangyo Univ.) - 12:58
5. Yua Sato (2nd yr., Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 13:03
5. Mizuki Endo (2nd yr., Osaka Geijutsu Univ.) - 13:03

Third Stage (5.8 km)
1. Mio Motozawa (3rd yr., Josai Univ.) - 18:54
2. Kaede Rikimaru (4th yr., Meijo Univ.) - 18:59
2. Mitsuki Fujitani (1st yr., Juntendo Univ.) - 18:59
4. Yuna Naruse (2nd yr., Daito Bunka Univ.) - 19:00
5. Yurino Suzuki (2nd yr., Tohoku Fukushi Univ.) - 19:00

Fourth Stage (4.8 km)
1. Ichigo Ishikawa (4th yr., Josai Univ.) - 15:41
2. Momoka Yokoyama (1st yr., Nittai Univ.) - 15:46
3. Miku Muraoka (4th yr., Meijo Univ.) - 16:02
4. Ryo Kurashina (1st yr., Toyo Univ.) - 16:07
5. Ema Yamada (3rd yr., Teikyo Kagaku Univ.) - 16:08

Fifth Stage (9.2 km)
1. Mao Kimura (1st yr., Meijo Univ.) - 28:50
2. Sarah Wanjiru (4th yr., Daito Bunka Univ.) - 29:08
3. Kyo Honma (2nd yr., Josai Univ.) - 29:42
4. Sakura Yumiki (2nd yr., Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 30:16
5. Nazuki Sasaki (4th yr., Tohoku Fukushi Univ.) - 30:22
5. Asahi Shirakawa (3rd yr., Tsukuba Univ.) - 30:22

Sixth Stage (7.6 km)
1. Wakana Hashimoto (2nd yr., Meijo Univ.) - 24:45
2. Mariya Noda (4th yr., Daito Bunka Univ.) - 24:47
3. Hikari Kobayashi (4th yr., Tohoku Fukushi Univ.) - 25:01
4. Yuna Onishi (2nd yr., Josai Univ.) - 25:09
5. Ichino Saito (3rd yr., Nittai Univ.) - 25:26

Team Results - top 8 seeded for 2027
1. Meijo University (Tokai Region) - 2:02:21 - CR
2. Daito Bunka University (Kanto Region) - 2:03:31
3. Josai University (Kanto Region) - 2:05:02
4. Tohoku Fukushi University (Tohoku Region) - 2:05:27
5. Juntendo University (Kanto Region) - 2:05:51
6. Tsukuba University (Kanto Region) - 2:06:20
7. Nittai University (Kanto Region) - 2:06:25
8. Osaka Gakuin University (Kansai Region) - 2:06:45
-----
9. Ritsumeikan University (Kansai Region) - 2:07:15
10. Toyo University (Kanto Region) - 2:07:18
11. Teikyo Kagaku University (Kanto Region) - 2:07:41
12. Tamagawa University (Kanto Region) - 2:07:41
13. Osaka Geijutsu University (Kansai Region) - 2:09:18
14. Hakuoh University (Kanto Region) - 2:09:54
15. Kansai Universtiy (Kansai Region) - 2:10:10
16. Tokyo Nogyo University (Kanto Region) - 2:11:28
17. Kyoto Sangyo University (Kansai Region) - 2:12:15
18. Fukuoka University (Kyushu Region) - 2:12:23
19. Bukkyo University (Kansai Region) - 2:13:11
20. Takushoku University (Kanto Region) - 2:13:22
21. Nihon Fukushi University (Tokai Region) - 2:14:02
22. Niigata Iryo Fukushi University (Hokushinetsu Region) - 2:15:45
OP - Tohoku Region Select Team - 2:19:29
23. Tohoku University (Tohoku Region) - 2:19:48
24. Kyushu Universtiy (Kyushu Region) - 2:21:35
25. Kantaiheiyo Universtiy (Chugoku-Shikoku Region) - 2:21:35
26. Hokkaido University (Hokkaido Region) - 2:21:58

© 2026 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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