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Route Inn Hotels Win National Corporate Women's Ekiden Qualifier for First Time


After Saturday's Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai qualifying race in Tokyo, 2nd-tier corporate women's teams were in Fukuoka for their own national championships qualifying race, the Princess Ekiden. With Queens Ekiden 19-placer Otsuka Seiyaku a DNS, 30 teams lined up for the 6-stage, 42.195 km race where the top 16 would go on to join the top 8 from last year's Queens Ekiden at next month's national race.

Coming right in the middle of the international fall marathon season several teams had people still tired from Berlin and Chicago, with Daihatsu fielding Rika Kaseda and Natsuki Omori from Berlin, Tokyo Metro sending out its own Berlin duo of Mao Uesugi and Ayumi Morita, and Kraftia not playing its top member Yuka Akasaki after her solid run in Chicago last week.

After a fast start from eventual 9th-placer Denso's Rio Matsutani, Daihatsu took over on the Second Stage and held it until the Fifth, where a tired Omori dropped to 3rd. Mayuka Fujita from Route Inn Hotels, 22nd of 24 at last year's Queens Ekiden, took the top spot, and anchor Kotone Hoshina held on to give Route Inn its first-ever Princess Ekiden win in 2:18:48. Fujita was the only runner on the team to make top 3 on her stage, which says a lot about Route Inn's overall development of a well-balanced program.

Daihatsu anchor Chinatsu Takeda ran down Toyota Jidoshokki's Misaki Shitamori for 2nd, 2:18:55 to 2:19:13. A visibly exhausted Uesugi ran only the 23rd-fastest time on the 10.7 km Third Stage, dropping Tokyo Metro from 14th to 19th and out of the qualifying bracket, but Morita dragged them back into 16th on the Fifth Stage and anchor Asuka Ito safely bringing them home 15th in 2:22:20. Without Akasaki Kraftia struggled around 20th place for most of the race, 5th runner Wakana Itsuki pulling them up to 17th for a minute but ultimately finishing outside the qualifying bracket at 18th in 2:23:14.

Along with Kraftia, Ehime Ginko and Higo Ginko didn't make it back to Queens this year, with Nitori, Toto and Denso taking their places. Higo Ginko was one of 2 teams to DNF when its lead runner Mayu Tsukamoto collapsed mid-stage. Kagoshima Ginko was the other, with a DNF by 5th runner Yuka Nomura.

Standout individual performances included a Third Stage win by Canon's Yumi Yoshikawa, fresh off her top Japanese placing in the World Road Running Championships half marathon, that took Canon from 19th to 7th, 16th-place Kyocera's Agnes Mwikali taking 12 seconds off her own CR on the Fourth Stage in 11:07 for 3.8 km, and an anchor stage CR of 21:00 for 6.695 km by 3000 mSC NR holder Miu Saito from 5th-place Panasonic.

But the performance of the day actually came from anchor stage runner-up Nanaka Miyahara of Toto. The previous Sixth Stage CR of 21:15 was set by Paris Olympian Kaede Hagitani, who had PBs of 14:59.36 and 31:35.67. Along with her 3000 mSC NR of 9:24.72 Saito has run 15:02.68 and 31:08.28. Miyahara has bests of 16:07.82 and 33:51.36, but starting far back from Saito in 14th place she rocked a 21:05, 10 seconds under Hagitani's old CR, only 5 seconds slower than Saito's new one, and taking Toto all the way up to 7th after they had finished 27th last year. It was hardly a surprise to see Saito get the record, but it couldn't have been more surprising to see someone like Miyahara get so close to her. Sometimes you get to see ekidens bring out people's best, and this was definitely one of those times.

The top 16 teams now join national champion Edion and 2025 podium placers Japan Post, Sekisui Kagaku, Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo, Shiseido, Uniqlo, Tenmaya and Shimamura in the Queens Ekiden field in Sendai on Nov. 22.

Princess Ekiden

Fukuoka, 18 October 2026
30 teams, 6 stages, 42.195 km
top 16 teams qualify for Queens Ekiden

Team Results
1. Route Inn Hotels - 2:18:48
2. Daihatsu - 2:18:55
3. Toyota Jidoshokki - 2:19:13
4. Iwatani Sangyo - 2:19:26
5. Panasonic - 2:20:06
6. Nitori - 2:20:12
7. Toto - 2:20:17
8. Noritz - 2:20:34
9. Denso - 2:20:39
10. Daiichi Life - 2:20:44
11. Starts - 2:20:56
12. Sysmex - 2:20:59
13. Canon - 2:21:49
14. Universal Entertainment - 2:22:08
15. Tokyo Metro - 2:22:20
16. Kyocera - 2:22:25
-----
17. Hitachi - 2:23:11
18. Kraftia - 2:23:14
19. Wacoal - 2:23:16
20. Bears - 2:23:53
21. 18 Ginko - 2:24:33
22. Senko - 2:26:29
23. Aichi Denki - 2:27:17
24. Comodi Iida - 2:27:23
25. Ehime Ginko - 2:27:29
26. Daiso - 2:27:53
27. SID Group - 2:30:48
28. Shin Nihon Jusetsu - 2:32:51
DNF - Higo Ginko
DNF - Kagoshima Ginko

Top Individual Stage Performances
First Stage (7.0 km)
1. Rio Matsutani (Denso) - 22:05
2. Hisami Ishii (Sysmex) - 22:11
3. Ayaka Murao (Daihatsu) - 22:27

Second Stage (3.6 km)
1. Yuzu Nishide (Daihatsu) - 11:20
2. Mahiro Hasegawa (Iwatani Sangyo) - 11:27
3. Rio Wakai (Wacoal) - 11:30

Third Stage (10.7 km)
1. Yumi Yoshikawa (Canon) - 35:03
2. Rika Kaseda (Daihatsu) - 35:15
3. Ayu Henmi (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 35:35

Fourth Stage (3.8 km)
1. Agnes Mwikali (Kyocera) - 11:07 - CR
2. Janet Nyiva (Panasonic) - 11:23
3. Janet Jepkoech (Nitori) - 11:27

Fifth Stage (10.4 km)
1. Kaede Kawamura (Iwatani Sangyo) - 34:15
2. Sara Isobe (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 34:38
3. Mayuka Fujita (Route Inn Hotels) - 34:45

Sixth Stage (6.695 km)
1. Miu Saito (Panasonic) - 21:00 - CR
2. Nanaka Miyahara (Toto) - 21:05 (CR)
3. Chinatsu Takeda (Daihatsu) - 21:58

© 2026 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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