by Brett Larner Click picture for video highlights. Identical twin sisters Moe and Haruka Kyuma were the surprise stars of the 2009 National Interprefectural Women’s Ekiden on Jan. 11, the two junior high school students making up most of Kyoto Prefecture’s 1 minute 24 second margin of victory in its 5th-straight national title and putting anchor Kazue Kojima in position for a comfortable anchor run. 47 teams, one from each of Japan’s prefectures, competed in the 27th running of the nine-stage 42.195 km national competition in Kyoto which teams up professional runners with university, high school and junior high school runners. Two stages were reserved for junior high school runners and two for high school athletes, the other five stages being a mix of runners from all four categories. Slightly windy conditions hampered defending champion Kyoto’s chances of breaking its course record of 2:14:58 from last year’s running but did not prevent two new stage records. 1st Stage – 6.0 km Yurik...
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