by Brett Larner 2010 National University Women's Ekiden champions Bukkyo University rounded out their season by knocking nearly a minute and a half off course record at the five-stage, half marathon-distance 25th anniversary Chugoku Women's Ekiden , Feb. 13 in Hiroshima. 10000 m national collegiate record holder Hikari Yoshimoto led Bukkyo off with a stage record of 18:58 for the 5.83 km First Stage, and Bukkyo runners took stage best on three of the four remaining legs including an anchor stage record by Shiho Takechi . Only the professional Team Deodeo 's Fourth Stage runner Ruriko Kubo broke Bukkyo's domination, running a stage record 7:33 for the 2.4 km Fourth Stage, but even there Bukkyo's Sairi Maeda took second-best. Deodeo took 2nd in 1:09:29, only four seconds off the course record, but Bukkyo was so strong that they were nearly a minute and a half ahead in 1:08:08. Bukkyo's perennial rivals Ritsumeikan University were a distant 3rd in 1:10:11. 201...
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