One of the only non-championship ekidens to happen this season, the Okutama Keikoku Ekiden was held for the 82nd time Sunday on its traditional hilly road course along a river gorge in the mountains west of Tokyo. One of the oldest and most old-fashioned ekidens in Japan, 43 women's teams of three runners each and 152 men's teams of six runners each competed, women covering a total of 11.1 km and men 44.8 km. In the women's race, running less than 48 hours after racing the 10000 m at Friday's National Championships, Futtsu Select Team anchor Haruka Yamaguchi started 49 seconds back from the lead in 5th. With only 3.8 km to work with she ran a new stage record of 12:34 to move into 1st and open a 40-second margin of victory. In the men's race, Akihiro Kaneko got New Year Ekiden-bound Comody Iida corporate team off to a good start with a 21:07 record for the 7.4 km First Stage. Comody Iida held the lead start to finish against Hakone Ekiden regulars Takushoku Un...
the world's window into elite japanese distance running, since 2007