The 2nd annual National Mixed Team University Ekiden took place Sunday the 20th in Osaka on a six-stage, 20 km course around Nagai Park. Counting two Hakone Ekiden runners in its lineup, Juntendo University finished in the top spot again in 1:01:19, 34 seconds faster than its winning time last year. Chuo University was 2nd in 1:01:30, with Kansai University 3rd in 1:01:50. Juntendo Hakone runner Kazuki Ishii was 5th on the 3.0 km opening leg, just 6 seconds behind leader Kazuto Iizawa (Tokai Univ.). Second runner Shion Ono ran the fastest time on her leg to put Juntendo into 1st. Having played a key role in Juntendo's 2nd-place finish at Hakone in January where he was 3rd on the competitive Third Stage, 3rd-year Tatsuya Iyoda won the 5 km Third Stage for the second year in a row, running a strong 14:18 to add a big chunk to Juntendo's lead. Anchor Mao Kogure was almost caught by Chuo's Ayuka Kazama , but with 600 m to go she kicked hard to bring Juntendo in to th...
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