japan running news

Next up in championship ekiden season is the Dec. 30 Mt. Fuji Women's Ekiden , the national title race for Japan's collegiate women and the start of 4 days of top-tier ekiden action over the course of 5 days. Fuji TV has the live broadcast starting at 9:55 a.m. local time on the 30th, with free streaming on TVer if you're in Japan or have a VPN. October's Morinomiyako Ekiden saw a shift in the balance of power, with the Kanto Region's Josai University and Daito Bunka University going 1-2 over Tokai region powerhouse Meijo University , the Tohoku region's Tohoku Fukushi University 4th, and 2024 national champion Ritsumeikan University from Kansai only 5th. Josai, DBU, Meijo and TFU were only 34 seconds apart over the 6-stage, 38.0 km course, so in a longer and more technical race like Mt. Fuji, 7 stages totaling 43.4 km with some serious hills punctuated by a 169 m ascent on the 8.3 km anchor stage, it's too close to call. The big question for Josai is...

Yeah, this was a good one. Last year's CR-breaking Morinomiyako Ekiden winner and national university women's champion Ritsumeikan University had a lackluster run at the Kansai Region qualifying race at the end of September, finishing only 3rd. That turned out to be a sign of where it is this season and not a peaking issue. Ritsumeikan was in 2nd for the first 2 legs in the 6-stage 38.0 km race with good runs from leading duo Sayuki Ota and Yua Sato but only faded from there, ultimately finishing 5th almost 2 minutes off the win. Josai University , the 1998 and 2000 national champ, came in hot with its first 3 runners Kyo Honma , Koharu Kaneko and Yuna Onishi replicating their feat at the Kanto Region qualifying race of all breaking the CR on their stages. Ichigo Ishikawa , a replacement for Kanto lineup member Aoi Takahashi , ran big on the 4th leg to give Josai a 20-second lead over last year's 5th-placer Tohoku Fukushi University , 49 seconds on 2018-2024 national ...