Universal Entertainment and Osaka Kunei Win Kita-Kyushu Invitational Women's Ekiden

by Brett Larner

The women's championship ekiden season came to a close at Sunday's Kita-Kyushu Invitational Women's Ekiden in Fukuoka. Cancelled last year due to heavy snow, Kita-Kyushu pits the country's top high school, university and pro women's teams against each other over a short five-stage, 32.8 km course, the long 11.7 km anchor stage split in two for the high school division.

With both divisions running together it was a close race throughout. Running without star marathoner Eri Hayakawa, the Toto corporate team led almost the entire race. Its opening pair Hana Omori and Shuru Bulo built a 36-lead over 2016 National High School Ekiden champion and 2015 high school division winner Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S., with its nearest corporate league competition Universal Entertainment almost a minute behind.

Universal's third runner Mai Shinozuka cut that down to 19 seconds, Osaka Kunei's Ayako Murao coming even closer at just 8 seconds back. Fourth Toto runner Sumina Kuroda dropped a new course record 18:38 for the 5.9 km Fourth Stage to reopen Toto's lead, but Universal anchor Azusa Sumi refused to be denied, outrunning Toto anchor Wakaba Kawakami by almost a minute and a half to give Universal Entertainment its first-ever Kita-Kyushu win in 1:47:44. Toto was 2nd in 1:48:20, holding off 2015 winner Kyudenko by 13 seconds.

In the high school division Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S. closed to within 32 seconds of Osaka Kunei thanks to a Fourth Stage win from Nozomi Tanaka, but Osaka Kunei's fifth runner Ayane Kinoshita turned that around with a stage win that gave anchor Haruka Takada the margin she needed for the victory. Osaka Kunei took its second-straight Kita-Kyushu win in 1:48:08, Nishiwaki Kogyo far back in 1:49:59 ten seconds ahead of Chikushi Joshi Gakuen H.S.

28th Kita-Kyushu Invitational Women's Ekiden
Kita-Kyushu, Fukuoka, 1/22/17
25 teams, 6 stages, 32.8 km
click here for complete results

Top Team Results - Open Division
1. Universal Entertainment - 1:47:44
2. Toto - 1:48:20
3. Kyudenko - 1:48:33
4. Juhachi Ginko - 1:50:04
5. Yutaka Giken - 1:50:25

Top Team Results - High School Division
1. Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. - 1:48:08
2. Nishiwaki Kogyo H.S. - 1:49:59
3. Chikushi Joshi Gakuen H.S. - 1:50:09
4. Kita-Kyushu Municipal H.S. - 1:50:39
5. Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. - 1:51:48

Top Individual Stage Results
First Stage (4.2 km) - Hana Omori (Toto) - 13:54
Second Stage (5.9 km) - Shuru Bulo (Toto) - 19:09
Third Stage (5.1 km) - Kaho Adachi (Kyudenko) - 16:41
Fourth Stage (5.9 km) - Sumina Kuroda (Toto) - 18:38 - CR
Fifth Stage (open - 11.7 km) - Azusa Sumi (Univ. Ent.) - 36:36
Fifth Stage (H.S. - 4. 9m) - Ayane Kinoshita (Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.) - 16:08
Sixth Stage (H.S. - 6.8 km) - Mai Misaki (Chikushi Joshi Gakuen H.S.) - 21:06

© 2017 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Morii Surprises With Second-Ever Japanese Sub-2:10 at Boston

With three sub-2:09 Japanese men in the race and good weather conditions by Boston standards the chances were decent that somebody was going to follow 1981 winner Toshihiko Seko 's 2:09:26 and score a sub-2:10 at the Boston Marathon . But nobody thought it was going to be by a 2:14 amateur. Paris Olympic team member Suguru Osako had taken 3rd in Boston in 2:10:28 in his debut seven years ago, and both he and 2:08 runners Kento Otsu and Ryoma Takeuchi were aiming for spots in the top 10, Otsu after having run a 1:01:43 half marathon PB in February and Takeuchi of a 2:08:40 marathon PB at Hofu last December. A high-level amateur with a 2:14:15 PB who scored a trip to Boston after winning a local race in Japan, Yuma Morii told JRN minutes before the start of the race, "I'm not thinking about time at all. I'm going to make top 10, whatever time it takes." Running Boston for the first time Morii took off with a 4:32 on the downhill opening mile, but after that Sis

Saturday at Kanaguri and Nittai

Two big meets happened Saturday, one in Kumamoto and the other in Yokohama. At Kumamoto's Kanaguri Memorial Meet , Benard Koech (Kyudenko) turned in the performance of the day with a 13:13.52 meet record to win the men's 5000 m A-heat by just 0.11 seconds over Emmanuel Kipchirchir (SGH). The top four were all under 13:20, with 10000 m national record holder Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu) bouncing back from a DNF at last month's The TEN to take the top Japanese spot at 7th overall in 13:24.57. The B-heat was also decently quick, Shadrack Rono (Subaru) winning in 13:21.55 and Shoya Yonei (JR Higashi Nihon) running a 10-second PB to get under 13:30 for the first time in 13:29.29 for 6th. Paris Olympics marathoner Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) was 9th in 13:30.62. South Sudan's Abraham Guem (Ami AC) also set a meet record in the men's 1500 m A-heat in 3:38.94. 3000 mSC national record holder Ryuji Miura made his debut with the Subaru corporate team, running 3:39.78 for 2n

93-Year-Old Masters Track and Field WR Holder Hiroo Tanaka: "Everyone has Unexplored Intrinsic Abilities"

In the midst of a lot of talk about how to keep the aging population young, there are people with long lives who are showing extraordinary physical abilities. One of them is Hiroo Tanaka , 93, a multiple world champion in masters track and field. Tanaka began running when he was 60, before which he'd never competed in his adult life. "He's so fast he's world-class." "His running form is so beautiful. It's like he's flying." Tanaka trains at an indoor track in Aomori five days a week. Asked about him, that's the kind of thing the people there say. Tanaka holds multiple masters track and field world records, where age is divided into five-year groups. Last year at the World Masters Track and Field Championships in Poland he set a new world record of 38.79 for 200 m in the M90 class (men's 90-94 age group). People around the world were amazed at the time, which was almost unbelievable for a 92-year-old. After retiring from his job as an el

japan running news

Search This Blog