Skip to main content

Toyota Jidoshokki Wins National Corporate Women's Ekiden Qualifier

Dodging a bullet as an approaching typhoon that spelled potential cancellation shifted to the east, the Princess Ekiden, the qualifying race for second-tier teams for next month's National Corporate Women's Ekiden Championships, went off Sunday afternoon in Fukuoka. The top 14 of the 29 teams in the field would qualify to join the seeded first-tier teams at Nationals in the third year of the event's current format shift from a series of regional qualifiers.

12th in 2015 and 4th last year, Panasonic took over the lead on the 3.6 km Second Stage and tried to run away with it, but behind them Toyota Jidoshokki grew closer and closer after a weak opening stage. With just one second separating them at the final exchange it was going to be close, but although Panasonic anchor Sakiko Naito was strong, covering the 6.695 km Sixth Stage in 21:43, Toyota Jidoshokki's Misaki Hayashida went one better, dropping a course record 21:35 to run Naito down and put Toyota Jidoshokki across the line 7 seconds ahead in 2:20:28.

Behind the leading pair most of the expected teams duly took their places on the Nationals entry list, one surprise coming from the relatively young Juhachi Ginko team, placing 8th in its best-ever performance thanks in part to marathoner Keiko Nogami running the second-fastest time in the field on the race's longest stage, the 10.7 km Third Stage.

The biggest drama on the anchor stage came back at the cutoff line for the final qualifying position. The once-powerful Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo team spent most of the day hovering around 14th. Starting the anchor stage 1:08 behind them in 19th, the Atsushi Sato-coached Kyocera team's Anna Matsuda was dead set on making it. Tying Hayashida's new course record, Matsuda ran 21:38 to overtake five teams and outkick Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo's Aika Mizoe in the home straight to take 14th by 2 seconds. It was a classic ekiden performance, but there was more.


Unknown to both Hayashida and Mizoe, 10th place Edion anchor Yuka Wakabayashi was in serious trouble. In the last 100 m she began to stagger, and without warning she collapsed face down on the side of the road less than 30 m from the finish line. Matsuda and Mizoe sped by thinking they were in a race to make it to finals, but Wakabayashi's DNF knocked the Edion team out of the race and bumped Kyocera and Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo up to 13th and 14th, a tough break for Edion but a major stroke of luck for Mitsui. Wakabayashi was rushed to a hospital where she later regained consciousness, a team spokesperson telling reporters that dehydration was the likely cause.

3rd Princess Ekiden

National Corporate Women's Ekiden Qualifier
Fukuoka, 10/22/17
29 teams, 6 stages, 42.195 km
click here for complete results

Top Individual Stage Performances
First Stage (7.0 km) - Chikako Mori (Sekisui Kagaku) - 23:24
Second Stage (3.6 km) - Nanami Watanabe (Panasonic) - 11:20 - CR
Third Stage (10.7 km) - Yuka Hori (Panasonic) - 33:58 - CR
Fourth Stage (3.8 km) - Rosemary Wanjiru (Starts) - 11:51
Fifth Stage (10.4 km) - Sairi Maeda (Daihatsu) - 37:27
Sixth Stage (6.695 km) - Anna Matsuda (Kyocera) / Misaki Hayashida (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 21:35 - CR

Top Team Performances - top 14 qualify for National Championships
1. Toyota Jidoshokki - 2:20:38
2. Panasonic - 2:20:35
3. Daihatsu - 2:22:10
4. Sekisui Kagaku - 2:22:37
5. Denso - 2:23:44
6. Sysmex - 2:23:57
7. Hokuren - 2:23:59
8. Higo Ginko - 2:24:15
9. Shimamura - 2:24:16
10. Toto - 2:24:22
11. Starts - 2:24:24
12. Noritz - 2:24:35
13. Kyocera - 2:24:53
14. Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo - 2:24:35
-----
15. Otsuka Seiyaku - 2:25:30
16. Canon AC Kyushu - 2:25:40
17. Hitachi - 2:25:52
-----
DNF - Edion

© 2017 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

yuza said…
Sairi Maeda seems to be back after two long years injured. I hope she can stay fit and run a fast marathon early next year.
October 23, 2017 at 8:55 PM
Brett Larner said…
Yes indeed, nice to see her have a good one.
October 23, 2017 at 9:17 PM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Fujitsu and Toyoda Issue Statement on Circumstances of His Two-Year Suspension for Trenbolone

  Following 400 m hurdler Masaki Toyoda 's suspension for a violation of anti-doping regulations , the Fujitsu corporate team published a statement on its website, including comments from Toyoda's legal team , explaining the ruling and the circumstances surrounding the case. Toyoda was a member of the 2019 Doha World Championships team and holds a best of 48.87. Early in the morning of May 19, 2022, the Japan Anti-Doping Agency (JADA) conducted a doping test of Toyoda. The prohibited substance trenbolone was detected in urine taken during the test, resulting in a two-year suspension that began May 21, 2022. He did not compete at the National Track and Field Championships the next month. The amount of trenbolone detected in Toyoda's urine sample was 1.4 ng/ml, well below the minimum analytical precision of 2.5 ng/ml required by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for analytical equipment. As a general rule, if a non-specified prohibited substance such as trenbolone is dete
Post a Comment
Read more

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
Post a Comment
Read more

“The Miracle in Fukuoka” - Real Talk From Yuki Kawauchi on “Taking on the World” (part 1)

http://sports.yahoo.co.jp/column/detail/201701120002-spnavi translated by Brett Larner Ahead of his nomination to the London World Championships Marathon team, Sportsnavi published a three-part series of writings by Yuki Kawauchi on what it took for him to make the team, his hopes for London, and his views on the future of Japanese marathoning.  With his place on the London team announced on Mar. 17 , JRN will publish an English translation of the complete series over the next three days. See Sportsnavi's original version linked above for more photos. Click here for part two, " Bringing All My Experience Into Play in London ," or here for part three, " The Lessons of the Past Are Not 'Outdated.' " The Fukuoka International Marathon was held on Dec. 4 last year. Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov’t) took part despite nursing injuries he had sustained in training. Falling rain contributed to less than ideal conditions during the race, but from th
6 comments
Read more