Fukuoka Wins 72-Stage, 1056.2 km Kyushu Isshu Ekiden

http://www.nishinippon.co.jp/movie/20081109/20081109_0001.shtml

translated and edited by Brett Larner

Click here for video highlights of each prefectural team's finish.

The 57th Nishi Nihon Interprefectural Kyushu Isshu Ekiden, a 10 day, 72 stage, 1056.2 km competition around the edge of Japan's southernmost main island, wrapped up on Nov. 9 with the Fukuoka Prefectural team taking its 4th consecutive victory. At the end of the previous day Fukuoka was ahead of rival Miyazaki Prefecture in cumulative time and had won 7 of the 9 individual day titles. Fukuoka led the final day for the first of its 7 stages totalling 98.1 km, but Miyazaki ran all out to take the daily lead away, holding down 1st place for the 2nd through 6th stages. Only on the 7th stage did Fukuoka come back to retake the lead, coming to the finish in front of Fukuoka's Nishi Nihon Newspaper Group Head Office in the top spot to tie up 8 of the 10 day victory titles. Fukuoka won its 4th consecutive overall victory, beating Miyazaki by 19 minutes and 21 seconds in cumulative time over the ekiden's 10 days.

Fukuoka's Kazuhiro Maeda (Team Kyudenko) took the stage best title on the day's 1st leg, with Kagoshima Prefecture's Kiragu Njunuga (Daiichi Kogyo Univ.) was just 2 seconds behind in 2nd place, delivering Kagoshima into the top 4 for the first time in 13 years, a performance which won him the Kyushu Isshu Ekiden's Best Newcomer award. Miyazaki's Yuki Iwai (Team Asahi Kasei) took the lead on the 2nd stage, with subsequent Miyazaki runners widening the lead to 46 seconds. It was, however, insufficient, as Fukuoka's anchor Takeshi Arisumi came back for the win. Miyazaki settled for 2nd but had the consolation of its ace Ryuji Ono (Team Asahi Kasei) receiving the ekiden's MVP award. Along with Njunuga's award, Kagoshima received the Most Improved Team award after taking 1:08:01 off its 2007 time.

A complete breakdown of individual and team prizes can be found here.

2008 Nishi Nihon Interprefectural Kyushu Isshu Ekiden
Team Results
1. Fukuoka Pref. - 53:26:54
2. Miyazaki Pref. - 53:46:15
3. Nagasaki Pref. - 54:29:40
4. Kagoshima Pref. - 56:13:20
5. Oita Pref. - 56:40:02
6. Saga Pref. - 56:44:05
7. Kumamoto Pref. - 56:57:31
8. Yamaguchi Pref. - 57:24:25
9. Okinawa Pref. - 58:15:48

Comments

Most-Read This Week

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

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

“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

japan running news

Search This Blog