There is a first time for every part. Within the final main ekiden of the season, 37-year-old Yuichiro Ueno, head coach of the Rikkyo College crew that ran the Hakone Ekiden three weeks in the past, anchored the Nagano prefecture crew to a second-straight course report win on the twenty eighth Nationwide Males’s Ekiden in Hiroshima.
Nagano’s Soma Nagahara obtained issues off to a stable begin, going one-on-one with favourite Sonata Nagashima of Hyogo on the 7.0 km 1st leg, each going underneath the previous stage CR with Nagashima 1st in 19:39 and Nagahara solely 2 seconds again. Over the subsequent two levels Nagano dropped to 4th 20 seconds off the lead, however a pair of latest CR from 4th and fifth runners and Saku Chosei H.S. teammates Shunpei Yamaguchi and Hiroto Yoshioka put the crew 37 seconds forward. sixth runner Riku Kobayashi prolonged that to 49 seconds, giving Ueno a margin of error of simply over 3 sec/km on the 13.0 km anchor stage.
Ueno first ran the Nationwide Males’s Ekiden 20 years in the past, passing 17 folks on the 8.5 km fifth leg with a CR 24:33 on the 2003 race. He broke that report a yr later, serving to Nagano take the general win. Since then he has run it one other 8 occasions, anchoring 6 of them and a part of the successful crew in one other 5. Over the primary half of the anchor stage this time he added one other 4 seconds to the lead, however though he slowed and began to look again repeatedly he was by no means vulnerable to getting caught.
Waving to followers within the house straight in entrance of Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park, Ueno went 1 second underneath Nagano’s CR, giving them a brand new report of two:17:10 for the complete 7-stage, 48.0 km course. It was Nagano’s ninth win within the 26 occasions the race has been held, extending its report as essentially the most dominant prefecture within the nation. Nagahara, Yamaguchi and Yoshioka performed a very powerful roles in that, however Ueno working nicely sufficient to put twelfth of 47 on the anchor stage on time was a part of the combo too.
Down in tenth after three levels, Saitama floor its manner as much as 2nd over the past 4. Anchor Tomoya Ogikubo was 2nd-fastest on his leg, chopping Ueno’s lead in half however simply too far again to shut it as Saitama completed 2nd in 2:17:35. Tokyo was in a constant place for the primary six levels, inching up from eighth to sixth earlier than anchor Yudai Shimazu took the tasuki. Within the final main ekiden of his school profession Shimazu ran down three groups for third in 2:18:20, beating Chiba by 1 second and Okayama by 8.
Briefly main on the 8.5 km third leg due to a very good run from Keita Sato, the Kyoto crew was sixth in 2:18:32, 6 seconds forward of hosts Hiroshima. Early chief Hyogo fell to eighth in 2:18:45. Saga‘s Ryosuke Yamasaki, a scholar at Kanagawa College, was the shock winner on the anchor stage, working 37:26 to cross ten folks and transfer Saga up from twenty first to eleventh.
Approach again within the again finish of the sector, 38-year-old Naoki Okamoto turned within the different efficiency of the day. Operating the Nationwide Males’s Ekiden for the 18th time for Tottori, Okamoto handed ten folks on the 8.5 km third leg to convey his profession passing report on the race to 137. Okamoto will run October’s Olympic marathon trials, which means it is possible he’ll be again subsequent yr to take that complete one step additional.
twenty eighth Nationwide Males’s Ekiden
Hiroshima, 22 Jan. 2023
47 groups, 7 levels, 48.0 km
High Particular person Stage Outcomes
First Stage (7.0 km, H.S.) – Sonata Nagashima (Hyogo) – 19:39 – CR
Second Stage (3.0 km, J.H.S.) – Haruki Niizuma (Hyogo) – 8:17
Third Stage (8.5 km, open) – Kazuya Shiojiri (Gunma) – 23:30
Fourth Stage (5.0 km, H.S.) – Shunpei Yamaguchi (Nagano) – 14:02 – CR
Fifth Stage (8.5 km, H.S.) – Hiroto Yoshioka (Nagano) – 23:52 – CR
Sixth Stage (3.0 km, J.H.S.) – Yota Mashiko (Fukushima) – 8:36
Seventh Stage (13.0 km, open) – Ryosuke Yamasaki (Saga) – 37:26
High Crew Outcomes
1. Nagano – 2:17:10 – CR
2. Saitama – 2:17:35
3. Tokyo – 2:18:20
4. Chiba – 2:18:21
5. Okayama – 2:18:28
6. Kyoto – 2:18:32
7. Hiroshima – 2:18:38
8. Hyogo – 2:18:45
9. Miyagi – 2:20:07
10. Ibaraki – 2:20:09
11. Saga – 2:20:10
12. Wakayama – 2:20:11
13. Yamaguchi – 2:20:11
14. Osaka – 2:20:30
15. Nagasaki – 2:20:33
© 2023 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
