Reiko Tosa, Japan's sixth stage runner brings home her team to victory in Yokohama (© Kazutaka Eguchi/Agence SHOT)
For the ninth time in the history of the Yokohama International Ekiden, now in its 23rd year, but the first time in three years, Japan won today’s Yokohama Ekiden, in Yokohama, Japan, in 2:13:40, a new course record.
Japan, who started the second stage in third, three seconds behind Ethiopia moved into the lead in this stage and never relinquished the lead again. Russia, on the other hand, had a terrible first stage and was in the last place 44 seconds behind Ethiopia after 5Km but some brilliant running dragged them back into an eventaul second place, 41 seconds behind the host nation. Ethiopia was third 16 seconds behind Russia.
Although 2:13:40 was the course record, it was not the fastest ever time in the Yokohama Ekiden. Japan recorded 2:12:05 in 2002 over the old course, which started and finished at the Yokohama stadium. The previous course record on the new course was 2:15:10 by the Russian team in 2003.
How the race unfolded –
FIRST STAGE
With Miwako Yamanaka leading most of the time the lead pack passed 1Km in 3:05. The first major surprise happened at 2.5Km into the first stage, when Gulnara Samitova of Russia lost contact with the leaders. At 3Km (9:23), Ana Bordea of Romania was also gone from the lead pack and one kilometre later at 4Km (12:30), only five teams - JPN, ETH, KEN, Kanto-Tokyo and Kanagawa – were left in the front. 500m later, it was Berhan Aregawi of Ethiopia, who surged into the front.
Although Sugihara and Yamanaka closed some of the gap near the end of the stage, Aregawi recorded the stage record, 15:26, for the 5Km first stage, one second ahead of Kayo Sugihara who in turn was two seconds ahead of Miwako Yamanaka of the JPN national team. It was two seconds improvement on the previous stage record, 15:28, recorded by Diribe Ayele of Ethiopia in 2003. Gulnara Samitova of Russia was dead last in the first stage; she was 44 seconds behind Ethiopia and 41 seconds behind Japan.
NOTE. Usually it is very hard for the team to come back from the dismal first stage in the ekiden, but Russian team did come back brilliantly. Although the runners from the host nation recorded the stage best in the three of the next five stages, the Russia did not lose any more time in the next 37.195Km.
SECOND STAGE
Four hundred metres into the second stage, Yuri Kano joined the leaders, which consisted of Ethiopia and Kanagawa prefecture. Kanagawa soon fell behind, leaving Japan and Ethiopia in the lead. They passed 5Km in 15:32. “The 5Km split was much faster than I expected, so I really went for the record at the end” said Yuri Kano of JPN national team, who ran with Getaneh Genet of Ethiopia for another 3.5Km, before surging ahead. Kano recorded the stage record, 31:25 for the 10Km second stage, 16 seconds improvement on the previous stage record of 31:41 by Takako Kotorida also set in 2003. Meanwhile Lidia Grigoryeva of Russia also ran brilliantly, recording 31:37 for the 10Km second stage, and moved the Russian team into fourth place from the dead last. They, however, were still 36 seconds behind Ethiopia and 52 seconds behind Japan.
THIRD STAGE
“In all my previous Yokohama Ekiden, I wasn’t able to do much for the team, so contributing to my team was my primary goal for the day,” said Kazue Ogoshi of Japan, who further extended the host nation’s lead in the third stage. By 3Km into the third stage, Ogoshi led Kedir of Ethiopia by 28 seconds. At the end, Ogoshi, who said, “I was not thinking much about the stage record,” set one anyway; she recorded 18:58 for the 6Km third stage. At the end of the third stage, Japan was 37 seconds ahead of second place Ethiopia, while Russia moved up to third, but still nearly a minute behind Ethiopia.
FOURTH STAGE
In the 6Km fourth stage, Lilia Shobukhova of Russia recorded a huge stage best, 18:17 for 6Km leg, shattering the previous stage best of 19:09, set by Genet Teka of Ethiopia in 2003. In the process, Russia moved within three seconds of the second placed Ethiopians. Megumi Yoshino of Japan recorded the second fastest stage, 19:04 for 6Km, and thus Japan was able to stay ahead of both Ethiopia and Russia.
FIFTH STAGE
In the fifth stage, Yumi Sato recorded another stage best for the host nation and thus further extended Japan’s lead over the now second placed Russians to 56 seconds. However, Galina Bogomolova of Russia recorded the second fastest time for the stage, and thus in the process she was able to catch and finally pass Ethiopia by 7Km into the stage.
SIXTH STAGE
The sixth and final stage was a showcase for the Olympic 5000m champion Meseret Defar of Ethiopia, who recorded a huge stage record, 15:39 for 5.195Km. She shattered the previous stage record of 16:18 by Mestewat Taddessee of Ethiopia, which was set in 2003. Although Ethiopia moved closer to both Russia and Japan, Defar was unable to move her team up from the third place. Japan won by 41 seconds over Russia, exactly the difference between the two teams after the first stage.
Ken Nakamura for the IAAF
With assistance from Akihiro Onishi
Results
Six stage 42.195Km:
1) JPN 2:13:40
2) RUS 2:14:21
3) ETH 2:14:37
4) KEN 2:16:55
5) Kanto-Tokyo 2:18:03
6) Kyushu 2:19:44
7) Chugoku-Shikoku 2:20:00
8) Kanagawa 2:20:24
9) ROM 2:20:40
10) Hokkaido-Tohoku 2:20:51
11) Tokai-Hokuriku 2:21:21
12) Kinki 2:22:15
13) MEX 2:26:40
Best Stages:
Stage one 5Km
1) Berhan Aregawi (ETH) 15:26
2) Kayo Sugihara (Kanagawa) 15:27
3) Miwako Yamanaka (JPN) 15:29
4) Shiori Ishiyama (Kanto-Tokyo) 15:33
5) Ikumi Watanabe (Tokai-Hokuriku) 15:39
6) Everline Kimwei (KEN) 15:42
…
13) Gulnara Samitova (RUS) 16:10
Stage two 10Km
1) Yuri Kano (JPN) 31:25
2) Lidia Grigoryeva (RUS) 31:37
3) Getaneh Genet (ETH) 31:45
4) Rita Jeptoo (KEN) 32:04
5) Lidia Simon (ROM) 32:06
6) Miki Ohira (Kanto-Tokyo) 32:15
7) Madoka Ogi (Kyushu) 32:24
Stage three 6Km
1) Kazue Ogoshi (JPN) 18:58
2) Rehima Kedir (ETH) 19:19
3) Cristina Casandra (ROM) 19:29
4) Yulia Chizhenko (RUS) 19:41
5) Akie Oshiyama (Hokkaido-Tohoku) 19:47
6) Rina Fujioka (Kanagawa) 19:50
Stage four 6Km
1) Lilia Shobukhova (RUS) 18:17
2) Megumi Yoshino (JPN) 19:04
3) Etalemahu Kidane (ETH) 19:12
4) Jane Mwikali (KEN) 19:22
5) Paula Todoran (ROM) 19:42
6) Ayako Suzuki (Kinki) 19:43
Stage five 10Km
1) Yumi Sato (JPN) 32:08
2) Galina Bogomolova (RUS) 32:16
3) Catherine Ndereba (KEN) 33:15
4) Ayaeech Worku (ETH) 33:16
5) Eri Kojina (Chugoku-Shikoku) 33:31
6) Mayumi Fujita (Kyushu) 33:55
Stage six 5.195Km
1) Meseret Defar (ETH) 15:39
2) Viktoria Klimina (RUS) 16:20
3) Rie Ueno (Kanto-Tokyo) 16:27
4) Reiko Tosa (JPN) 16:35
5) Momani (KEN) 16:36
6) Kanako Hori (Tokai-Hokuriku) 17:00
After Stage one (total distance 5Km)
1) ETH 15:26
2) Kanagawa 15:27
3) JPN 15:30
4) Kanto-Tokyo 15:33
…
5) KEN 15:42
...
11) ROM 16:00
…
13) RUS 16:10
After Stage two (total distance 15Km)
1) JPN 46:55
2) ETH 47:11
3) KEN 47:46
4) RUS 47:47
5) Kanto-Tokyo 47:48
6) ROM 48:06
After Stage three (total distance 21Km)
1) JPN 1:05:53
2) ETH 1:06:30
3) RUS 1:07:28
4) ROM 1:07:35
5) Kanto-Tokyo 1:07:39
6) KEN 1:07:42
After Stage four (total distance 27Km)
1) JPN 1:24:57
2) ETH 1:25:42
3) RUS 1:25:45
4) KEN 1:27:04
5) ROM 1:27:17
6) Kanto-Tokyo 1:27:34
After Stage five (total distance 37Km)
1) JPN 1:57:05
2) RUS 1:58:01
3) ETH 1:58:58
4) KEN 2:00:19
5) Kanto-Tokyo 2:01:36
6) Chugoku-Shikoku 2:02:35