(L-R) Atsushi Sato, Tsuyoshi Ogata, Shigeru Aburaya of Japan at the 2003 World Championships (© Getty Images)
The 50th annual All Japan Corporate team Ekiden Championships, also known as the’ New Year Ekiden’, will be contested over an eight stage 100Km course, which starts and finishes at Gunma prefecture office in Maebashi, Japan, on 1 January 2006.
Forty-four teams qualified for the New Year Ekiden through six district championships, which were contested in mid-November. Konica-Minolta, Toyota Motors, YKK, Otsuka Pharmaceutical, Chugoku Electric Power, and Toyota-Kyushu won their respective district championships – East Japan, Chubu district, Hokuriku district, Kansai district, Chugoku district, and Kyushu district.
The co-favourites are Konica-Minolta and Chugoku Electric Power. Konica-Minolta is the defending champion, who has won four times in the last five years, while Chugoku Electric Power was the New Year ekiden champion from two years ago. The big guns for Chugoku Electric power are Shigeru Aburaya, fifth in the Athens Olympics as well as Edmonton and Paris World Championships, and Tsuyoshi Ogata, a bronze medallist at the Helsinki World Championships. The stars of the Konica-Minolta team are Takayuki Matsumiya, 30Km World record holder on the road, and his twin brother Yuko Matsumiya, a 2:09 marathon runner.
If for any reason Chugoku Electric Power and Konica-Minolta falter, then perhaps Nissin Foods, who was third last year, Kanebo, who was fourth last year, and Honda who was runner-up in the east Japan district, might rise to the occasion. Whether Nissin who finished fourth in the East Japan district can do well will depend upon the combined strength of Julius Gitahi (Sydney Olympian), Toshinari Suwa (sixth at the Marathon in Athens), and Kazuyoshi Tokumoto (World University Game bronze medalist at 10,000m).
Highlights of district ekiden championships:
East Japan
Konica-Minolta won the 46th annual East Japan Corporate Ekiden Championships, contested over a seven stage 80Km course, with 3:50:09. Taking the lead in the second stage, but relinquishing it temporary in the fourth stage, Konica-Minolta took over the lead for good later in the fourth stage and won by 59 seconds from Honda.
Chubu & Hokuriku district:
Chubu district and Hokuriku district championships were both contested over a seven stage 82.9Km course. Toyota Motor won the 45th Chubu district Corporate Ekiden Championships with 4:03:22. Starting the final stage 38 seconds behind Toyota Textile machine Yoshinori Oda of Toyota Motors caught and then outkicked their opponents with 70m to go to win by one second. On the same course, YKK won the Hokuriku district championships for the fourteenth straight year.
Kansai district:
Otsuka pharmaceutical won the 48th Kansai district Corporate Ekiden Championships, contested over the seven stage 80.45Km course, with 4:00:15. Three way battles between Otsuka, Sanyo Steel and Sagawa Express went all the way to the final stage, before Masayoshi Yamaoka of Otsuka beat Michinori Takano of Sanyo with 300m to go to win by three seconds.
Chugoku district:
Chugoku Electric Power won the 44th annual Chugoku district Corporate Ekiden Championships, contested over the seven stages 82.8Km course, with 4:07:31. With four straight stage bests by Takeshi Makabe, Tomohiro Seto, Satoshi Irifune and Toshinari Takaoka (quadruple national record holder, fourth at Marathon in Helsinki), Kanebo was in commanding lead. However, in the seventh and eighth stage, Chugoku Electric Power came back strongly. Teruto Ozaki caught and passed Kanebo in the seventh stage and Chugoku Electric Power won by over two minutes ahead of Kanebo.
Kyushu district:
Toyota Kyushu, coached by Koichi Morishita (Barcelona silver medallist at the marathon), won the 42nd Kyushu district Corporate Ekiden championships, contested over the seven-stage 79.7Km course from Fukuoka to Kita-Kyushu, with 3:52.08, over three minutes ahead of perennial champion Asahi Kasei. After Samuel Wanjiru, the World Half Marathon record holder, recorded the stage record of 37:49 in the 13.4Km first stage, to put his team a minute and 37 seconds ahead of second place, Toyota Kyushu never relinquished their lead. By the time Toyota Kyushu’s other big gun Yu Mitsuya finished his leg, Toyota was over three minutes ahead.
