Kayoko Fukushi of Japan (© Rikujyo Kyogi Magazine)
ichi Life team coached by Sachiko Yamashita, 1991 World Championships Marathon silver medallist, unexpectedly won the 22nd Annual Women's Ekiden Championships for the corporate teams, on Sunday 8 December.
It was their first victory in the six stage 42.195Km ekiden championships, and their time of 2:14:00 is only one second short of the record set by the Recruit team in 1994. The Mitsui Sumitomo team looking for a triple successive win had to settle for second place, 31 seconds behind the winners.
The women's ekiden championships for the corporate teams started in 1981 as a four-stage relay over 16.3Km, but since 1992 it has been a six stage (6.6Km, 3.3Km, 10Km, 4.1Km, 11.6Km and 6.595Km) relay over the marathon distance of 42.195Km.
The best women's distance runners in Japan annually compete at the event. The same was true yesterday, though unfortunately the reigning Olympic Marathon champion Naoko Takahashi and World Championships Marathon silver medallist Reiko Tosa were absent due to recent injuries.
The running order in an ekiden is usually quite crucial and so it turned out this year. As planned by the coach of the Shiseido (cosmetic manufacturer) team after the 6.6Km first stage, their runner, Esther Wanjiru of Kenya (4th Sydney Olympic Marathon) was in the lead.
Some teams were in trouble early. Ayumi Hashimoto of the defending champions Mitsui Sumitomo fell behind the lead pack by 5Km and by the end of the stage, the team was 20 seconds behind. The 1998 champion UFJ Bank team was also in difficulties with their lead off runner Wang Chun Mei falling off the lead pack by 4Km, and was over one minute behind by the end of the stage, a deficit from which the team was never to recover.
Moving into the short (3.3Km) second stage, Haruna Mori of Dai-ichi Life took over the lead, with Miki Ohira the best runner of the second stage dragging the Mitsui Sumitomo team up to eighth.
The third stage is usually the most crucial and as such all the teams placed their best runners on this leg of the Ekiden, with Yoko Shibui (national 10,000m record holder), Kayoko Fukushi (national 5000m record holder) and Miwako Yamanaka (fourth in the World Cross Country Championships) among others competing in this 10Km stage.
While Yoko Shibui started the stage 22 seconds behind the leader Tomoko Hatori, Kayoko Fukushi was another 12 seconds back. By 3Km into the stage, Fukushi (Wacoal track team) made up the 34 seconds deficit and was with the leaders. Five runners including Fukushi and Yamanaka of the Daihatsu team ran together in front, and largely because of the fast pace kept by Fukushi, some less talented runners fell of the lead pack.
By 7Km, only three runners Kayoko Fukushi, Miwako Yamanaka and Tomoko Hatori were left in the front. Yamanaka was the next to lose contact, which left Fukushi and Hatori to battle it out for the lead. (Hatori has made a dramatic improvement this year; having won the Japanese corporate track and field championships 10,000m in 31:48.12).
However, disaster struck Fukushi just after 9Km, as she and Hatori collided. While Hatori was able to recover, Fukushi fell to the ground and had lost 23 seconds on Hatori by the end of the stage. Yet despite the fall Fukushi recorded the fastest 10Km stage (32:08) and brought her team up from 13th to 3rd, although that was to be the highest the Wacoal team would get in the standing.
Thanks to the efforts of Hatori, Dai-ichi Life found itself 18 seconds ahead of Daihatsu (auto) team, and they were never to relinquish this lead. At the start of the 11.5Km fifth stage, Keiko Isogai of the Dai-ichi Life was 36 seconds ahead of the Mitsui Sumitomo team.
During stage four, Daihatsu had fallen to fifth place but on the next stage although Naomi Sakashita of Mitsui made up 6 seconds on Isogai (Dai-chi), she was herself passed by Kazue Ogoshi of Daihatsu, who had started the stage 13 seconds behind her. So Daihatsu moved into second place with one stage left.
Meanwhile Megumi Tanaka ((Asahi Bank) who is planning to run her second marathon in Osaka next month was running very well. She covered the first 5Km in 15:27 and recorded the third fastest time on the stage, 36:13.
At the start of the sixth and final stage, Dai-ichi Life was 18 seconds ahead of the Daihatsu team, while Mitsui Sumitomo was another 12 seconds behind.
On the final stage, Miyuki Ando recorded the second fastest leg and kept Dai-ichi Life in front. Although none of the Dai-ichi Life runners had recorded a stage best, their team won with a near record time.
Ken Nakamura for the IAAF
Results (Weather 8.1C, 66% humidity)
1) Dai-ichi Life 2:14:00 (Yoshimi Ozaki, Haruna Mori, Tomoko Hatori, Risa Hagiwara, Keiko Isogai, Miyuki Ando)
2) Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijyo 2:14:31
3) Daihatsu 2:14:55
4) Shiseido 2:15:37
5) Tenmaya 2:16:15
6) Asahi Kasei 2:16:16
7) UFJ Bank 2:16:38
8) Matsushita Telecommunication 2:16:53
9) Kyudendko 2:16:56
10) Asahi Bank 2:16:57
Best Stages
Stage-Distance-Time-Name-Team
1. 6.6Km 20:44 Esther Wanjiru (Shiseido)
2. 3.3Km 10:22 Miki Ohira (Mitsui Sumitomo)
3. 10Km 32:08 Kayoko Fukushi (Wacoal)
4. 4.1Km 12:49 Haruko Yamamoto (Mitsui Sumitomo)
5. 11.6Km 36:13 Megumi Tanaka (Asahi Bank)
6. 6.595Km 20:37 Akiko Kawashima (UFJ Bank)
