All-Japan Corporate Ekiden Championships

The corporate ekiden competition is a series of races contested between Japan's corporate (business) running teams. The championships are officially the 全日本実業団対抗駅伝競走大会 (All-Japan Corporate Team Ekiden Championships)),The structure involves regional qualifying races and a national championship for women and for men.[1]

Women's Championship

The All-Japan Women’s Corporate (Jitsugyodan) Ekiden Championship is held in mid December after 3 regional qualifying ekiden (2011 summary) events, narrowing the field to 24 to 27 teams, although new qualification standards in 2011 increased the field to 33 teams. In addition to teams coming from the East Japan qualifying meet, there are teams from the Central Japan and Western Japan qualifying meets.

Men's Championship

The All-Japan Men's Corporate Ekiden Championship, also called the New Year Ekiden, takes place in Japan's Gunma Prefecture on 1 January.[2][3]

Qualification Structure

Teams gain qualification into the final ekiden race through a series of preliminaries which are principally conducted on a district-by-district basis.[4] The Eastern Japan Corporate Ekiden Championship qualifies men's and women's teams. Two other qualifying meets for the women are held for Central Japan and Western Japan, (women's divisions detailed in Japanese). The Western Japan women's qualifying race (6 stages, 42.195 km, 31st race on October 23, 2011) begins in Munakata, Fukuoka; website.

The men have a slightly different pattern (men's divisions detailed in Japanese). One of the men's qualifying races is the Kyushu men's qualifying race (7 stages, 78.8 km, 48th on November 23, 2011), which begins in Fukuoka City and ends in Kita Kyushu city; 2010 video. Other regionals include Kansai Jitsugyodan Ekiden (2010 - 53rd, held in Tabe), Chubu Jitsugyodan Ekiden (2010 - 50th, held in Gero, Gifu), Hokuriku Jitsugyodan Ekiden (2010 - 40th, held in Gero, Gifu), and Chugoku Jitsugyodan Ekiden (2010 - 49th, held in Sera, Hiroshima).

Qualification Round - Eastern Japan Corporate Ekiden Championships

Konosu City, Saitama Prefecture, has hosted for several years the men's and women's Eastern Japan Corporate (Jitsugyodan) Ekiden Championships (2011 meet website). The meet site is Kumagaya Sports Culture Park (熊谷スポーツ文化公園陸上競技). This meet is a regional qualifier for the December women's and January 1 men's national championships. The women run a 6 stage 42.195 kilometer (full marathon) race and the men run a 7 stage 77.5 km race. The 2011 race was the meet's 22nd women's championship and the men's 52nd. 2011 race highlights in English; Japanese television website.

Men

Men's Eastern Japan Corporate Ekiden Championship (75.5 km; top 13 qualify for nationals)
First Place Second Place Third Place Fourth Place Fifth Place Sixth Place Seventh Place Eight Place Ninth Place Tenth Place EleventhPlace Twelfth Place Thirteenth Place
2011
52nd Cup		 Nissin Shokuhin
3:44:56		 Konica Minolta
3:45:53		 Kanebo
3:46:43		 Honda
3:47:19		 Fujitsu
3:47:53		 Yakult
3:48:25		 JR Higashi Nihon
3:48:49		 Komori Corp.
3:49:10		 Subaru
3:49:26		 Hitachi Cable
3:51:23		 SDF Academy
3:54:34		 Tokyo Police
3:54:52		 Press Kogyo
3:56:36
Men's Eastern Japan Corporate Ekiden Championship Stage Winners
First stage
11.6 km		 Second stage
15.3 km		 Third stage
9.2 km		 Fourth stage
9.9 km		 Fifth stage
7.4 km		 Sixth stage
10.6 km		 Seventh stage
13.5 km
2011
52nd Cup		 Yuki Sato
Team Nissin Shokuhin
33:00 CR		 Tsuyoshi Ugachi
Team Konica Minolta
44:28 CR		 Josephat Ndambiri
Team Komori Corp.
25:20 CR		 Masato Kihara
Team Kanebo
28:43 CR		 Yoshihiro Wakamatsu
Team Nissin Shokuhin
21:19 CR		 Yuki Nakamura
Team Kanebo
30:41		 Masakazu Fujiwara
Team Honda
39:31

Women

Women's Eastern Japan Corporate Ekiden Championship (24.195 km; from 2011 all teams under 2:30.00 qualify for national championships)
First Place Second Place Third Place Fourth Place Fifth Place Sixth Place Seventh Place Eight Place Ninth Place Tenth Place Eleventh Place Twelfth Place
2011
22nd Cup		 Daiichi Seimei
2:17:21		 Sekisui Kagaku
2:17:24		 Universal Entertainment
2:17:56		 Panasonic
2:18:07		 Starts
2:19:00		 Hokuren
2:19:51		 Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo
2:20:12		 Shiseido
2:20:17		 Nihon ChemiCon
2:20:25		 Yamada Denki
2:21:21		 Shimamura
2:21:32		 Hitachi
2:23:49
Women's Eastern Japan Corporate Ekiden Championship Stage Winners (CR = Course record)
First stage
6.795 km		 Second stage
3.1 km		 Third stage
12.2 km		 Fourth stage
3.8 km		 Fifth stage
10.0 km		 Sixth stage
6.3 km
2011
22nd Cup		 Yurie Doi
Team Starts
21:44		 Grace Kimanzi
Kenya/Team Starts
9:28 CR		 Misaki Katsumata
Team Daiichi Seimei
39:07 CR		 Miku Yamamoto
Team Sekisui Kagaku
11:58 CR		 Asami Kato
Team Panasonic
32:49		 Yoshimi Ozaki
Team Daiichi Seimei
20:41 CR

Qualification Round - Western Japan Corporate Ekiden Championships

The Western Japan women's qualifying race (6 stages, 42.195 km) begins in Munakata, Fukuoka; website. The 31st annual race was held on October 23, 2011.

References

  1. ↑ Nakamura, Ken (2011-01-01). Toyota takes first New Year Ekiden title. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-01-16.
  2. ↑ Nakamura, Ken. Preview of the 50th ‘New Year Ekiden’. December 30, 2005, International Association of Athletics Federations. iaaf.org. accessed Feb 19, 2009.
  3. ↑ Nakamura, Ken. Led by Kenya's Gideon, Nissin Foods the favourite at Monday's New Year Ekiden in Maebashi. December 30, 2006, International Association of Athletics Federations. iaaf.org Accessed Feb.19, 2009.
  4. ↑ Nakamura, Ken (2005-12-30). Preview of the 50th ‘New Year Ekiden’. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-01-16.