All-Japan Interprefectural Ekiden Championships

The All-Japan Interprefectural Ekiden Championships are two annual ekiden (road running relay) competitions between the 47 Prefectures of Japan. The championships are both held in January and are divided by gender. The Empress Cup - Interprefectural Women's Ekiden is held in Kyoto on the third Sunday in January.^[1] The Interprefectural Men's Ekiden is held in Hiroshima in recent years on the fourth Sunday of January.^[2]

Women's Championship

The Empress Cup - Interprefectural Women's Ekiden Championship is held in Kyoto on the third Sunday in January. The 2012 running marks the 30th annual event. Forty seven teams from the 47 prefectures of Japan compete. The course is the same as the course for the high school boys national ekiden race held on the third Sunday of December,^[3] except that the women's relay has 9 stages (rather than 7) over the 42.195 kilometers. The stages are 6k 4k 3k 4k 4.0175k 4.0875k 4k 3k and 10k. The two 3k stages are reserved for junior high athletes and generally high school athletes run the 5 stages that are 4k or just over 4k. Collegiate and open runners take the 6k and 10k stages. The mixed-age squads maintain a rapid pace. In 2009 the first 10 team teams finished under 2 hours and 20 minutes, and 12 teams broke 2:20 in 2012. In 2009, the team from Kyoto took its 13th championship, and as of that year, in the ekiden's 20 years Kyoto has only twice placed outside the top 6.^{[4][5][6][7][8][9]} Okayama took its first ever title in 2010, Kyoto reclaimed it in 2011, and in 2012 Kyoto finished second, a minute back from the winning team from neighboring Osaka.

Women's ekiden top three

Edition	First Place	Second Place	Third Place
2009 27th Cup	Kyoto 2:15:39 5th_consecutive	Okayama 2:17:03	Hyogo 2:17:42
2010 28th Cup	Okayama 2:16:24 first-ever title	Chiba 2:16:39	Kyoto 2:17:12
2011 29th Cup	Kyoto 2:17:16	Okayama 2:18:07	Fukuoka 2:19:00
2012 30th Cup	Osaka 2:16:37	Kyoto 2:17:33	Chiba 2:17:49

• Note: Jr.HS = Junior High School, H.S.= High School

Top stage performers

Edition	1st (6 km Open)	2nd (4 km HS/Open)	3rd (3 km Jr.HS)	4th (4 km HS/Open)	5th (4.1075 km HS/Open)	6th (4.0875 km HS/Open)	7th (4 km HS)	8th (3 km Jr.HS)	9th (10 km Open)
2009	Yurika Nakamura & Ryoko Kisaki Okayama & Kyoto - 19:14	Yuriko Kobayashi Hyogo - 12:07 new stage record	Haruka Kyuma Kyoto - 9:21	Risa Shigetomo Okayama - 12:50	Ikumi Natsuhara Kyoto -13:11	Ai Kuboki Okayama - 12:54	Aya Ito Kyoto - 12:26	Moe Kyuma Kyoto - 9:41 > new stage record	Hitomi Niiya Chiba - 32:31
January 17, 2010	Kasumi Nishihara Kyoto - 19:11	Kaori Urata Okayama - 12:31	Tomoka Kimura Shizuoka - 9:22	Ryoko Kisaki Osaka - 12:50	Katsuki Suga Okayama - 13:02	Mahiro Akamatsu Okayama - 12:42 new stage record	Minami Nakaarai Hyogo - 12:24	Yume Tanaka Shizuoka - 9:46	Kayoko Fukushi Aomori - 31:03
January 16, 2011	Hanae Tanaka Fukuoka Ritsumeikan Univ. - 19:41	Tomoka Kimura Fukuoka Chikushi Jyogakuen H.S. - 12:22	Hanami Sekine Tokyo Kanai Jr.H.S. - 9:21	Yuriko Kobayashi Hyogo Team Toyota Jidoshoki - 12:41 new stage record	Mutsumi Ikeda & Erina Maki Hyogo & Kyoto Suma Gakuen H.S. & Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. - 13:26	Nanako Kanno Kyoto Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. - 12:39 new stage record	Ayano Ikeuchi Kyoto Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. - 12:35	Ayaka Nakagawa Saitama Asaka Dai-San Jr.H.S. - 10:02	Kayoko Fukushi Kyoto Team Wacoal - 31:53
January 15, 2012	Ryoko Kizaki Osaka Team Daihatsu - 19:21	Yuka Ando Aichi Toyokawa H.S. - 12:26	Ayaka Nakagawa Saitama Asaka #3 Jr. H.S. - 9:17	Risa Takenaka Shiga Ritsumeikan Univ. - 12:48	Nanami Aoki Kyoto Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. - 12:57	Mika Kobayashi Hyogo Suma Gakuen H.S. - 12:58	Risa Yokoe Hyogo Suma Gakuen H.S. - 12:33	Kokoro Sawairi Shizuoka Fujioka Jr. H.S. - 9:53	Hitomi Niiya Chiba Sakura A.C. - 32:06

Men's Championship

Runners in 2007 meeting 7th Leg.

In the men's All-Japan Interprefectural Ekiden Championship, 7 runners run 48 kilometers in stages of 7k 3k 8.5k 5k 8.5k 3k and 13k.^[10] In both races, each team is composed of runners selected to represent one prefecture, a total of 47 teams in each race. The majority of the team members are high school and junior high school elite runners. Junior high runners are assigned to the two 3k stages and high school runners are assigned to the 7k, the 5k and 8.5k stages. Open runners are placed in the remaining 8.5k stage and the 13k stage.^[11] Despite the youth, the first 7 men's teams in 2009 finished under 2 hours and 21 minutes (48k), the equivalent of 14:40 5k pace or 8:48 3k pace. In 2009 the team from Nagano took its 5th title in 6 years.^{[12][13][14][15]}

Men's ekiden top three

Edition	1st	2nd	3rd
2009 14th Annual	Nagano - 2:18:43 Course Record 5th title in 6 years	Hyogo - 2:20:03	Miyazaki - 2:20:07
2010 15th Annual	Hyogo - 2:20:02	Fukushima - 2:20:05	Saitama - 2:20:20
2011 16th Annual	Tochigi - 2:19:31 First ever Title	Nagano - 2:20:02	Hiroshima - 2:20:37
2012 17th Annual
2013 18th	Hyogo - 2:19:51	Tokyo - 2:19:56	Aichi - 2:20:35

• Note: Jr HS = Junior High School, HS= High School

Men's Top stage performers

Edition	1st (7 km HS)	2nd (3 km Jr HS)	3rd (8.5 km Open)	4th (5 km HS)	5th (8.5 km HS)	6th (3 km Jr HS)	7th (13 km Open)
2009	Shodai Hattori Saitama - 20:10	Yuta Katsumata Shizuoka - 8:30 new stage record	Yu Mitsuya Fukuoka - 23:49	Shota Hiraga Nagano - 14:28	Akinobu Murasawa Nagano - 23:55 new stage record	Hideshi Ikegami Kyoto - 8:51	Naoki Okamoto Hiroshima - 37:55
January 24, 2010	Shota Hattori Saitama - 20:12	Koki Maeda Fukuoka - 8:39	Tomoya Onishi Gifu - 24:16	Hirotaka Tamura Aomori - 14:10 new stage record	Keita Shitara Saitama - 24:38	Taiga Machizawa Chiba - 8:31 new stage record	Yuki Sato Nagano - 37:12
January 23, 2011	Genki Yagisawa Tochigi/Nasu Takuyo H.S. - 20:07	Kengo Takamori Chiba/Abiko Jr.H.S. - 8:31	Akinobu Murasawa Nagano/Tokai Univ. - 23:48	Keita Shioya Tochigi/Nasu Takuyo H.S. - 14:25	Kenta Murayama Miyagi/Meisei H.S. - 24:33	Yuichi Yasui Chiba/Tokiwadaira Jr.H.S. - 8:40	Yusuke Takabayashi Mie/Team Toyota - 37:25
January 22, 2012
2013	Keisuke Nakatani (Hyogo) 19:56	Shiki Shinsako (Hiroshima) 8:29	Suguru Osako (Tokyo) 23:39	Yuhi Akiyama (Hyogo) 14:07	Rintaro Takeda (Tokyo) 24:50	Mashide Saito (Saitama) 8:52	Keigo Yano (Nagano) 37:54

References

1. (course map)
2. (course map)
3. map in Japanese
4. All Japan Interprefectural Women's Ekiden. Track and Field Monthly (Japanese), March 2009 vol 43 # 4, pages 94-97, 108-111, 156-157.
5. Larner, Brett. Moe Kyuma Surprise Star of Kyoto's 5th-Straight National Interprefectural Women's Ekiden Win. January 11, 2009 Japanrunningnews.blogspot. accessed Feb 19, 2009.
6. Nakamura, Ken. Kyoto Prefecture Wins fifth straight Inter-Prefectural Women’s Ekiden title. January 11, 2009, International Association of Athletics Federations. iaaf.org/news. accessed Feb 19, 2009.
7. Nakamura, Ken. Kyoto Dominates Inter-Prefectural Women's Ekiden. January 13, 2008, International Association of Athletics Federations. iaaf.org/news. accessed Feb 19, 2009.
8. Nakamura, Ken. Kyoto Three-peat in Women’s Ekiden. 14 January 2007, International Association of Athletics Federations. iaaf.org/news. accessed Feb 19, 2009.
9. Nakamura, Ken. Inter-Prefectural Women’s Ekiden in Kyoto. 16 January 2002, International Association of Athletics Federations. iaaf.org/news. accessed Feb 19, 2009.
10. (Hiroshima course map
11. Larner, Brett. Entry Lists for National Interprefectural Women's Ekiden Released. December 26, 2008 japanrunningnews.blogspot. accessed Feb. 18, 2009.
12. Nagano Men 2 Successive Titles; Kyoto Women 5 Successive Titles. Track and Field Magazine (Japanese), March 2009, vol 55 #5, pages 22-25, 58-77.
13. All Japan Interprefectural Men's Ekiden. Track and Field Monthly (Japanese), March 2009, vol 43 #4, pages 91-93, 100-102, 154-155.
14. Nakamura, Ken. Nagano Prefecture Wins Inter-Prefectural Men’s EkidenJanuary 18, 2009, International Association of Athletics Federations. iaaf.org. accessed Feb 19, 2009.
15. Larner, Brett. Nagano Breaks National Interprefectural Ekiden Course Record. January 18, 2009 Japanrunningnews.blogspot. accessed Feb 19, 2009.

External links

• Official website for Women's Championship
• Official website for Men's Championship

Women's results and discussion

• 2009
• 2010
• 2011
• 2012

Men's results and discussion

• 2009
• 2010
• 2011