On the 22nd, the All-Japan Men's Ekiden will be held in Hiroshima in winter, where runners across generations, from junior high school students to working adults, will join the sashes in a competition between prefectures.
The nationwide men's ekiden race between prefectures will be the first in three years due to the effects of the new coronavirus, and runners across generations from junior high school students to working adults will start and finish in front of Peace Park in Hiroshima City. Connect the sash.
The battle for the championship is expected to center around Hyogo and Okayama, as well as Nagano and Osaka.
Of these, Hyogo and Okayama, where strong runners, mainly high school students, have entered, are expected to be active in the runners who showed good runs in the national high school ekiden last month.
In addition, Nagano, who won the tournament three years ago with a new record, is also very talented and will be aiming for a ninth win, breaking the all-time record.
In the national women's Ekiden, Drury Sueri, a junior high school student from Okayama, has just become a hot topic for setting a new section record by breaking 17 runners.
The National Men's Ekiden will start at 0:30 pm, and NHK will broadcast it on General TV and NHK Plus, and will also provide athlete information and breaking news on a special site.
Features and Highlights of Each Section
The All-Japan Men's Ekiden will start and finish in front of Peace Park in Hiroshima City, where the Atomic Bomb Dome is located.
Here are the features and highlights of each section.
Nishiwaki Kogyo's ace Koho Nagashima participates in the 1st ward Hyogo
Section 1 is a 7-kilometer flat course that starts in front of Peace Park, passes through Peace Boulevard, and enters Miyajima Kaido.
Attention will be paid to the battle for leadership of the high school runners who excited Miyakooji at the National High School Ekiden last month.
Nishiwaki Kogyo's ace Koho Nagashima will participate in Hyogo.
In the National High School Ekiden, he ran in the 1st section of the 10km contest, and with his characteristic aggressive running, he jumped out immediately after the start and tied the sash at the top.
Shunsuke Kuwata, a second-year student from Kurashiki High School who won the National High School Ekiden, will participate in Okayama.
In the high school Ekiden, we won the section prize in the 4th district.
Section 2: Yamagata's Genta Sugano is the focus
Section 2 is a 3-kilometer flat course that runs west on Miyajima Highway for junior high school students.
Yamagata's Genta Sugano is the focus of attention, and he set a new section record in the 3rd section of last year's All-Japan Junior High School Ekiden and won the tournament's MVP.
From Hyogo, the older brother of Ryoki Niitsuma and Subaru, who both won the section prize in the All Japan Junior High School Ekiden, will participate.
I can't wait to see if a future star candidate like Drury Sueiri of Okayama, who attracted a lot of attention at last week's national women's Ekiden, will be born in the men's race.
Expectations are high for the runners of Komazawa Univ.
Section 3 is an 8.5-kilometer course run by adult runners and university students, aiming for Miyajimaguchi, where the ferry to Miyajima, home to the World Heritage Site Itsukushima Shrine, runs.
Expectations are high for the performance of the Komazawa University athletes, who have won the triple crown in this season's university ekiden, such as the Hakone Ekiden.
Riki Yamano, a fourth-year student from Yamaguchi, holds the half marathon record for Japanese athletes, and contributed to the triple crown by finishing in the top five in all three university ekiden races.
Aoi Ito will participate from Shimane.
In the Hakone Ekiden on New Year's Day, she was in charge of the 6th section of the mountain descent, even though she was a first year student, and she created a flow to victory by running at the top of the section.
Furthermore, Keita Sato, a first-year student from Kyoto, played an active part in the national high school ekiden as the ace of Rakunan High School, and even at Komazawa University, where he entered, he made a brilliant debut by breaking the 2nd section record in the All Japan University Ekiden. I did it.
At 38 years old, the oldest member of society to participate in this tournament, Naomi Okamoto of Tottori, who will be participating in the 18th time, the most in history, and Kazu Shiojiri of Gunma, who participated in the 3000m steeplechase at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016. Also pay attention to players.
4th ward Chiba appoints Ryutane Suzuki from Yachiyo Shoin High School
District 4 is contested for the shortest 5km of the three sections run by high school students.
There is a turning point 2 kilometers before the track, and the point is whether you can handle the speed.
Chiba has appointed Ryutane Suzuki from Yachiyo Shoin High School.
As a freshman, he is a speedrunner who holds the record for the 3,000m, which is the third highest in high school history.
Saku Chosei High School's ace Hiroto Yoshioka participates in the 5th ward Nagano
Section 5 is contested for the longest 8.5km section run by high school students.
Skilled high school runners gathered together in the section where there was an ups and downs immediately after receiving the sash.
In Nagano, the ace of Sakuchosei High School, Hiroto Yoshioka will participate.
In the National High School Ekiden, where he finished second, he ran in the 3rd section, competing with international students, and set the highest section record for a Japanese athlete.
The last time I participated in the third year of junior high school, three years ago, I ran in the 6th section and set a new section record, contributing greatly to the victory.
Yoshioka's rival is Hyogo's Kazuma Maeda.
He is the ace of Hotoku Gakuen and has a form with little body movement.
Last year, he competed evenly with international students in the 5,000m at the National High School Championships, and came in 4th place, the top Japanese player.
This will be the first national competition for Ekiden, as she has no experience participating in the National High School Ekiden.
Yota Masuko of Section 6 Fukushima participates
Section 6 is the second section for junior high school students in the 3km course.
New star candidates will also participate in this section.
Fukushima's Yota Masuko won the 3,000 meters at the national junior high school championships last year, breaking her junior high school record in October.
Hyogo's twin, the younger brother of the Niizuma brothers, Subaru connects the sash in this section.
7th ward Rikkyo University coach Yuichiro Ueno races as a hometown athlete
District 7 of Anchor is contested at 13 kilometers, the longest.
Due to the tough course that crosses 13 bridges and has small ups and downs, many dramas have been created in the competition so far, and it is also said to be "the 7 wards of reversal".
Players who have been active in university ekiden will participate from their respective hometowns. Kotaro Kondo, a fourth-year student at Aoyama Gakuin University who has finished in the top three in each of the three university ekiden races from Aichi, and captain of Juntendo University from Shizuoka. He will aim for the finish with the sash tied by Yuma Nishizawa, who won the 10th section award at the Hakone Ekiden this year.
In addition, 37-year-old coach Yuichiro Ueno, who led Rikkyo University to its first appearance in 55 years at this month's Hakone Ekiden, will take part in the race as a hometown athlete from Nagano.