International Chiba Ekiden

The International Chiba Ekiden is an annual team road running competition held in Chiba, Japan in late November. The marathon relay race, or ekiden as it is known in Japan, is one of the prominent annual races of its kind. The competition is split into six legs which combine to make up the marathon distance of 42.195 km. The Chiba Ekiden was first held in 1988 and featured separate competitions for both men and women.^[1] Since 2007, each competing country selects three men and three women for their team. The legs are divided as follows: 5 km (men), 5 km (women), 10 km (men), 5 km (women), 10 km (men), and 7.195 km (women).^[2]

The men's world record for the event was set at the competition in 2005 as the Kenyan team of Josephat Ndambiri, Martin Mathathi, Daniel Mwangi, Mekubo Mogusu, Onesmus Nyerere and John Kariuki completed the course in a time of 1:57:06. In the same race the Japanese team ran an Asian record, the United States men ran a North American record and the fourth-placed Russian team broke the European record.^[3]

Winners

Key: Stage winner

Men's and women's era

Year	Men	Men's team	Women	Women's team
1988	Ethiopia		New Zealand
1990	Japan		Romania
1991	Australia		Kenya
1992	Australia		Japan
1993	Morocco		Japan
1994	Ethiopia		Japan
1995	Australia		Japan
1996	South Africa		Japan
1997	Kenya		Japan
1998	Japan		Japan
1999	Japan		Japan
2000	Japan		Japan
2001	South Africa		Japan
2002	Ethiopia		Ethiopia
2003	Ethiopia		Ethiopia
2004	Ethiopia		Ethiopia
2005	Kenya	Josephat Ndambiri, Martin Mathathi Daniel Mwangi, Mekubo Mogusu Onesmus Nyerere and John Kariuki	Kenya	Philes Ongori, Evelyn Wambui  ?, Catherine Ndereba  ?, ?
2006[4]	Kenya	Martin Mathathi, Gideon Ngatuny Josephat Ndambiri, Sammy Korir Mekubo Mogusu, Cyrus Njui	Kenya	Philes Ongori, Evelyne Kemunto Kimwei Sally Kaptich Chepyego, Catherine Ndereba Jane Wanjiku, Lucy Wangui

Mixed era

Year	Winner	Time	Athletes (Stage winner)
2007	Japan	2:05:56	Yuichiro Ueno, Kayoko Fukushi, Kenji Noguchi, Megumi Kinukawa, Kensuke Takezawa, Yukiko Akaba[5]
2008	Ethiopia	2:05:27	Ali Abdosh, Sule Utura, Dejen Gebremeskel, Belaynesh Fekadu, Hunegnaw Mesfin, Tsega Gelaw[6]
2009	Japan	2:05:58	Yuichiro Ueno, Yuriko Kobayashi, Kensuke Takezawa, Yukiko Akaba, Atsushi Sato, Yurika Nakamura[7]
2010	Japan Collegiate	2:07:52	Taku Fujimoto, Risa Takenaka, Yo Yazawa, Kasumi Nishihara, Shota Hiraga, Hanae Tanaka[8]

See also

• Chiba International Cross Country, another prominent athletics competition in the city

References

1. ^ Nakamura, Ken (2007-11-21). New mixed race format for Chiba International Ekiden - Preview. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-11-18.
2. ^ Team USA set for International Chiba Ekiden. USATF (2010-11-11). Retrieved on 2010-11-18.
3. ^ Nakamura, Ken (2005-11-23). Kenyan men win in Chiba with World’s fastest ever time. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-07-24.
4. ^ Nakamura, Ken (2006-11-23). Kenya dominate at Chiba Ekiden. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-11-18.
5. ^ Nakamura, Ken (2007-11-23). Japan comes from behind to win the Chiba International Ekiden. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-11-18.
6. ^ Nakamura, Ken (2008-11-24). Ethiopia sweeps Chiba Ekiden. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-11-18.
7. ^ Nakamura, Ken (2009-11-23). Japan takes Chiba Ekiden title, with favourite Kenya well-beaten third. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-11-18.
8. ^ Nakamura, Ken (2010-11-23). Japanese Collegiate Team scores upset at Chiba Ekiden. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-11-27.

External links

• Official site