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Honda Wins East Japan Corporate Ekiden to Lead 15 Qualifiers for New Year Ekiden National Championships

http://mainichi.jp/sports/news/20151104k0000m050015000c.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner


Running from the Saitama Prefectural Government offices to Kumagaya Sports Park Field, 27 corporate men's teams raced the 56th running of the seven-stage, 77.5 km East Japan Corporate Ekiden on Nov. 3.  The local Honda team won for the first time in 3:47:09 after anchor Yuki Matsumura made up a 52-second deficit to run down leader Nissin Shokuhin.  Nissin Shokuhin finished 2nd for the fourth year in a row, with DeNA taking 3rd and Konica Minolta, in search of a fourth-straight win, finishing on 4th.  The top 15 teams qualified for the 60th running of the New Year Ekiden national corporate men's championships on Jan. 1.  The new ND Software team was the 16th finisher, just missing making its New Year Ekiden debut by 3 seconds behind the Tokyo Police Department team.

56th East Japan Corporate Ekiden Top Results
Saitama, 11/1/15
27 teams, 7 stages, 77.5 km
click here for complete results

Top Team Results - top 15 qualify for New Year Ekiden
1. Honda - 3:47:09
2. Nissin Shokuhin Group - 3:47:31
3. DeNA - 3:49:21
4. Konica Minolta - 3:49:29
5. Hitachi Butsuryu - 3:50:59
6. Yakult - 3:51:16
7. JR Higashi Nihon - 3:51:48
8. Fujitsu - 3:52:15
9. Press Kogyo - 3:53:31
10. Yachiyo Kogyo - 3:54:03
11. Komori Corp. - 3:54:09
12. Subaru - 3:54:22
13. Kanebo - 3:56:16
14. Sunbelx - 3:57:16
15. Tokyo Police Department - 3:57:22
-----
16. ND Software - 3:57:25

Individual Stage Results
First Stage - 11.6 km: Yuta Takahashi (DeNA) - 33:15
Second Stage - 15.3 km: Yuta Shitara (Honda) - 44:20
Third Stage - 9.2 km: Leonard Barsoton (Nissin Shokuhin) - 25:36
Fourth Stage - 9.5 km: Keigo Yano (Nissin Shokuhin) - 28:33 - CR
Fifth Stage - 7.8 km: Tsuyoshi Ugachi (Konica Minolta) - 23:36
Sixth Stage - 10.6 km: Keita Baba (Honda) - 29:57
Seventh Stage - 13.5 km: Hidenori Nagai (DeNA) - 40:09

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