Skip to main content

2011 International Chiba Ekiden Field Released (updated)

http://sankei.jp.msn.com/sports/news/111108/oth11110819020007-n1.htm
http://www.daily.co.jp/newsflash/2011/11/08/0004605410.shtml
http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2011110800657

translated and edited by Brett Larner

On Nov. 8 the organizers of the 2011 International Chiba Ekiden held a press conference to announced the teams for the Nov. 23 event.  Teams from ten countries including Japan, Kenya and the United States will face off against the defending champion Japanese University Select Team and a team made up of top runners from hosts Chiba Prefecture over the six-stage, 42.195 km race.  Each team includes three men and three women who will alternate stages in handing off the tasuki.

Finishing 3rd last year, the Japanese team features men Chihiro Miyawaki (Team Toyota), Kensuke Takezawa (Team S&B), Yuichiro Ueno (Team S&B) and Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Meiji Univ.) and women Yuriko Kobayashi (Team Toyota Jidoshokki), Hitomi Niiya (Sakura AC), Kasumi Nishihara (Team Yamada Denki) and Yuko Shimizu (Team Sekisui Kagaku).  Aiming to defend last year's title, the University team includes Suguru Osako (Waseda Univ.), Risa Takenaka (Ritsumeikan Univ.) and Hikari Yoshimoto (Bukkyo Univ.).

Kobayashi, the 1500 m national record holder, told reporters, "I couldn't run as well as I wanted during track season, so I want to do something big here and ride that momentum into next year.  I don't want to lose again this time."   Yoroizaka agreed, saying, "I'll be running against a lot of university guys I know well, so we can't lose."  His rival University Select Team rival Osako firmly countered, "We're going for the win."

Translator's note: The 2011 International Chiba Ekiden will be broadcast live beginning at 1:00 p.m. Japan time on Nov. 23.  Overseas viewers should be able to watch online for free via Keyhole TV, available here.

2011 International Chiba Ekiden Field
12 teams, six stages, 42.195 km
click here for complete entry lists

Teams and Member Highlights
Australia - Georgie Clarke, Lisa Corrigan
Canada - Taylor Milne, Dayna Pidhoresky
Chiba Pref. - Yusuke Sato
Czech Republic - Jan Kreisinger
Japan - Kensuke Takezawa, Yuichiro Ueno, Tetsuya Yoroizaka, Yuriko Kobayashi, Hitomi Niiya, Kasumi Nishihara
Japanese Univ. Select Team - Takehiro Deki, Suguru Osako, Risa Takenaka, Hikari Yoshimoto
Kenya - Thomas Longosiwa, Patrick Mwikya, Janeth Kisa
New Zealand - Matthew Smith, Lisa Robertson
Poland - Michal Kazamarek, Lidia Chojecka
Romania - Marius Ionescu
Russia - Anatoly and Evgeny Rybakov, Elena Korobkina, Natalia Popkova, Elizaveta Grechishnikova, Elena Zahorozhnaya
U.S.A. - Robert Chesert, Christo Landry, Bobby Mack, Josh Moen, Emily Brown, Janet Cherobon-Bawcom

Comments

Most-Read This Week

World Championships Medalist Racewalking Coach Mizuho Sakai Recognized With Highest Coaching Honor

The 2023 Mizuno Sports Mentor Awards recognizing excellence in coaching were held Apr. 23 in Tokyo. Toyo University assistant coach and race walking coach Mizuho Sakai was given a gold award, the program's highest honor, and expressed her thanks and joy in a speech at the award ceremony. The coach of 2023 Budapest World Championships men's 35 km race walk bronze medalist Masatora Kawano , Sakai said, "This is an incredible honor and I'm truly grateful. As a child I wanted to be in the sporting world and I've spent my life in that world. My end goal was always to play a supporting role for other athletes, so I'm honored to be recognized in this way." Sakai's husband Toshiyuki Sakai , head coach of Toyo's three-time Hakone Ekiden champion team, attended the awards gala with her and was also introduced to the audience. After bowing he took a seat in front of her and watched with warmth as she received recognition for her outstanding work. The Mizun

The Ivy League at the Izumo Ekiden in Review

Last week I was contacted by Will Geiken , who I'd met years ago when he was a part of the Ivy League Select Team at the Izumo Ekiden . He was looking for historical results from Izumo and lists of past team members, and I was able to put together a pretty much complete history, only missing the alternates from 1998 to 2010 and a little shaky on the reverse transliterations of some of the names from katakana back into the Western alphabet for the same years. Feel free to send corrections or additions to alternate lists. It's interesting to go back and see some names that went on to be familiar, to see the people who made an impact like Princeton's Paul Morrison , Cornell's Max King , Stanford's Brendan Gregg in one of the years the team opened up beyond the Ivy League, Cornell's Ben de Haan , Princeton's Matt McDonald , and Harvard's Hugo Milner last year, and some of the people who struggled with the format. 1998 Team: 15th of 21 overall, 2:14:10 (43

Hirabayashi Runs PB at Shanghai Half, WR Holder Nakata Dominates Fuji Five Lakes - Weekend Road Roundup

Returning to the roads after his 2:06:18 win at February's Osaka Marathon, Kiyoto Hirabayashi (Koku Gakuin University) took 5th at Sunday's Shanghai Half Marathon in a PB 1:01:23, just under a minute behind winner Roncer Kipkorir Konga (Kenya) who clocked a CR 1:00:29. After inexplicably running the equivalent of a sub-59 half marathon to win the Hakone Ekiden's Third Stage, Aoi Ota (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) was back to running performances consistent with his other PBs with a 1:02:30 for 8th. His AGU teammate Kyosuke Hiramatsu was 10th in 1:04:00. Women's winner Magdalena Shauri (Tanzania) also set a new CR in 1:09:57. Aoyama Gakuin runners took the top four spots in the men's half marathon at the Aomori Sakura Marathon , with Hakone alternate Kosei Shiraishi getting the win in 1:04:32 and B-team members Shunto Hamakawa and Kei Kitamura 2nd and 3rd in 1:04:45 and 1:04:48. Club runners took the other division titles, Hina Shinozaki winning the women's half