Inter-Prefectural Women's Ekiden

The Inter-Prefectural Women's Ekiden (全国都道府県対抗女子駅伝競走大会 (All-Japan Inter-Prefectural Women's Ekiden Championships)) is an annual women's ekiden (road running relay race) for Japanese runners held in January in Kyoto Prefecture. The course has a looped point-to-point format over the marathon distance of 42.195 km and begins and ends within the Nishikyogoku Athletic Stadium.

Nishikyogoku Athletic Stadium is the start and end point of the race

The competition was initiated in 1983 as a way of developing and improving the standard of women's long-distance running in Japan.[1] All 47 Prefectures of Japan are allowed to enter a team into the event. The relay is divided into nine stages (or legs) of distances varying from 3 km to 10 km. Rather than being open to all, the stages are separated into age groups; competitors range from junior high school runners to fully-fledged professional athletes. This aspect is an essential part of the ethos of the competition: that younger athletes may interact and learn from more experienced runners.[2] Non-Japanese nationals are not permitted to enter the competition and participants must represent the prefecture in which they are being schooled or, in the case of professionals, the prefecture in which they are mostly based.[3]

The ekiden is organised by the Japanese Association of Athletics Federations (JAAF), the national governing body for the sport. It has three major sponsors: the Kyoto Shimbun (the regional newspaper), Murata Machinery, and NHK (the national broadcaster). The event is transmitted every year on the NHK General TV channel as well as NHK Radio 1.[3]

The host prefecture, Kyoto, has historically been the most successful team at the competition by far, having won the ekiden on sixteen occasions.[4] Hyogo and Chiba Prefecture are the next most successful, having won the event three times each.[5] The event is among the most prestigious of the national women's running competitions and it attracts Japan's top runners within all the age ranges.[6] Prominent women athletes to have competed at the event include: Olympic marathon champions Naoko Takahashi and Mizuki Noguchi, former world record holder Kayoko Fukushi, Vienna Marathon winner Tomo Morimoto and two-time Asian Games silver medallist Harumi Hiroyama.

The current course record of 2:14:55 hours was set by Kanagawa Prefecture in 2013.[7]

Stages
The race route passes the Hirano Shrine in the first stages.
Stage Distance Age limit Route Stage record (m:s)
1st 6 km Nishikyogoku Athletic Stadium → Hirano Shrine Miwako Yamanaka (18:44), 2003
2nd 4 km Hirano Shrine → Karasuma Kyoto Hotel Yuriko Kobayashi (12:07), 2009
3rd 3 km Junior high Karasuma → Marutamachi Kawaramachi Yui Takahashi (9:11), 2004
4th 4 km Marutamachi Kawaramachi → Shirakawa Street Seira Fuwa (12:29), 2022
5th 4.1075 km Shirakawa Street → Kyoto International Conference Center Taeko Igarashi (12:53), 1995
6th 4.0875 km Kyoto International Conference Center → Shirakawa Street Nanako Kanno (12:39), 2011
7th 4 km Shirakawa Street → Marutamachi Teramachi Kazue Kojima (12:21), 2007
8th 3 km Junior high Marutamachi Teramachi → Karasuma Moe Kyuma (9:41), 2009
9th 10 km Karasuma → Nishikyogoku Athletic Stadium Kayoko Fukushi (30:02), 2004

Editions
The 2000 Olympic marathon champion Naoko Takahashi ran for Gifu Prefecture.
Tomo Morimoto took the Okayama team to third place in 2008.[8]

Key:   Course record

Edition Year Winner Time (h:m:s)
1st 1983 Chiba 2:29:02
2nd 1984 Kyoto 2:27:14
3rd 1985 Chiba 2:25:32
4th 1986 Kagoshima 2:22:59
5th 1987 Kanagawa 2:23:05
6th 1988 Kyoto 2:20:25
7th 1989 Kyoto 2:18:41
8th 1990 Kyoto 2:17:17
9th 1991 Kyoto 2:16:01
10th 1992 Kyoto 2:17:55
11th 1993 Osaka 2:19:15
12th 1994 Chiba 2:18:04
13th 1995 Miyagi 2:17:50
14th 1996 Kyoto 2:17:19
15th 1997 Kumamoto 2:15:19
16th 1998 Saitama 2:16:54
17th 1999 Fukuoka 2:18:16
18th 2000 Nagasaki 2:17:19
19th 2001 Hyogo 2:17:57
20th 2002 Kyoto 2:15:55
21st 2003 Hyogo 2:16:02
22nd 2004 Hyogo 2:16:18
23rd 2005 Kyoto 2:16:22
24th 2006 Kyoto 2:15:26
25th 2007 Kyoto 2:17:03
26th 2008 Kyoto 2:14:58
27th 2009 Kyoto 2:15:39
28th 2010 Okayama 2:16:24
29th 2011 Kyoto 2:17:16
30th 2012 Osaka 2:16:47
31st 2013 Kanagawa 2:14:55
32nd 2014 Kyoto 2:15:32
33rd 2015 Osaka 2:17:26
34th 2016 Aichi 2:16:02
35th 2017 Kyoto 2:17:45

References
  1. About (in Japanese). Women's Ekiden (2011-10-14). Retrieved on 2012-01-22.
  2. Nakamura, Ken (2012-01-15). Osaka wins women’s Inter-Prefectural Ekiden in Kyoto. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-01-22.
  3. FAQ (in Japanese). Women's Ekiden. Retrieved on 2012-01-22.
  4. Nakamura, Ken (2011-01-17). Kyoto takes women’s Inter-Prefectural Ekiden title in Kyoto. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-01-22.
  5. Historical Annual Rankings (in Japanese). Women's Ekiden. Retrieved on 2012-01-22.
  6. Nakamura, Ken (2009-01-11). Kyoto prefecture wins fifth straight Inter-Prefectural Women’s Ekiden title. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-01-22.
  7. Nakamura, Ken (2013-01-13). Kanagawa wins Inter-Prefectural Women's Ekiden in Kyoto with course record. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-02-18.
  8. Nakamura, Ken (2008-01-13). Kyoto dominates Inter-Prefectural Women's Ekiden. IAAF. retrieved on 2012-01-22.
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