Yokohama Ekiden...Jason, any results?

The IAAF site has the top eight, can't remember the web address, I'll try to find it and report later.

There is a website but it is all Nihongo.

Derartu Tulu approaches the finish line in the 2000 World Cross Country Championships (Getty Images)

Not even Tulu can prevent Russia winning Yokohama Ekiden

Sunday 23 February 2003

Yokohama, Japan - The Russian team won the 21st edition of the oldest international Ekiden, today, a race which started it's history in 1983. Their winning time of 2:15:10 was the second fastest ever Ekiden time in the world behind the 2:11:41, set by the Chinese national team in 1998 in Beijing. Counting from the days when they competed as Soviet Union or CIS, it was their seventh victory in the Yokohama women's Ekiden.

The Ethiopian team, which included two Olympic champions - Derartu Tulu and Fatuma Roba - finished a close second equalling their best finish in 1997, while the defending champions Japan finished a disappointing third, their worst finish since fourth in 1994. In the last nine years, the Japanese team have either finished first or second each time, though this year's team was far from an "A" team.

The race was contested over a new out and back course equal to the marathon distance, which was divided to 5Km, 10Km, 6Km, 6Km, 10Km and 5.195Km. Fourteen teams including seven national teams - AUS, CHN, ETH, ROM, RUS, USA and JPN, along with seven Japanese district teams took part.

Of the fourteen teams that started the race, eight were still together at the 3km point of the first 5km stage. However, 800m later the lead pack was reduced to three - Japan, China and Ethiopia, and a further 400m later over the uphill portion of the course China also fell behind, leaving Japan?s Miwako Yamanaka who was returning from injury - dropped out of the January's Osaka Ladies Marathon - to duel with a young Ethiopian Diribe Ayele (18 years old according to the data supplied by the organizer).

At the end the young Ethiopian was able to out-kick Yamanaka (who was fourth at the 2002 World Cross Country Championships) by one second (15:28 to 15:29). Russia was 21 seconds behind the leader at the end of stage one.

However, on the second stage, Ethiopia (Fatuma Roba - 1996 Olympic Marathon champion) quickly dropped out of contention, while Japan with the fastest stage from Takako Kotorida moved into a commanding lead. Kotorida (fourth, 2002 Asian Games 10,000m) covered the 10Km in 31:44, almost as fast as her track PR (31:41.32), and put Japan 34 seconds ahead of the second placed Russian team, 15Km into the race.

The Russian team had moved into second with a fine stage from Alla Zhilyayeva (31:54) while Ethiopia dropped to seventh, a minute and 33 seconds behind Japan.

In the third and the fourth stages, the defending champions Japan, still kept a commanding lead. At the end of the fourth stage - cumulative distance of 27Km into the race - Japan led Russia by a minute and seven seconds.

During these two stages, the Ethiopian team steadily recovered to move back up the field and by the end of the fourth stage, they were into third, however, they were still a minute and 43 seconds behind Japan.

It looked as if Japan was on her way to a ninth victory in twenty-one attempts. However, their fifth stage runner Rie Matsuoka - second 2002 Tokyo Ladies marathon - had a very bad day.

She started slowly, in fact too slow with the initial kilometre taking over 3 minutes and 30 seconds. Four kilometers into the 10Km stage, Galina Bogomolova of Russia took over the lead from Matsuoka. Another kilometre later, twice and reigning Olympic 10,000m champion Derartu Tulu of Ethiopia, also passed Matsuoka and moved into second.

At the end of the fifth stage, Ethiopia because of the fastest stage (31:44) by Tulu, was only 24 seconds behind the leaders Russia, while Japan was hopelessly adrift (a further minute and 44 seconds behind) with only the 5.195Km final stage left.

Although, 17-year-old (according to the info supplied by the organizer) Ethiopian, Mestewat Taddessee ran the fastest sixth stage and was able to cut down on the Russian lead, the Ethiopians still fell short by six seconds, and so Russia ended up winning this Ekiden for the first time since 2001.

Osaka

On the same day in Osaka, the future site of 2007 World Championships, Kenji Takao of Asai Kasei track team, the 1998 Asian Games champion at 10000m, won the Osaka City Half marathon in 1:02:24, after breaking away from Manabu Itayama at 13.5km, running alone to win easily by 37 seconds.

Takao later said, "My feet were not feeling too great but since Itayama looked uncomfortable I decide to surge at that point. I am happy to keep Asahi Kasei's five years winning streak alive.?

In the women's division Kumi Tanabe of the local Daihatsu track team ran most of the race (from 5km) alone and won by nearly two and a half minutes in 1:09:55. She later commented, "Most of my team mates have already run the marathon. I hope to run one in the future, so I think this will be the step stone."

Akihiro Onishi and Ken Nakamura for the IAAF

Results of Yokohama Ekiden:

1) RUS 2:15:10

2) ETH 2:15:16

3) JPN 2:17:23

4) Chugoku-Shikoku (district team) 2:19:10

5) ROM 2:19:14

6) Kinki (district team) 2:19:23

7) CHN 2:19:57

8) Kyushu (district team) 2:20:16

Fastest Stages:

Stage 1 5Km Diribe Ayele (ETH) 15:28

Stage 2 10Km Takako Kotorida (JPN) 31:41

Stage 3 6Km Miki Oyama (JPN) 19:02

Stage 4 6Km Genet Teka (ETH) 19:09

Stage 5 10Km Derartu Tulu (ETH) 31:44

Stage 6 5.195Km Mestewat Taddessee (ETH) 16:18

Yokohama Ekiden Course / Race Historical notes ?

In its 21 years history, some of the best runners in the world including Ingrid Kristiansen, Rosa Mota and Mary Decker-Slaney have competed in this women's ekiden. It has also produced some of the fastest ekiden times for the six stage race over the marathon distance (see the all-time list below). The race produced two successive course records in 2001 and 2002.

The last year, the Japanese national team improved the record to 2:12:05 breaking the record set by the Russian national team over the same course in the previous year (2:12:50).

All time Ekiden List

1) 2:11:41 CHN Beijing 1998

2) 2:12:05 JPN Yokohama 2002

3) 2:12:50 RUS Yokohama 2001

4) 2:13:33 JPN Chiba 2001

5) 2:13:39 Mitsui Saitama 2000

6) 2:13:50 JPN Chiba 1996

7) 2:13:52 Mitsui Sumitomo Saitama 2002

8) 2:13:59 URS Barcelona 1991

9) 2:13:59 Recruit Gifu 1994

10) 2:14:00 Dai-ichi Life Gifu 2002

I do know Miki Oyama. Very sweet gal. She's on the Mitsui team with Reiko and Yoko. Saw her in Kunming just before she left for Tokyo to run the Yokohama Ekiden. Glad that she had a great race!

jason

Why is every thread Mayeroff-related today?

Any splits available for the American gals??

Melanie Cleland - 33:03, that's all I got from my sources, ha.

thats what she ran in Chiba. Sure you're not lookig at old results?

I am not looking at anything. I got this one via e-mail from someone who talked directly to her in Japan.

This would be a good race for Paula. Even the splits look about right for her!