The New 12 months Ekiden company males’s nationwide championship kicks off 2025 early, with streaming beginning at 9:00 a.m. native time January 1st and the race going off at 9:15. At 7 legs totaling 100 km it is the height of the yr for the company leagues, the rationale they’ve groups and usher in Kenyans.
Final yr Toyota led from the Second Stage to the end, outrunning 2022-2023 winner Honda and 2017-2020 winner Asahi Kasei to take the nationwide title for the primary time since 2016. How is Toyota wanting this yr? On the one hand they’ve picked up contemporary incoming expertise like final yr’s Komazawa College captain Mebuki Suzuki. On the opposite, a few of its key gamers like Tomoki Ota and Ren Tazawa have been coping with damage, and at November’s Chubu Area qualifying race Toyota misplaced by a minute to Toyota Boshoku, who broke the Chubu CR.
A variety of Honda’s A-list was lacking from its lineup on the East Japan Area qualifying race, the place it was solely seventh out of 10 qualifiers. Massive groups do not all the time put their greatest individuals into the regional qualifying races, particularly East Japan 4th-placer Fujitsu, so it is in all probability price not studying an excessive amount of into that outcome. Nevertheless it wasn’t encouraging.
Asahi Kasei received the Kyushu Area qualifier, lacking 10000 m nationwide champion Jun Kasai from its lineup however successful because of an ideal comeback run on the anchor stage by former NR holder Akira Aizawa. That stated, its margin of victory was just one second, with final yr’s New 12 months Ekiden 4th-placer Kurosaki Harima delivering an ideal workforce efficiency that noticed anchor Sota Fukutani run precisely the identical time as Aizawa.
Toyota Boshoku, Fujitsu and Kurosaki Harima all have a shot at breaking into the highest 3, however one of many largest threats to Toyota, Honda and Asahi Kasei is East Japan winner GMO, house of Fukuoka Worldwide Marathon winner Yuya Yoshida. Yoshida broke the First Stage CR on the East Japan qualifier and was 40 seconds forward of 2nd earlier than occurring to win Fukuoka in 2:05:16. Loads relies on his restoration since then, however with 3 different GMO runners having received their East Japan phases it is fairly possible GMO will do so much higher than its Eighth-place end final yr.
Different regional winners SG Holdings, YKK and Chudenko weren’t elements on the 2024 New 12 months Ekiden, ending nineteenth, twenty third, twenty ninth, however on the Hokuriku Area qualifier held as a single race with the Chubu Area YKK ran a 5-minute CR that put them third total behind Toyota Boshoku and Toyota. They might be fascinating. 14th final yr and fifth on the East Japan race, Subaru can be getting numerous consideration this yr too for the company league debut of 3000 m SC NR holder Ryuji Miura.
Stay tweeting is not a lot of a factor any extra, however JRN can be on-site in Maebashi for the race and we’ll have some protection on @JRNLive. See you then.
69th New 12 months Ekiden Entry Checklist
Company Males’s Nationwide Championship
Maebashi, Gunma, 1 Jan. 2025
instances listed are common tempo in regional qualifying race
