Kenyan team prevails at the 2011 Chiba International Ekiden - Athletics news
Kenyan team won the marathon relay race in a magnificent time of 2 hours, 4 minutes and 40 seconds, at the 2011 Chiba International Ekiden, in Chiba, Japan, on November 23. Japan and Kenya had a close contest, as the men of Kenya and women of Japan were
the leading runners in all stages of the marathon relay race. Kenya’s winning time of 2 hours, 4 minutes and 40 seconds demolished the previous race record of 2 hours, 5 minutes and 27 seconds, set in 2008 by an Ethiopian team.
Kenya secured their first victory at the event since 2007, as the meet became a mixed men’s and women’s race in the same year and onwards. Twelve teams comprising of ten national teams along with a Japanese Collegiate team and a Chiba Prefecture team, competed
in the six-stage marathon contest.
The six stages were divided equally into men’s and women’s segments. The men had to compete for three stages, whereas, the remaining three were to be contested by women. The men ran the 5 km first stage, 10 km third stage and 10 km fifth stage, while women
ran 5Km second stage, 5 km fourth stage and 7.195 km sixth stage. Kenyan men and Japanese women were notified as the best competitors, as in all the men’s stages, Kenyan men scored the best times, while Japanese women also performed well.
Kenyan team’s top participants were Patrick Mutunga Mwikya and Edwin Mokua who ran the third and fifth 10 km stages, respectively. The 2011 World Youth Championships silver medallist for the 3000m distance, as well as the 2011 World Cross Country junior
bronze medallist, Mwikya, turned out to be the fastest runner of the third stage. He finished the stage in a record time of 28 minutes and 8 seconds to score a stage record.
Mokua was faster than his compatriot, as he crossed the hilly 10 km fifth stage in a timeline of 27 minutes and 43 seconds. He not only broke the records set by his compatriot in the earlier men’s stage, but also clinched an impressive one minute margin
over the previous record of 28 minutes and 47 seconds, set by Tetsuya Yoroizaka, a 10,000m runner.
The second spot was secured by Japanese team, as they finished the marathon relay race in a decent time of 2 hours, 4 minutes and 59 seconds. The Japanese College team turned the tables on the rest of the teams, as they grabbed third place with a time of
2 hours, 7 minutes and 26 seconds.
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