Kyoto – a team that has never compromised on excellence
Share of universities in promoting athletics is that of foundational and large. If we have a look over the world class talent that has entered the sport ever, a staggering majority of that will have their roots in various universities. And one such university
that is known for providing quality output in terms of its players is Kyoto, a national university located in Kyoto, Japan. The level of the performance of the athletes the university has been producing was well depicted at the much awaited event of the inter
Prefectural Women’s Ekiden.
While meeting the expectations of spectators to claim the top position on the podium at the Inter-Prefectural Women’s Ekiden, a Marathon of nine-stage distance, team Kyoto outran their rivals to win the event.
Making quick strides towards the finishing line, Kyoto’s athletes grabbed the fourth position at the end of stage one. Beyond this stage, until level four, the team could not help but drop down to lower positions. By the end of the stage two, they had been
pushed behind to number seven and at the end of the stage 3, the group was standing at the 16th position. However, after this point, the squad struck back with great vengeance.
With Ryoko Kizaki consistently moving her team up to sixth spot after stage four, Kyoto too continued affirming their position. By the end of the stage 5, the group enviably made it to the 3rd position. However, it only went to claim the lead
a little before the end of the stage 6.
Kyoto improved their lead over the following group by 27 seconds as the race entered into stage 7, however, by the next level, the gap was reduced to only three seconds. Amid the splendid strides of runners like Kayoko Fukushi, the national record holder
for 3000m and 5000m Half Marathon distances, the team successfully maintained their lead over rivals.
Meeting the expectations of local spectators, Fukushi ran as superb as ever. Throughout the race, she was among the top players who extended their lead with every stride and emerged as the main contributor for bringing a comfortable win to Kyoto. For Fukushi,
this was altogether her 14th victory and the sixth in the past seven years for her team, Kyoto.
She had claimed five wins in a row from 2005-2009. While sharing her thoughts over the happy moment, Minori Hayakari, the national champion in 3000m Steeplechase, who also happens to be the coach of Kyoto, said, “I was nervous throughout the race, so I am
very happy.”
As far individual performances were concerned, two runners emerged successfully to setup two new stage records. The first one to leave spectators thrilled was Yuriko Kobayashi, the young girl who had earlier bagged the World Youth Championships and the World
Junior Championships. She recorded the stage best for stage 4, as she covered the distance of 4km in 12 minutes and 41 seconds. The previous record was of 12 minutes and 43 seconds, made by Mari Ozaki in 2006.
Kobayashi, the emphatic young runner, who also holds the stage 2 record for 4km, had covered the distance in 12 minutes and 7 seconds. However, amid being hilly, the stage 4 record was rather tough to be broken, but depicting an impressive stamina, she did
it rather easily.
The second athlete to set a new record was Nanako Kanno, who covered the 4.0875km distance of stage 6 in 12 minutes and 39 seconds. The previous record was set last year, at 12 minutes and 42 seconds.
Earlier, when the race began, it seemed as if it was rather difficult for team Kyoto to outrun their rivals as in the presence of athletes like Miho Notagashira from Aomori, Shimokado from Tochigi, Yurika Nakamura from Okayama and Risa Takenaka from Shiga.
Runners from Kyoto were quite slow in the beginning. In later stages too, the main dominant runner of the marathon was Kimura from Fukuoka, who gave a really tough time to athletes from Okayama. However, after first four stages, team Kyoto never allowed
any other group to outrun them.
As the race entered into the final stage, rather expectedly, it was Fukushi from Kyoto who was emphatically leaving behind close rivals, Hyogo and Fukuoka. By the end of 5km in the last stage, with quick strides, the girl had also left Okayama behind, who
managed to end the event for claiming second position on the podium.
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