The corporate ekiden competition is a series of races contested between Japan's corporate (business) running teams. The championships are officially the ). The structure involves regional qualifying races and a national championship for women and for men.Nakamura, Ken (2011-01-01). Toyota takes first New Year Ekiden title. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-01-16.

Women's Championship The All-Japan Women’s Corporate (Jitsugyodan) Ekiden Championship is held in mid December after 3 regional qualifying ekiden (2011 summary) events, narrowing the field to 24 to 27 teams, although new qualification standards in 2011 increased the field to 33 teams. In addition to teams coming from the East Japan qualifying meet, there are teams from the Central Japan and Western Japan qualifying meets.

Men's Championship The All-Japan Men's Corporate Ekiden Championship, also called the New Year Ekiden, takes place in Japan's Gunma Prefecture on 1 January.Nakamura, Ken. Preview of the 50th ‘New Year Ekiden’. December 30, 2005, International Association of Athletics Federations. iaaf.org. accessed Feb 19, 2009.Nakamura, Ken. Led by Kenya's Gideon, Nissin Foods the favourite at Monday's New Year Ekiden in Maebashi. December 30, 2006, International Association of Athletics Federations. iaaf.org Accessed Feb.19, 2009.

Qualification Structure Teams gain qualification into the final ekiden race through a series of preliminaries which are principally conducted on a district-by-district basis.Nakamura, Ken (2005-12-30). Preview of the 50th ‘New Year Ekiden’. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-01-16. The Eastern Japan Corporate Ekiden Championship qualifies men's and women's teams. Two other qualifying meets for the women are held for Central Japan and Western Japan, (women's divisions detailed in Japanese). The Western Japan women's qualifying race (6 stages, 42.195 km, 31st race on October 23, 2011) begins in Munakata, Fukuoka; website.

The men have a slightly different pattern (men's divisions detailed in Japanese). One of the men's qualifying races is the Kyushu men's qualifying race (7 stages, 78.8 km, 48th on November 23, 2011), which begins in Fukuoka City and ends in Kita Kyushu city; 2010 video . Other regionals include Kansai Jitsugyodan Ekiden (2010 - 53rd, held in Tabe), Chubu Jitsugyodan Ekiden (2010 - 50th, held in Gero, Gifu), Hokuriku Jitsugyodan Ekiden (2010 - 40th, held in Gero, Gifu), and Chugoku Jitsugyodan Ekiden (2010 - 49th, held in Sera, Hiroshima).

Qualification Round - Eastern Japan Corporate Ekiden Championships Konosu City, Saitama Prefecture, has hosted for several years the men's and women's Eastern Japan Corporate (Jitsugyodan) Ekiden Championships (2011 meet website). The meet site is Kumagaya Sports Culture Park (熊谷スポーツ文化公園陸上競技). This meet is a regional qualifier for the December women's and January 1 men's national championships. The women run a 6-stage 42.195 kilometer (full marathon) race and the men run a 7-stage 77.5 km race. The 2011 race was the meet's 22nd women's championship and the men's 52nd. 2011 race highlights in English; Japanese television website.

Men + Men's Eastern Japan Corporate Ekiden Championship (75.5 km; top 13 qualify for nationals) First Place Second Place Third Place Fourth Place Fifth Place Sixth Place Seventh Place Eight Place Ninth Place Tenth Place EleventhPlace Twelfth Place Thirteenth Place 2011 52nd Cup Nissin Shokuhin3:44:56 Konica Minolta3:45:53 Kanebo3:46:43 Honda3:47:19 Fujitsu3:47:53 Yakult3:48:25 JR Higashi Nihon3:48:49 Komori Corp.3:49:10 Subaru3:49:26 Hitachi Cable3:51:23 SDF Academy3:54:34 Tokyo Police3:54:52 Press Kogyo3:56:36

+ Men's Eastern Japan Corporate Ekiden Championship Stage Winners First stage11.6 km Second stage15.3 km Third stage9.2 km Fourth stage9.9 km Fifth stage7.4 km Sixth stage10.6 km Seventh stage13.5 km 2011 52nd Cup Yuki Sato Team Nissin Shokuhin33:00 CR Tsuyoshi Ugachi Team Konica Minolta44:28 CR Josephat NdambiriTeam Komori Corp.25:20 CR Masato Kihara Team Kanebo28:43 CR Yoshihiro Wakamatsu Team Nissin Shokuhin21:19 CR Yuki Nakamura Team Kanebo30:41 Masakazu Fujiwara Team Honda39:31

Women + Women's Eastern Japan Corporate Ekiden Championship (24.195 km; from 2011 all teams under 2:30.00 qualify for national championships) First Place Second Place Third Place Fourth Place Fifth Place Sixth Place Seventh Place Eight Place Ninth Place Tenth Place Eleventh Place Twelfth Place 2011 22nd Cup Daiichi Seimei2:17:21 Sekisui Kagaku2:17:24 Universal Entertainment2:17:56 Panasonic2:18:07 Starts2:19:00 Hokuren2:19:51 Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo2:20:12 Shiseido2:20:17 Nihon ChemiCon2:20:25 Yamada Denki2:21:21 Shimamura2:21:32 Hitachi2:23:49

+ Women's Eastern Japan Corporate Ekiden Championship Stage Winners (CR = Course record) First stage6.795 km Second stage3.1 km Third stage12.2 km Fourth stage3.8 km Fifth stage10.0 km Sixth stage6.3 km 2011 22nd Cup Yurie DoiTeam Starts21:44 Grace KimanziKenya/Team Starts9:28 CR Misaki Katsumata Team Daiichi Seimei39:07 CR Miku YamamotoTeam Sekisui Kagaku11:58 CR Asami KatoTeam Panasonic32:49 Yoshimi OzakiTeam Daiichi Seimei20:41 CR

Qualification Round - Western Japan Corporate Ekiden Championships The Western Japan women's qualifying race (6 stages, 42.195 km) begins in Munakata, Fukuoka; website. The 31st annual race was held on October 23, 2011.

References

ja:全日本実業団対抗駅伝競走大会