The All-Japan Interprefectural Ekiden Championships are two annual ekiden (road running relay) competitions between the 47 Prefectures of Japan. The championships are both held in January and are divided by gender. The Empress Cup - Interprefectural Women's Ekiden is held in Kyoto on the third Sunday in January.(course map ) The Interprefectural Men's Ekiden is held in Hiroshima in recent years on the fourth Sunday of January.(course map )

Women's Championship The Empress Cup - Interprefectural Women's Ekiden Championship is held in Kyoto on the third Sunday in January. The 2012 running marks the 30th annual event. Forty seven teams from the 47 prefectures of Japan compete. The course is the same as the course for the high school boys national ekiden race held on the third Sunday of December, except that the women's relay has 9 stages (rather than 7) over the 42.195 kilometers. The stages are 6k 4k 3k 4k 4.0175k 4.0875k 4k 3k and 10k. The two 3k stages are reserved for junior high athletes and generally high school athletes run the 5 stages that are 4k or just over 4k. Collegiate and open runners take the 6k and 10k stages. The mixed-age squads maintain a rapid pace. In 2009 the first 10 teams finished under 2 hours and 20 minutes, and 12 teams broke 2:20 in 2012. In 2009, the team from Kyoto took its 13th championship, and as of that year, in the ekiden's 20 years Kyoto has only twice placed outside the top 6.All Japan Interprefectural Women's Ekiden. Track and Field Monthly (Japanese), March 2009 vol 43 # 4, pages 94-97, 108-111, 156-157.Larner, Brett. Moe Kyuma Surprise Star of Kyoto's 5th-Straight National Interprefectural Women's Ekiden Win. January 11, 2009 Japanrunningnews.blogspot. accessed Feb 19, 2009.Nakamura, Ken. Kyoto Prefecture Wins fifth straight Inter-Prefectural Women’s Ekiden title. January 11, 2009, International Association of Athletics Federations. iaaf.org/news. accessed Feb 19, 2009.Nakamura, Ken. Kyoto Dominates Inter-Prefectural Women's Ekiden. January 13, 2008, International Association of Athletics Federations. iaaf.org/news. accessed Feb 19, 2009.Nakamura, Ken. Kyoto Three-peat in Women’s Ekiden. 14 January 2007, International Association of Athletics Federations. iaaf.org/news. accessed Feb 19, 2009.Nakamura, Ken. Inter-Prefectural Women’s Ekiden in Kyoto. 16 January 2002, International Association of Athletics Federations. iaaf.org/news. accessed Feb 19, 2009. Okayama took its first ever title in 2010, Kyoto reclaimed it in 2011, and in 2012 Kyoto finished second, a minute back from the winning team from neighboring Osaka.

+ Women's ekiden top threeEdition First Place Second Place Third Place 2009 27th Cup Kyoto 2:15:39 5th_consecutive Okayama 2:17:03Hyogo 2:17:42 2010 28th Cup Okayama 2:16:24 first-ever title Chiba 2:16:39 Kyoto 2:17:12 2011 29th Cup Kyoto 2:17:16 Okayama 2:18:07 Fukuoka 2:19:00 2012 30th Cup Osaka 2:16:37 Kyoto 2:17:33 Chiba 2:17:49 Note: Jr.HS = Junior High School, H.S.= High School + Top stage performers Edition 1st (6 km Open) 2nd (4 km HS/Open) 3rd (3 km Jr.HS) 4th (4 km HS/Open) 5th (4.1075 km HS/Open) 6th (4.0875 km HS/Open) 7th (4 km HS) 8th (3 km Jr.HS) 9th (10 km Open) 2009 Yurika Nakamura & Ryoko Kisaki Okayama & Kyoto - 19:14 Yuriko Kobayashi Hyogo - 12:07 new stage record Haruka Kyuma Kyoto - 9:21 Risa Shigetomo Okayama - 12:50 Ikumi Natsuhara Kyoto -13:11 Ai Kuboki Okayama - 12:54 Aya Ito Kyoto - 12:26 Moe Kyuma Kyoto - 9:41 > new stage record Hitomi Niiya Chiba - 32:31 January 17, 2010 Kasumi Nishihara Kyoto - 19:11 Kaori Urata Okayama - 12:31 Tomoka Kimura Shizuoka - 9:22 Ryoko Kisaki Osaka - 12:50 Katsuki Suga Okayama - 13:02 Mahiro Akamatsu Okayama - 12:42 new stage record Minami Nakaarai Hyogo - 12:24 Yume Tanaka Shizuoka - 9:46 Kayoko Fukushi Aomori - 31:03 January 16, 2011 Hanae Tanaka FukuokaRitsumeikan Univ. - 19:41 Tomoka Kimura FukuokaChikushi Jyogakuen H.S. - 12:22 Hanami Sekine TokyoKanai Jr.H.S. - 9:21 Yuriko Kobayashi HyogoTeam Toyota Jidoshoki - 12:41new stage record Mutsumi Ikeda & Erina Maki Hyogo & KyotoSuma Gakuen H.S. & Ritsumeikan Uji H.S. - 13:26 Nanako Kanno KyotoRitsumeikan Uji H.S. - 12:39new stage record Ayano Ikeuchi KyotoRitsumeikan Uji H.S. - 12:35 Ayaka Nakagawa SaitamaAsaka Dai-San Jr.H.S. - 10:02 Kayoko Fukushi KyotoTeam Wacoal - 31:53 January 15, 2012 Ryoko Kizaki OsakaTeam Daihatsu - 19:21 Yuka Ando AichiToyokawa H.S. - 12:26 Ayaka Nakagawa SaitamaAsaka #3 Jr. H.S. - 9:17 Risa Takenaka ShigaRitsumeikan Univ. - 12:48 Nanami Aoki KyotoRitsumeikan Uji H.S. - 12:57 Mika Kobayashi HyogoSuma Gakuen H.S. - 12:58 Risa Yokoe HyogoSuma Gakuen H.S. - 12:33 Kokoro Sawairi ShizuokaFujioka Jr. H.S. - 9:53 Hitomi Niiya ChibaSakura A.C. - 32:06

Men's Championship

In the men's All-Japan Interprefectural Ekiden Championship, 7 runners run 48 kilometers in stages of 7k 3k 8.5k 5k 8.5k 3k and 13k.(Hiroshima course map In both races, each team is composed of runners selected to represent one prefecture, a total of 47 teams in each race. The majority of the team members are high school and junior high school elite runners. Junior high runners are assigned to the two 3k stages and high school runners are assigned to the 7k, the 5k and 8.5k stages. Open runners are placed in the remaining 8.5k stage and the 13k stage.Larner, Brett. Entry Lists for National Interprefectural Women's Ekiden Released. December 26, 2008 japanrunningnews.blogspot. accessed Feb. 18, 2009. Despite the youth, the first 7 men's teams in 2009 finished under 2 hours and 21 minutes (48k), the equivalent of 14:40 5k pace or 8:48 3k pace. In 2009 the team from Nagano took its 5th title in 6 years.Nagano Men 2 Successive Titles; Kyoto Women 5 Successive Titles. Track and Field Magazine (Japanese), March 2009, vol 55 #5, pages 22-25, 58-77.All Japan Interprefectural Men's Ekiden. Track and Field Monthly (Japanese), March 2009, vol 43 #4, pages 91-93, 100-102, 154-155.Nakamura, Ken. Nagano Prefecture Wins Inter-Prefectural Men’s EkidenJanuary 18, 2009, International Association of Athletics Federations. iaaf.org. accessed Feb 19, 2009.Larner, Brett. Nagano Breaks National Interprefectural Ekiden Course Record. January 18, 2009 Japanrunningnews.blogspot. accessed Feb 19, 2009.

+ Men's ekiden top three Edition 1st 2nd 3rd 2009 14th AnnualNagano - 2:18:43 Course Record 5th title in 6 yearsHyogo - 2:20:03Miyazaki - 2:20:07 2010 15th AnnualHyogo - 2:20:02Fukushima - 2:20:05Saitama - 2:20:20 2011 16th AnnualTochigi - 2:19:31 First ever TitleNagano - 2:20:02Hiroshima - 2:20:37 2012 17th Annual201318thHyogo - 2:19:51Tokyo - 2:19:56Aichi - 2:20:35 Note: Jr HS = Junior High School, HS= High School + Men's Top stage performersEdition 1st (7 km HS) 2nd (3 km Jr HS) 3rd (8.5 km Open) 4th (5 km HS) 5th (8.5 km HS) 6th (3 km Jr HS) 7th (13 km Open) 2009Shodai HattoriSaitama - 20:10Yuta KatsumataShizuoka - 8:30 new stage recordYu MitsuyaFukuoka - 23:49Shota HiragaNagano - 14:28Akinobu MurasawaNagano - 23:55new stage recordHideshi IkegamiKyoto - 8:51Naoki OkamotoHiroshima - 37:55 January 24, 2010Shota Hattori Saitama - 20:12Koki Maeda Fukuoka - 8:39 Tomoya Onishi Gifu - 24:16 Hirotaka Tamura Aomori - 14:10new stage recordKeita Shitara Saitama - 24:38Taiga Machizawa Chiba - 8:31new stage record Yuki Sato Nagano - 37:12 January 23, 2011 Genki YagisawaTochigi/Nasu Takuyo H.S. - 20:07 Kengo TakamoriChiba/Abiko Jr.H.S. - 8:31 Akinobu MurasawaNagano/Tokai Univ. - 23:48 Keita ShioyaTochigi/Nasu Takuyo H.S. - 14:25 Kenta MurayamaMiyagi/Meisei H.S. - 24:33 Yuichi YasuiChiba/Tokiwadaira Jr.H.S. - 8:40 Yusuke TakabayashiMie/Team Toyota - 37:25 January 22, 20122013Keisuke Nakatani (Hyogo) 19:56Shiki Shinsako (Hiroshima) 8:29Suguru Osako (Tokyo) 23:39Yuhi Akiyama (Hyogo) 14:07Rintaro Takeda (Tokyo) 24:50Mashide Saito (Saitama) 8:52Keigo Yano (Nagano) 37:54

References

External links Official website for Women's Championship Official website for Men's Championship Women's results and discussion 2009 2010 2011 2012 Men's results and discussion 2009 2010 2011