The Inter-Prefectural Women's Ekiden () is an annual women's

ekiden is a long-distance running multi-stage relay race, mostly held on roads.Otake, Tomoko. ''One for All.'' Dec. 28, 200The Japan Times accessed Feb. 19, 2009. The original Japanese term had nothing to do with a sport or a competition, but it sim ...

(

road running Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain. These events are usually classified as long-distance ac ...

relay race A relay race is a racing competition where members of a team take turns completing parts of Race track, racecourse or performing a certain action. Relay races take the form of professional races and amateur games. Relay races are common in runni ...

) for

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese runners held in January in Kyoto Prefecture. The course has a looped point-to-point format over the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

distance of 42.195 km and begins and ends within the

Nishikyogoku Athletic Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Ukyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan. It was formerly known as Kyoto Nishikyogoku Athletic Stadium. Since August 2019 it has been called Takebishi Stadium Kyoto until July 2029 for the naming rights by ''Takebishi'' ( たけび� ...

. The competition was initiated in 1983 as a way of developing and improving the standard of women's

long-distance running Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance running comes two d ...

in Japan. All 47

Prefectures of Japan Japan is divided into 47 prefectures (, ''todōfuken'', ), which rank immediately below the national government and form the country's first level of jurisdiction and administrative division. They include 43 prefectures proper (, ''ken''), two ...

are allowed to enter a team into the event. The relay is divided into nine stages (or legs) of distances varying from 3 km to 10 km. Rather than being open to all, the stages are separated into age groups; competitors range from

junior high school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school ...

runners to fully-fledged professional athletes. This aspect is an essential part of the ethos of the competition: that younger athletes may interact and learn from more experienced runners. Non-Japanese nationals are not permitted to enter the competition and participants must represent the prefecture in which they are being schooled or, in the case of professionals, the prefecture in which they are mostly based.FAQ
. Women's Ekiden. Retrieved on 2012-01-22. The ekiden is organised by the Japanese Association of Athletics Federations (JAAF), the national governing body for the sport. It has three major sponsors: the ''

Kyoto Shimbun is a daily newspaper published in Kyoto, Japan, and the company publishing that newspapers is also called . Kyoto Shimbun has two headquarters in Kyoto and Ōtsu, and three branch offices in Kumiyama, Tokyo and Osaka is a designated city ...

'' (the regional newspaper),

Murata Machinery , abbrev. MML, is a privately held Japanese international company founded in 1935 with its Head Office at Fushimi-ku, Kyoto The company's main products are industrial machines such as textile machinery, turning machines, sheet metal machinery ...

, and

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

(the national broadcaster). The event is transmitted every year on the

NHK General TV , abbreviated on-screen as NHK G, is the main television service of NHK, the Japanese public broadcaster. Its programming includes news, drama, quiz/variety shows, music, sports, anime, and specials which compete directly with the output of its ...

channel as well as

NHK Radio 1 is Japan's oldest radio station operated by the public broadcaster, NHK. Its programming output, which consists of news, current affairs, and information programming is broadly similar to the BBC's Radio 4. NHK Radio 1 is available mainly on AM ...

. The host prefecture, Kyoto, has historically been the most successful team at the competition by far, having won the ekiden on sixteen occasions. Hyogo and

Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to the ...

are the next most successful, having won the event three times each. The event is among the most prestigious of the national women's running competitions and it attracts Japan's top runners within all the age ranges. Prominent women athletes to have competed at the event include: Olympic marathon champions

Naoko Takahashi is a retired Japanese long-distance runner and Olympic gold medal-winning marathoner. She won the gold medal in the marathon at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and became the first woman to complete a marathon in under 2:20:00 in 2001. Biography Tak ...

and

Mizuki Noguchi is a Japanese professional long-distance runner who specialises in the marathon event. She is an Olympic champion over the distance. Initially starting out as a track and cross country athlete, her first major success was becoming the Asian c ...

, former world record holder

Kayoko Fukushi is a Japanese long-distance runner, who specializes in the 5000, 10,000 metres and marathon. Fukushi represented Japan at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics. She was the bronze medallist in the marathon at the 2013 World Championships in ...

Vienna Marathon The Vienna City Marathon is an annual marathon race over the classic distance of 42.195 km held in Vienna, Austria since 1984. History The first edition was held on with a total of 794 competitors. It is Austria's largest road running event ...

winner Tomo Morimoto and two-time

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

silver medallist

Harumi Hiroyama Harumi Hiroyama ( ja, 弘山晴美; born 2 September 1968 in Naruto, Tokushima) is a Japanese long-distance runner. In her early career she specialized in the 1500 and 3000 metres, but gradually she shifted to the 5000 metres, 10,000 metres an ...

. The current course record of 2:14:55 hours was set by

Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kana ...

in 2013.Nakamura, Ken (2013-01-13)
Kanagawa wins Inter-Prefectural Women's Ekiden in Kyoto with course record
IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-02-18.

Stages

Editions

Vienna City Marathon 20080427 Tomo Morimoto preparing for start

Key:

References

;Statistics

. Women's Ekiden. Retrieved on 2012-01-22.

. Women's Ekiden. Retrieved on 2012-01-22.

External links

Official website
{{Ekiden Ekiden Road running competitions in Japan Sport in Kyoto Prefecture Recurring sporting events established in 1983 Women's athletics competitions __NOTOC__