by Brett Larner 2011 New Year Ekiden national champion Team Toyota added another win to its resume, running 2:30:45 to set the course record at the 66th running of the six-stage, 52.6 km Meigi Ekiden , Feb. 5 in Nagoya. Runner-up Team Toyota Boshoku also went under the old course record, recording a time of 2:31:58. Suzuki Hamamatsu AC , featuring the superb Martin Mathathi and Toyota Boshoku's former ace Yusei Nakao , had an improvement over last year's performance thanks to the addition of Nakao, finishing 3rd in 2:32:34. Defending champion Team Aichi Seiko was only 4th in 2:33:55. Nakao led off strongly for Suzuki, winning the first stage with a few seconds to spare. Nicholas Makau (Kenya) put the small Team Yachiyo Kogyo into the lead with a course record 20:51 for the 7.3 km Second Stage, but Toyota's Yuya Ito responded with a course record of his own on the 6.0 km Third Stage, clocking 16.58 to put Toyot...
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