Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that answer the question.
Query: Is there a Ekiden championship?
National championships are held for junior high and high school teams in late December. A series of city, prefecture and regional championships in November select the representative school teams for the national championship in late December.[10]
All-Japan Junior High School Ekiden Championships
Liu was a frequent member of China's team for international ekiden races, including the 1998 IAAF World Road Relay Championships, Yokohama International Women's Ekiden (1992, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998), International Chiba Ekiden (1996, 1997), and 1992 Beijing International Women's Ekiden. She was the 1997 winner of the Sendai Half Marathon with a career best of 73:15 minutes. She was a finalist at the National Games of China over 10,000 metres in 1993 and 5000 m in 1997.
Teams for the women's championship gain qualification into the final ekiden race through a series of 3 preliminaries (2011 summary). 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. After the 3 regional qualifying ekiden events, the field is typically narrowed to 24 to 27 teams, although new qualification standards in 2011 increased the field to include any corporate team that could break the 2:30 mark in one of the regional qualifier meets. Further details and results of the qualification races can be found at All-Japan Corporate Ekiden Championships.
The New Year Ekiden, (officially the ), is an annual men's ekiden (road running relay) over 100 kilometres which takes place in Japan's Gunma Prefecture on 1 January. The race is a national championship contested between Japan's corporate (business) running teams. There is also an annual championship race for women in Japan – the Women's Corporate Ekiden Championships. The race starts and ends in the city of Maebashi and the course passes through the major cities within the prefecture, including Takasaki, Isesaki, Ota and Kiryu. The relay is divided into seven legs of varying lengths that alternate on a frequent basis. The 2012 race was divided as follows: 12.3 km, 8.3 km, 13.6 km, 22 km, 15.8 km, 12.5 km and 15.5 km. 
The lengths of ekiden in Japan can vary greatly, as can the number of runners on a team. For example, in the national junior high ekiden championship, 5 girls cover 12 kilometers and 6 boys cover 18 kilometers. The national high school championship involves 5 girls in a 21 kilometer race and 7 boys in a 42.195 kilometer race, the length of the modern Olympic marathon. In the national inter-prefecture championships, 9 women run 42.195 kilometers and 7 men run 48 kilometers. For the collegiate Hakone Ekiden, a 2-day event, 10 male athletes for each team run 219 kilometers. Each runner covers just over a half marathon. The mid-December National Corporate Women's Ekiden Championships, 6 runners cover 42.195 kilometers. In the January 1 National Corporate Men's Ekiden Championships, 7 runners cover 100.0 kilometers. For the mid-January national open championships (teams composed of selected junior high, high school and open athletes), the distances are 42.195 for the women and 48.0 for the men. Notably in distance, in the Round-Kyūshū Ekiden, a 10 days event, 72 segments cover 1064 kilometers around Kyushu Island and it is the longest relay race in the world.[4]
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.
The All-Japan Women's Corporate (Jitsugyodan) Ekiden Championship are held in mid December after 3 regional qualifying ekiden.
The annual All-Japan Collegiate Women's Ekiden Championship, begun in 1981 and also called Morinomiyako Ekiden, is held in Sendai Miyage Prefecture at the end of October. It is a 6-stage, 38.6 kilometer race from Miyagi Track and Field Grounds to Sendai City Hall.
The All-Japan Corporate Ekiden Championships structure involves regional qualifying races (more details) throughout Japan in November followed by a national championship for women in December and men on New Year Day.
The All-Japan Corporate Ekiden Championships is a series of races contested between Japan's corporate (business) running teams. The structure involves regional qualifying races and a national championship for women and for men. The All-Japan Men's Corporate Ekiden Championship, also called the New Year Ekiden takes place in Japan's Gunma Prefecture on 1 January.
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. The Interprefectural Men's Ekiden is held in Hiroshima in recent years on the fourth Sunday of January.
Many of the elite high school and junior high school runners from these two races will be selected to represent their prefectures in the All-Japan Interprefectural Ekiden Championships.
Unlike the American school sports clear distinction of "track season" and "cross country season", the Japanese autumn ekiden races are intermingled with standard track competitions, although many autumn track meets have a narrow focus, calling themselves "long distance" meets. Japan has a very highly structured format leading to a national high school championship for track in early August and for ekiden in late December,[7] whereas the USA school format ends at state championships in both sports. Japanese school ekiden teams compete infrequently, some only once or twice between September and December, unless they qualify to go on to higher levels; nationals are held in late December. American school cross country teams typically race almost weekly during September and October, with a narrowed set of school teams competing for state championships in late October or November. December post season American races like the Nike Cross Nationals and the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships are not officially school based.
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).
On the first Sunday of November, the men compete in the 8 stage, 106.8 kilometer National Collegiate Ekiden Championship in Aichi and Mie Prefectures.[17] This race is the second of the season's big three, the first being the Izumo Ekiden and the last being the Hakone Ekiden. Here, 27 teams battle for the national title. The race starts in front of Atsuta Shrine in Nagoya City and then proceeds out of the city, along the coast and 106.8 kilometers later to Ise Grand Shrine in Ise, Mie Prefecture.
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.
A 5-stage 21.0975km (half marathon) high school girls ekiden is held in Kurayoshi, Tottori. Ninety high school teams participated in the 26th annual meet on October 2, 2011. In the boys race, the 31st annual Nihonkai Ekiden, 128 teams participated in the 7 stage race. Both the boys and girls races are exactly the same configuration as the national high school championships.
The All-Japan Men's Corporate Team Ekiden Championships, held in Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture on New Years Day, is also referred to as New Year Ekiden. This race for men's teams covers 100 kilometers in 7 stages.[39][40] It has been claimed that the high TV viewership of this meet makes it the central motivating event in the annual calendar for professional Japanese male runners.
The All-Japan Men's Corporate Ekiden Championship, also called the New Year Ekiden, takes place in Japan's Gunma Prefecture on 1 January.
January 2 and 3 is the date for the annual Hakone Ekiden. The Izumo and National Collegiate ekidens plus the Hakone Ekiden have been coined the triple crown of collegiate ekiden.[21]
The All-Japan Women’s Corporate (Jitsugyodan) Ekiden Championship is held in mid December. The 6 stage 42.195 kilometer ekiden race had been held in Gifu Prefecture from 1983 to 2010. For the December 18, 2011 race, the site was moved to Sendai.
Other major collegiate ekiden races include Western Japan Regional University Women's Ekiden, Eastern Japan Regional University Women's Ekiden, National Invitational Ekiden
The collegiate ekiden championships in Japan are held for women and for men. The women's championship is in late October and the men's championship is in early November. These dates are relatively early in the ekiden season, with several other major races in subsequent months. 
The annual All-Japan Collegiate Women's Ekiden Championship, begun in 1981 and also called Morinomiyako Ekiden, is held in Sendai Miyage Prefecture at the end of October. It is a 6-stage, 38.6 kilometer race from Miyagi Track and Field Grounds to Sendai City Hall. Video showing Sendai course and terrain. The race is broadcast nationwide from Sendai on Nihon Television broadcast home page (in Japanese).
The All-Japan Interprefectural Ekiden Championships are held in January. The Empress Cup – Interprefectural Women's Ekiden is held in Kyoto, on the third Sunday in January. The Interprefectural Men's Ekiden is held in Hiroshima, in recent years on the fourth Sunday of January.