From Hakone to the Olympics

by Brett Larner

The Hakone Ekiden is Japan's biggest, most prestigious sporting event, a two-day road relay with twenty university teams of ten men each running roughly a half marathon that pulls in tens of millions of viewers on live TV and along the 210 km+ course. University men focus on Hakone above all else. Jason Lawrence, a New Zealand runner who took part in Josai University's summer training camp for Hakone, wrote, "For most team members if not all, Hakone is the pinnacle of their careers and it's what they think about 24/7."

The media and the public love the catchphrase 箱根から世界へ, from Hakone to the World, Hakone's role as a springboard to the World Championships and, ultimately, the Olympics. But at the same time there is frequent criticism that Hakone has grown too big, too popular, that the focus Lawrence cites is a distraction from prioritizing the Olympics as a career goal. This line of criticism suggests that the very best young talent, the runners who might make top five on their stage at Hakone, are being burned out mentally and physically before they can develop.

And yet, of the seven Japanese men entered in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics long distance events, all seven have run the Hakone Ekiden. Three of them graduated from Toyo University, the first school to break a 3:00/km average pace for the entire distance of Hakone. Five of them made the top five on their stages at some point in their university careers. Three won their stages. One set a new stage record. One is even a current Hakone runner. Originally conceived of as a way to develop Olympic marathoners, there may be problems with the Hakone Ekiden and there may be casualties, but at least this year there is not much evidence to support claims of a negative impact on Japan's future Olympians.

The Hakone Ekiden performance history of Japan's seven Rio long distance men:

Suehiro Ishikawa (36, Honda) - men's marathon
graduated Toyo University 2002

2000 Hakone Ekiden (2nd yr.) - Ninth Stage - 15th
1999 Hakone Ekiden (1st yr.) - Second Stage - 14th

Hisanori Kitajima (31, Yasukawa Denki) - men's marathon
graduated Toyo University 2007

2007 Hakone Ekiden (4th yr.) - Eighth Stage - 1st
2006 Hakone Ekiden (3rd yr.) - Fourth Stage - 8th

Kota Murayama (23, Asahi Kasei) - men's 5000 m, 10000 m
graduated Josai University 2015

2015 Hakone Ekiden (4th yr.) - Second Stage - 2nd
2014 Hakone Ekiden (3rd yr.) - Second Stage - 18th
2013 Hakone Ekiden (2nd yr.) - Second Stage - 15th
2012 Hakone Ekiden (1st yr.) - First Stage - 5th

Suguru Osako (24, NOP) - men's 5000 m, 10000 m
graduated Waseda University 2014

2014 Hakone Ekiden (4th yr.) - First Stage - 5th
2013 Hakone Ekiden (3rd yr.) - Third Stage - 2nd
2012 Hakone Ekiden (2nd yr.) - First Stage - 1st
2011 Hakone Ekiden (1st yr.) - First Stage - 1st

Satoru Sasaki (30, Asahi Kasei) - men's marathon
graduated Daito Bunka University 2008

2008 Hakone Ekiden (4th yr.) - Second Stage - 10th
2007 Hakone Ekiden (3rd yr.) - Fifth Stage - 6th
2006 Hakone Ekiden (2nd yr.) - Fifth Stage - 6th
2005 Hakone Ekiden (2nd yr.) - Fifth Stage - 6th

Kazuya Shiojiri (19, Juntendo University) - men's 3000 mSC
current Juntendo University 2nd-year

2016 Hakone Ekiden (1st yr.) - Second Stage - 5th

Yuta Shitara (24, Honda) - men's 10000 m
graduated Toyo University 2014

2014 Hakone Ekiden (4th yr.) - Third Stage - 1st
2013 Hakone Ekiden (3rd yr.) - Third Stage - 1st
2012 Hakone Ekiden (2nd yr.) - Seventh Stage - 1st, course record
2011 Hakone Ekiden (1st yr.) - Third Stage - 8th

19-Yr-Old Munakata Breaks Miura's U20 NR to Win Ageo City Half Marathon

The Ageo City Half Marathon is always big, the main race that the coaches of Hakone Ekiden-bound university men's teams use for firming up their entry rosters for the big show. That makes what's basically an idyllic small town race into one of the world's great road races, with depth unmatched anywhere. One of the top-tier people on the start list at 1:02:07, Kodai Miyaoka (Hosei Univ.) took the race out fast, but the entire pack was keying off the fastest man in the race, Reishi Yoshida (Chuo Gakuin Univ.), 1:00:31. Yoshida reeled Miyaoka in before 5 km and kept things steady in the low-1:01 range, wearing down the lead group to around 10 including his CGU teammate Taisei Ichikawa , a quartet from Izumo and National University Ekiden runner-up Komazawa University , 2 runners from local Daito Bunka University , 2:07:54 marathoner Atsumi Ashiwa (Honda), and Australian Ed Goddard . Right after 15 km Komazawa went into action, Yudai Kiyama , Hibiki Murakami and Haru Tanin

Ageo City Half Marathon Preview and Streaming

This weekend's big race is the Ageo City Half Marathon , the next stop on the collegiate men's circuit. Most of the universities bound for the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden use Ageo to thin down the list of contenders for their final Hakone rosters, and with JRN's development program that sends the first two Japanese collegiate finishers in Ageo to the United Airlines NYC Half every year a lot of coaches put in some of their A-listers too. That gives Ageo legendary depth and fast front-end speed, with a 1:00:47 course record last year from Kenyan corporate leaguer Paul Kuira (JR Higashi Nihon) and the top 26 all clearing 63 minutes. Since a lot of programs just enter everybody on their rosters you never really know who on the entry list is actually going to show up, but if even a quarter of the people at the top end of this year's list run it'll be a great race, even if conditions are looking likely to be a bit warmer than ideal. Chuo Gakuin University 's Reishi Yoshi

10000 m NR Attempt In the Works Saturday at Hachioji Long Distance - Streaming and Preview

There are a bunch of other time trial meets this weekend and next, but Saturday's Hachioji Long Distance is the last big meet for Japanese men, 8 heats of Wavelight-paced 10000 m finely graded from target times of 28:50 down to 26:59 for the fastest heat. Heat 6 at 17:55 local time is effectively the B-race, with 35 Japan-based Kenyans targeting 27:10 at the front end, and in a lot of cases a spot on their teams at the New Year Ekiden national championship on Jan. 1. Corporate teams are only allowed to field one non-Japanese athlete in the New Year Ekiden, and only on its shortest stage, and getting to that has a big impact on African athletes' contracts and renewal prospects. Toyota Boshoku , Yasukawa Denki , Chugoku Denryoku , Aisan Kogyo , JR Higashi Nihon , Subaru and 2024 national champion Toyota are all fielding two Kenyans, and Aichi Seiko three. For people like Toyota's Felix Korir and Samuel Kibathi , getting as close to the 27:10 target time as they can and

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