Skip to main content

Hakone Ekiden Entry Lists




With 3 weeks to go entry lists are out for the 101st Hakone Ekiden on Jan. 2-3, 2025. Things keep going up and up. With 21 teams of 16 entrants and 10 starters each a quick crunch of the numbers gives:
  • 15 teams with a 10-man 5000 m average under 14 minutes
  • 3 teams with a 10-man 5000 m average under 13:45 led by 2024 Hakone winner Aoyama Gakuin University in 13:40.07
  • 10 teams with an individual under 13:30 for 5000 m, AGU, Komazawa University, Chuo University, Tokyo Kokusai University, and Yamanashi Gakuin University with 2 each
  • 2 teams with an individual under 13:15 for 5000 m, TKU's collegiate record holder Richard Etir at 13:00.17 and Komazawa's indoor NR holder Keita Sato at 13:09.45
  • 17 teams with a 10-man 10000 m average under 29 minutes
  • 4 teams with a 10-man 10000 m average under 28:30, led by Chuo's incredible 28:15.62
  • 11 teams with an individual under 28:00 for 10000 m, AGU and Chuo with 3 each, and Komazawa, Josai University, TKU, Waseda University and YGU with 2 each
  • 4 teams with an individual under 27:30 for 10000 m, TKU's Etir again at 27:06.88, Nihon University's Shadrack Kipkemei at 27:20.05, YGU's James Mutuku at 27:23.09, and Komazawa's Sato at 27:28.50
  • 6 teams with a 10-man half marathon average under 1:03:00
  • 3 teams with a 10-man half marathon average under 1:02:30 led by Komazawa in 1:02:01
  • 13 teams with an individual under 1:02:00 for the half marathon, Komazawa with 4, and Izumo Ekiden and National University Ekiden winner Koku Gakuin University, AGU and Soka University with 3 each
  • 6 teams with an individual under 1:01:00 for the half marathon
  • 1 team with an individual under 1:00:00 for the half marathon, TKU's Etir yet again with a 59:32
We'll do a more detailed preview closer to the race, but it's no surprise that at the top of the heap are Izumo and Nationals top 3 KGU, AGU and Komazawa. 2nd at Hakone in 2024, Komazawa has the best half marathon average in the field, the most important statistic given Hakone's average stage length of 21.71 km, but with a lot of its people not having run 10000 m its average for that distance is slow and drags it down behind KGU and AGU in the rankings. If #1-ranked KGU wins it'll join both AGU and Komazawa on the very short list of schools to sweep all three university ekidens in one season.





The next tier down includes Izumo and Nationals 4th-placer Soka, ranked 4th here too, 2024 Hakone 3rd-placer Josai, solid programs Daito Bunka University and Toyo University, and, in via October's Yosenkai Half Marathon qualifying race, Chuo and Chuo Gakuin University. DBU, Toyo and Chuo are all missing big guns, DBU lacking its #3 half marathoner Peter Wanjiru, Toyo without 1:00:43 half marathoner Kazuki Matsuyama, and Chuo facing the loss of its #1 and #4 half marathoners Daichi Shibata and Kazusa Takanuma.



The next tier is where things start getting really interesting, with a top-10 placing at Hakone scoring teams places at the next season's Izumo and Hakone, and everyone 11th and lower missing Izumo and running the Yosenkai instead to try to get back to Hakone. You've got a mix of teams like Waseda, Teikyo University and Hosei University that always perform better than they look on paper and usually make the top 10, and teams like TKU, Juntendo University and Nittai University that made it through this season's Yosenkai.





The Kanto Region Student Alliance team, made up of top-placing individuals at the Yosenkai from schools that didn't make the cut as a team, leads the bottom tier, but for whatever reason, maybe a lack of team chemistry, it almost always performs worse than its ranking. Interestingly, the top 3 from the Yosenkai, Rikkyo University, Senshu University and YGU, are all down at this level along with bottom-half Yosenkai qualifiers Nihon and Kanagawa University. Conditions at the Yosenkai were hot, so it's probably best not to read too much into some of the better teams like Chuo and TKU running badly there, but it's likely that it was the peak of the season for Rikkyo, Senshu and YGU, and it'll take proper planning for them to replicate their performances next month.

Check back closer to race date for an in-depth preview and info on how to watch live.

© 2024 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

2026 Tokyo Marathon Elite Field

The Mar. 1 Tokyo Marathon has great fields this year, so let's get right to it. The women's field has 3 of last year's top 10, winner for the 2nd year in a row and Tokyo CR holder Sutume Asefa Kebede , 3rd-placer and 2025 Chicago winner Hawi Feysa , and 5th-placer and 2025 Berlin winner Rosemary Wanjiru , plus 2024 Valencia winner Megertu Alemu , 2025 Prague winner Bertukan Welde , 2024 Paris winner Mestawut Fikir , 2024 Osaka winner Waganesh Mekasha , former WR holder Brigid Kosgei , and a lot more. Japanese hopes pretty much go to all-time #7 Ai Hosoda , 2:20:31 in Berlin 2024 but who announced this month that she is retiring after Tokyo despite having qualified for the 2028 Olympic marathon trials with her 2:23:27 for 6th in Sydney last year. Other internationals include Canadian Malindi Elmore , American Sara Hall , a big Chinese group led by Yuyu Xia , Poland's Aleksandra Brzezińska and Australian Vanessa Wilson . The men's race has 5 of last year's top 1...
4 comments
Read more

Measuring Marathon Courses by Bicycle

http://news.searchina.ne.jp/disp.cgi?y=2013&d=0110&f=column_0110_034.shtml translated by Brett Larner The full marathon is a sport where you compete over 42.195 km, but how do they go about measuring that distance?  Today we're going to look a little bit at how they go about certifying the distance of a marathon. The reality is that major international marathons use a bicycle to measure the distance.  This rule is an international standard, and the same method of measurement is used everywhere.  It was put into place in 1986.  In order to ensure that the same method is used everywhere, a bicycle that meets IAAF specifications must be used for measurement. In the case of Japan's major marathons, to be certain that the distance is correct a provisional measurement is first made.  Before the course is certified using a bicycle the course is measured using a 50 m-long length of wire to determine that it is in fact 42.195 km.  When a bicycle is u...
2 comments
Read more

Ai Hosoda Announces Retirement

photo © 2025 Victah Sailer/Photo Run, all rights reserved On Jan. 8 the Edion women's corporate team announced that Ai Hosoda , 30, will retire at the end of March this year. The Tokyo Marathon will be her last race. At Nagano Higashi H.S. Hosoda ran in the National High School Ekiden her 2nd and 3rd years. During her 3rd year at Nittai University she won both the 5000 m and 10000 m at the Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships, going on to win the bronze medal in the 10000 m at the World University Games in her 4th year at Nittai. After graduating she joined the Daihatsu corporate team, debuting at the 2019 Nagoya Women's Marathon in 2:29:27. 2 years later she transferred to Edion. She qualified for the Paris Olympics marathon trials at the 2022 Nagoya Women's Marathon and finished 3rd in the trials in the fall of 2023, but was later bumped down to Olympic alternate after another athlete ran a faster time. Instead of the Olympics, Hosoda ran the 2024 Ber...
2 comments
Read more