by Brett Larner
Update: Click here for a listing of 2009 Hakone videos on YouTube.
I've been watching the Hakone Ekiden since I first came to Japan in 1997, and wanting to write about it was one of the main reasons I started this blog. This year's Hakone was the best I've seen. There were four consecutive stage records on Day One, two by first-year runners and one a double record, and two all-time passing records. Not a single team was white-sashed despite the presence of three more teams than usual. Japan's two potentially greatest male distance runners ever, Kensuke Takezawa and Yuki Sato, finally settled who was who, and another runner emerged who might surpass them both. This year's Hakone also had an unusual amount of pure head-to-head racing, with spectacular bouts between Masato Kihara and Daniel Gitau, Ryuji Kashiwabara and Masayuki Miwa, Hikaru Tominaga and Kato Sota, and two exciting three-way sprint finishes on the final leg. After last year's carnage …
Update: Click here for a listing of 2009 Hakone videos on YouTube.
I've been watching the Hakone Ekiden since I first came to Japan in 1997, and wanting to write about it was one of the main reasons I started this blog. This year's Hakone was the best I've seen. There were four consecutive stage records on Day One, two by first-year runners and one a double record, and two all-time passing records. Not a single team was white-sashed despite the presence of three more teams than usual. Japan's two potentially greatest male distance runners ever, Kensuke Takezawa and Yuki Sato, finally settled who was who, and another runner emerged who might surpass them both. This year's Hakone also had an unusual amount of pure head-to-head racing, with spectacular bouts between Masato Kihara and Daniel Gitau, Ryuji Kashiwabara and Masayuki Miwa, Hikaru Tominaga and Kato Sota, and two exciting three-way sprint finishes on the final leg. After last year's carnage …