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100th Hakone Ekiden to Be Opened Up to Universities Nationwide




At an online executive board meeting on June 30, the KGRR made the decision to open up the October, 2023 Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai qualifying race to universities from across the country in honor of the Hakone Ekiden's 100th running. The decision gives universities from outside the Tokyo-centric Kanto Region the chance to compete in the Hakone Ekiden centennial edition on January 2 and 3, 2024 if they make the cut at the Yosenkai.

The Hakone Ekiden is traditionally only open to university men's teams from within Kanto. Teams from other parts of the country will have to meet the same criteria as Kanto Region schools in order to take part in the qualifying race, the minimum of which is currently having at least 10 athletes with 10,000 m bests under 34 minutes at certified competitions.

There are precedents for universities from elsewhere in the country to take part. Kansai University competed three times in Hakone's early history, and at the 40th running in 1964 both Ritsumeikan University and Fukuoka University ran. At the 80th running in 2004 a National University Select Team made up of top collegiate athletes from across the country took part.

Along with the decision to go nationwide, it was also decided not to have a Kanto Region University Select Team for the 100th running. No decisions were made regarding the 101st running and beyond. KGRR executive Masahito Ueda commented, "All the way back to the first running, there was originally no intention of the Hakone Ekiden being limited to Kanto. I'd like to revisit that starting point and take this opportunity to re-examine the Hakone Ekiden."

Translator's note: No sign of the truly progressive step of having a university women's division at the 100th Hakone Ekiden being taken.

source article:
translated by Brett Larner

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Rigajags said…
Good news to me and definitely interesting to see if its extended beyond the 100th edition.
July 2, 2022 at 5:12 AM
j said…
Not enough time given for serious universities outside of Kanto to actually build a team made to run half marathons. The women would need even more notice considering the structural differences in high school (no 5000m or steeplechase) and the mindset of all the top girls HS athletes (or the vast majority) to go the corporate leagues. And I doubt that most current serious women's university teams train for races longer than 10000 (maybe the very top 3 or 4). If there is to be serious changes it has to be on more notice and it can't be a one off
July 2, 2022 at 7:19 AM
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