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Daito Bunka University Wins Hakone Ekiden Qualifier Half Marathon, Wanjiku Takes 2nd-Straight Individual Title


#3-ranked Daito Bunka University outran favorites Meiji University and Tokai University to take the top spot Saturday at the Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai, the half marathon that acts as the official qualifying race for the 11th-20th ranked teams at January's Hakone Ekiden. Led by 2nd-year Peter Wanjiru's 1:02:16 for 5th, DBU had five men inside the top 50 and the fastest combined time in the field for its first ten finishers, 10:40:39, to take the overall win and secure a return trip to Hakone.

Meiji was next in 10:41:41, 4th-year Shumpei Tomita 10th in 1:02:39 and 3rd-year Masaki Kodama 11th in 1:02:43. Coached by former college teammates Seiji Kushibe and Katsuhiko Hanada, Josai University and Waseda University both performed well above expectations, 3rd and 4th in 10:42:09 and 10:42:29. 5th and 6th placers Nittai University and Rikkyo University came in right around pre-race rankings, Rikkyo qualifying for Hakone for the first time in 55 years in only head coach Yuichiro Ueno's fourth season. He was pretty emotional about it.

7th-place Yamanashi Gakuin University and 9th-place Tokai both made the cut but were weaker than expected, especially Tokai which on paper had been in contention for the team title. Ranked 16th and 13th respectively, Senshu University and Kokushikan University both had excellent days to break into the top ten, Senshu 8th and Kokushikan taking 10th.

That bumped #5-ranked Kanagawa University and #9-ranked Chuo Gakuin University out of the Hakone qualifying range, Kanagawa the unlucky 11th-placer in 10:49:29, 34 seconds or just 3.4 seconds per runner over the half marathon distance, behind Kokushikan. CGU was 12th in 10:51:25, with top ten contender Nihon University 13th in 10:52:02.

In individual results, 2021 overall winner Charles Kamau Wanjiku (Musashino Gakuin Univ.) did it again, breaking away after 10 km to solo a 1:00:58 for the win. 2020 winner Joseph Razini (Takushoku Univ.) was 2nd in 1:01:50, with newcomer Nelson Mandela Mbithi (Obirin Univ.) 3rd in 1:02:03 in his half marathon debut. Akihito Kimura (Senshu Univ.) was the top Japanese finisher at 8th in 1:02:32, just edging out Waseda's Ryuto Igawa and Meiji's Tomita.

Depth overall was down from peak years but still solid. Out of a field of 505 starters:

sub-61: 1
sub-62: 2
sub-63: 13
sub-64: 47
sub-65: 126
sub-66: 197
sub-67: 266

Four runners failed to finish, and for two of them that meant their teams, Hitotsubashi University and Saitama University, didn't have enough finishers to score in the results.

Top-placing individuals from teams that didn't make the top ten will still have the chance to run Hakone as part of the Kanto Region Student Select Team, a Hakone feature intended to give the maximum number of top-level students from the widest range of universities the chance to experience Hakone. But even though they're students at universities in the Kanto Region just like everyone else, Wanjiku, Razini, Mandela and other non-Japanese citizens are excluded from consideration for the Select Team, because it's Japan.

99th Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai Half Marathon

Tachikawa, Tokyo, 15 Oct. 2022

Top Team Results
teams scored on total time of first 10 finishers
top 10 teams qualify for 2023 Hakone Ekiden

1. Daito Bunka University - 10:40:39
2. Meiji University - 10:41:41
3. Josai University - 10:42:09
4. Waseda University - 10:42:29
5. Nittai University - 10:43:34
6. Rikkyo University - 10:46:18
7. Yamanashi Gakuin University - 10:46:55
8. Senshu University - 10:46:56
9. Tokai University - 10:47:03
10. Kokushikan University - 10:48:55
-----
11. Kanagawa University - 10:49:29
12. Chuo Gakuin University - 10:51:25
13. Nihon University - 10:52:02
14. Reitaku University - 10:52:40
15. Tsukuba University - 10:53:50

Top Individual Results
1. Charles Kamau Wanjiku (Musashino Gakuin Univ.) - 1:00:58
2. Joseph Razini Lemeteki (Takushoku Univ.) - 1:01:50
3. Nelson Mandela Mbithi (Obirin Univ.) - 1:02:03
4. James Mutuku (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:15
5. Peter Wanjiru (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 1:02:16
6. Victor Kimutai (Josai Univ.) - 1:02:21
7. Noah Kiplimo (Nihon Yakka Univ.) - 1:02:29
8. Akihito Kimura (Senshu Univ.) - 1:02:32
9. Ryuto Igawa (Waseda Univ.) - 1:02:39
10. Shunpei Tomita (Meiji Univ.) - 1:02:39
11. Masaki Kodama (Meiji Univ.) - 1:02:43
12. Yoshiteru Takatsuki (Tokyo Nogyo Univ.)  1:02:46
13. Koya Suzuki (Reitaku Univ.)  1:02:48
14. Yusuke Arimura (Kanagawa Univ.) - 1:03:04
15. Sota Fukutani (Tsukuba Univ.) - 1:03:05
16. Koki Sato (Waseda Univ.) - 1:03:05
17. Soshi Suzuki (Waseda Univ.) - 1:03:07
18. Sunao Kitamura (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 1:03:07
19. Charles Ndungu (Nihon Univ.) - 1:03:09
20. Haruto Ono (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 1:03:12
21. Hiroto Kuniyasu (Rikkyo Univ.) - 1:03:13
22. Peter Kamau (Kokushikan Univ.) - 1:03:14
23. Duncan Kisaisa (Senshu Univ.) - 1:03:14
24. Toru Kubota (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 1:03:15
25. David Shunq'eye Neiyiai (Reitaku Univ.) - 1:03:15
-----
50. Kodai Murakami (Jobu Univ.) - 1:04:02
75. Shuma Yamanaka (Josai Univ.) - 1:04:26
100. Hiroaki Furukawa (Tokyo Univ. Grad School) - 1:04:42
125. Waku Morotomi (Waseda Univ.) - 1:04:58
150. Takeru Furukawa (Aisa Univ.) - 1:05:20
175. Riku Onishi (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 1:05:41
200. Shinya Suzuki (Kokushikan Univ.) - 1:06:00
225. Kenta Muraki (Meiji Gakuin Univ.) - 1:06:25
250. Ikuya Kudo (Reitaku Univ.) - 1:06:46
-----
DNF - Katsumi Higuchi (Teikyo Heisei Univ.) 
DNF - Yuta Todaka (Hitotsubashi Univ.)
DNF - Shun Kurihara (Meiji Gakuin Univ.)
DNF - Naoyuki Takeda (Saitama Univ.)

99th Hakone Ekiden Field

2-3 Jan., 2023

Aoyama Gakuin University
Juntendo University
Komazawa University
Toyo University
Tokyo Kokusai University
Chuo University
Soka University
Koku Gakuin University
Teikyo University
Hosei University
Daito Bunka University
Meiji University
Josai University
Waseda University
Nittai University
Rikkyo University
Yamanashi Gakuin University
Senshu University
Tokai University
Kokushikan University
Kanto Region Student Alliance Select Team

© 2022 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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Justin said…
Senshu has outdone their ranking 3 years in a row, I doubt people thought they would be inside the top 15 any of those years, and Kimura was injured and didn't run last years yosenkai and they still made it.
October 15, 2022 at 6:40 PM
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