Skip to main content

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

Buy Me A Coffee
Labels:

Comments

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
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Arao Becomes 1st Man in 40 Years to Score Back-to-Back Ome Road Race Wins

30 km is an under-appreciated distance, and both of Japan's big races at that distance happened Sunday. At the Ome Road Race in western Tokyo's mountains, Sydney Marathon 6th-placer Masato Arao (ND Software) became the first man since the great Kunimitsu Ito in 1985-1986 to win back-to-back years. Arao, who finished 39th of 40 on his leg at the New Year Ekiden last month, stayed in the pack through 20 km before going on the attack, putting over a minute on New Year Ekiden Sixth Stage CR breaker Yudai Shimazu (GMO). Sub-1:31 winning times are rare on the tough and hilly Ome course, but Arao's 1:30:54 almost equaled his 1:30:50 from last year, making him the first Japanese man ever to do it twice and second only to CR holder Ezekiel Cheboitibin . Next up Arao races the Tokyo Marathon, where he is targeting sub-2:06. Shimazu was 2nd in 1:31:58 and Yuta Nakayama (JR Higashi Nihon) 3rd in 1:32:07. Cheboitibin was only 9th, running almost 8 minutes off his CR in 1:36:42. Shi...
3 comments
Read more

Nagoya Women's Marathon Elite Field

Last year's top 3 Sheila Chepkirui , Sayaka Sato and Eunice Chebichii Chumba are back for this year's Nagoya Women's Marathon on Mar. 8, but things are being set up more for it to be a race between Chepkirui, 2:17:49 in Berlin 2023, Aynalem Desta , 2:17:37 in Amsterdam last fall, and Japanese NR holder Honami Maeda , 2:18:59 at the Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2024. Aynalem has the freshest sub-2:20 of the 3, with neither Chepkirui nor Maeda having done it in 2 years. Maeda's only recent result is a 1:10:07 from Houston last month, but when she ran her NR she didn't have any kind of tuneup race to indicate her fitness so it's probably best not to read too much into that. If it goes out as a 2:18 race those are the only 3 who can probably hang with it. If it turns out to be more of a 2:20 race like when Chepkirui won in 2:20:40 last year then there's a group of 7 at the 2:20-2:22 level who will be in the picture, including Chumba, Selly Chep...
Post a Comment
Read more

Osaka Marathon Preview

The Osaka Marathon is Sunday, one of Japan's biggest mass-participation races and the next stop on the calendar for its elite marathoners hoping to qualify for the L.A. Olympics marathon trials in the fall of 2027. Last year it snowed mid-race, but this year is looking warmer than ideal given the season, with sunny skies, almost no wind, and temps forecast to be 11˚ at the start and rising to 19˚ by the time the winners are finishing. NHK is broadcasting Osaka with a heavy emphasis on the men's race, and if you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it from overseas. There's also official streaming on Youtube starting at 8:30 a.m. local time, although it doesn't look like it's the same as what NHK will be showing. Given Osaka's history at the elite level as the continuation of the men-only Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, the women's field is small relative to the men's, just enough to tick World Athletics' label requirements and with almost no do...
1 comment
Read more