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Daito Bunka University Wins 100th Hakone Ekiden Qualifier, With >500 Sub-70


Despite losing Kenyan Peter Wanjiru late in the race, favorite Daito Bunka University repeated as winner to lead the qualifiers for January's 100th Hakone Ekiden at Saturday's Yosenkai Half Marathon in western Tokyo's Showa Kinen Park.

Collegiate 5000 m and 10000 m record holder Richard Etir of Tokyo Kokusai University led the first 8.5 km in his debut at the distance with a pack of around including lone Japanese man Reishi Yoshida of Chuo Gakuin University right behind. Just before 8.5 km Etir was clipped from behind by Nihon Yakka University's Dennis Kipruto and turned around to tell him off. A few steps later Kipruto clipped him again hard enough that Etir went airborne horizontal before crashing to the pavement. The favorite for the individual win, Etir never regained contact with the front of the race. And that ended up having profound consequences for Tokyo Kokusai.

In Etir's absence Nihon University's took over at 10 km, quickly getting rid of everyone except Yamanashi Gakuin University's James Mutuku, who took another 7 km to crack. Kipkemei looked to have it locked up, but behind him Kipruto rolled the fastest 5 km in the field on the hardest part of the course, going 14:21 from 15 to 20 km. At 20 km he was still 9 seconds behind Kipkemei, but in the home straight he closed hard enough to pull right up to Kipkemei's shoulder. Kipkemei wasn't going to let him have it that easily, though, and held on to win in a course record 1:00:16, Kipruto almost even with him but timed at 1:00:17. Mutuku was 3rd in 1:00:46 just 2 seconds off the old CR.

Yoshida ran the entire race as the top Japanese man, but behind him there was big news brewing. After stunning with a 28:03.51 debut for 10000 m in June, 18-year-old Tokyo Nogyo University 1st-year Kazuma Maeda hung back in the 2nd group for the first 15 km of the race today, his half marathon debut. At 15 km he exploded into action, running 14:27 for the hilly 5 km from there to 20 km, the fastest in the field of 665 for that tough section after Kipruto. Just before 20 km he passed Yoshida for top Japanese, finishing 9th overall in 1:01:42 and showing June wasn't a fluke. Yoshida held on for sub-62, running 1:01:59 for 11th.

And behind him the hits kept coming:

sub-61: 3
sub-62: 11
sub-63: 38
sub-64: 108
sub-65: 218
sub-66: 309
sub-67: 386
sub-68: 428
sub-69: 462
sub-70: 504 (!)

But while the depth breaking new ground, ultimately the Yosenkai is about the team scoring and Hakone qualification, especially this year with the 100th just around the corner. Teams are scored on the cumulative time of their first 10 finishers, with the top 13 teams going on to the biggest of big shows on Jan. 2 and 3.


As exciting as the race was, there weren't really that many surprises in who made the grade. The team with the fastest 10-man average and 5 men under 64 minutes in the half, Daito Bunka, and last year's runner-up Meiji University went 1-2. The team with the most sub-64 half marathoners, Teikyo University with 8, was 3rd. All 3 universities with 7 men with sub-64 PBs, Kanagawa University, Chuo Gakuin University and Yamanashi Gakuin, made it. The 2 other teams with 5 sub-64 men, Nittai University and Rikkyo University, made it, Rikkyo shaking off the firing of its coach Yuichiro Ueno earlier this week.

Nihon exceeded expectations with a 5th-place finish thanks in large part to Kipkemei, and Kokushikan University also did better than its pre-race ranking with an 8th-place finish. Maeda gave a big boost to Tokyo Nogyo's standing, as it finished 11th to qualify. The biggest surprise of the day was 16th-ranked Surugadai University, who took 12th just 7 seconds ahead of final qualifier Yamanashi Gakuin.

And a brutal 3 seconds back, 0.3 seconds per runner over the half marathon distance, Tokyo Kokusai left out in the cold in 14th. That's one of the most devastating margins of loss in Yosenkai history, and it comes because of Etir's fall. Etir finished 12th in 1:02:11. In a worst-case scenario the fall cost him 2 minutes, which would have put Tokyo Kokusai 9th ahead of Tokai right where they were ranked pre-race and knocked Yamanashi Gakuin out. 

It's hard to see any scenario where Etir wouldn't have been 3 seconds faster if he hadn't fallen. What happened was 100% not his fault, but the fall cost Tokyo Kokusai a place at the 100th Hakone Ekiden, and fans the chance to see the 1st-year Etir take a shot at smashing former Tokyo Kokusai great Vincent Yegon's Hakone course records. The fates are vicious and they're cruel. For them, anyway. Yamanashi Gakuin can thank whoever was looking out for them.

Underdogs Reitaku University were 3 and a half minutes back in 15th, with darkhorses Takushoku University 1 second behind in 16th. The Yosenkai was opened up to schools outside the Tokyo-centic Kanto Region this year in honor of Hakone's 100th edition, but none of them made the top 25 in the field of 57 teams. Kyoto Sangyo University had the best day at 27th.

University men's ekiden season continues Nov. 5 with the second of the Big Three University Ekidens, the National University Men's Ekiden. JRN will be on-site to cover the race live.

100th Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai Half Marathon

Showa Kinen Park, Tachikawa, Tokyo, 14 Oct. 2023
57 teams of 10 to 12 runners

Team Results
teams scored by cumulative time of 10 fastest finishers
top 13 teams qualify for 2024 Hakone Ekiden

1. Daito Bunka University - 10:33:39
2. Meiji University - 10:34:38
3. Teikyo University - 10:35:08
4. Nittai University - 10:36:42
5. Nihon University - 10:36:54
6. Rikkyo University - 10:37:06
7. Kanagawa University - 10:37:20
8. Kokushikan University - 10:37:21
9. Chuo Gakuin University - 10:37:27
10. Tokai University - 10:37:58
11. Tokyo Nogyo University - 10:39:05
12. Surugadai University - 10:39:40
13. Yamanashi Gakuin University - 10:39:47
-----
14. Tokyo Kokusai University - 10:39:50
15. Reitaku University - 10:43:15
16. Takushoku University - 10:43:16
17. Jobu University - 10:44:41
18. Senshu University - 10:44:51
19. Nihon Yakka University - 10:48:34
20. Tsukuba University - 10:49:07
-----
27. Kyoto Sangyo University - 10:54:22
34. Ritsumeikan University - 11:05:23
35. Kogakkan University - 11:10:00
-----
DNF - Takasaki Keizai University

Top Individual Results
1. Shadrack Kipkemei (Nihon Univ.) - 1:00:16 - CR
2. Dennis Kipruto (Nihon Yakka Univ.) - 1:00:17
3. James Mutuku (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 1:00:46
4. Charles Kamau Wanjiku (Musashino Gakuin Univ.) - 1:01:19
5. Patrick Kamau (Jobu Univ.) - 1:01:31
6. Peter Kamau (Kokushikan Univ.) - 1:01:31
7. David Shungeya Neiyai (Reitaku Univ.) - 1:01:31
8. Jonson Mugeni (Asia Univ.) - 1:01:39
9. Kazuma Maeda (Tokyo Nogyo Univ.) - 1:01:42
10. Stephen Lemayan (Surugadai Univ.) - 1:01:56
11. Reishi Yoshida (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:01:59
12. Richard Etir (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) - 1:02:11
13. Atsuki Kobayashi (Kanagawa Univ.) - 1:02:12
14. Kenta Sekiguchi (Rikkyo Univ.) - 1:02:15
15. Chio Nishikawa (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 1:02:19
16. Toru Kubota (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 1:02:23
17. Raphael Longisa (Takushoku Univ.) - 1:02:23
18. Sunao Kitamura (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:23
19. Ren Yamaguchi (Nittai Univ.) - 1:02:24
20. Akio Hashimoto (Shibaura Kogyo Univ.) - 1:02:25
21. Sho Fukuda (Teikyo Univ.) - 1:02:26
22. Duncan Kisaisa (Senshu Univ.) - 1:02:28
23. Shunsuke Kikuchi (Daito Bunka Univ.) - 1:02:28
24. Yuki Kimura (Keio Univ.) - 1:02:30
25. Masaki Kodama (Meiji Univ.) - 1:02:30
-----
38. Kaito Suetsugu (Teikyo Univ.) - 1:02:59
50. Ryota Shibako (Teikyo Univ.) - 1:03:10
75. Yuta Suzuki (Meiji Univ.) - 1:03:41
100. Taiga Tosen (Surugadai Univ.) - 1:03:54
108. Yuji Tadauchi (Rikkyo Univ.) - 1:03:59
125. Takumi Tominaga (Takushoku Univ.) - 1:04:07
150. Daiki Shibata (Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:04:23
175. Hayato Yoshimura (Tokyo Nogyo Univ.) - 1:04:35
200. Kenta Torizuka (Keio Univ.) - 1:04:46
218. Wataru Sato (Obirin Univ.) - 1:04:59
225. Yuma Murasawa (Seiwa Univ.) - 1:05:05
250. Naoya Sone (Tokyo Keizai Univ.) - 1:05:21
275. Daiki Kuwata (Kyoto Sangyo Univ.) - 1:05:38
300. Seita Hamaguchi (Kanto Gakuin Univ.) - 1:05:51
309. Reon Matsuura (Tokyo Keizai Univ.) - 1:05:58
325. Fumiya Ogura (Rikkyo Univ.) - 1:06:10
350. Renta Yamada (Asia Univ.) - 1:06:29
375. Ryoga Tsutsumi (Asia Univ.) - 1:06:48
386. Kojiro Yabuta (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 1:06:58
400. Sentaro Nakata (Ritsumeikan Univ.) - 1:07:14
425. Teruya Tsuruta (Chukyo Univ.) - 1:07:50
428. Mitsuki Nakamura (Musashino Gakuin Univ.) - 1:07:54
450. Takato Kasai (Kokusai Budo Univ.) - 1:08:37
462. Ryuto Morita (Nippon Bunri Univ.) - 1:08:59
475. Hiroya Kanazawa (Saitama Univ.) - 1:09:24
500. Taiki Kasai (Takasaki Keizai Univ.) - 1:09:48
504. Taiga Ikawa (SDF Academy) - 1:09:57
-----
DNF - Peter Wanjiru (Daito Bunka Univ.)
DNF - Yuto Konomi (Rissho Univ.)
DNF - Jura Yamazaki (Sapporo Gakuin Univ.)
DNF - Ryoya Kumazawa (Shonan Koka Univ.)
DNF - Ryutaro Abe (Takasaki Keizai Univ.)

© 2023 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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Comments

Dave in Denver said…
Hey Brett, in the replay of Etir's fall, I think it may have been Mutuku who tripped him up the second time. It looks like his left leg kicks Mutuku's right thigh. I had to slow the replay down to quarter speed on youtube and it seems you can see the white part of his shoe right in front of the thigh before his leg swings inside . I think Kipruto clipped him right before that, and then Etir moved slightly inside closer to Mutuku after as a result of turning around to say something, which ultimately played a big part in the contact. Let me know if I am missing something though.

Anyway, that makes this quote:
"The fates are vicious and they're cruel. For them, anyway. Yamanashi Gakuin can thank whoever was looking out for them."
a little more meaningful, since it may have been YGU looking out for themselves in a way. I feel like in america these days, message boards would be clamoring for a DQ. Curious what the ekiden otaku are saying online.

Thanks for another great year of running coverage!
October 14, 2023 at 11:44 PM
Brett Larner said…
That was my initial reaction too, but I watched our recording of the TV broadcast frame-by-frame and am pretty sure it was Kipruto again. Either way, a very unlucky break for TKU. Haven't really had time to look at what people are saying about it...
October 15, 2023 at 4:43 AM
Anonymous said…
I couldn't watch the race live but must be absolutely devastating for a team to miss out for there seconds in normal conditions, can't Imagine with a fall like that on tour top atlete and not at the crowded start.

Was really looking forward to Etir running Hakone.
Disapppointing to see Reitaku miss Hakone again but obviously overshadowed by the Kokusai situation.

Well, congrats to the teams that made it...on to All Japan now.
October 15, 2023 at 5:26 AM
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