100th Hakone Ekiden Entry Lists

Entry lists are out for what's going to be the biggest road race in history, the 100th edition of the Hakone Ekiden. Over the next few weeks we'll be writing on the history, present, and future of Hakone, and more detailed previews of the 2024 race. But as a quick preview, below are the complete 16-runner entry lists for the 23 Tokyo-area university men's teams in the race. Of these, ten from each school will actually run, five roughly a half marathon distance each on Jan. 2 from central Tokyo to the shores of Lake Ashi near Mt. Fuji, and five doing the reverse on the 3rd.

On first look, the overall level is through the roof, even by Hakone standards. 13 of the 23 teams have a ten-man average under 14 minutes for 5000 m. Three of those have an average under 13:45. 20 of the 23 teams have a ten-man average under 29 minutes for 10000 m, and again three of those average under 28:30. Eight of the 23 teams average under 1:03 for the half marathon, with two under 1:02:30. Seven teams hit all three, sub-14, sub-29, and sub-63, and one stands alone with ten-man averages under 13:45, 28:30 and 1:02:30. That would be defending champion Komazawa University, one race away from becoming the first school in history to win all three major university ekidens two seasons in a row.

At the top end of the field, it's Koku Gakuin University, Aoyama Gakuin University and Chuo University trying to stop Komazawa from achieving that. KGU is the only team close to Komazawa on half marathon ability, the most critical given the distances at Hakone, but AGU is probably best-positioned to take advantage if Komazawa can't keep it together. Chuo was 2nd last year but has been shaky this season so far.

On paper, Daito Bunka University, Toyo University, Soka University and Waseda University look good to make the top ten, a prestigious result that scores a team places at the next season's Izumo Ekiden and Hakone Ekiden. DBU won October's Hakone Ekiden qualifier half marathon, technically ranking them 11th in the field, but has improved a lot since then. Toyo has had serious problems this season but looks like it might have pulled it together in time to perform up to its history.

The race to get into the bottom spots in the top ten is usually the highlight of Day 2, a lot of the time more exciting than what's going on up front. It's really close this time. 9th-12th-ranked universities Meiji University, Josai University, Tokai University and Teikyo University aren't far behind the 5th-8th group, and the next tier below that isn't much further behind. If we had to pick right now we'd say Meiji and Tokai won't make top ten. Josai has momentum right now and Teikyo is almost always better than its numbers look, while Meiji has a history of not performing up to potential and Tokai like Toyo has had a very rocky season.

Kanagawa University, Juntendo University, Chuo Gakuin University, Hosei University and Nittai University probably won't make top ten, but they're all close enough to pick off anyone from the two groups above them that gets into trouble. Hosei in particular has a good history of punching above its weight, including a 7th-place finish last year off a #10 ranking.

Rikkyo University, Yamanashi Gakuin University, Nihon University, Kokushikan University, Tokyo Nogyo University and Surugadai University fall into the bottom tier, realistically not in range of a top ten finish without a miracle and mostly hoping to stay ahead of the white sash start that happens when they fall too far behind the leader. But Hakone is a college sport, and what sets it apart from the corporate leagues is that this is where the miracles do happen.

Nationally-Ranked Gakuho Ishikawa H.S. Withdraws From Region Championships Due to Bear Attacks

5th at last year's National High School Ekiden boys' race, Fukushima's Gakuho Ishikawa H.S. has withdrawn its boys' and girls' team from the Nov. 6 Tohoku Region Ekiden Championships in Fukushima. A school spokesperson commented, "We made this decision based on the likelihood of our students coming into contact with bears in the city when out running in the morning." The Akita Athletics Association had already made an announcement on its website on Oct. 31 that due to the high number of bear encounters within the city of Akita this year , the ekiden would be held on a track instead of as a road race. Organizers said that they are leaving it up to each individual school whether to participate, and that they will accept schools choosing not to participate due to safety concerns. The Gakuho Ishikawa boys and girls both won the Fukushima Prefecture High School Ekiden in October, earning them places at the Tohoku regional meet and December's National High...

Komazawa Back On Top With 17th National University Ekiden Title

#3-ranked Komazawa University came on strong over the second half of the National University Ekiden to take a record 17th national title, more than any other program in the national championship race's 57-year history. It had its share of dominant single-stage runs, but more than that this year's Komazawa lineup was consistent across the board, the only school to put all 8 of its runners into the top 5 on their stages, all but 2 of them in the top 3. Over the first 2 legs it was never more than 3 seconds out of 1st, moving up into that position by 1 seconds on the 3rd leg with a good run from 4th-year Yudai Kiyama . 3rd-year Kaisei Yasuhara was the weakest link with only the 5th-best time on the 4th leg, dropping Komazawa back to 4th and 35 seconds behind #2-ranked Chuo University 's Daichi Shibata . But on the next leg Komazawa 4th-year Aoi Ito turned it back around with the biggest run at this year's Nationals, running 35:01 for the 12.4 km 5th leg, 17 seconds unde...

Hofu Yomiuri Marathon Elite Field

Everything in Japanese marathoning is already about qualifying for the MGC Race, Japan's trials race for the L.A. Olympics. Scheduled the same day as the Fukuoka International Marathon, the Dec. 7 Hofu Yomiuri Marathon counts the same weight as Fukuoka, Tokyo and Osaka in men's qualification, with trials spots up to be had by the first 6 Japanese men under 2:09:00 and the first Japanese woman under 2:27:00. The only real contender to do that among the women is Mizuki Nishimura , running her first marathon off a 1:41:42 CR at the Kumanichi 30k in February. Given the Tenmaya corporate team's track record of success in the marathon, including the current women's NR of 2:18:59, her chances are pretty good. Ayumi Morita ran a 2:31:38 PB in Tokyo last year, but it's a big jump for her to get down to 2:26 and it'll mostly be a question of whether Nishimura executes the same way she did at Kumanichi. For men there are 6 under 2:09:00 in the last 3 years, with Ryoma T...

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