Aoyama Gakuin Scores Next-Level Threepeat to Win Overall Hakone Title

Aoyama Gakuin University head coach Susumu Hara took the opposite of the usual approach on Day One of the 102nd Hakone Ekiden yesterday, starting with his weakest two runners and building up to his absolute best. First runner Hikaru Ogawara was only 16th of 21, but Day One anchor Asahi Kuroda delivered one of the best performances in Hakone history on the uphill Fifth Stage, breaking its CR by 2 almost 2 minutes and coming from over a kilometer behind to give AGU the Day One win in CR time.

With AGU's 9th win in the last 12 years and its second threepeat in the works, it blew apart the rest of the field over the 5-stage, 109.6 km Day Two course. Last year AGU's Akimu Nomura became the first runner to break 57 minutes on the 20.8 km Sixth Stage that kicks off the second day of the legendary race, starting at 731 m, climbing to 874 m in the first 5 km, then dropping to near sea level by its end. Popular speculation pre-race was that AGU would get caught by at least one of the 3 teams behind it, Waseda University, Chuo University, or this season's Izumo Ekiden winner Koku Gakuin University, unless Hara had managed to find a replacement of the same caliber. And of course he had.

1st-year Koki Ishikawa blasted the 4th-fastest time ever, 57:15, to take AGU's lead from 18 seconds up to 1:34. Just like last year that diminished a bit on the 21.3 km Seventh Stage when another team's runner closed, in this case KGU's Goki Takayama who ran the 2nd-fastest time ever, 1:00:54, but only cut 6 seconds off AGU's margin. When its next 2 runners Shota Shiode and Yuichi Sato both ran the top times on their stages, Shiode with a 1:03:45 CR for the 21.4 km Eighth Stage and Sato with an all-time #3 1:07:38 for the 23.1 km Ninth Stage, AGU's win was pretty much a given. That didn't stop 2nd-year Sota Orita from making the most of his Hakone debut on the 23.0 km anchor stage, running its 3rd-fastest time ever in 1:07:59 and crying in the home straight as he brought AGU in for its 3rd-straight win.

All 5 of AGU's runners on Day Two made the top 3 on their leg, the only team to pull that off, and its winning time of 10:37:34 for the complete 217.1 km course took an incredible 4 minutes off its own CR. And it did it in the perfect style that eluded it last year, breaking both the Day One and Day Two records en route. 4 of this year's 10 AGU runners including stage CR breakers Kuroda and Shiode graduate this year, which in theory should hurt AGU next year. But whatever else you want to say about him, coach Hara has more than demonstrated that he is at the top of the game in recruitment and development. Who can ever stop AGU?

#1-ranked Koku Gakuin definitely gave it a go. 4th on Day One after captain Ryuto Uehara struggled on the competitive Second Stage, KGU rocked Day Two with all-time top 6 performances from its 7th through 10th runners Takayama, Arata Iguni, Kenshin Noda and Hayato Oguma and broke both the Day Two and overall CR too. But it still finished 2:30 behind, almost a kilometer, in 10:40:04 for 2nd.

#2-ranked Chuo University faded late in the race, run down by Juntendo University and Waseda University on the anchor stage to take 5th in 10:44:31. The #13-ranked Juntendo had to most unexpected performance of the day, making it all the way up to 3rd in 10:43:55, with #9-ranked Waseda following up its great runs at Izumo and the National University Ekiden with a 4th-place finish in 10:44:29.

Ranked #3 at Hakone, this season's national champion Komazawa University spent most of the race in 7th until its best runner Keita Sato took over on anchor. Rushed into overtraining after showing signs of recovery from an injury in the summer, Sato cruised the anchor stage at a relaxed pace that was still enough to take 19 seconds off its CR, running 1:07:39 for 23.0 km. En route he ran down Josai University for 6th, and ultimately he ended up just seconds behind Waseda and Chuo. The first Japanese runner to hold CR on more than one Hakone stage since Yuki Sato 18 years ago, Sato said post-race that he was only at 50% fitness and had done the absolute minimum necessary to set a new CR.

Sato brought Komazawa home in 6th in 10:44:50. It was a sign of how high-level things have gotten that along with AGU and KGU running the 2 fastest times in the race's history, Juntendo, Waseda, Chuo and Komazawa all set new all-time top 10 marks. 5 of the 10 stages had new CR this year, and 3 of the others had winning times less than 10 seconds off their CR. Combined with AGU's Day One, Day Two and overall CR, this year's Hakone totally lived up to expectations.

Top 10 at Hakone scores teams an invitation to the next season's Izumo and Hakone ekidens, making it one of the most exciting parts of Day Two. Behind Komazawa Josai and Soka University were never in danger of falling out of the top 10. But Chuo Gakuin University and Nihon University, both teams that made Hakone at October's Yosenkai qualifying race, were at each other's throats throughout Day Two, trading 9th and 10th every stage. What made it critical for each to beat the other was that Teikyo University, which has a long history of squeezing into the top 10 at the last second, had passed them both by after finishing only 17th on Day One.

Teikyo had finished 12:27 behind AGU on Day One, which meant it started Day Two together with the 7 other teams that had ended up more than 10 minutes behind and carried a 2:27 time handicap throughout the day. In order to make top 10, it would have to outrun either CGU or Nihon by at least 2:28 over Day Two, a tough ask for any other team, but one that it delivered. Teikyo had the 5th-fastest Day Two time of this year's race, with especially great runs from its 8th and 9th runners Hajime Matsui and Jinya Ozaki. Ozaki put anchor Daiki Yarita only 13 seconds out of 10th place, even though Yarita was physically nowhere near CGU or Nihon and had no way to know the actual standings other than what head coach Takayuki Nakano shouted to him over his chase car's loudspeaker based on what the TV broadcast was reporting. Yarita more than did his job, going from 13 seconds behind to 41 seconds ahead of Nihon in 9th. Nihon filled the 10th slot, its first time on the podium since 2014. Yosenkai winner CGU was the unlucky 11th, finding itself consigned back to the qualifying race this fall.

Both Juntendo and Nihon made the jump from the Yosenkai onto the podium this year, which meant 2 teams got knocked down to the qualifying race. Last year's 8th-placer Tokyo Kokusai University was a non-factor never better than 12th and ultimately finishing 16th. Fan favorite Toyo University, the first team in Hakone history to break 3:00/km average pace for the entire course but only 9th last year, hovered around 15th most of the way after a promising lead stage run by Kaito Matsui and ended up just ahead of TKU in 14th. That put an end to its 20-year streak of Hakone podium finishes, one of the longest in the races 102-year history.

While that reinforced how hard it is to keep a top-tier program together indefinitely, under coach Hara Aoyama Gakuin has yet to show any signs at all of fading. Koku Gakuin loses 3 to graduation including stage winner Rui Aoki and Takayama, which won't help its chances. Juntendo is looking good, its only graduating member being Hiroyuki Ishioka, 5th on the Ninth Stage and showing a lot of upward momentum. Waseda is also in a good position with only 2 losses to graduation. One of those, Tomonori Yamaguchi, will sting, but coach Tatsuhiko Hanada has some excellent 1st-year talent this year that will surely grow to fill the gap.

Chuo loses 3, including sub-28 duo Itta Tameike and Shunsuke Yoshii, but national champ Komazawa will be hurting the most, losing its 4 best runners Yudai Kiyama, Aoi Ito, Takuma Yamakawa and anchor stage record breaker Sato. It'll be a few years before it's back to something near the same level. In the meantime, having broken through the 10:40:00 barrier by a massive margin, AGU can set its sights on trying to achieve a sub-10:35:00 mark, 2:55.5/km, something that would have seemed impossible only a few years ago.

102nd Hakone Ekiden Day Two

Hakone-Tokyo, 3 Jan. 2026

21 teams, 5 stages, 109.6 km net downhill

overall course: 21 teams, 10 stages, 217.1 km

complete results

Overall Team Results

1. Aoyama Gakuin University - 10:37:34 - CR (2:56.2/km pace)

2. Koku Gakuin University - 10:40:04 - all-time #2

3. Juntendo University - 10:43:55 - all-time #6

4. Waseda University - 10:44:29 - all-time #8

5. Chuo University - 10:44:31 - all-time #9

6. Komazawa University - 10:44:50 - all-time #10

7. Josai University - 10:46:17

8. Soka University - 10:51:40

9. Teikyo University - 10:53:15

10. Nihon University - 10:53:56

----- top 10 seeded for 2027

11. Chuo Gakuin University - 10:54:51

12. Tokai University - 10:55:01

13. Kanagawa University - 10:55:09

14. Toyo University - 10:56.27

15. Nittai University - 10:56:42

OP - Kanto Student Alliance - 10:57:35

16. Tokyo Kokusai University - 10:58:16

17. Yamanashi Gakuin University - 10:58:20

18. Tokyo Nogyo University - 11:01:12

19. Daito Bunka University - 11:04:57

20. Rikkyo University - 11:05:58

Day Two Team Results

1. Aoyama Gakuin University - 5:19:26 - CR

2. Koku Gakuin University - 5:20:05 - all-time #2

3. Komazawa University - 5:21:50 - all-time #6

4. Juntendo University - 5:22:06 - all-time #7

5. Teikyo University - 5:22:50 - all-time #8

6. Chuo University - 5:24:47

OP - Kanto Student Alliance - 5:25:33

7. Josai University - 5:25:57

8. Waseda University - 5:26:03

9. Nittai University - 5:26:38

10. Kanagawa University - 5:26:44

11. Tokyo Kokusai University - 5:27:31

12. Toyo University - 5:27:32

13. Soka University - 5:27:38

14. Chuo Gakuin University - 5:28:29

15. Tokai University - 5:28:51

16. Nihon University - 5:28:56

17. Yamanashi Gakuin University - 5:30:52

18. Rikkyo University - 5:32:53

19. Tokyo Nogyo University - 5:33:10

20. Daito Bunka University - 5:34:14

Top Individual Stage Results

Sixth Stage (20.8 km, >800 m descent)

1. Riki Koike (3rd yr., Soka Univ.) - 56:48 - all-time #2

2. Aoi Ito (4th yr., Komazawa Univ.) - 56:50 - all-time #3

3. Koki Ishikawa (1st yr., Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 57:15 - all-time #4

4. Sota Namikawa (2nd yr., Chuo Univ.) - 57:36 - all-time #8

5. Ren Oiwa (3rd yr., Kanagawa Univ.) - 57:44

6. Ibuki Yamazaki (3rd yr., Waseda Univ.) - 58:31

6. Riku Hirota (3rd yr., Teikyo Univ.) - 58:31

8. Kosei Atomura (3rd yr., Koku Gakuin Univ.) - 58:44

9. Ryotaro Onuma (4th yr., Josai Univ.) - 58:52

10. Takuma Nakayama (4th yr., Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) - 58:53

Seventh Stage (21.3 km)

1. Goki Takayama (4th yr., Koku Gakuin Univ.) - 1:00:54 - all-time #2

2. Riku Tamame (2nd yr., Juntendo Univ.) - 1:02:21 - all-time #6

3. Aito Sato (2nd yr., Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:49

4. Takuma Akiyoshi (4th yr., Student Alliance) - 1:02:53

5. Tatsuki Yamanaka (4th yr., Josai Univ.) - 1:02:58

6. Shotaro Nimura (4th yr., Nittai Univ.) - 1:03:04

7. Ryota Shibako (4th yr., Teikyo Univ.) - 1:03:07

8. Nao Nanatsue (2nd yr., Chuo Univ.) - 1:03:17

9. Mikoto Hironaka (3rd yr., Toyo Univ.) - 1:03:20

10. Haru Taninaka (2nd yr., Komazawa Univ.) - 1:03:38

10. Keita Amano (3rd yr., Nihon Univ.) - 1:03:38

Eighth Stage (21.4 km)

1. Shota Shiode (4th yr., Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:03:45 - CR

2. Arata Iguni (2nd yr., Koku Gakuin Univ.) - 1:04:01 - all-time #5

3. Soma Nagahara (2nd yr., Juntendo Univ.) - 1:04:04 - all-time #6

4. Daisuke Sato (2nd yr., Chuo Univ.) - 1:04:34

4. Takuma Yamakawa (4th yr., Komazawa Univ.) - 1:04:34

4. Hajime Matsui (2nd yr., Teikyo Univ.) - 1:04:34

7. Yu Kurotani (4th yr., Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:04:52

8. Hiroaki Maeda (4th yr., Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) - 1:04:55

9. Issei Matsuoka (2nd yr., Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 1:05:01

10. Shumon Rohoman (4th yr., Tokai Univ.) - 1:05:05

Ninth Stage (23.1 km)

1. Yuichi Sato (4th yr., Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:07:38 - all-time #3

2. Atsuyuki Kodaira (3rd yr., Waseda Univ.) - 1:07:45 - all-time #4

3. Kenshin Noda (1st yr., Koku Gakuin Univ.) - 1:07:53 - all-time #5

4. Jinya Ozaki (4th yr., Teikyo Univ.) - 1:07:55 - all-time #6

5. Hiroyuki Ishioka (4th yr., Juntendo Univ.) - 1:08:23

6. Masato Nakashima (3rd yr., Josai Univ.) - 1:08:30

7. So Hanai (3rd yr., Kanagawa Univ.) - 1:08:44

8. Shunsuke Yoshii (4th yr., Chuo Univ.) - 1:08:47

9. Yamato Sato (2nd yr., Nittai Univ.) - 1:09:03

10. Yuki Someya (4th yr., Student Alliance) - 1:09:13

Tenth Stage (23.0 km)

1. Keita Sato (4th yr., Komazawa Univ.) - 1:07:31 - CR

2. Sota Orita (2nd yr., Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) - 1:07:59 - all-time #3

3. Haruka Yamamoto (2nd yr., Juntendo Univ.) - 1:08:20 - all-time #4

4. Hayato Oguma (2nd yr., Koku Gakuin Univ.) - 1:08:33 - all-time #6

4. Hayato Sano (3rd yr., Student Alliance) - 1:08:33 - all-time #6

6. Daiki Yarita (4th yr., Teikyo Univ.) - 1:08:43 - all-time #10

7. Taiga Usune (3rd yr., Toyo Univ.) - 1:08:57

8. Nijiro Natsumi (1st yr., Nittai Univ.) - 1:09:07

9. Ryuki Shijiki (4th yr., Kanagawa Univ.) - 1:09:19

10. Mahiro Kubo (1st yr., Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) - 1:09:26

Kuroda Conquers the Mountain to Give Aoyama Gakuin the Hakone Ekiden Day One CR Again

After a wild New Year Ekiden corporate men's national championships yesterday that saw new CR on 6 of the race's 7 stages and a 7-second miss on the one that wasn't broken, Day One of the 102nd Hakone Ekiden more than lived up to what the pros had done 24 hours earlier. Only one runner, Chuo University 's Yamato Yoshii in 2022, had ever broken 61 minutes for the 21.3 km First Stage , but when Chuo's Daichi Shibata took it out on CR pace the entire field went with him. It took a while for Ageo City Half winner Rui Aoki of Izumo Ekiden champ Koku Gakuin University to move up to the front, but when he did it was decisive. Aoki crushed the CR in 1:00:28, 59:54 half marathon pace, and behind him the next both Shibata and the Kanto Region Student Alliance select team's So Kawasaki from Tsukuba University also went under Yoshii's old 1:00:40 record. 4th through 8th broke 61, setting the tone for the rest of the day. Chuo, KGU, last year's top 2 Aoyama...

Anonymous said…

3-3-1-1-2 is insane how can anyone beat this team

January 4, 2026 at 1:19 AM

Keita Sato is always injured because of the Komazawa dictator coach overtraining him. Last year he set a CR at 70% fitness and this year at 50% fitness while he was all taped up. Once he graduates and gets a new coach he needs to just focus on staying healthy.

January 4, 2026 at 1:23 AM

Great recap, was a ton of fun to watch. Sato is something special, hope he takes time to recover fully. He will set some big records in the future.

January 4, 2026 at 2:57 AM

It was a great Hakone couple of days again.

AGU doesn't really miss, after stage 1 none of their runners cracked under pressure, especially on day 2 with less experienced runners.

Chuo ended up showing their inconstency once again, they still were positioned on day 2 to make a run at the first place but none of their runners, not even Yoshii, stepped up and some even had a disappointing performance.
Like you say, Koku ran their good solid race and Waseda did all they could.

Juntendo overperformed by a lot, no idea how they managed it and with this staff they often underperformed/underdeveloped their runners but if they can build on this they are well positioned.
Teikyo had a solid comeback after that disaster of a day 1 to get back in the top 10.

As usual I'm sad to see familiar faces move on after 4 years of college runs but at the same time thrilled as the corporate field level will raise again and excited as the new college guys show a lot of promise.

January 4, 2026 at 7:01 PM

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