In a lot of ways this was one of the more interesting races in National Men's Ekiden history. 2 of the country's current top high schoolers, Fukushima's Yota Mashiko and Hyogo's Haruki Niizuma, made sure the race got off right with a CR-pace attack from the beginning. Everyone went with them, but it quickly shook down to the 2 of them and Miyagi's Hiroto Suzuki, a relatively unknown factor. Niizuma was fresh back from running last weekend's World XC Championships in Florida and showed the fatigue from that race and the travel, dropping off just before 5 km on the 7.0 km opening stage.
Mashiko and Suzuki hit it in 13:37, a head-to-head battle between runners from the top 2 teams at December's National High School Ekiden. Mashiko, who ran the fastest-ever Japanese time on the opening leg for winner Gakuho Ishikawa H.S. there, had better credentials than Suzuki, 3rd on the third leg for runner-up Sendai Ikuei H.S. and opened up with 1 km to go. But even though Suzuki looked to be done he came back in the last 250 m and surged past Mashiko to break the CR by 25 second in 19:06.
Mashiko and Niizuma both went under the old CR too, and if you looked at the final results at this point you'd think the race was pretty much done. But Fukushima ran Miyagi down on the next stage with a great run from 2nd runner Akua Takahashi, only for Miyagi to fight back on the next stage as Takuma Ohama caught up to Haru Taninaka and then crushed him. Miyagi went from 6 seconds back to 8 seconds ahead thanks to Ohama, and its next 3 runners Tsukasa Wakabayashi, Genta Sugano and Jin Sato built up a 30-second lead for anchor Rei Yamahira.
30 seconds was exactly what Miyagi had wanted, Fukushima's anchor being the talented Tomonori Yamaguchi. Yamaguchi gradually reeled Yamahira in, getting as close as 10 seconds, but over the last 3 km on the 13.0 km anchor stage Yamahira, a 27:58 10000 m runner, picked it up and re-opened the gap. Yamaguchi could only watch as Yamahira pulled away to take 1st in 2:16:55, Miyagi's first-ever national title and tying the overall CR. Yamaguchi brought Fukushima home in 2nd in 2:17:20, losing serious ground once Yamahira got moving.
Hyogo couldn't quite close the gap to the lead duo after the opening leg, briefly dropping to 4th mid-race but quickly retaking 3rd and staying there to finish in 2:17:53. Okayama was the team that overtook them on the 8.5 km Third Stage thanks to a solid run from Hakone Ekiden superstar Asahi Kuroda, who was 5th-fastest on the stage despite having done a 30 km workout on Wednesday in prep for the Feb. 1 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon.
Okayama anchor Kanta Ikeda did his best to catch Hyogo's Daichi Fujita but ultimately ended up 2 seconds back in 2:17:55 for 4th. Gunma was 5th in 2:17:58 with anchor Rui Aoki, CR breaker at November's Ageo City Half Marathon and Hakone's First Stage less than 3 weeks ago, turning in another great run with a 36:57 stage win just 5 seconds off the CR. Next up Aoki races the United Airlines NYC Half in March.
Running Beppu-Oita alongside Kuroda, Yuya Yoshida was a solid 4th on the anchor stage after a string of disappointing races in the fall, bringing them home 6th in 2:18:16. Aichi, Chiba, Shizuoka and Kanagawa rounded out the top 10, with Yamagata and Okinawa turning in their best-ever placings at 16th and 33rd in the field of 47.
31st National Men's Ekiden
Hiroshima, 18 Jan. 2026
47 teams, 7 stages, 48.0 km
Top Team Results
1. Miyagi - 2:16:55 - CR tie
2. Fukushima - 2:17:20
3. Hyogo - 2:17:53
4. Okayama - 2:17:55
5. Gunma - 2:17:58
6. Saitama - 2:18:16
7. Aichi - 2:18:24
8. Chiba - 2:18:50
9. Shizuoka - 2:18:55
10. Kanagawa - 2:19:14
Top Individual Stage Performances
First Stage (7.0 km, H.S.)
1. Hiroto Suzuki (Miyagi) - 19:06 - CR
2. Yota Mashiko (Fukushima) - 19:08 (CR)
3. Haruki Niizuma (Hyogo) - 19:24 (CR)
4. Koki Matsuo (Chiba) - 19:42
5. Yudai Fujii (Miyazaki) - 19:47
Second Stage (3.0 km, J.H.S.)
1. Kyosuke Seki (Shizuoka) - 8:25
2. Shota Oda (Aichi) - 8:36
3. Akua Takahashi (Fukushima) - 8:37
3. Seiya Naoe (Kanagawa) - 8:37
3. Atsushi Sugawara (Hokkaido) - 8:37
Third Stage (8.5 km, mixed)
1. Yudai Kiyama (Gunma) - 23:35
2. Hiromichi Nonaka (Shizuoka) - 23:36
3. Takumi Orihashi (Gifu) - 23:48
4. Shoya Saito (Fukui) - 23:49
5. Asahi Kuroda (Okayama) - 23:50
6. Shunsuke Tajima (Aichi) - 23:57
7. Rui Suzuki (Chiba) - 24:00
8. Tatsuya Matsuoka (Niigata) - 24:04
9. Kaito Iida (Kagoshima) - 24:05
9. Taishi Ito (Nagano) - 24:05
Fourth Stage (5.0 km, H.S.)
1. Koki Niizuma (Hyogo) - 14:05
2. Tsukasa Wakabayashi (Miyagi) - 14:07
3. Sei Kishimoto (Kyoto) - 14:20
4. Yu Kamo (Miyazaki) - 14:21
5. Enishi Sonoki (Kumamoto) - 14:22
Fifth Stage (8.5 km, H.S.)
1. Ryo Kurimura (Fukushima) - 24:07
2. Genta Sugano (Miyagi) - 24:13
3. Junsei Murakami (Tottori) - 24:28
4. Yugo Yonenaga (Kagoshima) - 24:39
5. Sodai Monma (Kumamoto) - 24:43
Sixth Stage (3.0 km, J.H.S.)
1. Akitoshi Henmi (Saitama) - 8:34
2. Taiga Sato (Aichi) - 8:35
3. Takuma Mito (Hiroshima) - 8:37
3. Rukiya Nomoto (Tochigi) - 8:37
5. Aki Manabe (Kanagawa) - 8:38
Seventh Stage (13.0 km, mixed)
1. Rui Aoki (Gunma) - 36:57
2. Yuma Nishizawa (Shizuoka) - 36:58
3. Kanta Ikeda (Okayama) - 37:16
4. Yuya Yoshida (Saitama) - 37:21
4. Hikaru Tsujihara (Kanagawa) - 37:21
6. Ayumu Yamamoto (Fukuoka) - 37:24
7. Daichi Fujita (Hyogo) - 37:25
7. Hisaya Hanaoka (Nagano) - 37:25
9. Tasuku Miyazaki (Niigata) - 37:26
10. Kyosuke Hiramatsu (Aichi) - 37:29
10. Kento Nishi (Kyoto) - 37:29
© 2026 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
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