Back for the first time in 21 years after a disastrous 14th-place finish at the 102nd Hakone Ekiden this past January, Toyo University hit one out of western Tokyo's Showa Kinen Park with a solid win at the Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai, the half marathon that serves as the official qualifying race for the 103rd Hakone Ekiden. The top 10 teams in the Hakone auto-qualify for the following year, with the rest having to run the Yosenkai in October with a squad of 10 to 16 runners out of which the top 10 score on aggregate time, with the 10 fastest schools joining the Hakone field and top individuals from non-qualifying teams names to the Kanto Region Student Alliance select team to make up the complete Hakone field of 21.
Driven in large part by an aggressive run from 3rd-year Yu Miyazaki, one of only 2 Japanese athletes to go with the big African contingent up front, Toyo won in 10:31:30, 1:03:09 or 2:59.6/km per athlete. As the first team to have broken the 3:00/km average pace barrier at Hakone back in 2012, it seemed predestined that in Toyo's return to the Yosenkai it was the only team there to average under 3:00/km for its 10 scorers.
2nd in 2024 and winning outright last year, Brian Kipyegon (Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) led a relatively slow start as the course wound a lap around the airfield next to the park, going through 5 km in 14:42 with a pack of around 50 in tow before getting into gear as they got out onto the roads. With pressure from collegiate half marathon record co-holder Richard Etir (Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) a group of 9 broke away with a split of 14:18 for the next 5 km, Miyazaki and 10000 m U20 NR holder Kazuma Maeda (Tokyo Nogyo Univ.) the only Japanese athletes to go with the pace. Heading into the park for a hilly last 6.5 km only Kipyegon and Eritrean Biniam Tesfay (Musashino Gakuin) kept rolling with a 14:16 from 10 to 15 km, but over the last 5 km Kipyegon broke free to take the win again in 1:00:48.
Etir finished strong to catch Biniam at the line, both clocking 1:00:59 with Etir taking 2nd and Biniam walking away in 3rd with an almost 2-minute PB. Back 27 seconds at 15 km, Miyazaki closed the hardest in the field with a 14:19 from 15 km to 20 km and coming within 6 seconds of running Etir and Biniam down at 4th in 1:01:05, also a PB by almost 2 minutes. Dennis Kipruto (Nihon Yakka Univ.) and Brian Kiptoo (Reitaku Univ.) were 5th and 6th in 1:01:15 and 1:01:32, with Maeda 7th in 1:01:57. Stephen Lemayian (Surugadai Univ.) and Raphel Longisa (Takushoku Univ.) held on to their positions in the original pack of 9, Lemayian 8th in 1:02:02 and Longisa 9th in 1:02:04.
With the main pack having split 15:00 from 5 km to 10 km when the leaders broke away, Shu Nagamoto (Tokai Univ.) came from 1:04 behind at 15 km to run down Evans Kibunyi (Kokushikan Univ.) for 10th in 1:02:19, only 15 seconds back from Longisa in 9th. A total of 44 people were sub-63 and 106 sub-64, 193 sub-65 and 257 sub-66. Not that you'd expect anything less from a major Japanese collegiate half marathon.
The top non-auto-qualifier at Hakone, Chuo Gakuin University was 2nd behind Toyo in 10:33:31, with Tokai University a close 3rd in 10:33:41 and Senshu University making it back to Hakone after failing to qualify last year, 4th in 10:33:42. Maeda's Tokyo Nogyo University, Kipyegon's Yamanashi Gakuin University, Daito Bunka University, Kanagawa University and Nittai University took the next 5 qualifying spots, with Hosei University joining Senshu in re-qualifying after missing out last time around and knocking Rikkyo University and Etir's Tokyo Kokusai University out of the Hakone fold.
The margin between qualifying and non-qualifying can come down to an agonizing fraction of a second per runner, but this year 11th-placer Kokushikan University was a ways back from Hosei's 10:40:08 in 10:41:54, 10.6 seconds per runner across the half marathon distance. Next to Toyo, Biniam's #26-ranked Musashino Gakuin University got the biggest reaction from the crowd at the tense post-race announcement ceremony when it took a school record 12th in 10:43:54, beating out Rikkyo, traditional power Meiji University and Tokyo Kokusai. It said a lot about the MGU program that in an event culture in which student athletes from the 11th place and lower teams weep openly in front of the cameras when their failure to qualify is announced, the MGU guys cheered and hugged each other like they'd won it outright. But with the Hakone field increasing by 2 teams next season with an additional 3 slots in anniversary years it's a big shot of motivation for Musashino Gakuin to make top 12 for the first time, but with Biniam and 3 others in its top 5 scorers graduating this might have been as close as they get.
It's one of the enigmas of Japanese distance running that while African athletes took 7 of the top 10 individual spots and 16 of the 45 teams in the Yosenkai field had African runners in scoring positions, only 2 of those teams, 4th-place Senshu and 6th-place Yamanashi Gakuin, qualified for Hakone. Out of the 10 auto-qualified teams too, only 3, 7th-place Josai University, 8th-place Soka University and 10th-place Nihon University, had African team members. And in all of Hakone's 102-edition history, Yamanashi Gakuin remains the only team with an African athlete to win the biggest title in road racing. It's a stark contrast to the current situation in the NCAA and says something about the application of resources to recruiting and development.
University men's ekiden season rolls on next month with the National University Ekiden on Nov. 1.
Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai
Qualifying Half Marathon
Tachikawa, Tokyo, 17 October 2026
45 teams, 10-16 runners per team
Top Team Results - top 10 qualify for 2027 Hakone Ekiden
1. Toyo University - 10:31:30
2. Chuo Gakuin University - 10:33:31
3. Tokai University - 10:33:41
4. Senshu University - 10:33:42
5. Tokyo Nogyo University - 10:34:33
6. Yamanashi Gakuin University - 10:35:18
7. Daito Bunka University - 10:35:23
8. Kanagawa University - 10:36:48
9. Nittai University - 10:39:52
10. Hosei University - 10:40:08
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11. Kokushikan University - 10:41:54
12. Musashino Gakuin University - 10:43:54
13. Rikkyo University - 10:44:01
14. Meiji University - 10:44:06
15. Tokyo Kokusai University - 10:45:04
16. Surugadai University - 10:45:55
17. Reitaku University - 10:46:25
18. Tsukuba University - 10:46:58
19. Takushoku University - 10:47:49
20. Nihon Yakka University - 10:47:52
Top Individual Results
1. Brian Kipyegon (4th yr., Yamanashi Gakuin Univ.) - 1:00:48
2. Richard Etir (4th yr., Tokyo Kokusai Univ.) - 1:00:59
3. Biniam Tesfay Zeratsion (4th yr., Musashino Gakuin Univ.) - 1:00:59 - PB
4. Yu Miyazaki (3rd yr., Toyo Univ.) - 1:01:05 - PB
5. Dennis Kipruto (4th yr., Nihon Yakka Univ.) - 1:01:15 - PB
6. Brian Kiptoo (3rd yr., Reitaku Univ.) - 1:01:32 - debut
7. Kazuma Maeda (4th yr., Tokyo Nogyo Univ.) - 1:01:57
8. Stephen Lemayian (4th yr., Surugadai Univ.) - 1:02:02
9. Raphael Longisa (4th yr., Takushoku Univ.) - 1:02:04
10. Shu Nagamoto (4th yr., Tokai Univ.) -1:02:19 - PB
11. Evans Kibunyi (1st yr., Kokushikan Univ.) - 1:02:21 - debut
12. Junpei Nakano (3rd yr., Tokai Univ.) - 1:02:25 - PB
13. Yusei Ogawa (2nd yr., Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:30 - PB
14. Yuta Minamisaka (4th yr., Tokai Univ.) - 1:02:34
15. Kazuhiro Ueda (3rd yr., Kanagawa Univ.) - 1:02:35 - PB
16. Hayato Sano (4th yr., Musashino Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:39 - PB
17. Kio Furuhashi (4th yr., Surugadai Univ.) - 1:02:40
18. Taisei Mukada (2nd yr., Senshu Univ.) - 1:02:41 - debut
19. Yuto Abe (2nd yr., Meiji Univ.) - 1:02:42
20. Aito Hayashi (4th yr., Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:43 - PB
21. Ezra Ondiso (1st yr., Kanto Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:45 - PB
22. Kotaro Osabe (3rd yr., Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:02:46 - PB
23. Takuma Ohama (3rd yr., Daito Bunka Univ.) - 1:02:46
24. Shuto Ominato (4th yr., Meiji Univ.) - 1:02:47
25. Riku Hirai (3rd yr., Tokai Univ.) - 1:02:48 - PB
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44. Jeremiah Kamau (2nd yr., Rissho Univ.) - 1:02:59 - debut
50. Kotaro Miyota (3rd yr., Chuo Gakuin Univ.) - 1:03:10
75. Shiki Ueyama (4th yr., Senshu Univ.) - 1:03:41
100. Aoba Yamazaki (1st yr., Kanagawa Univ.) - 1:03:54 - debut
106. Yu Sakaue (3rd yr., Kokushikan Univ.) - 1:03:59 - PB
125. So Kimura (2nd yr., Reitaku Univ.) - 1:04:12 - PB
150. Mikuto Yamamoto (2nd yr., Kokushikan Univ.) - 1:04:24 - debut
175. Rui Yamamoto (2nd yr., Nittai Univ.) - 1:04:46 - PB
193. Hideto Aya (1st yr., Meiji Univ.) - 1:04:57 - debut
200. Sho Kubota (4th yr., Nihon Yakka Univ.) - 1:05:07
225. Kazuya Mitsuoka (4th yr., Nihon Yakka Univ.) - 1:05:28
250. Keita Kobayashi (3rd yrs, Kanto Gakuin Univ.) - 1:05:50 - PB
257. Yuta Yamasaki (3rd yr., Reitaku Univ.) - 1:05:59 - debut
103rd Hakone Ekiden Field - * did not qualify for 102nd Hakone
Aoyama Gakuin University
Koku Gakuin University
Juntendo University
Waseda University
Chuo University
Komazawa University
Josai University
Soka University
Teikyo University
Nihon University
Toyo University
Chuo Gakuin University
Tokai University
Senshu University*
Tokyo Nogyo University
Yamanashi Gakuin University
Daito Bunka University
Kanagawa University
Nittai University
Hosei University*
Kanto Region Student Alliance
© 2026 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
Comments
It is interesting how controlled this race is ran as blowing up has a massive cost for the team. I do wonder if top teams could try to be more aggressive and have whoever feels best try to follow the front group. They have spare runners.. they are basically guaranteed a spot why not?