How Seigaku University’s “Reproduction of Strength” Will Ensure Another Hakone Ekiden Championship Next Year

I’m sure you’ll agree with me.

In the 98th Hakone Ekiden, Seigaku University won for the sixth time in two years, beating second place Jun University by 10 minutes and 51 seconds in a new record time of 10 hours, 43 minutes and 42 seconds. It was a complete victory for Seigaku University.

I’m relieved to have cleared my quota of third place or higher overall, but Seigaku University was strong, and while I’m happy with second place, I’m still disappointed that I didn’t come close to winning.

Shunsuke Nagato, coach of Junjun University, who had made a great leap from 7th place to 2nd place last year, seemed to take his hat off to the team.

Before the tournament, Seigaku University’s coach Susumu Hara described his team as “the strongest team in history” and expressed his confidence in them.

What was the reason for Seigaku University’s impressive victory?

The reason for Seigaku University’s overwhelming victory was none other than the depth of their player base and overall strength. The 10,000-meter track time is used as a measure of strength in the Hakone Ekiden, and 16 members of Seigaku University’s entry for this year’s Hakone Ekiden (including alternates who were assigned to the reserve team) have run 10,000 meters in the 28-minute range (the Japanese record for the men’s 10,000 meters is 27:18.75).

In addition, Seigaku University usually holds an on-campus 10,000-meter record race called “Hakone Ekiden Section 0″ with athletes who are not among the 16 registered members of the team for the Hakone Ekiden. This record meeting was held on December 25 last year, and the top three runners recorded 28 minutes. Moreover, there are 26 athletes who run 5000 meters in 13 minutes. Seigaku University is the only university that boasts such overwhelming strength.

It is said that even if the second team of Seigaku University competes in Hakone, it is certain to be seeded (top 10). The depth of the players is outstanding compared to other universities,” said a sports reporter.

Coach Hara said before the race.

The current Hakone Ekiden has become a high-speed relay race. In fact, in this year’s race, Seigaku University’s runners up were all in the top five in each section.

In fact, Seigaku University’s rankings in each section this time showed that they were 5th in the 1st section, 7th in the 2nd section, 2nd in the 3rd section, 3rd in the 4th section, and 3rd in the 5th section in the outward route, and 8th in the 6th section, 1st in the 7th section, 2nd in the 8th section, 1st in the 9th section, and 1st in the 10th section in the inward route.

In the return trip, he finished 8th in 6th, 1st in 7th, 2nd in 8th, 1st in 9th, and 1st in 10th. Furthermore, in the final stages of the race, Tadasho Nakamura in the 9th district and Kironobu Nakakura in the 10th district ran very well, not only finishing first in their respective sections, but also setting a new section record, far ahead of the second place runners. I think this was a better result than Coach Hara expected.

The secret of Seigaku University’s absolute strength is its high deviation value from other universities, which allows them to place their ace athletes in the 7th to 10th sections of the relay race. In this year’s race, Seigaku University has only two fourth-year runners. I’m sure their unrivaled strength will continue next year and beyond.

On the other hand, Komazawa University, last year’s Hakone Ekiden champion, which was considered to be a rival to Seigaku University, had a series of miscalculations overall, although ace Ren Tazawa ran the flowery 2nd section and won the section prize.

Taiyo Yasuhara, in the 3rd section, faltered to finish 16th and could not get going. The next day, in the 8th section of the return trip, a promising sophomore runner, Mebuki Suzuki, who had been running in the 27-minute range for 10,000 meters, suffered a serious brake injury and placed 18th in the section. It was a race that fluctuated wildly from section to section, and we dropped out of the race for the championship.

The complete victory of Seigaku University in this race can be said to be the result of the team’s overall strength. In addition, the university ekiden official mentioned above pointed out the following.

In fact, Seigaku University does not have super athletes like Tazawa of Komazawa University, Yamato Yoshii of Chuo University, who set a new section record in the first section, or Ryuji Miura of Jun University, who competed in the 3000m steeplechase at the Tokyo Olympics last year and finished 7th. However, although there are no such exceptional athletes, in recent years, A-ranked long-distance runners in high school have been very popular at Seigaku University.

Why do the leading runners keep coming to Seigaku University?

Of course, one of the main reasons is that Seigaku University has been able to grow as an athlete through friendly competition in a high-level environment, and has become a team that always aims to win the Hakone championship every year. When Coach Hara appears in various media, the number of students who think, ‘I want to go to Seigaku University and be coached by him,’ increases every year. However, there are other reasons why leading athletes tend to gather at Seigaku University,” said a person involved in university relay races.

As a matter of fact, more and more track and field teams are considering downsizing or closing their clubs as the performance of their parent companies slows down, partly due to the Covid-19 disaster.

In other words, the doors to business corporations are getting narrower and narrower every year, and there are some athletes who want to continue their track and field careers after graduating from college but cannot. In other words, the doors to the industrial teams are getting narrower every year.

In contrast to the excitement of the Hakone Ekiden, there is a view that a harsh reality awaits all but a few top-class athletes after graduating from university.

In contrast to the excitement of the Hakone Ekiden, there is a view that a harsh reality awaits all but a few top-class athletes after graduation. In addition, the Seigaku University brand seems to be very powerful, as it is well received in interviews by athletes who wish to work for general companies. So far, former Seigaku University athletes have been employed by megabanks, major breweries, food companies, and local TV stations.

This generous support, which allows athletes to immerse themselves in athletics without worrying about their future, may have contributed to raising the level of Seigaku University’s team strength.