2025 Hakone Ekiden: Soka, Waseda, Josai, and the Key Role of Shin-Yama no Kami
The biggest battle in history! Kokugakuin aiming for the Triple Crown, Aogaku, the previous champion, and Komazawa, a powerhouse, are the top 3!
Could this be the most exciting competition in history!?
Two-time champion or first-ever victory? The return of a former powerhouse? The 2025 Hakone Ekiden is poised to be one of the most exciting races in history.
In October this year, the prelude to the Hakone Ekiden, the Izumo Ekiden, was won by Kokugakuin University, not by Aoyama Gakuin University, who claimed the overall victory in the January Hakone Ekiden, nor by the newly-restructured Komazawa University led by the legendary Hiroaki Ogi (66) in his second year. Kokugakuin continued their momentum and clinched their first victory at the All Japan University Ekiden on November 3. With two consecutive wins, they are now poised for their first-ever victory at the Hakone Ekiden. Leading this team is ace Kioto Hirabayashi (22), a senior. Hirabayashi, who dominated the second stage in this year’s Hakone Ekiden, shocked the sports world by winning the 12th Osaka Marathon on February 25 with a time of 2:06:18, a new national record for a debut marathon. Former Hakone runner and sports writer Masato Sakai shares his thoughts.
“Hirabayashi’s ability is extraordinary, but Kokugakuin is by no means a one-man team. In fact, it is the university with the deepest pool of talent among those competing in the Hakone Ekiden. Rui Aoki (20, third year), who ran the third stage and finished fourth in the previous competition, has shown significant growth, winning the Japanese University Half Marathon this year. Hiromichi Nonaka (19, second year) has earned section titles in both the Izumo and All Japan Ekidens, and Ayumu Yamamoto (22, fourth year) set a new sectional record in the All Japan Ekiden. They are full of talent. The ideal scenario is to gain an advantage in the second stage with Hirabayashi and maintain the lead with strong runners in the 6th to 8th stages.
While Kokugakuin has never won the Hakone Ekiden, some argue that their victories in Izumo and All Japan were flukes, but that’s not true. Since the spring of 2021, when Hirabayashi and Yamamoto, the two key players, joined the team, Coach Yasuhiro Maeda (46) has been grooming the team with the 2025 Hakone Ekiden in mind. Now, their hard work is about to pay off.”
However, Kokugakuin has a major weakness: the absence of a mountain god.”In the 5th stage, the uphill leg that has produced stars like Ryūji Kashiwabara (35) from Toyo University and Daichi Kamino (31) from Aoyama Gakuin, Kokugakuin finished 17th in the previous competition. The question remains: how much can they hold up without a standout runner on this crucial stage?
