The key to victory in the Hakone Ekiden 2026 is… “mountain specialists”! Hakone Ekiden 2026] The key to victory… “Mountain Specialists”!

Aogaku’s Fear Factor

Aoyama Gakuin University, the reigning champion of the Hakone Ekiden, which set a new meet record of 10 hours, 41 minutes, and 19 seconds in the 2013 Hakone Ekiden, has a yellow light on its three consecutive victories.

The team did not do well in the Izumo Ekiden (October 13) and the All-Japan University Ekiden (November 2), which are regarded as one of the three major student relay races along with the Hakone Ekiden, finishing in seventh and third places, respectively. With the graduation of Aioi Ota, who won the sectional prize in the 4th section of the last Hakone Ekiden, Hiroki Wakabayashi, who set a new sectional record in the 5th section, and Akimu Nomura, who also set a new sectional record in the 6th section, there is no game changer who has the ability to turn the unfavorable turn of events around. Aogaku has the best ability to run away from the pack, but if they stumble from the start, it may be difficult for them to turn things around,” said Masato Sakai, a former HAKONE Ekiden runner and sportswriter.

In the last race, Aoyama Gakuen started out in 10th place in the first section, caught up in the second through fourth sections, and Wakabayashi in the fifth section turned the tables to win the outward route, and ran away with the overall victory in the return route. In other words, the team is expected to face an uphill battle because it cannot expect to have the same “ability to turn the tables on the outward journey” as last year.

However, the ace runner Asahi Kuroda (4th year), who ran this year’s “Flower Section 2,” is one of the best runners among today’s students; he won the 10,000m race against MARCH on November 22 in a new meet record time of 27:37, and will probably run well in Section 2 next year as well.
Aogaku has a reputation for its ability to make adjustments for Hakone, and the runners in the 3rd and 4th wards usually run better than their pre-season opponents. This must be the scenario that Susumu Hara, 58, the team’s coach, has in mind.

In addition to Kuroda, Aoyama Gakuin has four other runners who have recorded 27 minutes, one of the benchmarks for top student runners, in the MARCH competition. The school’s depth of athletes is the best among the participating schools, and there is no denying the possibility that they have some hidden gems in the 5th and 6th sections, making them unquestionably one of the candidates for the championship.

The 5th section of uphill…the 6th section of downhill

Like Aogaku, Waseda University, with Shinsaku Kudo (3rd year), who has dominated the Hakone Ekiden since last year as the “mountain detective,” and Chuo University, with Daichi Fujita (3rd year), Kazuta Tameike (4th year), and Yamato Hamaguchi (1st year), all of whom recorded 27 minutes at the MARCH Races, will try to break away from the onward winner. Yasuyuki Watanabe, former Waseda University competition team ekiden coach and current director of Sumitomo Electric Industries’ track and field team, said, “Every university that wins the race has a game.

Every university that wins the championship has a game-changing athlete. The most likely to make a difference are in the 5th and 6th sections. In other words, it is the “mountain specialists” from each university who hold the key to victory. Among them, Kudo, who runs the 5th section of Waseda, is the top athlete. In addition, Waseda still has Junpei Maseda (4th year), who ran the 1st section this year, and Tomonori Yamaguchi (4th year), who ran the 2nd section, as well as Ryuin Suzuki (1st year), who boasts top-class running ability of his generation and is expected to be used in the 3rd or 4th section. With all of the players in the field, there is a good chance that the team will win the outward route. However, it is hard to shake the impression that the field of riders for the return trip is thinner than that of Aoyama Gakuin and other teams.
Chuo has the fastest 10,000m average time of the top 10 runners at 27 minutes. Although their times on the track are good, it remains to be seen whether they will be able to show their running ability in Hakone, where there are differences in elevation. If we can find a runner who can overcome the special sections of the 5th section, which is uphill, and the 6th section, which is downhill, he will have the potential to win the championship.

On the other hand, Soka University, whose foreign student ace Steven Mucini (3rd year) is not in good shape, and Teikyo University, which has Kusuoka Yoshihiro (3rd year), who won the sectional award in the second section of the All-Japan Ekiden, are not candidates for the championship because of their thin lineup.

The God of Mountain Descent

After winning the Izumo Ekiden for the second year in a row, Kokugakuin University is well-prepared for its long-cherished dream of winning the Hakone National Championships for the first time, but the “mountain” is still their main obstacle.

The ace of Kokugakuin University is third-year runner Tsuneyuki Nonaka (Hiromichi), who ran well at both the All-Japan and Izumo Ekiden, and with a running time of 27 minutes for 10,000m, I believe he will inherit the flowery second section from ace runner Kiyosumi Hirabayashi, who graduated this year. However, the athletes running in the second section at the top universities, led by Aogaku’s Kuroda, are all exceptional athletes who have run in the 27-minute 10,000m time range in succession. They will not be able to make up the difference of minutes so easily. The key to the race will be who will run the 5th section and how well they can compete with mountain specialists such as Waseda’s Kudo,” said Tetsuhiko Kim, a commentator on ekiden and marathon races.

Sakai agrees with Kim, but says, “Nonaka is not suited for the second section.

He is strong on flat terrain, but he is not good at going uphill, and because of the steep hill called “Totsuka no Kabe” at the end of the second section, he may be shifted to the third section or other sections. In that case, Rui Aoki (4th year), who won the Ageo City Half Marathon on November 16 with a record tie for 10th place in the Japanese student history, and Ryuyo Uehara (4th year), the captain of the team, would be candidates for the second section. There are many other talented runners in Kokugakuin, such as Goki Takayama (4th year) and Teru Tsujihara (3rd year), but none of them have a strong image in the mountains. In the previous tournament, they were 14th in the 5th section and 16th in the 6th section. The results of next year’s Kokugakuin will change drastically depending on coach Yasuhiro Maeda’s (47) leadership over the 5th and 6th sections.”

Waseda, with its absolute ace, the “mountain detective,” in the 5th section, but lacking in strength on the return route, and Kokugakuin, which has yet to settle on how to use its ace section. While each of the potential winners has its own concerns, Watanabe mentioned Komazawa University, this year’s All-Japan Ekiden champion, at the top of the list of potential winners.

Keita Sato (4th year), the ace runner who has returned from injury, ran a fine race at the All-Japan Ekiden, coming in third in a section, even though he is not in his best form. He is expected to be in even better shape by the time the race reaches Hakone. Takuma Yamakawa (4th year) can be placed in the 5th section, which is the most difficult section, just as he was in the previous race. In addition to the two aces, Sato and Yamakawa, there are seven more members with experience in Hakone. Considering the depth of their players and the experience they have accumulated, Komazawa is head and shoulders above the rest.

However, even though Komazawa can field Sato and Yamakawa in the outward leg, the rival schools also have several experienced and talented runners. Still, there are other reasons why many people involved in university ekiden throughout Japan are predicting a Komazawa victory. The “God of the Downhill” exists.

The sixth section is just as important as the fifth section, which is a downhill section, in the outward journey. Aoi Ito (4th year), who will run this section, has run the 6th section twice in the past and has achieved top-class results, winning a sectional award as a freshman and coming in second in a sectional race as a junior. If she is chosen to run in the 6th section this time, she should be able to win the sectional award again. In the last race, Aoyama Gakuin’s Nomura set a new sectional record in the 6th section, and Aoyama Gakuin won the overall championship with the same momentum, and Ito may be able to take on that role.
If Sato and Yamakawa run well on the outward leg and Ito takes the lead at the start of the return leg, Komazawa, which boasts a strong field of athletes and outstanding stability, should come close to winning the overall championship.

Komazawa, Aogaku, Kokugakuin, or Waseda?　The key to victory will be the battle in the 5th and 6th wards.

From the December 19 and 26, 2025 issue of “FRIDAY