Aoyama Gakuin grabs lead on last leg of 1st day

The Yomiuri Shimbun

21:00 JST, January 2, 2025

Hiroki Wakabayashi put Aoyama Gakuin University into the lead for the first time Thursday on the final stage of first day of the two-day 101st Tokyo-Hakone Intercollegiate Ekiden, giving the defending champion a 1-minute 47-second lead over surprising Chuo University for Friday’s return trip to Tokyo.

Aoyama Gakuin, whose runners posted the top times in two of the five stages, clocked 5 hours 20 minutes 1 second over the 107.5-kilometer route from The Yomiuri Shimbun building in central Tokyo to Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture.

“It’s the fruit of the efforts of our runners,” Aoyama Gakuin coach Susumu Hara said. “I plan that downhill specialist Akimu Nomura will increase the lead by 30 seconds in the sixth stage and we will have an easy journey from the seventh to 10th stages.”

Chuo, seeking its first title since 1996, got a flying start in the 21.3-kilometer first stage from Shunsuke Yoshii, who won the stage nearly two minutes ahead of Aoyama Gakuin’s Shunya Udagawa in 10th place.

Chuo maintained the lead up to the fifth stage, a grueling 20.8-kilometer climb into the steep Hakone hills. But at the 9.5-kilometer mark, Wakabayashi caught and passed Chuo’s Daito Sonoki, then pulled away to give Aoyama Gakuin a 1:47 lead that it takes into the second day.

Waseda University was third overall at 5:22:30, while 2023 champion Komazawa University was fourth at 5:23:17 and Soka University fifth at 5:23:38.

Along with Wakabayashi, Aoyama Gakuin got a stage victory from Aoi Ota in the 20.9-kilometer fourth leg that moved the Tokyo school into second place.

The 23.1-kilometer second stage saw a high level of competition as three runners broke the previous stage record. Kenyan Richard Etir of Tokyo International University now holds the record with a time of 1:05:31, while Soka’s Hibiki Yoshida (1:05:43) and Aoyama’s Asahi Kuroda (1:05:44) also finished under the old mark of 1:05.49.

Chuo’s Hayate Homma clocked the top time in the 21.4-kilometer third stage.

Kokugakuin University, which had been aiming to complete the Triple Crown of major collegiate ekiden titles, finished the day in sixth place, 5 minutes 25 seconds behind Aoyama Gakuin.