Japan High School Boys Set New Record in Relay Race; Winning Girls Secure School’s Second-Straight Title

The Yomiuri Shimbun

18:01 JST, December 21, 2025

KYOTO — Gakuho Ishikawa Senior High School from Fukushima Prefecture set a new record for the boys race in the national high school ekiden road relay on Sunday, securing its first-ever victory in two hours and 36 seconds.

Seven runners covered the marathon length of 42.195 kilometers. Gakuho Ishikawa’s time was 24 seconds faster than the previous record set by Nagano Prefecture’s Saku Chosei High School in 2023.

Third-year student Yota Mashiko took the lead in the first leg with 28:20 — setting a sectional record for a Japanese runner — and the team maintained the top position throughout the entire course in Kyoto City.

“Mashiko had an excellent run in the first leg, and it gave the team momentum,” Gakuho Ishikawa coach Kazuhiro Matsuda said. “We widened the lead in the third leg [run by Ryo Kurimura], so we were able to run an ideal race.”

Sendai Ikuei Gakuen High School from Miyagi Prefecture was second, finishing one second under the previous race record. Kurashiki High School from Okayama Prefecture came third.

In the girls race, Nagano Higashi High School from Nagano Prefecture clinched its second consecutive victory, and third overall, in 1:06:30, finishing the half-marathon 21.0975-kilometer course in five legs. That was the second best time ever recorded for the event, after Saitama Sakae High School from Saitama Prefecture clocked 1:06:26 in 1996.

Osaka Kun-Ei Jogakuin Senior High School came in second at 1:07:03, and Ritsumeikan Uji Senior High School placed third at 1:07:29.