Hakone Ekiden 2026: Aoyama Gakuin Hakone Ekiden Runners Kept Departed Teammate in Their Thoughts During Race

The Yomiuri Shimbun

21:01 JST, January 4, 2026

The runners of Aoyama Gakuin University at the 102nd Tokyo-Hakone Intercollegiate Ekiden on Friday and Saturday raced with thoughts of their teammate, Sena Minawatari, who passed away from a type of blood cancer in February last year at age 21.

They dedicated their victory, which set a record and secured their third consecutive win, to him.

Minawatari was a strong runner and made the 16-member roster for the 100th Hakone Ekiden two years ago. He was diagnosed with malignant lymphoma in November 2024 and passed away suddenly on Feb. 19, just a month and a half after Aoyama Gakuin achieved a back-to-back victory in the 2025 race.

In the latest race, captain Asahi Kuroda, a senior who won an uphill battle in the fifth leg on Friday to bring Aoyama Gakuin to finish first on the first day, drew a star and the number seven on his arm. Other runners also drew the designs on their arms and legs or wore wristbands featuring a design of seven stars. Minawatari’s first name, Sena, is comprised of two kanji, one meaning star and the other meaning seven.

Kyosuke Hiramatsu and Minawatari could not run in the 2024 race because of a last-minute change of runners. Minawatari was Hiramatsu’s senior. The two promised to each other after the race, “Let us both run next year.” In the latest Hakone Ekiden, Hiramatsu was assigned to run the 4th leg and drew a star and “7” on his left arm to be easily visible from the roadside.

His strong run, clocking third best in the leg he competed in, pushed the team’s ranking up from eighth to fifth. “I felt like [Minawatari] was running beside me with a smile,” he said.

To honor Minawatari’s passion for track and field sports, a marathon has been planned on Feb. 21 in his hometown of Osaka Prefecture, organized by Aoyama Gakuin alumni from the athletics team.