The 98th Hakone Ekiden Run Competition, the annual Kanto University Running Competition in Japan, will be held on January 2 and 3.
Today, let's take a look at this year's competition.
1
Introduction to Hakone Ekiden
Hakone Ekiden is a running relay race between universities in the Kanto region of Japan. The race is held over 2 days, the first day starts at the Yomiuri Shimbun headquarters in Otemachi, Tokyo, and ends at Lake Ashi in Hakone, with a total length of 107.5 kilometers and divided into five sections.
The first day of the race route
The next day, January 3, runners will run from Lake Ashi back to Otemachi, with a total length of 109.6 kilometers, which is also divided into five sections.
Route of the race on the second day
The most distinctive routes are Districts 5 and 6. In Zone 5, runners need to climb Mount Hakone, the fastest runner to cross Mount Hakone is known as the "King of the Mountain", and Zone 6 is a sprint down the mountain, which is a great test of the balance of the runners.
The total length of the two days of the race is 217.1 km.
2
Players
Hakone Ekiden had 21 teams participating, namely the top ten teams in the previous tournament, the top ten in the qualifiers, and the Kanto United team from other schools that could not compete.
This year's school korekomazawa university, Soka University, Toyo University, Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokai University, Waseda University, Juntendo University, Teikyo University, Kokugakuin University, Tokyo International University, Meiji University, Chuo University, Nippon Sport Science University, Yamanashi Gakuin University, Kanagawa University, Hosei University, Chuo Gakuin University, Surugadai University, Senshu University, Kokushikan University, Kanto Student Union Team.
A total of 336 players entered the competition list, including 329 from Japan and 7 from Kenya. Kenyan athletes are international students in Japan.
In terms of senior year, the number of seniors is the highest, reaching 108, the number of seniors ranks second with 99, and the number of freshmen and sophomores is 50 and 78 respectively.
It is worth noting that there is a PhD first-year player participating in the competition. Daiko Furukawa, Graduate School of Integrated Cultural Studies, University of Tokyo, is a first-year doctoral student and the highest player of the academic year of this tournament.
It is said that sports competitions are a stage for young people, but this year's competition also has 3 older players. First, let's look at the age distribution of the players, there are 13 18-year-old players, 55 19-year-old players, 79 20-year-old players, 108 21-year-old players, and 77 22-year-old players.
In addition, there is one 24-year-old, 25-year-old, 26-year-old and 31-year-old player.
The 24-year-old is James Bunuka, a Kenyan international student at Surugadai University. The 25-year-old is RAYOI Vincent, a Kenyan student at Kokushikan University.
Daiaki Furukawa
Doctoral student Daiko Furukawa, 26, could become the first graduate student at the University of Tokyo in history to participate in Hakone Ekiden if he can play in the competition.
Furukawa attended university in Kyushu and won the Kumamoto City Marathon. He has also published a paper on why people prefer to follow behind.
The hakone ekiden age limit used to be under 27 years old, but this rule was abolished after 1992. But because young runners run faster, most of the participants are under the age of 24, but this year, one runner reached the age of 31.
This person is Takao Imai of Surugadai University, a senior majoring in psychology, with a best time of 29 minutes and 26.99 seconds in the 10,000 meters and a best time of 1 hour, 4 minutes and 11 seconds.
Takao Imai (left) Ryuji Yonagai
Imai, who was originally a physical education teacher at a junior high school in Saitama Prefecture, took a two-year leave last year and transferred to a junior year of psychology at Surugadai University. Coincidentally, his teammate Junji Nagai was his student in junior high school.
Among the players' hometown distribution, the largest number of players from Chiba Prefecture reached 27, and Kanagawa Prefecture and Saitama Prefecture ranked second and third, with 19 people.
3
Achievement prediction
On December 30, schools have announced their starting lineups. However, before the competition, the school will also make adjustments to the players who appear, and the substitute players will also have the opportunity to appear.
Takao Imai and Ryuji Nagai will run Districts 4 and 5 respectively, and stage a master-apprentice passing belt. The strap is a relay item worn by the runners during the race, and the runners will hand it to the players in the next zone during the relay.
Japanese media described this year's competition as a "Sengoku melee" because of the similar level of schools.
Judging by the average score of 10,000 meters of each school, Meiji University ranked first with 28 minutes 45.06 seconds, and last year's defending champion Komazawa University averaged 29 minutes and 4.97 seconds.
However, judging by the average of the top ten players in the team, Komazawa University will be ranked first with a time of 28 minutes and 19.73 seconds. Aoyama Gakuin University ranked second with a score of 28 minutes and 28.06 seconds, while Tunghai University ranked third with a score of 39 minutes and 31.01 seconds. Meiji University ranked fourth with a score of 28 minutes 31.18 seconds.
In the Hakone Ekiden special issue of the famous Japanese athletics magazine "Monthly Land Competition", the team's eki transmission ability is evaluated according to the 10,000-meter performance, the climbing ability of the runners, the past achievements and other factors. The first-ranked team is Aoyama Gakuin University with 92 points, and the second is the defending champion Komazawa University, which is 84 points.
Starting from the third place, Sunchein University (72:00, 3rd), Toyo University (70:00, 4th), Waseda University (70:00, 4th), Kokugakuin University (70:00, 4th), Meiji University (68:00, 7th), Soka University (66:8), Tunghai University (64:9), Tokyo International University (64:9), Teikyo University (60:11), Chuo University (60:11), Hosei University (54:00, 13th), Chuo Gakuin University (50:00, 14th), Nippon Sport University (48:00, 15th), Kanagawa University (48:00, 15th), Kanto Student Union (42:00, 17th), Yamanashi Gakuin University (40:00, 18th), Kokugakuin University (40:00, 18th), Junior High School (34:00, 20th), Jungadai University (30:00, 21th).
Defending champion Komazawa University's play this year depends on how the dual-core Tazawa Ryo and Suzuki Nhabuki play.
Tian Zelian
Suzuki bud blowing (right)
In early December, Tanzawa ran a time of 27 minutes and 23.44 seconds in 10,000 meters, becoming the second fastest runner in Japanese history, qualifying for the 2022 World Championships in Athletics, breaking the entry threshold of 27 minutes and 28 seconds.
Tian Zelian was arranged by the coach to play in the second district. Due to the flat terrain, the runners can often run very fast, and the teams will arrange the fastest runners here, especially international students.
Although Suzuki was not on the starting list, his appearance was certain. He made his appearance in Zone 5 of the 2021 Hakone Eki Pass, finishing fourth with a time of 1 hour, 12 minutes and 44 seconds. Suzuki's 10,000-meter time was 27 minutes and 41.68 seconds, which was second only to Tazawa Ryo.
Aoyama Gakuin University was able to rank first in the media competition because of its average strength, and all the players' 10,000-meter scores were at the level of 28 points, which was the only one of all the teams.
Judging by the current lineup, Kotaro Kondo, the fastest player in the 10,000 meters of Aoyama Academy, will play in Zone 2. The two half-horses, with a best time of 1 hour, 26 minutes and 6 seconds, Miyazaka and Naka Tsutomu will play in the 7th and 10th districts.
Kotaro Kondo
Last year, Komazawa University won the championship with its outstanding performance in the second half, especially the reversal of Takusho Ishikawa in the last interval. The two players of Aoyama Academy are expected to lay the provincial game in the final showdown.