On January 3, as Udagawa Shunya, a sophomore from Aoyama College, crossed the finish line and ran towards his classmates and team members who had been waiting arm in arm at the finish line, Aoyama College’s previous road score was 5:18:13, and the return road score was 5:18:13. With a time of 5:23:12 and a total score of 10:41:25, he broke the overall record and completed Hakone Ekiden’s seven championships in 10 years.
The full name of Hakone Ekiden is "Tokyo-Hakone University Ekiden Walking Race." As the name suggests, it is a marathon relay race for college students from Tokyo to Hakone. Held on January 2-3 every year. It was founded in 1920 by Kanakuri Shizo, the father of the Japanese marathon, and others. Its purpose is to promote inter-university sports competition, improve students' physical strength and teamwork ability, and at the same time promote Japanese marathon culture and improve the international level of Japanese middle-distance running. As of now, this year is the 101st Hakone Ekiden competition.
Race route: Starting from Otemachi, Tokyo, passing through Kanagawa Prefecture, and finally arriving at Lake Ashinoko in Hakone, the race length is 217.1KM. It is divided into two days. The first day is a one-way route from Tokyo to Hakone (about 107.5KM), and the second day is a return trip from Hakone to Tokyo (also about 109.6KM). The outbound and return journeys are each divided into 5 sections, and each section is completed by one runner, with relays taking place.
Speaking of ekiden, in addition to Hakone ekiden, there are also Izumo ekiden and all-Japan student ekiden, which are also known as the "three major student ekiden". The winner of all Ekiden games this year will be awarded the title of Triple Crown. There are only a few schools that have won the Triple Crown in history. Just the year before last, Komazawa University won the title of Triple Crown. Looking back at the past, only four universities have won the Triple Crown, namely Aoyama Gakuin University (2016), Waseda University (2010), Juntendo University (2000) and Daito Bunka University (1990). It can be seen that The level of its gold content.
