The 2026 Hakone Ekiden will be held on January 2 and 3, 2026. This year marks the 102nd running of the Hakone Ekiden; this century-old race carries the youth and dreams of countless Japanese distance runners.
21 teams (20 universities and 1 Kanto Student Union team) will compete over two days. The race is divided into 10 sections: the outbound course on the first day is 107.5 km, and the return course on the second day is 109.6 km, for a total distance of 217.1 km.
Today we'll take a look at which teams are likely to be the first to reach the Yomiuri Shimbun Tokyo headquarters on the second day, and which athletes might produce surprise performances.
When the 2026 Hakone Ekiden rosters were announced two weeks ago, the overall strength of the 21 teams stunned everyone, in the 5,000 m, 12 teams have a 10-man average under 14:00; 19 teams have a 10,000 m average under 29:00,Chuo University’saverage reached an astonishing 27:55; 19 teams have a half-marathon average under 63 minutes. This year, the strength of Japanese university runners has reached a historic high.
Because the overall strength of the teams has risen, competition between teams this year has become fiercer. Winning the title now requires steadier performances from the entire squad, which largely depends on the athletes' experience and the coach's tactical decisions. For teams hoping to contend, minimizing unexpected lapses on the flat sections and producing standout performances on the mountainous routes in zones five and six will greatly increase their chances of victory.
This year's champion will likely come from Komazawa University, Kokugakuin University, Aoyama Gakuin University, Waseda University and Chuo University.Among the teams with a chance to win, none holds a clearly superior lead,the final outcome often comes down to which team makes the fewest mistakes.
Among the five teamsKomazawa University and Kokugakuin University form the top tier most likely to take the crown.Komazawa are the clear favorites right now. Among the fourth-years they not only have dual aces Keita Sato and Takuma Yamakawa, but also the 'king of downhills' Aoi Ito anchoring leg 6; and with depth among the second- and third-year ranks from the likes of Hibiki Murakami, Shunsuke Kuwata, and Haru Yanaka, the Komazawa runners will all be fired up to capture their third title in six years.
Kokugakuin University will make an all-out push for the program's first-ever title, the team includes four runners — Aoki Rui, Uehara Ryuto, Tsujihara Hikaru, and Nonaka Tsuneyuki — with half marathon times in the 60-minute range, and this year Takayama Go has been focusing his training on the characteristics of the fifth leg, clearly hoping to make an impact in the mountain section. At the press conference, coach Maeda Yasuhiro confidently stated, "Kokugakuin has developed the strength to compete with Aoyama Gakuin and Komazawa."
It’s worth mentioning that the Izumo Ekiden and the All-Japan University Ekiden were won by Kokugakuin University and Komazawa University, respectively, and whichever team wins will be crowned the 'double champion' of this ekiden season.
Due to the graduation of the "mountain twins" Hiroki Wakabayashi and Akumu Nomura, this year Aoyama Gakuin faces the twin problems of an overall drop in strength and a lack of top runners on the mountain sections. Asahi Kuroda has now grown into an unstoppable "superstar" among university runners, but his individual strength alone cannot carry the whole team,the performances of Shota Shiode, Aito Sato, and Shun Udagawa will be crucial.
Of course Aoyama Gakuin won't relinquish the title easily. Fortunately Aoyama Gakuin still has their crafty 'old fox' coach Susumu Hara, whose tactical maneuvering上的丰富经验相信会能让现有团队发挥出最佳状态。不久前原晋就“亦真亦假”地表示，在五、六区将有大一新生作为“秘密武器”，届时他将如何排兵布阵将会是一大看点。
Waseda University this year has two core leaders, Tomonori Yamaguchi and "Mountain Detective" Shinsaku Kudo,Shinsaku Kudo's performance on Hakone's course last year turned heads;if this year new teammates continue to bring "new surprises", Waseda's path to revival will look even more promising.
Chuo University is strong at the 5000 m and 10,000 m distances, ranking first among the teams, but it dropped to fourth place at the half marathon distance. Chuo's squad includes fourth-year ace athletes such as 吉居骏恭, 溜池一太, and 吉中祐太, but the performances of the younger runners will ultimately decide the team's final result.
Considering that the Hakone Ekiden is a race that heavily tests experience, overall Komazawa University currently holds a certain advantage among its competitors.
There are plenty of highlights in the competition across the various legs this year as well.
Last year'Hana District 2' saw a fierce battle, with Tokyo International's international studentRichard Etir, Soka's Hibiki Yoshida and Aoyama Gakuin's Asahi Kuroda simultaneously broke the segment record of the 'strongest foreign student' Vincent Yegon. After Hibiki Yoshida graduated, what kind of performance Asahi Kuroda — who is very likely to continue running in District 2 — will deliver has become the focus of attention.
Meanwhile,whether Richard Etir will 'stay' in District 2 to continue challenging new records, or like his seniorVincent Yegon, go to other sections to chase leaderboard times, is also something many are looking forward to.
In the battle for the "mountain god" title at the Hakone Ekiden, "the mountain-name detective" Shinsaku Kudo ran a half marathon in 60:06 this year, the best time among Japanese university athletes. He earned a stage prize at the All-Japan Ekiden and broke a Japanese stage record that had stood for 30 years. This year at Hakone he's surely coming for the stage prize on the fifth leg, and even a new stage record.
On his road to the top, he will face a challenge from Masaya Saito of Josai University.The Josai University coach said in an interview,Saito has the ability to surpass predecessor Yuito Yamamoto's 5th-section school record of 69 minutes 14 seconds, and there is even hope he can run into the 67-minute range — this would undoubtedlyplace Shinsaku Kudo under great pressure.
Last year 野村昭梦's godlike performance on the sixth leg left a deep impression; this year the protagonist for that leg is Komazawa's 伊藤苍唯, mentioned above. He placed second on the sixth leg last year and is surely determined to claim the leg prize this time; his performance will also affect Komazawa's final result. Expect him to give his all on the downhill course — let's wait and see.
On the day after the Hakone Ekiden qualifying race, the battle for 10th place captures thousands of fans' attention — it determines seeded entry for next year's Hakone Ekiden and qualification for the Izumo Ekiden.
In this year's Hakone qualifiers, the top four — Chuo Gakuin University, Juntendo, Yamanashi Gakuin, and Nihon University — were separated by less than 30 seconds. Their on-paper strength is comparable to the seeded Tokyo International and Toyo University, so the fight for 10th place is expected to be extremely fierce this year.
With each team's lineup stronger than ever, we can expect a number of new standout legs to emerge this year; tasuki-drop incidents are also likely to occur earlier. The battle for 10th place will surely produce new memorable moments — a thrilling Hakone Ekiden is on the horizon.
What are your expectations for the 2026 Hakone Ekiden?
