The Izumo Ekiden, one of Japan's three major ekiden, started at 12:05 Beijing time on October 13, Kokugakuin University claimed the 37th Izumo Ekiden title in 2:09:12, successfully securing back-to-back championships. Waseda University finished second in 2:09:50, and Soka University was third in 2:10:05. The Izumo Ekiden is much shorter than the Hakone Ekiden — a total of 45.1 km, divided into six legs, with 22 teams taking part. Kokugakuin's Tsuneaki Nonaka performed excellently in leg 3, placing second on the leg to help the team move up, while Victor Kimutai of Josai University claimed his third leg win. Harvard standout from the Ivy League, Graham Blanks, also took part in the battle on leg 3 — the 5,000m runner with a 12-minute PB clocked 23:59 to finish fourth on the leg. Teru Tsujihara changed the race in the fourth leg (6.2 km), setting a new leg record of 17:20 to help Kokugakuin overtake Josai and Waseda. Afterwards Goki Takayama and captain Ryuto Uehara continued to deliver steady performances, helping Kokugakuin cross the finish line first and defend their title. Aoyama Gakuin University, this year's Hakone Ekiden champion, was one of the favorites, but second-year runners Sota Orita and Shota Iida underperformed in legs 2 and 3, dropping the team as low as 11th. Thanks to leg wins by Shota Shiode and captain Asahi Kuroda in the final two legs, they locked in seventh place, finishing in 2:10:52 — the first time they have fallen out of the top five since 2012. 2025 Izumo Ekiden full race results are as follows.
Text： David /Editor：David Images：official news website/Visuals：Five-Year Trainee
