In the women’s race Rebecca Tanui took the lead early in the race. When she passed half way in 72:30 the Kenyan was still followed closely by Genet Robi.
Earlier in the morning, the citizens’ race featured 2,854 finishers, up from 2,315 in 2024. Ka’eo Kruse, a Kalaheo, Hawaii, native who now lives in Boulder Colorado, was the men’s winner, in 4:17.21.
How much have things really progressed? Let's take a quick look at the level of the fields at some of the Hakones since 2005. That year there were 19 college teams and one select team, so for the sake of consistency these numbers represent the top 19-ranked teams in the field at each Hakone.
The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) is the independent body created by the World Athletics that manages all integrity issues – both doping and non-doping – for the sport of athletics.
2025 Hakone winner Aoyama Gakuin University is ranked 4th after taking 7th at Izumo and 3rd at Nationals. Since then it's only gotten better, with 5 runners breaking 28 minutes for 10000 m, and head coach Susumu Hara puts everything into being ready to win in Hakone,
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