The 87th Tokyo-Hakone collegiate Ekiden – Dramatic finish

Hakone Ekiden (箱根駅伝^?), which is officially called The Tokyo-Hakone collegiate ekiden (東京箱根間往復大学駅伝競走, Tōkyō Hakone kan Ōfuku Daigaku Ekiden Kyōsō^?), is one of the prominent university ekiden (relay marathon) races of the year held between Tokyo and Hakone in Japan on 2 and 3 January. The race is telecast on Nippon Television.

This two-day race from Ōtemachi to Hakone and back is separated into five sections on each day.^[1] Due to slight variations in the courses, the first day distance is 108.0km while the distance on the second day is 109.9km.^[2] Only male runners are allowed to run.

Rules

Five sections are provided between Tokyo and Hakone each way. Each runner runs one section, alternates with the next runner at a station. Each team has ten runners, running with their teams' sashes which are handed over to the next runner on the team at each station.

If a runner cannot get to a station within twenty minutes after the top runner reached it, the next runner starts with a substitute sash. The time difference is added to the goal time.

Participation

Twenty universities, which belong to The Inter-University Athletic Union of Kanto (関東学生陸上競技連盟, Kantō gakusei rikujō kyōgi renmei^?), can participate in this Ekiden. Ten of them have seed rights which they got the previous year, nine are the best nine universities in a preliminary contest, and the tenth is a group of runners made up of those who do not belong to any of the 19 universities but achieved a good record in a preliminary contest.

Seed rights

Teams above 10th place get seeded and can participate in the Hakone Ekiden the next year.

Dropping out

If a runner retires en route to a station because of an accident, his team is treated as retired. Although runners for following sections may run, their times are not officially recorded.

Courses 

The first half, January 2

The first section (21.4km) From Ōtemachi, Tokyo to Tsurumi, Yokohama

This is one of the most important sections because the first runner’s rank affects how the team performs in this marathon relay. So every team makes strong runner run in this section. The whole course is flat, but there are some ups and downs at Shin-Yatsuyamabashi (新八ツ山橋^?) and Rokugōbashi (六郷橋^?).

The second section (23.2km) From Tsurumi to Totsuka

Traditionally, the fastest runner in each team usually runs on this course. This course is very severe because there are two long and steep slopes. Every year, some runners overtake others in this section, so we can expect exciting race.

The third section (21.5km) From Totsuka to Hiratsuka

In this section, strong sea wind troubles runners, but they can enjoy beautiful scenery such as Mt. Fuji and Sagami Bay. A lot of spectators come to this section to cheer runners. The number of them is the largest of all sections.

The fourth section (18.5km) From Hiratsuka to Odawara

This section is the shortest of all sections. There are many ups and downs, so it is difficult for runners to keep their pace.

The fifth section (23.4km) From Odawara to Lake Ashi, Hakone

This section is the longest one. Runners must run up steep slopes, which is about 800m high. And after climbing, they have to go down. So this is the most severe section.

The second half, January 3

The sixth section (20.8km) From Lake Ashi, Hakone to Odawara

At first runners run up a little, then they run down steep slopes. These slopes are very hard on runners' legs, so a lot of them slow down just before goal. They start running at about 8 o’clock. To protect themselves against the cold, many of them wear uniforms with long sleeves.

The seventh section (21.3km) From Odawara to Hiratsuka

The difference of temperature between the start and the goal is larger than any other section. This course is almost flat until 9km, but after that there are some ups and downs. The record of this section is the oldest of all section.

The eighth section (21.5km) From Hiratsuka to Totsuka

The first half of this section is almost flat, but second one has a slope so-called Yugyōji-no-saka (遊行寺の坂^?) which causes runners severe difficulties. Some teams which run around the 10th place start to worry whether they are seeded or not.

The ninth section (23.2km) From Totsuka to Tsurumi

This section is the longest in the second day’s sections. There are many downs, so runners must control their speed. At this section, many teams reverse their places.

The tenth section (23.1km) From Tsurumi to Otemachi, Tokyo

This is the last section of Hakone marathon race (Ekiden). This course is almost flat, but sometimes a strong wind blows among the very tall building. There are many fans who cheer runners, so runners feel a strong pressure not to disappoint the fans.

Origin

Hakone Ekiden was started in 1920. Shizo Kanaguri, who is known as the father of the Japanese marathon, conceived the idea. His enthusiastic idea of bringing up a runner who could compete in the world became the driving force of establishing Hakone Ekiden. When Kanaguri was a Tokyo Koto Shihan school (Koshi) student, he participated in Olympic Games in Stockholm in 1912 as one of the representative Japanese marathon runners. He had to give up his race on the way, however.^[5]

In the meantime, the first ekiden, Tokaido ekidentohokyoso (東海道駅伝徒歩競走^?) was held in 1917 between Sanjō Ōhashi, Kyoto and Ueno Shinobazunoike (上野不忍池^?) Tokyo, celebrating 50 years after Tokyo became the capital. This race was a big relay race between Kyoto and Tokyo (516km) held by Yomiuri Shimbun for three days. It succeeded and became the original form of Hakone Ekiden. Kanaguri was influenced by the success of the race and persuaded many universities that they should race in the Hakone Ekiden.

As a result, Waseda Univ., Keio Univ., Meiji Univ. and Tokyo Kōshi replied to his offer and Hakone Ekiden started. Hakone Ekiden was started with great energy of the pioneers in Japanese sports society. It started during World War I, so industrial areas gradually expanded to the west and the Tokaido road was widen. Reflecting this active atmosphere, the Japanese sports society, including ekiden one, were developing great challenging spirits at that time.

Level of Competition in 2010

To give a taste of the quality of competition in the Hakone Ekiden, consider the profile of the athletes in the 2010 (86th) race. Of the 380 athletes (190 runners and 190 alternates) that represent the 19 universities, 328 have run under 14:40 for 5,000 meters; 150 at 14:20 and 33 under 14:00. ^[6]　This figure compares very strongly with USA collegiate men from all schools: athletic.net's list of collegiate men 5000 meters in 2009, which lists approximately 400 athletes at 14:40, 200 at 14:20 and 60 under 14:00 in 2009. Stepping up to the 10,000 meter distance, the same sources show that these 19 Tokyo universities list over 190 runners with personal bests under 30:00 (14 more sub 30 minute runners make up an all-star team of runners from other Tokyo universities); about 90 USA collegians ran under 30:00 in 2009.

Anecdotes

At first, Hakone Ekiden was held irregularly, and runners usually started in the afternoon so that runners could study in the morning. Thus runners, especially in fifth section, had to run at night. Moreover, the start and goal point was provided but the course was not, so runners could choose the way their own way.

Soon after the war, many students in high school were not willing to go to university or college because they were poor, and ekiden-skilled students also were not. So each team had to participate in the ekiden with those who had not experienced ekiden: rugby players, skiers or other sports players. However, going to higher school gradually become general and each university could organize a stronger team.

Today Hakone Ekiden has become one of the most famous sports events in Japan. The whole race has been broadcast live on Nippon Television since 1987. More than one million people cheer runners along the course. Its level is becoming higher and higher. Today this ekiden is the dream of a lot of runners in high school.

And there is the Hakone Ekiden Museum in Hakone which was built in 2005.

Problems

Today the Hakone Ekiden has various problems.

International Students

In 1989, an international student ran for the first time as a team member of Yamanashi Gakuin University and he gave Hakone Ekiden a lot of impact with his great skills. Since 2005 the sponsor has limited the number of registered international students to 2 per team and the number of participating international students to 1. However, there are many arguments about international students. Supporters of international students insist that it is discrimination that runners should be chosen not for their race but for their skills. However, Japanese students complain about the gap between Japanese and foreign students.

Withdrawals for the Race

Recently many withdrawals have happened. More qualified runners are entering as the Hakone Ekiden becomes more popular. In addition, managers do not want them to stop from the perspective of team, and they cannot stop them because all runners have trained for many years to reach the goal. However, unprepared participants risk the prospect of a career-ending injury.

Criticism

The Hakone Ekiden has become popular sports events in Japan, so universities have good staff and runners to increase their chances. Non-university teams, such as company teams, do not have such staff. Moreover, to run such a long way as the Hakone Ekiden may shorten young runners' running lives. According to many critics, this has caused a decline in Japanese male marathoners, such as in participation in the Olympic games marathon.

On the other hand, female Japanese runners, who are not allowed to participate in the Hakone Ekiden, have done well in marathons. For example, Naoko Takahashi won the gold medal at the Olympic games in Sydney and Mizuki Noguchi won one in Athens.