Hakone Ekiden

Did you see Hakone Ekiden on TV?
This is the most famous long-distance relay marathon held on January 2nd and 3rd.
The course of this race is from Tokyo to Hakone and back, 217.1km.
Each team has ten runners, who each run with their university’s sash which is handed over to the next runner on the team at each station.

Shizo Kanaguri, who first participated in Olympic Games in 1912 as one of the representative Japanese marathon runners, hit upon an idea of bringing up a runner who could compete in the world, which became the driving force of establishing Hakone Ekiden.
The race has a history of 100 years, and it is now one of the major events on Japanese new year holidays.

In this year’s race, Komazawa University overtook then-leader Soka University just before the goal and clinched a dramatic victory.
We never know what might happen until the very end.