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The story
Waseda University claimed victory at the Izumo Ekiden for the first time in 16 years, setting a new course record, as leg 1 runner Ojiro Honda and leg 2 runner Ryoki Niizuma surged out front to seize the lead. Waseda alum and former marathon great Toshihiko Seko commented that it could provide momentum toward a triple crown. On 5ch, discussion focused less on the win itself and more on Aoyama Gakuin University’s roster strategy — resting its top runners at Izumo and the All-Japan Ekiden to focus on the Hakone Ekiden — which drew mixed reactions. The thread also debated whether it’s fair to call Izumo and All-Japan mere “preliminaries” for Hakone, and discussed the fact that Hakone is technically a Kanto-only regional tournament.
[Izumo Ekiden] Waseda Wins for First Time in 16 Years With New Record — “Reiwa’s Three Crows” Ojiro Honda and Ryoki Niizuma Seize the Lead, “Detective” Shinsaku Kudo Finishes With His Signature Pose, OB Seko: “Momentum Toward a Triple Crown”
October 12, 2026, 11:16 AM — Sports Hochi
◆Izumo Ekiden (12th, starting in front of the main torii gate at Izumo Taisha Shrine in Izumo City, Shimane, finishing at Izumo Dome — 6 legs, 45.1 km)
Source: hochi.news / Original article here
What people said
That's the coach's policy,
and the current runners know that going in.
Aoyama Gakuin scratched every entrant from the recent U20 Japan Championships, so I figured they'd be fully rested and ready for Izumo — but they still lost to Josai, who were running on leftover fatigue after winning that same U20 meet…
The runners they sent are mostly second-stringers.
Aoyama Gakuin lost to Josai at Izumo last year too.
Kokugakuin → within expectations
Juntendo → great effort
Chuo → needs serious reflection
Teikyo → great effort
Komazawa → passing grade
Soka → underperformed
Josai → passing grade
Aoyama Gakuin → needs serious reflection
whether you can win Hakone is all that matters.
They know only Hakone gets any attention,
so Aoyama Gakuin's approach is the right call.
Still, it's not like the runners are losing on purpose — this is honestly too many losses to just shrug off.
if they're going to keep snubbing the Japan collegiate federation's events to focus solely on the Kanto federation's race,
then ban them from Ise (the All-Japan Ekiden) and Izumo outright.
Actually it's the opposite —
Coach Hara has been requesting that Hakone go national,
but the Kanto Athletics Federation keeps refusing.
runners can't drop out even when they're in bad shape because they "have to pass the sash to their teammates,"
and everyone's moved watching someone stagger on half-conscious (← total catnip for Showa-era boomers).
Why are you losing it over this?
I mean, fine if it were Hakone, but this is Izumo?
In horse-racing terms this is like a G3 race.
Wasn't he still shaken from losing the outbound leg at Hakone?
In high school baseball terms, the Izumo Ekiden is basically the National Sports Festival (a notch below the real deal).
which is exactly how they've lured top high schoolers from western Japan to Kanto universities in the first place.
If anything, if they moved Izumo and All-Japan to February or March,
Hakone would end up being the one cast as the warm-up.
Western Japan is just better across the board in sports,
isn't that true for Nobel Prizes too?
it's all about Hakone in the end,
so Izumo and All-Japan just don't matter that much.
In Shimane it's a massive local event with ratings north of 70%.
In Japan the WBC actually gets more hype though.
If Hakone's the World Cup final, Izumo's more like the Levain Cup final or the Emperor's Cup final.
"our Hakone Ekiden" (lol)
That just shows how much demand there is for it —
dry your eyes lol
Every key station is basically on life support these days, surviving off Tokyo real estate —
if they don't hype up the Kanto-local Hakone Ekiden and keep pulling students in, they'll die lol
a lot of the regional universities have names I've never even heard of.
Regional schools don't have athletic scholarships, so only the smart ones end up there —
I heard a Hokkaido University runner is in a PhD program aiming to become a professor.
Kiyoshi Nakahata, Kaoru Hirata, and Itaru Ninomiya,
or Takafumi Ogura, Eisuke Nakanishi, and Kazumi Nakata.
Kenta Hasegawa, Katsumi Oenoki, Takumi Horiike.
The first names that come to my mind too are
"Nakahata, Hirata, Ninomiya."
Normally you'd mean the Hosei Three Crows —
Tomita, Tabuchi, and Koji Yamamoto.
W-wait, how'd Nihon University do? How'd they do?
They started the final 6th leg in 2nd place and finished in 8th — really spiced the race up.
Re: #71
8th place! The Nihon University brand is so coooool!
By 5ch standards, that makes them the MVP.
it's not the runners choosing Waseda —
it's Waseda choosing the runners.
Apparently athletes line up hoping to land one of the few available spots.
Since Keio doesn't field a team, being able to get into the prestigious "Waseda-Keio" tier through Waseda running is a huge deal for students.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
The Izumo Ekiden is one of the “Big Three” collegiate ekiden relays, alongside the All-Japan University Ekiden and the Hakone Ekiden, and serves as the season-opening race held every October. Waseda won for the first time in 16 years while also setting a new course record, holding the lead from the very first leg onward. What split the thread was the claim itself that “Izumo and All-Japan are nothing more than tune-up races for Hakone” — some pointed to the low TV ratings, while others countered that it draws huge local ratings in host prefecture Shimane. The other major thread of debate centered on Aoyama Gakuin University’s lineup strategy, with opinions split over resting its top runners to focus on Hakone. It’s also worth noting — as the thread itself pointed out — that while Hakone is a Kanto-only event run by the Kanto Intercollegiate Athletic Union, Izumo and All-Japan are open to universities nationwide, which is the backdrop to the ongoing debate over “nationalizing” Hakone.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geisports Sokuho+) thread “[Izumo Ekiden] Waseda Wins for First Time in 16 Years With New Record “Reiwa’s Three Crows” Ojiro Honda, Ryoki Niizuma Seize the Lead, OB Seko: “Momentum Toward a Triple Crown”.”
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