Overall 10th. Finishing in the seeded positions for the 18th consecutive year
First half 11th, second half 6th

Daichi Kimoto displayed a single-stage-prize performance in the 8th section
Photos: Getsuriku

The 99th Hakone Ekiden was held on two days, from January 2 to 3, 2023.
Toyo went into the Hakone leg under this season’s slogan, “Unleash your Fighting Spirit.”
The first day proved to be a difficult race, with Toyo making a slow start to the first half. In the uphill fifth section, Toyo captain Yoshihiro Maeda (4th year student) put in a dogged performance and gained three places finishing with a section ranking 5th, leading Toyo to finish the first half in 11th with a time of 5:30:42. Toyo started the second day with a gap of 1 minute and 27 seconds to the university in the seeded position of 10th. Daichi Kimoto (4th year student) put in a stellar performance in the 8th section, was awarded the single stage prize, and passed over the sash in 11th position. Ren Umezaki (2nd year student) ran the 9th section strongly with a section ranking 4th, bringing Toyo up to 9th, within the seeded positions. Toyo once again turned to Taiga Seino (4th year student) to run the final section for the third consecutive year. After a closely fought finale, Seino’s relentless running brought Toyo home for an overall 10th-place finish, with a time of 10:58:26. Toyo came out on top of a heated battle for the seeded positions showing their metal as regulars on the university ekiden circuit, maintaining their run that began in 2006 of finishing in the seeded positions for the 18th consecutive year.

Comments from Head Coach Toshiyuki Sakai

Thanks to support from many people, we were able to make our 81st appearance at the 99th Hakone Ekiden, as we have done for the last 21 consecutive years. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who worked hard to hold and participate in the Ekiden, those who came to support us on the roadside for the first time in three years, and those who cheered for us at home. After our slow starts at the Izumo Ekiden and the All-Japan University Men’s Ekiden, I was well aware that starts were an issue for the team. At the Hakone Ekiden, it was expected that all universities would put out strong runners from the first half. We were unsure how the first half would go as we were missing Matsuyama, who had run the second section for the last two years. We went into the Hakone Ekiden fully aware that we would need to stick it out and make up time in the second half. Things were looking bleak with us in 19th at the end of the second section, but we gave everything we had and finished in 10th position overall, maintaining our 18-year consecutive run of finishing in the seeded positions. In AY 2022, we finished 9th in the Izumo Ekiden, 8th in the All-Japan University Men’s Ekiden, and 10th in the Hakone Ekiden, and these were the most difficult races I have faced since I became coach. I struggled with picking the team lineup and could not field our strongest runners as we were stricken with last-minute illness and injuries, but I will continue to work on rebuilding the team. In this year’s Hakone Ekiden, we were able to gain seeding under challenging circumstances. With the new team, I know we are starting from scratch, and we will definitely recreate the scenes everyone is used to with TETSUKON fighting for the top spots. We ask for your continued support.

First Half

Section1 OtemachiーTsurumi 21.3km Yusuke Kodama 4th year student, Faculty of Economics Time 1:03:40 Section ranking 17th
Section 2 Tsurumi – Totsuka 23.1km Kousuke Ishida 2nd year student, Faculty of Information Sciences and Arts Time 1:10:04 Section ranking 19th
Section 3 Totsuka – Hiratsuka 21.4Km Ryota Kobayashi 2nd year student, Faculty of Information Sciences and Arts Time 1:02:33 Section ranking 9th
Section 4 Hiratsuka – Odawara 20.9km Yugo Kashiwa 4th year student, Faculty of Economics Time 1:03:04 Section ranking 13rd
Section 5 Odawara – Lake Ashinoko 20.8km Yoshihiro Maeda 4th year student, Faculty of Economics Time 1:11:21 Section ranking 5th

Second Half

Section 6 Lake Ashinoko – Odawara 20.8km Mashu Nishimura 1st year student, Faculty of Information Sciences and Arts Time 1:00:13 Section ranking 13rd
Section 7 Odawara – Hiratsuka 21.3km Mahiro Sato 3rd year student, Faculty of Information Sciences and Arts Time 1:04:35 Section ranking 15th
Section 8 Hiratsuka – Totsuka 21.4km Daichi Kimoto 4th year student, Faculty of Economics Time 1:04:16 Awarded single stage prize
Section 9 Totsuka – Tsurumi 23.1km Ren Umezaki 2nd year student, Faculty of Information Sciences and Arts Time 1:08:36 Section ranking 4th
Section 10 Tsurumi – Otemachi 23.0km Taiga Seino 4th year student, Faculty of Economics Time 1:10:04 Section ranking 9th

School Color Event: “TETSUKON Days”
TETSUKON Days is an event where students wear and cover the entire campus in the Toyo school color “TETSUKON,” which is the same color as the Track and Field Club kit. The event was held simultaneously at all campuses on three days, December 1, 2, and 5 2022. During the event, a variety of special offers were given to students wearing TETSUKON at on-campus outlets, including university cafeterias, co-ops, and kiosks. Video messages from Coach Sakai and captain Maeda where they spoke about their aspirations for the Hakone Ekiden, were shown before the illumination light-up ceremony on December 5. All students gave encouragement to the athletes who will take part in the Hakone Ekiden.