TOKYO, Oct. 19 – The qualifier race for the 102nd Tokyo-Hakone Round-Trip College Ekiden Race (Hakone Ekiden) was held in Tachikawa City, Tokyo, and Tokyo University of Agriculture (TUA) successfully qualified for the 2026 Hakone Ekiden main race for the 71st time, or the first time in two years. The team placed in the 6th, cheered by the university’s iconic Daikon Dance (radish dance). They avenged a loss in the 2025 qualifying race by just a second.
Ten universities with the lowest combined times of the top 10 runners in the half-marathon (21.0975 km) earned spots to compete in the main tournament on January 2nd and 3rd next year, out of 42 universities that participated in the qualifier. Last year, TUA placed 11th, only one second behind Juntendo University, which placed 10th.
Kazuma Maeda, who missed the qualifier last year due to a pneumothorax, ran fast this year to finish 14th. Maeda said, “We had never forgotten last year’s disappointment of being one second behind, even a single day. When we felt weak during practice, that memory helped us to keep going.” TUA’s cheering squad cheered on the runners by holding up daikon radishes in both hands.
The runners of Tokyo University of Agriculture celebrating their advancement to the Hakone Ekiden main race (at Showa Kinen Park in Tachikawa City, Tokyo)