2024.01.10
Road to Hakone Ekiden 2024
Text = Masato Sakai
Mebuki Suzuki (Komadai) runs in the second section of the 100th Hakone Ekiden on January 2, 2024. Photo = Nikkan Sports/Afro
The captain of Komadai, broadcast on the air, cried.
In the 100th Hakone Ekiden, Mebuki Suzuki (4th year) of Komadai, who was the first to leave the Tsurumi Relay Station, is doing well. The second flower department was something I longed for. He must have been more excited than usual to take on this challenge for the first time in his fourth year. As captain of a team aiming to win the Ekiden triple title for the second year running, it was a battle he could not afford to lose.
He completed 10km in 28 minutes 09 seconds and his personal time in Gonta-zaka (15.2km) was clearly a best. Even though he was widening the gap between him and others behind him, he was being chased closely in the closing stages. And he was tormented by the walls of Totsuka.
Even so, his senior, Ren Tazawa (currently at Toyota Motor Corporation), continued to chase him, completing the race in 1 hour, 06 minutes and 20 seconds, 14 seconds faster than the time he set last year. I was the first to connect the mauve band. However, she was 13 seconds away from winning the section prize and was in tears after the race.
“I really admired the second department and everyone called me by name and encouraged me. I was happy while I was running. I felt good and my pace wasn’t bad, but the truth is… it’s really frustrating because I think the time is secondary to the competition.”
The morning sun rose over the slope of Totsuka.
Totsuka Link Station, Asahi Kuroda (both Seigaku University) from Ward 2 running towards Aoki Ota (right) from Ward 3. Photo = Sponichi/Afro
This time, Asahi Kuroda (sophomore) of Seigaku University won the second flower district.
Kuroda, who was not wearing a watch, began to pace himself after receiving the armband in 9th place, 35 seconds behind leader Komadai. There was a large group of people in the first half of the race, but he didn’t worry about the other runners or the passing times. Personal times were 13th at Yokohama Station (8.2km mark) and 7th at Gonta-zaka (15.2km mark). And he demonstrated overwhelming strength on the slopes of Totsuka.
“I’m quite good at climbing, so I ran with the idea of gradually increasing my pace from Gonta-zaka. After the last 3km, Komadai came into view. I wanted to close the gap by even a second. I ran alone . My legs moved really well until the end, so I think I was able to run ideally.”
He quickly closed on Komadai’s Suzuki, who had a gap of 1 minute 05 seconds to Gonta-zaka. In the end he finished 13 seconds behind and won the section prize with a time of 1:06:07, fourth place in section history.
“I didn’t think about the section prize at all and I ran like crazy. I thought I would be fine if I could get a time of 1 hour 6 minutes, so my time was better than I expected. I called the coach and didn’t really understand what was happening, but when I was alone I heard the words: “The morning sun rises on Totsuka Hill”, which left an impression on me.”
#Captain #Koma #tears.. #drama #among #aces #raced #flowery #section #100th #Hakone #Ekiden #Seigaku #Universitys #Kuroda #won #section #prize #Kokugakuin #Universitys #Hirabayashi #people #pass #Yamaguchi #broke #Waseda #Universitys #record #Autograph #JBpress
