The Hakone Ekiden might wrap up on January 3rd, but the post-race coverage rolls on well into the month. This year, the fresh green of Aoyama Gakuin and their generational talent, Asahi Kuroda, have dominated screen and print media, but for me personally, the school’s historic three-peat and athletic heroics weren’t the main story of Hakone 2026.
That title belongs to Juntendo University.
