Izumo Ekiden — Under the Gaze of the Gods

It’s October, and for road racing fans, that means one thing: Ekiden season has arrived.

Teams are coming off their mountain camps and track time trials, eager to see how that summer speed carries onto the autumn roads. And for Japan’s top university male runners, that means lacing up for the season opener, the Izumo Ekiden.

While Hakone inevitably dominates Ekiden conversations, Izumo makes for captivating viewing and has something the mighty Hakone can’t compete with: it’s held under the gaze of eight million gods.

The iconic start line of the Izumo Ekiden (Image: Tempo Japan)

The Izumo Ekiden: A Brief Explainer

Izumo sits in a quiet corner of Shimane Prefecture on Japan’s Sea of Japan coast. It’s one of the country’s least populated regions, but it carries serious spiritual weight. In Shinto belief, the tenth month of the lunar calendar is when all eight million gods gather here at Izumo Taisha, one of Japan’s most revered shrines. And that’s where the race begins.

The starting line sits directly in front of the shrine’s great torii gate, a backdrop so striking it’s become as much a symbol of the event as the race itself.

The race was first held in 1989 and has become one of the Big Three university Ekidens for men, alongside All Japan and Hakone. It’s often called “the speed Ekiden” for its short, six-stage, 45.1-kilometre format that rewards raw pace over endurance.

Izumo has also looked beyond Japan from early on, inviting overseas university teams to join the field, including an Ivy League Select team from the United States.

The Ivy League team in action (Image: Izumo Ekiden Organizing Committee)

A League of Their Own

It’s rare to see international teams in Ekiden races of this scale. You’ll sometimes spot a non-Japanese runner, often a Kenyan, taking on one of the middle legs, but to have an entire team from overseas is almost unheard of. That gives Izumo a slightly different feel: part top-tier competition, part cultural exchange.

Each year, the Ivy League Select Team brings together athletes from across the eight Ivy League schools (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Brown, Dartmouth, Penn, and Cornell), continuing a tradition that began in 1998. After finishing a best-ever fifth last year, they’ll return to Izumo looking to build on that performance.

This year is particularly special with Harvard’s Graham Blanks signing up to run, fresh off representing the U.S. at the World Championships in Tokyo. If he takes the opening leg, and it would make sense, given the cameras and the crowds gathered at the torii gate, it’ll add a supercharged spark to an already electric start line.

Graham Blanks talking to Tempo Japan about the Izumo Ekiden (Image: Tempo Japan)

Golden Graham

The Ivy League always brings a strong team, and the addition of Graham Blanks makes things especially interesting for the 2025 race. A podium finish feels within reach, and that's the goal, according to Graham, who spoke to Tempo Japan while he was in the country for the recent World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.

He said the Izumo Ekiden was something he'd wanted to experience ever since hearing about it during his Harvard recruitment five or six years ago, and he's looking forward to racing in front of big crowds. (If he wants to do that, he'll have to run either the first or final leg, since the middle sections tend to thin out a little.)

Graham also raised an interesting point about racing style. One of the biggest challenges for the American runners, he said, is that they're not used to racing alone. Depending on how the field spreads out, there's a good chance they'll find themselves running long stretches solo, a very different rhythm from the pack dynamics of a track or a cross-country race. It's going to be fascinating to see how that plays out in Izumo.

The top teams battle it out over the short and sweet Izumo Ekiden (Image: Tempo Japan)

Kickstarting the Season

Izumo is the perfect kickstarter for the Ekiden season. It’s short, sharp, and a great way to gauge what kind of shape the teams are in. There have been some fantastic team and individual battles over the years, and last year’s race saw many of the top runners going head-to-head. I can’t wait to see what unfolds this time.

While the Big Three Ekidens tend to be — somewhat ironically — dominated by the “big three” schools, Aoyama Gakuin, Komazawa, and Kokugakuin, there are signs of change. I’ve got my eye on Waseda this season; they’ve recruited smartly and built a young, devilishly quick team.

Watch this space.

The Izumo Ekiden takes place on Monday, October 13. It airs live on Japanese TV, though it can be tricky to catch outside the country. You can sometimes find full replays on YouTube before they’re taken down, or shorter clips filmed by spectators along the course.

For the Ivy League team, Tempo Japan will again be creating content around their Izumo experience, offering a great look at the international side of the race.

Links:

• Graham's interview with Tempo Japan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TybClk8VyT4&t=1031s

• The Ivy League is also raising funds to continue participating in the event. You can support their efforts through their crowdfunding page here.