Wanting very sturdy over an extended distance than he’d often run, Aoki opened a 10-second lead on Dairokuno that Honda’s sixth runner Toru Kubota become 12 by the ultimate alternate. Anchor Ken Nakayama had introduced Honda dwelling in its 2023 win and ran with dedication and give attention to CR tempo, however in his debut after graduating from Waseda College Asahi Kasei’s Ryuto Igawa, 27:39.05 for 10000 m in November, wasn’t going to let Nakayama get away.
Igawa rapidly made up the 12-second distinction and tucked in proper behind Nakayama. Nakayama did all of the work of battling the headwinds blowing in from the mountains, however Igawa stayed calm and emotionless, and even a surge with 2 km to go could not shake him. From 800 m out Igawa went on the assault, blasting away and opening an unimaginable 20 seconds on Nakayama. Each broke the 15.6 km anchor stage CR by over 2 minutes, Igawa in 45:52 and Nakayama 46:12, and when Igawa hit the end tape it meant a return to the highest for the old-fashioned powerhouse Asahi Kasei for the primary time in 5 years, 4:47:32 for the entire 100.0 km course.
Honda was 2nd once more in 4:47:40, with Toyota dropping a couple of minute behind however hanging on to third in 4:48:36. One-time chief GMO spent a lot of the race in 4th and completed there in 4:50:33, with native heroes Subaru outleaning Sumitomo Denko for fifth, each clocking 4:51:21. Mitsubishi Juko and Fujitsu rounded out the 8-deep podium in 4:51:48 and 4:52:24.
Standout particular person performances included the New 12 months Ekiden debut of 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura for Subaru, third on the opening leg in 34:31 and of 2024 Komazawa College captain Mebuki Suzuki for Toyota, 2nd on the 21.9 km Second Stage in 1:02:03, and comeback runs for Kazuki Tamura of Sumitomo Denko, 1st on the 15.3 km Third Stage in 42:58 and for Hakone Ekiden 2nd, third and 4th leg CR holder Vincent Yegon with a win on the 7.6 km Fourth Stage in 20:37.
The efficiency of the day got here from Kao’s Yohei Ikeda, 2:05:12 in Berlin in September, who dominated the Second Stage with a 1:01:48 for 21.9 km, 59:33 half marathon tempo. With an organized assault on the 1:00:00 half marathon NR on deck at Marugame in February and a house soil World Championships on the horizon, this 12 months’s New 12 months Ekiden confirmed that there are numerous good issues simply across the nook in 2025.
2025 New 12 months Ekiden
Nationwide Company Males’s Ekiden Championships
Gunma, 1 January 2025
41 groups, 7 phases, 100.0 km
Prime Particular person Stage Outcomes
First Stage (12.3 km)
1. Sonata Nagashima (Asahi Kasei) – 34:29
2. Taisei Nakamura (Yakult) – 34:30
3. Ryuji Miura (Subaru) – 34:31
4. Yuya Yoshida (GMO) – 34:31
5. Shota Nishiwaki (JR Higashi Nihon) – 34:32
Second Stage (21.9 km)
1. Yohei Ikeda (Kao) – 1:01:48
2. Mebuki Suzuki (Toyota) – 1:02:03
2. Yuto Imae (GMO) – 1:02:03
4. Kiyoshi Koga (Yasukawa Denki) – 1:02:19
5. Shinya Kikuchi (Chugoku Denryoku) – 1:02:23
Third Stage (15.3 km)
1. Kazuki Tamura (Sumitomo Denko) – 42:58
2. Jun Kasai (Asahi Kasei) – 43:00
3. Tomoki Ota (Toyota) – 43:08
4. Hiroto Inoue (Mitsubishi Juko) – 43:38
5. Tamaki Fujimoto (Logisteed) – 43:40
Fourth Stage (7.6 km)
1. Vincent Yegon (Honda) – 20:37
2. Samuel Masai (Kao) – 20:44
3. Jacob Krop (GMO) – 20:47
4. Sitonik Kiprono (Kurosaki Harima) – 20:48
5. Raphael Dapash (JR Higashi Nihon) – 20:55
Fifth Stage (15.9 km)
1. Ryoma Aoki (Honda) – 46:36
2. Shuho Dairokuno (Asahi Kasei) – 47:08
3. Toshiki Sadakata (Mitsubishi Juko) – 47:52
4. Ken Yokote (Fujitsu) – 47:56
5. Kanta Ikeda (Chugoku Denryoku) – 47:58
Sixth Stage (11.4 km)
1. Yudai Shimazu (GMO) – 32:50
2. Jin Yuasa (Toyota) – 33:10
3. Toru Kubota (Honda) – 33:13
4. Ryo Saito (Asahi Kasei) – 33:15
5. Yuhei Urano (Fujitsu) – 33:22
Seventh Stage (15.6 km)
1. Ryuto Igawa (Asahi Kasei) – 45:52 – CR
2. Ken Nakayama (Honda) – 46:12
3. Hideyuki Tanaka (Toyota) – 46:26
4. Neo Namiki (Subaru) – 46:18
5. Shoya Yonei (JR Higashi Nihon) – 46:36
Crew Outcomes
1. Asahi Kasei – 4:47:32
2. Honda – 4:47:40
3. Toyota – 4:48:36
4. GMO – 4:50:33
5. Subaru – 4:51:21
6. Sumitomo Denko – 4:51:21
7. Mitsubishi Juko – 4:51:48
8. Fujitsu – 5:42:24
9. Yasukawa Denki – 4:52:35
10. Kao – 4:52:58
11. Kyudenko – 4:53:56
12. Logisteed – 4:53:57
13. Yakult – 4:54:00
14. Kurosaki Harima – 4:54:05
15. JR Higashi Nihon – 4:54:17
16. Toyota Boshoku – 4:54:21
17. Sunbelx – 4:54:59
18. SG Holdings – 4:55:30
19. Chugoku Denryoku – 4:56:15
20. JFE Metal – 4:56:24
21. Osaka Gasoline – 4:56:29
22. Nishitetsu – 4:56:31
23. Toyota Kyushu – 4:56:32
24. Hiramatsu Byoin – 4:56:49
25. Aichi Seiko – 4:57:57
26. YKK – 4:58:10
27. Aisan Kogyo – 4:58:19
28. Toenec – 4:58:28
29. Mazda – 4:58:39
30. SID Group – 4:58:56
31. Chuo Hatsujo – 5:00:08
32. NTN – 5:00:19
33. Sekino Kosan – 5:00:22
34. Chudenko – 5:01:49
35. Togami Denki – 5:02:44
36. Otsuka Seiyaku – 5:02:47
37. Takeda Yakuhin – 5:23:10
© 2025 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
