10 December 2025
First Victory in a New Year Ekiden Qualifying Race
On November 9th, I was in Wakayama Prefecture to watch our team as they competed in the 68th Kansai Corporate Ekiden Championship. This event serves as a qualifier for the New Year Ekiden, a long-distance relay race that takes place every year in Japan on New Year’s Day. Along with my fellow employees who traveled to Wakayama to support our team, we cheered them on as they ran a great race under rainy conditions.
The first runner, Koki Takada, was only 11 seconds behind the race leader when he handed the sash over to the second runner, Haruki Sato. With a strong run, Sato overtook five runners to take the lead, which the team maintained for the rest of the race to claim their first victory in this tournament. Sato and three other runners – Yuichiro Nishikawa (fourth leg), Shuya Iwami (sixth leg), and Hiroki Nagayama (seventh leg) – had the fastest times of the day in their respective sections of the race, with Nagayama’s time setting a new race record in his leg. In fact, the team as a whole performed remarkably well and set a new record time for this tournament. Speaking to the runners afterwards, they said that the weather was very suitable for running. I’m very proud of how they seized their opportunity and achieved a great result.
The Sumitomo Electric track & field team has now qualified for the New Year Ekiden for nine consecutive years and 12 times overall. In the 2025 edition of the event, the team finished in sixth place. We hope for an even better result next time, and so I wish for our athletes to avoid injury and be in top condition for January 1st. I appreciate the continued support of everyone who has an interest in our team.
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