Overview
- GMO completed the 7-leg, 100 km race in 4:44:00 to set a course record and secure its maiden championship in Maebashi.
- Hayato Imae seized the lead late on Leg 2, Ruito Suzuki widened the gap on Leg 3, and stage records by Aoi Ota (Leg 5) and Yudai Shimazu (Leg 6) set up anchor Masaya Tsurukawa’s first-place finish.
- Sunbelx rookie Hibiki Yoshida broke the Leg 2 record in 1:01:01 and passed 22 runners after taking the sash in 24th, briefly moving into the lead before handing off in second.
- Logisteed finished second by 2:27 with Toyota Motor third, JR East fourth, Sunbelx a best-ever fifth, and Asahi Kasei ninth.
- Founded in 2016 with numerous Aoyama Gakuin alumni and guidance from coach Susumu Hara, GMO rose to the top in its 10th season of corporate ekiden competition.