Ritsumeikan University, which belongs to the Kansai Student Athletics Federation, has announced that it will aim to participate in the qualifiers for next year's Hakone Ekiden, which will be the 100th milestone, in response to the expansion of participation qualifications to universities nationwide.
The annual Hakone Ekiden on New Year's Ekiden has been contested by universities belonging to the Kanto Student Athletics Federation, which hosts the event, but next year, which will mark the 100th anniversary of the event, eligibility to participate in the preliminaries will be expanded to include universities nationwide. rice field.
Under these circumstances, on March 1, the Ritsumeikan University men's track and field club, which belongs to the Kansai Gakren, announced on the club's website that one of the goals for the next season is to participate in next year's Hakone Ekiden. bottom.
Ritsumeikan University's men's track and field club is based in Kusatsu City, Shiga Prefecture, and has participated in the Izumo All Japan University Ekiden 19 times and the All Japan University Ekiden 34 times, which are known as the three major university ekiden along with the Hakone Ekiden.
“We understand that this goal is very high considering the current state of the team. It is meaningful to challenge what no one in the world has achieved."