Former Hakone Ekiden Athletes Share their Journey to the Paris Olympics

Interviews with athletes who participated in the Hakone Ekiden, who aim to represent Japan in the marathon at the 2024 Paris Olympics. We will ask him about episodes from that time, his enthusiasm for the Paris Olympics, and how his experience at “Hakone” has influenced his current running and life.

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Former Hakone Ekiden athletes aiming for the Paris Olympics
～HAKONE to PARIS～
The 18th Tetsuya Yoroisaka (Meiji Univ.-Asahi Kasei) Part 1

2012 Hakone Ekiden.Tetsuya Yoroisaka’s good run gave Meiji University seed rights for the fourth consecutive year.
See photos related to this article
Tetsuya Yoroisaka (Asahi Kasei), who has competed in the track for many years, aimed to participate in the 10,000m at the Tokyo Olympics (2021), but lost in the qualifying round and considered “retirement”. However, encouraged by Suguru Osako (Nike) and the voices of those around him that he was “suited for the marathon,” he took a new step towards the road.

He was fully prepared for last year’s Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, where he finished second and qualified for the MGC (Marathon Grand Championship held on October 15). A new goal of winning the chair of the Japanese marathon representative at the Paris Olympics was born.

As the culmination of his track and field life, Yoroizaka faces a big autumn match.

[The emphasis was on the track, not the ekiden]

When he was in his second year at Sera High School, he won the championship at Miyakooji. In 2007, Yoroisaka’s name was already nationally known as a speed runner, ranking first among Japanese high school students in the 5000m. Therefore, many universities visited the high school to recruit, but in the end it was narrowed down to two schools, Meiji University and Chuo University.

“I wanted to compete in trucks at university, so having fast seniors was a big point. At Meiji, Mr. Matsumoto (Koudai), Mr. Ishikawa (Takuya), and Mr. Higashino (Kenji) were active. The presence of director Nishi (Hiromi, current scouting manager) was a big factor.The directors of every university would talk seriously, but only Mr. Nishi should laugh. At that time, Mr. Ueno (Yuichiro, currently the director of Rikkyo University) was strong in the center, but he graduated when I entered the university, and in the end, I was attracted to Meiji. I decided to

Various players gathered in the Meiji era at that time. While there are players aiming for the top of Japan and the world, there are also players who can’t get serious about the competition. Being a student, there are times when it’s fun and easy to get carried away, but Yoroizaka didn’t get carried away because of the strong seniors.

“People tend to want to go to the easy and fun way, but when I think about why I came to the Meiji era and what I want to do in the future, I realize that if I was swept away there would be nothing left. I wanted to repay Mr. Nishi for his kindness, and even though my parents were paying my tuition, I couldn’t play.

But the biggest factor that kept me going was the existence of my seniors. Mr. Ishikawa was especially helpful. I was able to learn from Mr. Ishikawa about the attitude and awareness of the competition. When Mr. Ishikawa was graduating, he told me, “From next season, you’re going to be the ace, so do your best”. It was great that my seniors paved the way for me.”

Yoroizaka began to stand out from the first year and began to show his presence. His focus was on track, not Ekiden.

“At university, all I could think about was getting results on the track. Even when I was in high school, I only had a glimpse of Hakone. I was confident that I could run 10km without taking off, but I was not good at long distances, so I thought that 20km in Hakone would be impossible and I wouldn’t be able to run.”

In preparation for the Autumn Ekiden season, team practice will include more distance running. However, Yoroizaka did not get used to running that long distance.

“I didn’t practice for the 20km run in order to run Hakone, but I didn’t do that kind of practice. I don’t remember running at such a fast pace.