Hakone Ekiden 2027 (103rd) — Sat 2 & Sun 3 Jan: Teams, Course & When to Watch Each Stage

Hakone Ekiden 2027 — the 103rd Tokyo–Hakone round-trip college relay — runs on Saturday 2 January 2027 (outbound leg, Tokyo to Lake Ashi) and Sunday 3 January 2027 (return leg, Lake Ashi back to Tokyo). Twenty-one teams of university runners pass a sash (tasuki) over 10 stages and 217.1 km between the Yomiuri Shimbun building in Otemachi, Tokyo, and the Lake Ashi (Ashinoko) car-park entrance in Hakone. You watch from the roadside: the organisers' spectator page lists etiquette rules only, with no sign-up and no paid grandstand (checked 2026-10-13 on the organiser's and the official race site).

The 103rd race's start times and runner line-ups have not been published yet (as of 13 October 2026). So the tables below do something the official pages don't: using the official stage results of the last race (the 102nd, January 2026) for all 21 teams, we worked out what time the lead runner — and the last runner — passed each relay station. If you are planning where to stand on 2–3 January, these are the clock times to plan around.

Hakone Ekiden 2027 at a glance

In December 2025 the organiser announced it will field more teams from future editions, but it states plainly that the 103rd race keeps the existing 21 teams.

Which universities are running?

Seeds go to the top 10 overall at the previous race. From the 102nd race standings, the ten seeded universities for 2027 are:

The other ten places go to the top ten teams at the qualifier on Saturday 17 October 2026 — a half marathon where each team's top ten finishers' combined time counts. 45 teams entered, including Chuo Gakuin (11th in 2026) and Toyo (14th). Runners from teams that miss out form the Kanto Gakuren select team, which runs as an open (unranked) entry. The qualifier results are posted on the Kanto Gakuren and official Hakone Ekiden websites.

When and where to watch: relay-station times

These are clock times from the 2026 race, calculated by adding each team's official stage times to the 8:00 a.m. start. They are not the 2027 schedule — expect the real race to drift by a few minutes or more.

Outbound — Saturday 2 January (Otemachi → Lake Ashi)

On stage 1 the whole field reached Tsurumi within about three minutes; by the Lake Ashi finish the gap from first to last had stretched to about fifteen. To see every team in one burst, stand near Tsurumi on stage 1. To watch for longer at one spot, pick a later stage.

Return — Sunday 3 January (Lake Ashi → Otemachi)

The return leg starts in the order and time gaps of the outbound result (in 2026 Aoyama Gakuin left at 8:00:00, Waseda at 8:00:18 and Chuo at 8:01:36). Aoyama Gakuin led through every relay point.

The mountain stages (5 and 6): planned pass times in 2026

The organiser's 2026 mountain traffic-control map listed these planned pass times. Outbound (2 Jan): Sanmaibashi intersection 12:18, Ohiradai 12:32, Miyanoshita intersection 12:40, Kowakien intersection 12:50, Motohakone intersection 13:14, Hakone Sekisho-minami intersection 13:20. Return (3 Jan): Kowakien 8:25, Miyanoshita 8:31, Ohiradai 8:37, Sanmaibashi 8:49.

Getting there — and the station crowds

• The Odawara relay station is at Kazamatsuri Station, about a 40-minute walk (around 3 km) from Odawara Station. If you just want a roadside spot, the nearest stretch of the course is about a 10-minute walk from Odawara Station's east exit (organiser's 2026 crowd notices).
• In 2026 the organiser warned that Hakone-Yumoto Station would be crowded about 9:30–14:00 on 2 January and 7:30–9:30 on 3 January, and Kazamatsuri Station about 9:30–14:00 on 2 January and 8:00–10:00 on 3 January. Station entry can be restricted when it gets busy, and you may miss the runners while queuing to get out.
• Drivers were asked to stay off National Route 1 through the Hakone mountains (about 11:00–14:00 outbound, 7:30–9:30 return), with the toll-free Hakone Shindo bypass suggested as a detour. Take the train, and arrive early.
• Staying in Hakone for the race? Our Hakone hot springs and Open-Air Museum guide covers the town itself.

Roadside rules from the organiser

• Cheer from the pavement only — never step into the road or lean out over the kerb; runners pass right at the edge.
• No stepladders, no cheering from cars, bikes or other vehicles, and no running alongside the athletes.
• Within 100 m of the start, finish and relay stations, and on bridges and at intersections, you may not display team flags or banners. Please don't bring piles of small flags.
• Don't reserve a spot by leaving bags — the organiser may remove them.
• Drones and selfie sticks are not allowed anywhere near the course, and tying banners to guardrails or bridges breaks traffic law.

Running a Japanese race yourself?

If watching makes you want to race, our Japan marathons 2026–2027 guide lists dates and entry routes for overseas runners, and the Tokyo Marathon 2027 page covers its lottery and fees.

Sources (checked 2026-10-13)

• Kanto Gakuren, "The 103rd Tokyo–Hakone round-trip college ekiden" (dates and course): https://www.kgrr.org/competition/?id=148
• Kanto Gakuren, 103rd qualifier regulations (PDF): https://www.kgrr.org/files/competition/147/10/103hakoneyosen_yoko.pdf and visitor notice (PDF): https://www.kgrr.org/files/upload/202610/103hakone_foraudience.pdf
• Kanto Gakuren, team-number reform notice, 25 Dec 2025 (PDF): https://www.kgrr.org/files/upload/202512/hakone_innovation.pdf
• Official Hakone Ekiden site — spectator page, course and history: https://www.hakone-ekiden.jp/spectators/
• Official Hakone Ekiden site — 102nd race results and stage records: https://www.hakone-ekiden.jp/record/record02.php?tn=106
• Kanto Gakuren — 102nd race regulations, official results, mountain traffic map, station crowd notices (PDFs): https://www.kgrr.org/competition/?id=125

Update log: 2026-10-13 — published with the organiser's 103rd race dates (2–3 January 2027), qualifier details and relay-station times calculated from the 2026 official records. For the qualifier results (17 October 2026), see the Kanto Gakuren website.