by Sota Nakanishi The 100th running of the Hakone Ekiden took place Jan. 2-3, 2024 . Nobuhisa Sakata , 82, former deputy sports director at Nippon TV which began broadcasting Hakone with its 63rd edition in 1987, talked about the behind-the-scenes work that made the impossibility of a live broadcast of the massive two-day event a reality. Sakata became interested in the Hakone Ekiden with its 40th running when he started working at Nippon TV in 1964. The promising Juntendo University 2nd-year Keisuke Sawaki ran despite having knee pain pre-race. He finished 15th of 15 on the highly competitive Second Stage, but afterward head coach Hiroaki Chosa defended him, saying, "We need to have people we can put in charge of the Second Stage all four years or we'll never be able to win Hakone." Two years later during Sawaki's senior year Juntendo won for the first time. Sakata was deeply moved by the determination they had put into Hakone and their preparation for it. He im...
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