Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru (Run with the Wind)

Line up by school. By school.

Teito Univesity. Saikyo University.

Tokyo Sport University.

Starting in ten,

nine,

eight,

seven,

six,

five,

four,

three,

two,

one.

Finish the first five kilometers in 3:10 each.

After that, use your own judgment.

Run with the Wind

Haiji!

Are you okay?

Are you hurt? Would you like to drop out?

You can do it!

You've got this!

Don't give up!

Hey, Hanako!

Dad.

It's Musa and the twins.

What?

The pack's starting to scatter.

Dreams and Reality

581 runners from 49 schools are participating in this year's race.

Placing is determined by the total time of a school's top ten finishers.

Of the 49 schools, the top ten will compete at the New Year's Hakone Ekiden race.

As usual, the exchange students are in the lead.

I hope the runners behind them don't get thrown off

and maintain their own pace instead.

The lead pack seems to have settled in.

The level of the qualifier rises every year.

We expect to see great individual performances,

but in the qualifier, it's all about the depth of a team's roster.

Every athlete hopes to finish even one second faster.

Indeed.

It's raining steadily now.

In the qualifier for the Tokyo-Hakone Collegiate Ekiden Relay Race,

the lead runners are approaching the seven-kilometer mark.

It's no use. I can't tell where Haiji is.

He's probably in the lead pack.

He managed to avoid getting caught up in the fall, right?

Yeah.

Seriously?

I don't know.

The coach is confirming it right now.

No way... He dropped out?

We'll head out onto the road, pass the station,

and cross under the monorail bridge.

That's about ten kilometers.

Ma'am!

Hana.

Did you see everyone run by?

I caught glimpses of them, but I didn't see them clearly.

What about Haiji?

Haiji? I haven't seen him.

Did something happen?

There! It's Haiji!

In the lead pack, behind Kakeru!

They're moving.

The exchange students in the lead pack are passing the ten-kilometer mark now.

Oka's Kipsuge is still in the front,

followed by Yakuo's Muskus and Saikyo's Jomo.

Lagging behind are Kofu Academy's Iwanki and Gaien's Ectoba.

After ten kilometers, use your own judgment.

Good luck.

Hey.

Are you watching?

Prince!

I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!

Kikui third-year Gunzawa and Tokyo Sport fourth-year Takasugi are sprinting ahead.

As if it was planned, the lead pack begins to shift

as they pass the ten-kilometer mark.

The two schools that tasted the humiliation of losing their seeds last year

are trying to get a slight lead on the others.

No. Wait a minute.

Kansei University.

It's Kansei University first-year Kurahara Kakeru.

Kansei University first-year Kurahara Kakeru is sticking to—

No. Wait.

He's pulling ahead.

He's beaten the Kikui and Tokyo Sport's burst of speed

and is now at the front of the lead pack.

Kurahara passed them.

Kurahara passed them just before the turnaround point.

More.

More.

More!

Kurahara isn't stopping.

Kansei University first-year Kurahara Kakeru has passed Gaien second-year Ectoba

and is in a dead heat with Johann Iwanki, the monster of Hakone's section two.

Muskus and Jomo may be ahead of them now, but they can't relax yet.

I'm going to someplace where I can see the finish line.

Be careful!

Go! Don't let him beat you!

You can catch them!

Excuse me. Sorry.

I saw that guy at the track meet.

Don't stop.

Keep moving. Runners, to the field.

Less than an hour.

They're fast.

They're here!

Wow! He's keeping up with an exchange student!

He's up against Iwanki!

Keep it up, you two!