4th Place Finish at the 2025 Izumo Ekiden!
The Ivy Select team ran to another best finish ever at the Izumo Ekiden and finished 4th overall in a time of 2:10:12 for the 45.1km race. On a hot (78F) and humid day, the team ran with the leaders from the start and moved up throughout the race to finish one minute behind the winners and only 22 seconds out of second place .
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1st stage 8.0km - Ben Rosa (Harvard) 23:49
2nd stage 5.8km - Acer Iverson (Harvard) 16:25
3rd stage 8.5km - Graham Blanks (Harvard) 23:59
4th stage 6.2km - Tyler Berg (Columbia) 17:35
5th stage 6.4km - Derek Amicon (Cornell) 18:10
6th stage 10.2km - James Lawrence (Dartmouth) 30:14
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After stage 1, Ben was in 9th but only 8 sec out of 4th. Stage 2 saw Acer move up to 6th. Graham gained 2 spots to move the team to 4th while running against a Kenyan who almost broke the stage record. On Stages 4 and 5, Tyler and Derek each had fast finishes to move the team up at the handoff and handed off in 3rd and 2nd. With first place an almost certain lock for defending champs Koku Gakuin University, James battled against the anchor runners who started with him and brought the team home for 4th place and their best finish ever.
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Full race results are here.
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Additional race recap including videos are in our blog post.
5th Place Finish at the 2024 Izumo Ekiden!
The Ivy Select team ran to its best finish ever at the Izumo Ekiden and finished 5th overall in a time of 2:12:18 for the 45.1km race. The historically strong team ran up front from the gun and delivered on their potential. You can read more about the race in our blog post and in the recap from Japan Running News.
​​The race is also available to watch on demand on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RasUsreJ9pQ
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Full results are here.
Ivy League Ekiden Mission
Each year, a group of Ivy League runners is invited to Japan to compete against Japanese universities in the Izumo Ekiden in October.
The Ivy Ekiden OBs ("old boys" / race alums) support the Ivy League Select team in the Izumo Ekiden by promoting elite athletic performance and creating opportunities for meaningful cultural exchange in what is a life-changing trip to Japan for young Ivy League distance runners.
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The components of this include:
Building and strengthening a connection between the community of alums— who were all selected for this team because they were elite Ivy League athletes that chose to continue running competitively after college— who share in this special experience.
Facilitating a strong connection between the Ivy League running community and the IUAUJ, the body of Japanese college athletics that invites the Ivy League Select Team to Izumo every year.
Designing and creating a trip to Japan each year that both offers athletes time to prepare for the race and offers them time to deeply experience the different aspects of Japanese culture that many of us found so powerful to be exposed to at that age.
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For young athletes who have been "at the top of their game" as both students and athletes, we hope this trip fulfills its potential to inspire international and intercultural connection, athletic and professional excellence, and a desire to see, understand, and connect with more of the world.
