2025年箱根駅伝往路、選手が小涌谷の踏切を通過する風景です。先導の白バイ（先頭だけでなく）など、テレビ中継では見る機会が少ない多くの人が競技を支えています。
踏切では、強羅行の列車が停車し、選手の通過を待っています。
2025年1月2日
This is a scene of athletes and related personnel passing the Hakone Tozan Railway crossing at Kowakudani in Hakone on the way to the "Tokyo-Hakone Round-Trip College Ekiden Race" held every year on January 2nd and 3rd.
Ekiden is a uniquely Japanese athletics event in which participants run long distances in a relay format. In this race, a relay of five runners competes over a distance of 107-105 km one way from Otemachi in Tokyo to Hakone-machi. Participants are universities in the Tokyo area and mixed teams selected from seeded schools based on the results of the previous year and teams that win the preliminary round held in the fall.
The Kowakudani crossing is the only crossing on the course, and when the athletes pass through, the train stops to wait for them to pass so as not to interfere with the race. For this reason, the Hakone Tozan Railway's operation planner goes to the site and checks the position of trains and the athletes' teams at all times to decide which trains to stop. If one train were to be suspended, such measures would not be necessary, but the fact that they continue to operate in such a difficult manner is a sign of pride for the railway company.
Hakone Tozan Railway website
https://www.hakonenavi.jp/international/en/
Hakone Ekiden website
https://www.hakone-ekiden.jp/topics/
Google map coordinates for Kowakudani Station
35.24049165229424, 139.05281953385642
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