Yesterday I participated with other co-workers in a Japanese- American ekiden. Ekiden is Japanese for: “ A running competition that JMSDF personnel train weeks for, while their American counterparts just show up to have a good time and accordingly get soundly beaten in the relay race”
Actually, it is a relay race. In this case 2.4 KM for 9 segments. After that the last segment was split in half for the big dogs so they only had to run 1k. Either way the just about all the Japanese teams were in their 10th segment before we started our 9th. Its done up though as a big deal with flags, banners and rooting sections along the route.
In Japan they have these races all during the year. There is a big one right after new years that is run between the leading universities from Tokyo to Hakone and the next day back to Tokyo again. The runner wears a sash and passes off after completing his segment. Here is a shot from a ladies competition with ladies who are in much better shape than I.
After beer lifesaving measures were administered to me, there was a nice little closing ceremony at the end. If the weather had been warmer, it would have been a real good time……….
