Ekiden
Ekiden is a long-distance running multi-stage relay race, mostly held on roads.
The original Japanese term had nothing to do with a sport or a competition, but it simply referred to the age old post-horse or stagecoach courier system which transmitted communication by stages, instead of one horse or a man covering the entire long distance. means "station" and translates as "to communicate, to convey", therefore ekiden could be roughly translated as
The first ever ekiden as a sport was held in Japan in 1917 as a 3-day, 23-stage run from Kyoto to Tokyo over, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Tokyo's establishment as the nation's capital.
Today ekiden is a national sport in Japan, especially popular as inter-varsity competitions between schools or universities, and its popularity has since become widespread and worldwide.
The IAAF staged four editions of a World Road Relay Championship from 1992 to 1998 as a stage race over the marathon distance with alternate stages of and before a final leg of. The IAAF now recognizes world records for men for five stages and for women for six stages over the marathon distance.
History
The first ekiden race was sponsored by the Yomiuri Shimbun in 1917, and was run over three days between the old Japanese capital of Kyoto and the modern capital of Tokyo, a distance of 508 km, to celebrate the anniversary of the moving of the capital from Kyoto to Edo, which was then renamed Tokyo.In written Japanese, ekiden combines the character for "station" and another for "transmit" and as a word it goes back to ancient times. As a modern game, however, it owes its naming to the poet Zenmaro Toki, who was head of the Yomiuri Shimbun's Social Affairs Department at the time. The original concept of the race hearkens back to Japan's old Tōkaidō communication and transportation system in which stations were posted at intervals along the road. In the race, each runner runs the distance from one "station" to the next, and then hands off a cloth sash, or tasuki, to the next runner.
The lengths of ekiden in Japan can vary greatly, as can the number of runners on a team. For example, in the national junior high ekiden championship, 5 girls cover 12 kilometers and 6 boys cover 18 kilometers. The national high school championship involves 5 girls in a 21 kilometer race and 7 boys in a 42.195 kilometer race, the length of the modern Olympic marathon. In the national inter-prefecture championships, 9 women run 42.195 kilometers and 7 men run 48 kilometers. For the collegiate Hakone Ekiden, a 2-day event, 10 male athletes for each team run 21.9 kilometers. Each runner covers just over a half marathon. The mid-December National Corporate Women's Ekiden Championships, 6 runners cover 42.195 kilometers. In the January 1 National Corporate Men's Ekiden Championships, 7 runners cover 100.0 kilometers. For the mid-January national open championships, the distances are 42.195 for the women and 48.0 for the men. Notably in distance, in the Round-Kyūshū Ekiden, a 10 days event, 72 segments cover 1064 kilometers around Kyushu Island and it is the longest relay race in the world.
Contemporary ekiden in Japan
One of the most popular modern ekidens in Japan is the Hakone Ekiden, which features teams of 10 male students from various Japanese universities of the Tokyo region. This race from central Tokyo along Tokyo Bay, past Yokohama to Hakone and back is held over two days at the New Year, covering 219 kilometers. It is a popular spectator sport that draws large crowds along the whole route and receives full network television coverage nationwide over the two days. Runners in the race compete to set individual records as well as to support their teams, and the race is considered to display many aspects of Japanese culture and spirit, including individual perseverance, identity within a group, and the importance within the Japanese hierarchy of allegiance to a major university. In the latter matter, there is a similarity to American school sports allegiance. The competitive level compares well with the highest levels of American universities. This comparison is based on participants' personal best marks at 5000 meters, although in the Hakone Ekiden each runner covers just over a half marathon.Secondary schools
Comparison to cross country
For the athletes, ekiden provides an experience quite different from track and field. In Japanese secondary and tertiary education, ekiden racing gives the school's long distance runners a team racing experience that parallels but is yet different from cross country running as practiced in North American secondary and tertiary schools.School-based teams and competition in the name of one's school are highly prized concepts common to both Japan and North America. It has been pointed out that such fervor over school sports is not shared by all, such as Korea where after-school academic clubs are more the norm, a point of worry for some track and field enthusiasts.
Other similarities between high school cross country as conducted in North America and high school ekiden in Japan include the season, approximate team size, and competition taking place on non-track venues. The differences are significant.
Unlike the American school sports clear distinction of "track season" and "cross country season", the Japanese autumn ekiden races are intermingled with standard track competitions, although many autumn track meets have a narrow focus, calling themselves "long distance" meets. Japan has a very highly structured format leading to a national high school championship for track in early August and for ekiden in late December, whereas the US school format ends at state championships in both sports. Japanese school ekiden teams compete infrequently, some only once or twice between September and December, unless they qualify to go on to higher levels; nationals are held in late December. American school cross country teams typically race almost weekly during September and October, with a narrowed set of school teams competing for state championships in late October or November. December post season American races like the Nike Cross Nationals and the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships are not officially school based.
Ekidens are usually road races, and as such require intensive route management and police traffic control. Cross country races can include grass, mud, sand, and steep slopes. Each ekiden competitor runs a different distance, whereas all cross country runners run the same course and start at the same time. Some Japanese high school ekiden stages are longer and some stages are shorter than the "standard" 5000 meters for US high school cross country. Ekiden competition does not highlight the single individual winner of the race as in cross country, but ekiden analysis does highlight individual fastest runners in each stage; these runners may be in the middle of the field. Each ekiden runner has to run without reference to his or her own teammates for help in judging pace, whereas cross country team races can include strategies like "pack" running. This same contrast can be made between track and ekiden; only the runners in the first ekiden stage run as a group; later stage runners must judge for themselves the appropriate pace and the decisions to challenge and pass other runners, whose abilities might be significantly different and whose position was determined by the efforts of preceding teammates.
All-Japan High School Ekiden Championships
National championships are held for junior high and high school teams in late December. A series of city, prefecture and regional championships in November select the representative school teams for the national championship in late December.Race format
Although there is no single definition of ekiden format, for purposes of the Japanese national championships for junior high school and high school, the format has been set. High school girls cover a half marathon; 5 runners follow the 6 – 4.1 – 3 – 3 – 5 kilometer pattern. High school boys cover a full marathon; 7 runners follow the 10 – 3 – 8.1075 – 8.0875 – 3 – 5 – 5 kilometer pattern.All-Japan junior high school ekiden championship
In mid December, 48 teams representing all the regions and prefectures of Japan gather in Yamaguchi City of Yamaguchi Prefecture for the annual All-Japan Junior High School Ekiden Championships. For junior high school girls, a team of 5 girls run stages that follow the 3 – 2 – 2 – 2 – 3 kilometer pattern. The boys team consists of 6 runners following the 3 – 3 – 3 – 3 – 3 – 3 kilometer pattern. The 2011 race was the 19th annual competition. The junior high championship ekiden is not a road race but rather each runner runs a loop within the confines of a park. The boys team complete 18 kilometers, in a 3k-3k-3k-3k-3k-3k pattern. The girls team complete 12 kilometers, in a 3k-2k-2k-2k-3k pattern. In 2008 the winning boys team had an average pace of 5:01.9/mile or 9:26/3000 meters; the girls team had an average pace of 5:21.6/mile or just over 10:00/3000 meters.Many of the elite high school and junior high school runners from these two races will be selected to represent their prefectures in the All-Japan Interprefectural Ekiden Championships.
Local and regional
Nihonkai Boys Ekiden – Nihonkai Kurayoshi Girls Ekiden
A 5-stage 21.0975 km high school girls ekiden is held in Kurayoshi, Tottori. Ninety high school teams participated in the 26th annual meet on October 2, 2011.In the boys race, the 31st annual Nihonkai Ekiden, 128 teams participated in the 7 stage race. Both the boys and girls races are exactly the same configuration as the national high school championships.