Nine runners stand in a line on the spot where the world’s second and last atomic bomb landed 68 years ago, on a hill in the Japanese city of Nagasaki. The TV cameras are pointed on them, while a small crowd of spectators wave flags in the bright early-morning sunshine. A gun fires and they’re off, racing down the hill on the first leg of the world’s longest relay race: the 740km Grand Tour Kyushu ekiden.
Ekidens are long-distance relay races of varying lengths and in Japan they’re some of the most popular sporting events of the year. The biggest of the lot, the Hakone ekiden, which runs for two days in early January, commands a primetime TV audience share of around 40%. In a country of 128 million people, that’s a lot of viewers.
The Grand Tour Kyushu ekiden is a unique event in that teams from the nine regions of Japan’s third-biggest island race each other around its entire perimeter. At least, that’s what they did, covering 1,064km, until the race was slightly scaled back a few years ago. Each day, six of each team’s 25 runners take turns to cover distances of around 15km each, passing a ribbon (tasuki) to each other instead of a baton.
Set up after the war in 1951, as Japan and particularly Nagasaki was attempting to rebuild itself from the devastation caused by the atomic bombs, the race is laced with symbolism and history. Which is why, at the opening ceremony the day before the start, there were lots of sad faces and speeches – because this is the last time the event will be happening.
Not that Japan has now made it and no longer needs the distraction and the coming together the ekiden brings. Instead it’s simply a victim of economics. As the country continues to struggle following years of recession, the Kysuhu ekiden has failed to quite capture the imagination – and more importantly, the national television coverage and accompanying advertising revenue – in the way some of the country’s other ekidens have.
This may be because 10 days of running – or now, in its scaled down format, seven days – is just too long to hold people’s attention. Leisure time is hardly an abundant commodity in Japan. Another reason could be that it’s essentially a regional event, and only two teams have ever won it.
Whatever the reason, after this week, the Kyushu ekiden will be no more. Which is a shame, because judging by the first day’s action, which I get to witness first hand, it’s an exciting affair.
Many of the runners are from Japan’s professional corporate teams, but what also makes the Kyushu ekiden unique is that the teams are made up of university and amateur runners. This means there can be large differences in ability between competing runners and that the lead is constantly changing hands, with runners sometimes surging through the field to bring their team back into contention.
Kenya’s late former Olympic marathon champion Sammy Wanjiru ran the Kyushu ekiden numerous times when he lived and trained on Japan’s southern island. The locals remember him fondly. “We used to shout out that he was breaking the speed limit,” one jokes. All along the route, people come out of their houses to cheer the runners on. It’s like some kind of running Tour de France. Many of the people watching are elderly – people old enough to remember the race’s beginnings. “For me, ekiden is one of the most exciting, interesting and thrilling of all sports,” says another.
The day ends with Miyazaki prefecture in the lead. Of the 61 years this event has been run, they’ve won it 36 times. Last year’s winners, Fukuoka, who have won it the other 25 times, are in third place. Nagasaki, who have never won it, are second.
It’s all set up nicely, but like most people in Japan, I don’t have time to see this one out. I head home to my base in Kyoto, leaving the runners to fight their long and weary way around the island one last time.
• Adharanand Finn is the author of Running with the Kenyans and is currently in Japan researching his next book, due to be published in April 2015.
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