Hakone Ekiden 2008

An Ekiden, usually referred to as a marathon relay in English, is a long-distance relay, road race. The term originated in Japan, although the concept of a long distance relay race is probably not original or unique to any country. 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 to Tokyo.

As written in Japanese, Ekiden combines the characters for “station” and “transmit”. This name was coined by the poet Toki Zemmaro (1885-1980), 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 T?kaid? communication and transportation system in which stations were posted at intervals along the road. In the race, each runner on a team 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 can vary greatly, with some local, amateur races covering 20-30 km with five or six runners on a team, and larger national and international races running a full marathon (42.195 km) or longer, also usually with five or six runners per team. Some races can stretch hundreds of kilometers long.

One of the most popular modern ekiden in Japan is the Hakone Ekiden, which features teams of students from various Japanese universities. This race from Tokyo to Hakone and back is held over two days at the New Year, and is a popular spectator sport that receives full network television coverage nationwide. 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.

“The annual Hakone Ekiden comes right past where we live,’ says Japanorama’s Alfie Goodrich, ‘and is always great fun to go outside and watch. The crowds are very supportive, shouting words of encouragement from the roadside, and with everyone waving flags there is a really great atmosphere.’

“This year I managed to get outside and get a good spot for taking some shots of the runners. It was an excellent opportunity to try out some of the features on my new Nikon…. fast moving subjects make a good test for the camera and it didn’t disappoint.’

“Sadly I don’t know who won the race but I hope you enjoy the photos I got as the runners passed us in Minami-Oi, on Route 15.”

Browse the photos of the 2008 Hakone Ekiden below. Clicking on a photo will take you to Flickr, where the photos are hosted.

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