Ekiden79

Originally from Japan, the Ekiden is a relay race by team, over various distances. The relay witness is a scarf called the tasuki.

The Ekiden Relay is an athletics event in various international competitions. This relay road is a very recent race with a first appearance in championships in 1992. There are French championships in this discipline, however, it is not part of the Olympic Games and in the World Championships and continental.

This event of Japanese origin consists of the succession of relay on road for six competitors. The overall distance is the marathon (42.195 km). The six riders have distances imposed in the following order: 5 km, 10 km, 5km, 10km, 5km, 7.195 km. They transmit a lighter witness than the 4 × 100 m witness, so as not to hinder the runner.

One of the most famous Ekiden takes place on January 2nd and 3rd, just after Shogatsu, and consists of a round trip between Tokyo and Hakone, at the foot of Mount Fuji. There are 5 relays a day, about 20 km each. The runners are students from Japanese universities.