25th Annual Ekiden boosts record attendance

  • Published
  • By Airman First Class Devin Doskey
  • 374th Airlift Wing Public Affiars
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan --  The Yokota Striders Running Club welcomed a record number of athletes to their 25th Annual Ekiden Race Sunday.
 
More than 7,000 runners competed in three separate races with the premiere event, a 4 by 5 kilometer Ekiden or Japanese relay race, offering competition to 1,450 teams, a 25-year high, said Yokota Striders President Jeffrey Dickerhoof.

The reason for an increase in participation is two-fold. 

"I believe the reason for the increase is largely due to being able to allow more teams to join this year," Mr. Dickerhoof said. "Also, the members of the club have had the opportunity to meet and make friends with other runners by attending races around Japan."

The event was open to all classes of runners to include children, beginners and professionals and consisted of three races: a 2K fun run, a 5K individual race, and the official Ekiden. 

According to the Striders' Web site, an Ekiden, sometimes called a marathon relay in English, is a long-distance relay, road race. Ekiden 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 508km, to celebrate the anniversary of the moving of the capital to Tokyo. 

"This day is about having fun and cheering everyone on," said Matthew Simmons, Yokota Striders member and Ekiden volunteer.

Although most of the runners were from Japan, 14 other countries were represented.

"I enjoy being able to be a part of bringing together our two great countries and supporting bilateral relations," said Mr. Dickerhoof.

The Yokota Striders host two major race events annually, the Frostbite Run in January and the Ekiden in June. Both events are open to the public and allow a large number of Japanese runners the opportunity to run what is billed as a fast, flat course on Yokota Air Base. 

To find out more about the Yokota Striders, visit www.yokotastriders.com.