Hakone Ekiden

Now I've been wanting to write in my blog about this for some time but haven't gotten to it until now. So on January 2 and 3, I watched the live broadcast of the Hakone Ekiden (officially called Tokyo-Hakone Round-Trip College Ekiden Race) on television. And I had to write about it because I was just amazed by it.

Every year, on January 2-3, twenty universities from all across Japan participate in a relay marathon. The first day, the runners run from Tokyo to Hakone, and vice versa on the second day, coming back to where they started. The race is divided into 5 sections, so multiply that by two (for the two days) and you have 10 runners in total per university. As in a normal relay, the next runner can't start until he is given the sash from the previous runner. The 5 sections are not divided equally, ranging between 18 and 25 km.

I was glued to the tv during the broadcast. I find marathons so amazing, and even more amazing are the people who run it. To run at such a fast pace for such a long period of time is just mind-boggling to me. At the end of the race, some of them can't even stand and as soon as they give their sash away, they just fall to the ground because their legs are physically unable to support them. This is really pushing the human body to its limits. It's really incredible what the human body is capable of.

Tokai University participated in the Hakone Ekiden but unfortunately, didn't fair so well. They ended in 12th place, out of the 20 universities. Toyo University came in first place with quite a lead.

(Picture taken from Google)

It was inspiring to watch, because the biggest part of the race is mental. These runners know they can run the distance, but they need to keep pushing mentally, reminding themselves that they're not tired, that they're going to keep going on. All the time I was watching it, I just wanted to run lol. And I've now added to my Bucket list : Run a half-marathon. : )