Tadami Ekiden

It had been a pretty hetic and pretty booze filled time since I arrived in Japan, so this weekend I planned to take it easy and relax. I was running in the Tadami Ekiden (Relay longdistance run around the town) on Sunday so I didn't want to have much to drink on Friday or Saturday so I was in peak shape for the run! Ok so I was never gonna be in peak shape but I thought I would be slightly better with if I didn't have a hangover! Anyway with all my good intentions I was invited out with some of my teachers on Friday night, I found it pretty difficulte to refuse (obviously due to the language barrier as oposed to me just wanting too ha ha!) and got pretty pissed before going to the Kareoke till the early hours. I didn't feel too chipper on saturday and didn't really do a lot.

Anyway sunday came and I was feeling a bit better, so headed out to meet up with my team. I was running with Satoko and some of her friends who I play football with, and I was really pleased to be asked to join in with them. There was about 40 teams in the adults race and some of them looked like they were taking it pretty seriously. People in Japan often only stick to one sport but they take that sport pretty seriously and get really good at it. Luckily our team was more of a social competitor. There were 8 runners in each team, and each leg of the race was between 3 and 9km with the total distance about 50km. I took the 3rd leg and had to run about 5km. Not a very long distance but I hadn't done much running in Japan. My first full day in Tadami I went for a jog to explore a bit, but I hadn't done anything since then. Our team ended up comming about 5th from last but it was good fun and there were quite a lot of people spectating. I also managed to overtake a few teams on my leg, so I felt I put in a reasonable performance.

After the race our team headed to a campsite up one of the mountains where Satoko's friends had hired a log cabin for the night. One of the guys there was the chef and owner of the local resturant, Kirin, so the food was great. Kirin is where everyone meets after football and also lent it's name to our Ekiden team. We made homemade pizzas, in a traditional out door log fire oven! I also learnt how to gut a squid and make Sashimi (Sliced Raw Fish). Again there lots of alcohol to drink and as monday was a national holiday I happil obliged. I was pretty shattered though and I fell asleep quite early!

I don't have any photos from the log cabin unfortuneately but here are a few from the Ekiden:

The Kirin Ekiden Team
One of the more serious teams crossing the finish line!
Our team's last leg runner crossing the finish line, quite a while later!