Made in Japan

Ekiden Relay Sunday 13 July 2014 

Camp Team Love 

This race was organised by Jaffa an Ipswich running club. "The Ekiden is a race which originated in Japan where teams of runners competed in a relay over long distances. Ipswich JAFFA have been staging the only Ekiden held in the UK for over 20 years. It attracts runners from all over East Anglia, with the 2012 event having a record entry of 120 teams".

How does an Ekiden work

The Ekiden is a distance of a marathon, 26.2 and is run by teams of six as a relay. The legs are: 1 x 7.2km, 3 x 5km and 2 x 10km. 

The route which felt like running round a
jigsaw

The running group I belong to, called The Commando Runners, decided to put in four teams of mixed abilities and gender and we were asked to decide which distance we wanted to run. I chose 5k and then the individual teams were drawn at random with six in each.

• The teams
• Team preparation
• Arrival and set up
• The race
• Post race analysis

The Teams

Our teams were quickly designated names by some bright spark as follows:

1. Team Sexy
2. Team Super Heroes
3. Team Love
4. Team Sweat

Team Love (minus one who was taking the photo) 

I started in Team Sexy and plans for tee shirts etc had started to be made and our Captain even found some bottles of "Sexy" Champagne for our victory celebration. Then a couple wanted to change teams and asked myself and one of the other 5k runners to swap with them. That done I found myself in Team Love.

Team Love had originally been made up of couples and those who had just found love! Interesting place to be but they were all pretty fast so we stood a good chance of winning our inter-Commando Runners challenge.

Team Preparation

Having made the move quite late in the day I realised that as a team we were a little bit behind in our preparation and decided to get things moving. Motivated by my brb (best running buddy) Becci, who had stepped in and got her team organised, I made some plans for what would make the day more fun.

First, I bought some plain white tee shirts and then designed a simple logo and photocopied it onto iron on transfer paper. Never having done this before I was fairly pleased with the results and I hoped the team would be too.

Having names on the front was fun when
you were encouraged from the sidelines on your lap by
total strangers!

Secondly, I had a quick look at some of last year's photos of the event and could see that teams had gazebos to make their own 'camp' area. This was also confirmed by other Commandos who had been there last year. I managed to find the cheapest gazebo I could - £15 in Aldi but didn't have time to test it out and was hoping it would all be in the box on the day.

So A is joined to B......gazebo construction

Thirdly, I thought we would need some sustenance and bought some soft drinks, sweets, crisps (potato chips) and, on the advice of my lovely daughter, some fruit kebabs. Also I bought a couple of bottles of Prosecco for a post race celebration - win or lose.

Angela about to tuck into
a fruit kebab (with marsh mallows!)

I was really pleased with the reaction to the fruit kebabs and even more so when I was sent this wonderful photograph of brb Becci's Rainbows with their 'love' inspired version.

Beautifully made girls - enjoy!

Arrival and set up

The Ekiden Relay was being held at a school in Woodbridge. I picked up Becci then parked at another runner's home where we were met by yet another runner and we car shared to the event. 

Once there we were parked on a field opposite the school entrance and were soon lugging our many bags and Becci, strong armed lass, carried both gazebos to the school. What a sight greeted us: many gazebos with very professional looking team banners which I immediately thought would look great for The Commando Runners to have. 

I met the other members of my team who were all really friendly and were soon busying themselves putting up the two gazebos. Seats and tables, food and drink were put out and then we all admired each other's team outfits and I really liked Team Sweat's  idea of wearing green and black and painting their faces with war paint stripes!

A member of Team Love prepares her tee shirt by
adding her race number

I was amazed at people eating burgers and bacon rolls before running as that would just about scupper my chances of getting round a course at speed. How different we all are and I took a few moments to note all the differences I could in terms of how runners prepare themselves. Hats, no hats, compression socks, different styles of trainers, skirts, shorts, to warm up or not, stretching, hydration drinks, developing nervous ticks (that one was me) or getting into a corner for some quiet time etc. An interesting exercise if you ever get time to do that. 

Looks like some important pre-race strategy being discussed

There was an official warm up which I didn't get to and then ten minutes before the race the organisers asked us to get to the start area where they would explain the how the relay works. Unfortunately, I couldn't hear much as the crowd of runners were so loud. I hoped all would become clear once we started.

 I am not very quick on the uptake as I am a 'visual' personality and I find this sort of situation quite stressful which makes my ability to understand even harder. I was also beginning to feel stressed at being part of a team where I was clearly the eldest by at least eighteen if not more than twenty years than my team mates and it was obvious I would need to run my personal best to give them a chance. I had to keep reminding myself that this was a team building exercise and that we were not an affiliated team and were there under the 'having fun' section.

The start of the race

 

The race was off as soon as the rules had been explained and there was no more time for introspection.

The race

Attaching the timed chip

We were wearing timed chips and once over the starting mat the course took us from the field, around the school and then back onto the fields which had been laid out in a sort of jigsaw pattern. 

Lee was the first member of our team to go and is an excellent runner and we all cheered him on as he came past the Commando 'Camp'. He had a good time and the competition was clearly on.

Lee makes a run for it

Next on was Deborah who is a good runner with a relaxed but fast style for the 5k as she proved with a really great time.

Deborah's lovely running style

Then the delightful, María took up her place in the 'holding' pen and when Deborah came into view on the home stretch towards the finish she ran onto the course and they ran over the mat together signalling the finish of Deborah's run and the start of hers. Another brilliant run from her kept us right up there as contenders - within the Commando Runners own competition.

María shows us she's determined

 I ought to say here and now that the big running teams were going to get in at sub-six minute miles so we knew from the start we were just competing for fun.

Ok then it was me next and I watched for María disappearing into the trees and the field at the back which you could not see from the holding pen. I waited for her to reach the home straight and got onto the course as she approached, we ran over the mat and there I was on the course running towards the Commandos who were all calling out encouragement. I really tried my hardest but quickly realised I was going a bit too fast and thankfully a downhill appeared where I clawed back control and got into my rhythm. Lee appeared and ran with me encouraging me and I was so pleased to have that as I usually try to use a runner in front to try to catch but the field had spread out a lot and there were stretches without anyone in front of me. 

I was then into the field which had so many twisting and turning patterns that I thought I would never get out of it and realised I would soon be back there for a second time. Thankfully, on the second round Becci came and ran with me and I think it was with her help that I maintained my speed and got me a pb of 28.31.5.

I think he was only on his first lap - well
that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

I was really tired coming up to the line but when I saw Darren I made a dive for his hand and used the impetus to get me over the line as quickly as I could.

Then Darren was off and I sauntered back to the 'camp' and cheered him on when he passed us the second time. I then chatted away and only became aware of a problem when someone said that Darren and Ian our last runner had made the changeover one lap too soon. Then it was action stations getting advice from the organisers who said that it would not be a problem and to get our last runner to make an extra lap. It would mean individual race times would be upset but still give us an overall team time that would count. No disqualification phew! 

My favourite picture of the day showing Darren
cheering on Wendy as she approaches the Commando Runners

All I had to do now was to reassure Darren that things were being sorted out and then get to the finish line to make sure Ian was cheered on at the end. What a race! So exciting.

Yes Ian you really have finished!!

Post race analysis

A good beer always helps when putting the world to rights

We finished the food, had a glass of Prosecco to toast a lovely day. And then there were the medals which had been paid for by a mystery Commando supporter - thank you so much whoever you are. 

In a dramatic turn we were disqualified by our own running team mates (it's a Commando sense of humour thing!!) and Team Sexy took first place and we came last and had the wooden spoon medals which María and I, obviously having the same unstoppable upbeat natures, were delighted with. Every team had put in a terrific performance and we came 13th, 15th, 16th and 17th in the 'Social Teams' category.  I think that shows the random team draws had made us all pretty even.  

Then it was time to pack up and wend our way back to the carpark. Weatherwise we had sunshine, humidity and heavy rain but thankfully the school fields were excellently maintained and stood up to everything perfectly.

Time to rescue Deborah from Team Love Shack

My age related score was 65% which would have given me a 22 minute run to get 100% I would have needed to run an 18 minute 5k - that is so not going to happen.

What have I learned - quite a lot about teamwork and preparation. The race isn't over just because you have run your leg. You must keep an eye on the other runners in case a mistake happens as it did to us. It is not an individual running but one of your team mates and that is why you are in a team to work together. 

I have also learned a lot about sportsmanship and understanding that people are only too keen to help you when you get into difficulties especially when you are competing for fun. 

So all in all I would say it was a very enjoyable day, I got to meet and get to know some of my fellow Commando Runners much better and to work in a team for a change. Obviously it helped that I was in the best team - but I would say that wouldn't I;-).

Team Love 'selfie'