Mullingar Ekiden on the way (20th Dec)

Our adult members will take part in a training session with a difference on Monday 28th December when they run an Ekiden. A what? An Ekiden is a long-distance multi-stage relay mostly held on roads that originated in Japan. The longest and most famous is the Hakone Ekiden, covering 218k from Tokyo to Hakone, a town in the mountains in sight of Mount Fuji, and back. The event takes place over two days, day one from Tokyo to Hakone, and day two the return from Hakone to Tokyo. The event is televised and attracts 30% of the television audience share, or nearly 40 million viewers, the biggest of any televised event in Japan. Ekidens are very popular and have spread worldwide, now including the Mullingar Ekiden!

The purpose of the Mullingar Ekiden is to introduce a new format and a competitive element to training, which builds on team and Club spirit. In more usual times the Mullingar Ekiden would be referred to as a race, however as races are not permitted under current Covid-19 regulations, the Mullingar Ekiden will be held as a competitive training session, or perhaps a “fun run”. Provided all Government guidelines are strictly adhered to, including pods of 15, social distancing, no congregating before or after, and the run is for Club members only, Athletics Ireland has confirmed that it can proceed in a responsible manner. With 15 teams of 6, there will be a maximum of 15 runners on each of the 6 stages, which nicely fits the maximum pod size of 15 allowed.

Click HERE for a report on how this training session with a difference turned out.