My marathons

Hakone Ekiden

The organiser has not published a date. Minami Kantō
Lake Ashi
Lake Ashi. Photograph by Charlie fong, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The course

The Tokyo-Hakone round-trip university relay covers 217.1 km in ten legs, five out to Lake Ashi at 107.5 km and five back at 109.6 km.

The course in short 3 lines
  • Ten legs from Tokyo to Hakone and back10 legs, 217.1 km, the longest student relay in Japan.
  • The fifth leg climbs about 834 mUp 834 m on leg five, down on leg six.
  • Run since 1920Four universities in 1920, 21 teams now.
Course notes 3 short reads on the course
Whole courseGeometryTen legs from Tokyo to Hakone and back10 legs, 217.1 km, the longest student relay in Japan.

The organiser starts the course at the Yomiuri Shimbun building in Tokyo and calls it the longest relay among student distance runners in Japan. Twenty-one teams run the main event in January, and universities outside the previous year’s top ten qualify through a half marathon.

Sourced

Whole courseGradientThe fifth leg climbs about 834 mUp 834 m on leg five, down on leg six.

The organiser says runners who have done the descent describe a feeling of falling, with some stretches at 13 seconds per 100 m.

Sourced

Whole courseLandmarkRun since 1920Four universities in 1920, 21 teams now.

The organiser traces it to a 516 km relay from Kyoto to Tokyo in 1917, and says the race was not held in 1941, 1942, 1944, 1945 and 1946.

Sourced

Race fuel

Energy gel
An energy gel sachet
Illustration · drag to turn

Race fuel for Minami Kantō

One gel every 40 minutes once you are past about 75 minutes of running, plus a spare.

Our pick: SiS BETA Fuel gel, box of 6, strawberry and lime. 40 g of carbohydrate a gel, about twice a usual gel, from two kinds of sugar your body takes up side by side.

Easy to forget on race morning: pack them with your bib the night before.

Get it on Amazon

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In Canada the button opens GU Energy Gel, Salted Caramel, 24-pack, the best seller there.

Outside the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the UK and Ireland, Spain and Portugal, Italy, the rest of the EU and Canada the button opens GU Energy Gel, Chocolate Outrage, 24-pack on Amazon.com, the best seller there.

Anti-chafe
Compeed Anti-blister stick
Photo: Compeed

Compeed

Compeed anti-blister stick, 8 ml

Best selling on Amazon amazon.nl, read 2 Nov

An invisible layer before the start keeps seams, straps and shoes from rubbing skin raw.

Put it on before you leave for the start: heels and toes, inner thighs, under a bra or heart-rate strap.

Try it on a long run first, like everything you use on race day.

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We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.

Number belt
A race number belt
Illustration · drag to turn

Compressport Race Belt

Holds your bib without safety pins through your top, with loops for up to 8 gels.

Clip the bib on the night before, so it goes on with your shorts in the morning.

Keep the number on the front, where officials and photographers can see it.

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Electrolytes
A tube of electrolyte tablets
Illustration · drag to turn

SiS Hydro electrolyte tablets, tube of 20

One tablet in a bottle puts back some of the salt you sweat out.

One tablet in 500 ml of water in the hour before the start.

Only if you have used them in training: nothing new on race day.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.

Blister plasters
Compeed Blister plasters, medium, 6
Photo: Compeed

Compeed

Compeed blister plasters, medium, 6

Best selling on Amazon amazon.nl, read 2 Nov

One in a pocket cushions a blister if one starts.

Put it on clean, dry skin and leave it until it comes off by itself.

Give a couple to whoever comes to cheer, so they are there at the km you need them.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.
race
Running event

Trip

Getting a place

Entry through the organiser

Entry details on the organiser’s site →

The organiser, a third party. We take no entries and have no part in the race.

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