In May, Gen and some of his work colleagues participated in the
Ekiden Carnival, a 23-kilometer race. It was a relay, with one team member running 10K, one 5K, one 3K, and another 5K. Gen was the 10K leg.
Kao had two teams. I was the official team photographer.
Receiving a pep talk and some strategy.
This is a little out of order. This is after the race, but it's a cute picture. In Japan, you drink beer immediately after you run. Gen was a sissy because he had water first.
A lot of people dressed up in costumes. Do you see the beer hat just to the left of middle? This was the starting line.
This girl's team were all dressed as French maids. There were actually a lot of French maid teams. Some of the costumes were very elaborate.
There were a lot of people there. A lot. The last race Gen participated in I think there were 100 or 120 runners. There were thousands here. Look at the guy to the left in the wrestling mask. Those guys were 100% committed to those costumes. It was over 90 degrees. I also saw one guy dressed as a
supervillian (I suppose from some
manga or something) and his costume was head to toe leather. On the hottest day of the year.
After the race we had a BBQ. The losers had to buy (that was Gen's team). We went to a "campground" so we could grill outdoors (that pesky fire rule again). It was pretty far away, close to the airport. The campground provides the grills, grilling utensils, charcoal, and some meat and you just have to bring any extra food you want and the booze.
Kanpai! (Cheers!)
Mmmm, meat. When it's finished cooking you just reach in with your chopsticks and grab a piece. This is pork. We also had some beef and fish. And veggies, then we made
yakisoba (stir-fried noodles) with some of the pork and veggies.
Enjoying some well-deserved rest. That was a fun day.
In May, Gen and some of his work colleagues participated in the Ekiden Carnival, a 23-kilometer race. It was a relay, with one team member running 10K, one 5K, one 3K, and another 5K. Gen was the 10K leg. Kao had two teams. I was the official team photographer.
Receiving a pep talk and some strategy.
This is a little out of order. This is after the race, but it's a cute picture. In Japan, you drink beer immediately after you run. Gen was a sissy because he had water first.
A lot of people dressed up in costumes. Do you see the beer hat just to the left of middle? This was the starting line.
This girl's team were all dressed as French maids. There were actually a lot of French maid teams. Some of the costumes were very elaborate.
There were a lot of people there. A lot. The last race Gen participated in I think there were 100 or 120 runners. There were thousands here. Look at the guy to the left in the wrestling mask. Those guys were 100% committed to those costumes. It was over 90 degrees. I also saw one guy dressed as a supervillian (I suppose from some manga or something) and his costume was head to toe leather. On the hottest day of the year.
After the race we had a BBQ. The losers had to buy (that was Gen's team). We went to a "campground" so we could grill outdoors (that pesky fire rule again). It was pretty far away, close to the airport. The campground provides the grills, grilling utensils, charcoal, and some meat and you just have to bring any extra food you want and the booze. 
Kanpai! (Cheers!)
Mmmm, meat. When it's finished cooking you just reach in with your chopsticks and grab a piece. This is pork. We also had some beef and fish. And veggies, then we made yakisoba (stir-fried noodles) with some of the pork and veggies.
Enjoying some well-deserved rest. That was a fun day.
yay running!! that is so cool, can I get a Japanese race tshirt?? that would be awesome....
ReplyDeleteLindsay
The souvenir was a sweat towel, but I did see someone at our gym with a T-shirt. Maybe they were selling them there. Do you want to run when you're visiting? I can see if there's another race.
ReplyDelete