Inside the UK's most-gruelling, brutal, 115km race
Japan's biggest sporting event is looking to embed itself in the UK with second edition of 10-person relay bringing drama at the finish line of a difficult challenge
For almost seven hours, 10 of Oxford University's best runners, including the 2016 US Olympic marathoner Jared Ward, led a 114.8km path from Windsor to Reading and back.
Then, moments after celebrating, the bad news was broken to them. They had been disqualified for an illegal sash handover during the second UK Ekiden and the trophy was being handed to Japan's Ritzumeikan University, who had flown in to compete at a gruelling event that flips the loneliness of a long distance runner on its head.
In Japan, Ekiden is the biggest of deals - think along the lines of the Grand National or Super Bowl, an event where folk not ordinarily in the sport gather around the TV and everyone is suddenly an expert.
Its concept is simple - a relay where instead of batons runners hand over sashes, known as tasuki. And now a group spearheaded by Anna Dingley and with support from a handful of high-profile sponsors is looking to embed the concept in Britain.
READ MORE: Strict life of Great Britain's most dedicated athlete - 'Flavour doesn't make you faster'
Last Friday's event brought 16 universities and 15 corporate teams together on a punishing course that veered through all sorts of terrain and stunning scenery, nominally following the Thames path.
Trailing in the wake of Oxford, Ritzumeikan and the other serious competitors up front was MirrorSport, part of a media team that ended up doing OK - finishing sixth among the corporate teams and ahead of an Asics collective that featured Eilish McColgan and triathlon star Beth Potter - Bragging rights were dimmed by both being there for a bit of fun on behalf of their sponsor and their team also featuring the company's 68-year-old chief executive.
And even for a seasoned runner the 12.8km fourth leg through woodlands and rugged countryside just south of Henley-on-Thames was an almighty challenge.
From the burn of running up a steep hill at Harpsden woods, to plodding through firmed up cow poo via a field where the trail disappears among four-foot high grass – it is rather different to the tarmac of East London.
The 29c heat didn't make things easier either. Yet veering from loving it to hating it, this will remain memorable for a long time to come. In a sport where almost always your own performance stands in isolation, to work as a team is not just novel but a possible pointer of things to come.
And with the country - indeed much of the world - in the middle of a boom fuelled by younger people joining run clubs (in south west London they are the 2025 version of speed dating, apparently) there may be no better time for Ekiden to take off.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Runners carry washing machines in memory of SSNAP fundraiser
A charity run has taken place in memory of a fundraiser who repeatedly ran the Oxford half marathon with a washing machine on his Realey, who was a leader at SSNAP (Supporting Sick Newborn and their Parents), died in his sleep in his honour, 26 volunteers took part in a charity challenge in Wantage, taking it in turns to run one mile (1.6km) with the kitchen appliance strapped to said: "Every step, every ache, every mile is a tribute to Martin's spirit and a step towards helping newborns and their families get the care they need." The challenge took place at the charity's Summer Garden Party at Grove Rugby supports sick and premature babies and their families in the Newborn Care Unit at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. Following Mr Realey's death, Kerri Knibbs, SSNAP's chair of the board of trustees, described him as a "friend, father, sportsman, inspirational fundraiser and a proud ex-paratrooper".Organisers of the Oxford half marathon said his "unwavering dedication to SSNAP and the families it supports was nothing short of inspirational", while the Oxford Hospitals Charity called him a "passionate and charismatic charity leader". You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
NBC News
6 hours ago
- NBC News
It's a barrier women have never broken. Can Faith Kipyegon make mile history?
Last winter, a study startled the running world when a team of researchers concluded that, under the right circumstances, Kenyan superstar Faith Kipyegon could break a barrier long thought impossible — becoming the first woman to run one mile in less than 4 minutes. In the coming days, under a worldwide spotlight, that theory will be put to the test. Kipyegon on Thursday will line up in Paris in a Nike-sponsored race called "Breaking4," just four laps — and 1,609 meters, to be exact — from history. If there were ever a runner to make such an attempt, it would be the 31-year-old Kipyegon. A three-time Olympic gold medalist in the 1,500 meters, who holds the world record in the 1,500 meters and formerly held the record at 5,000 meters, as well, she has come closer to the 4-minute barrier than anyone. In 2023, racing in Monaco, Kipyegon smashed the previous world record for the mile by running 4:07.64. 'She's really stretching your imagination and acceptance of how women can excel in sport,' said Rodger Kram, an associate professor emeritus at the University of Colorado who co-authored the study published in February in the Royal Society of Open Science. Yet speed alone won't make up the 7.64-second difference between her personal best and a barrier-breaking achievement — a lifetime in a race as short as the mile. The great variable surrounds how exactly Kipyegon will "draft" off pace-setters around her, thus reducing her aerodynamic drag. How many pacers Nike will use, and what formation they will employ, remains a mystery. Kipyegon told The Associated Press that 'breaking four will really cement my legacy.' Yet breaking four minutes could lead to a wider effect. Half-marathons and marathons have enjoyed a post-pandemic participation boom, but Kram wondered whether Kipyegon's example could inspire more women to run middle distances. 'To see that, one, we actually want to go after a female record, that's exciting,' said Shalaya Kipp, a former Olympic distance runner and NCAA champion who co-authored the study. 'It's going to not only draw more females to the sport, but it's also going to help draw more attention to female physiology and get more research done on females too. '... That's not the runner in me, but that's the scientist in me that gets really excited if we have this. Scientists are going to start working with more female athletes, and that is a big gap we have right now.' As experts in physiology and kinesiology, Kram, Kipp and their study's co-authors, Edson Soares da Silva and Wouter Hoogkamer, were already fans of running. But their pursuit of whether a female sub-4 mile was possible began in earnest in 2023 while watching Kipyegon run her 4:07 world record while using pacers for only half the race. 'It really stood out to us that this was a very fast race — a world record, of course — but she had terrible drafting,' said Kipp, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Mayo Clinic. 'We're track nerds, and we watched that, and we're like, 'Well, what if? What if?' And then we were like, we actually could do that math.' The researchers' sub-four findings were modeled on a scenario in which Kipyegon would draft off a team of all-female pacers, in part for the gender-breaking symbolism it would represent, Kipp said. In that scenario, the study found that if Kipyegon could stay within about 40 inches behind a pacer in front of her, and 40 inches in front of another behind her — with a new pacing team swapping in halfway through — it would create an aerodynamic 'pocket' in which she would face the least wind resistance. Under those conditions, Kipyegon could run 3:59.37, the paper concluded — the exact time run by Roger Bannister in 1954 when he, using pacers for more than 80% of the race, became the first person to ever break the sub-4 barrier. Less remembered is that also in 1954, Diane Leather became the first woman to break the 5-minute barrier in the mile. It took more than half a century for the idea of a woman running a sub-4 mile to enter the realm of possibility, however, as training, times and technology all improved. An inflection point arrived in 2016. That year, Nike became the first shoe company to combine an exceptionally bouncy new foam with rigid 'plates' in their shoes and spikes. Studies have determined such 'supershoes' require less effort to run at a given pace by absorbing the impact from each footstrike, allowing runners to rebound quicker. The breakthrough led Nike to design a different moonshot race, dubbed 'Breaking2,' in which Kenyan superstar Eliud Kipchoge attempted to become the first person to run a marathon in less than two hours. He came up 25 seconds short during his first try, in 2017. In his second attempt, three years later, Kipchoge ran 1:59.40. The times do not count as an official world record because the carefully tailored attempt did not meet the standards of the sport's global governing body, but it represented a seismic shift in what was possible all the same. It was also a sign of things to come. 'We opened the 2016 floodgates,' Kipp said, 'and we saw these times dropping.' Of the 50 fastest miles run by women all-time, 33 have been run since 2016, including 10 of the top 11. The world record of 4:12.56 had stood since 1996 until Sifan Hassan ran 0.23 of a second faster in 2019. Four years later, Kipyegon shattered Hassan's world record by a stunning 4.69 seconds in Monaco. In Paris this week, Kipyegon will wear custom-made Nike supershoe spikes as well as a speedsuit and custom bra designed to reduce drag. Kipyegon is unique in that her stride appears effortless, as if floating, Kipp said. Yet what matters most, Kram and Kipp said, is whether Kipyegon has improved at staying tucked in behind her pacers. Nike did not consult with Kram, Kipp or their research team on the technical details of Kipyegon's attempt. How the sportswear giant will handle the number and gender of the pacers has led to significant intrigue. Stadiums hosting professional meets feature a metal 'rail' on the inside of the first lane, separating the track from the infield. Because Paris's Stade Charlety has little rubberized track surface inside of the rail, it's unlikely it will have the space needed to use the type of 'full arrowhead' formation it employed in its attempt to help Kipchoge break two hours in the marathon. Kram wonders if Nike will employ a 'half arrowhead' or perhaps even the model the researchers studied, with one in front and one behind. He and Kipp will also be watching for how Kipyegon and her pacers line up at the start; how relaxed she appears while pushing an unprecedented pace; and, nearing the finish, when the pacers will peel away to allow Kipyegon to finish alone. 'I'm going to be watching to make sure that she's in the pocket, and that the pacers don't get too excited,' Kram said. '... In the first 200 (meters) you can ruin your chances for the mile. If she goes out and runs 27 (seconds), she's cooked. She's got to go out in 29, 29-high. 'If she comes through 1,200 in 3 minutes, I think she's going to get it. Other people are saying, 'Oh, that's when she's going to die.' But I believe in our numbers and our calculations.' Kipchoge and his training partners wore T-shirts featuring 'Breaking4' and Kipyegon's image during training recently. 'It's been an honor for us to support (Kipyegon) as she prepares to achieve the unthinkable and to break down the barriers of human performance,' Kipchoge wrote on Instagram. 'Faith is a true inspiration for our world. If there's one person to do it, it is you. Go for it!' The race also comes at a significant moment for Nike itself. The company's roots are in running — it was founded by a middle-distance runner, Phil Knight, and his collegiate track coach — and more runners finished distance races in 2024 wearing the brand than any other, according to an industry group survey. In recent years, however, Nike's shelf space and market share among running shoes has been challenged by newcomers such as Hoka and On. Kipyegon's sub-4 attempt will come on the same day that Nike is scheduled to host a quarterly earnings call. In the days before Kipyegon's race, Kram acknowledged having nerves over how the study's findings would fare in a real-life test. Many of his previous studies had received scant attention from the wider public, he said. February's sub-4 paper, by comparison, had drawn global attention. 'Even if we don't go below four, how exciting is it just to have this attempt?' Kipp said. 'Is it really going to be a failure if she runs, you know, 4:01, 4:02? It's still going to be a big deal. "That's how Eliud Kipchoge's first sub-2 (marathon) attempt was. It wasn't perfect, but it lowered the standard, and it made us realize, if we can get closer we can do it.'
Daily Mirror
7 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Inside the UK's most-gruelling, brutal, 115km race
Japan's biggest sporting event is looking to embed itself in the UK with second edition of 10-person relay bringing drama at the finish line of a difficult challenge For almost seven hours, 10 of Oxford University's best runners, including the 2016 US Olympic marathoner Jared Ward, led a 114.8km path from Windsor to Reading and back. Then, moments after celebrating, the bad news was broken to them. They had been disqualified for an illegal sash handover during the second UK Ekiden and the trophy was being handed to Japan's Ritzumeikan University, who had flown in to compete at a gruelling event that flips the loneliness of a long distance runner on its head. In Japan, Ekiden is the biggest of deals - think along the lines of the Grand National or Super Bowl, an event where folk not ordinarily in the sport gather around the TV and everyone is suddenly an expert. Its concept is simple - a relay where instead of batons runners hand over sashes, known as tasuki. And now a group spearheaded by Anna Dingley and with support from a handful of high-profile sponsors is looking to embed the concept in Britain. READ MORE: Strict life of Great Britain's most dedicated athlete - 'Flavour doesn't make you faster' Last Friday's event brought 16 universities and 15 corporate teams together on a punishing course that veered through all sorts of terrain and stunning scenery, nominally following the Thames path. Trailing in the wake of Oxford, Ritzumeikan and the other serious competitors up front was MirrorSport, part of a media team that ended up doing OK - finishing sixth among the corporate teams and ahead of an Asics collective that featured Eilish McColgan and triathlon star Beth Potter - Bragging rights were dimmed by both being there for a bit of fun on behalf of their sponsor and their team also featuring the company's 68-year-old chief executive. And even for a seasoned runner the 12.8km fourth leg through woodlands and rugged countryside just south of Henley-on-Thames was an almighty challenge. From the burn of running up a steep hill at Harpsden woods, to plodding through firmed up cow poo via a field where the trail disappears among four-foot high grass – it is rather different to the tarmac of East London. The 29c heat didn't make things easier either. Yet veering from loving it to hating it, this will remain memorable for a long time to come. In a sport where almost always your own performance stands in isolation, to work as a team is not just novel but a possible pointer of things to come. And with the country - indeed much of the world - in the middle of a boom fuelled by younger people joining run clubs (in south west London they are the 2025 version of speed dating, apparently) there may be no better time for Ekiden to take off.
