Shibuya Ekiden 2015

Our Shibuya Ekiden Master's team reunited yesterday to defend our crown.

Last year I ran the third leg and basked in the glory of overtaking a rival team and giving our team a lead we never relinquished.   

This year I ran the second leg, and I received the sash with our team already way out in front.  I have always found that having other runners around me has pushed me to run much faster – but yesterday it was just me and my adrenaline – and my teammates yelling at me that someone was gaining on me.  I had been taught since my earliest days of running that one must never, never look back.  Driven by the absolute terror of being overtaken, I bolted through the 2.9-km course in 9:55 - a full 12 seconds faster than my time last year (which I felt represented my optimal effort).

In fact, throughout my run I was actually light years ahead of the next team  – and so by the time I handed off the sash I had managed to give the team a 45-second cushion.  But there was still drama to come – our archrival’s 4th runner ran the day’s fastest time to catch up with our anchor Brett.  Fortunately Brett is as tough and gritty of competitor as you will find, and he powered through the final 500 meters at a full sprint to give us a 4-second margin of victory.

Here is team projected onto big screen in front of adoring crowd --> 

Again I am reminded how much I appreciate the teamwork of these ekidens (relays) --  probably the key reason I returned to competitive events in my “second running life” --  long after “growing up” and abandoning such frivolous endeavors.