Skip to main content

Marathon to be Cancelled Due to Lack of Tsunami Evacuation Routes

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/news/20120913-OYT1T01096.htm

translated by Brett Larner

Held each year in March on the toll roads along the Sagami Bay waterfront in Atami, Shizuoka, the organizers of the Atami Yurakkusu Marathon have announced that next year's 29th running will be cancelled because they "cannot ensure adequate evacuation routes in the event of a tsunami."  Over 3000 runners from around the area take part in the race each year, but due to the inability of organizers to come up with an alternate course it is very likely that the race's cancellation will be permanent.

The Atami Yurakkusu Marathon was first held in 1985, its main draw coming in the chance to run on the 6 km Atami Beach Line toll road in Atami and Kanagawa Prefecture.  In the event that the predicted Great Kanto Earthquake along the Sagami Trough takes place, a 10.5 m-high tsunami is expected to hit the area within 5 to 10 minutes.  In order to ensure runners' safety race organizers sought to establish three escape routes along the marathon course but were only able to find one road capable of handling a large number of people evacuating at once.  As a result, city government officials and others involved in overseeing the race made the determination that "the planned evacuation routes are insufficient."  With regard to next year's race city officials said, "We cannot guarantee the safe evacuation of all runners," making the final decision to cancel the event.

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Ninja Runner Yuka Ando Leads Japanese Women's Marathon Team in London: "I Want to Go For It"

Her form has been dubbed "ninja running." Both arms held straight down with almost no movement. That idiosyncratic style carried Yuka Ando , 23, to the fastest-ever marathon debut by a Japanese woman, 2:21:36, at March's Nagoya Women's Marathon to land at #4 on the all-time Japanese lists. All at once Ando found herself catapulted to the top level of women's marathoning, a candidate for Japan's next great marathoner. When she was younger Ando ran moving her arms like other runners, but she had a bad habit of moving robotically, her upper body and lower body not working in sync. The turning point came in 2014 when she joined Suzuki Hamamatsu AC . Working there with coach Masayuki Satouchi to eliminate the faults in her form, the pair arrived at the ninja running style that let her run relaxed. "Other people keep asking me, "Isn't it hard to run like that?" but for me it's comfortable," she said. The efficient form helped her mai

Yamaguchi 10th at United Airlines NYC Half - Weekend Overseas Results

2024 national cross-country champion Tomonori Yamaguchi was the top Japanese finisher in the men's race at the United Airlines NYC Half , taking 10th in 1:04:36. A 2nd-year at Waseda University , Yamaguchi was one of three collegiate runners running New York in the 11th year of JRN's development program collaboration between the Ageo City Half Marathon and the New York Road Runners, a program that has seen people like future half marathon and marathon NR breaker Yuta Shitara and Paris Olympic team member Akira Akasaki make their international debuts. Yamaguchi's Waseda teammate Taishi Ito started fast, going with the leaders through 5 km in 14:29 before losing touch. Hosei University senior Rei Matsunaga went through in 14:42 in his last race before joining the JR Higashi Nihon corporate team in April. Yamaguchi, who caught COVID after winning last month's National Cross-Country Championships, started more conservatively with a 15:11 first 5km. But where both Ito

Rui Aoki Wins National University Men's Half Marathon - Weekend Results

Yuka Ando 's win at the Nagoya Women's Marathon was the big news of the weekend, but there were other high-level races happening, even in Nagoya. Held in parallel with the marathon, the Nagoya City Half Marathon saw Australians Natalie Rule and Ed Goddard take easy wins by about 2.5 minutes each, Rule in 1:13:57 and Goddard in 1:04:01. The new Biwako Marathon also had a non-Japanese winner, China's Yousheng Guan scoring 1st in 2:14:58 with Japan's Hirohito Sugai next in 2:16:40. Mikiko Ota won the women's race in 2:50:44. The Shizuoka Marathon returned for its first running in five years, with club runner Shumpei Oda leading the top 7 men under 2:20 in 2:15:36. Women's winner Remi Tanaka ran 2:41:23, beating runner-up Ayumi Sano by exactly 7 minutes. And in Tokyo, Rui Aoki continued what has been a great season so far for Koku Gakuin University with a win at the National University Men's Half Marathon . Aoki and Hiro Konda of Chuo Gakuin Unive