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22 Universities Participate in "Another Hakone Ekiden" Trash Cleanup

http://www.asahi.com/national/update/0109/TKY201001090313.html

translated by Brett Larner

100 students from 22 universities including 10 schools which ran in the main event are taking part in "Another Hakone Ekiden," a two-day event in which students pick up trash while running along the Hakone Ekiden course, began on Jan. 9. Starting from Tokyo's Otemachi district and ending the second day at Ashinoko in Hakone, each team in the event consists of five runners who hand off a tasuki like the real Hakone runners. In determining the winner teams are scored on both time and the amount of garbage they collect.

Carrying a cell phone and bag, one finished runner said, "There was a lot more trash than I expected." A member of the organizing committee commented, "We used the word 'another' in the event title because we want university students to take another look at the environmental problems we face today."

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