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Towada Hachimantai Ekiden to Return Aug. 7 for 75th Anniversary Edition


Canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the organizing committee of the Towada Hachimantai Ekiden have announced that the race will return this year for its 75th anniversary. The ekiden will take place Aug. 7 with both women's and men's divisions and will be held with strict COVID countermeasures in place. Organizers hope that its return for the first time since 2019 will bring more popularity and exciting racing than ever before.

The organizing committee made the decision to commit to going ahead with this year's race at a meeting at Kazuno City Hall on May 10. At the meeting they determined the terms under which the ekiden will take place and how to proceed with preparing to put it on. Team entries will be accepted until July 8.

Known as the Jupachi Ekiden, an abbreviated reading of the kanji making up the event's full name, the race was founded in 1948. Each year, dozens of university, corporate league and local club teams compete. Its cancelation in 2020 was the first in the ekiden's history. Last year a decision to go ahead with the 74th edition was made in the spring, but with infection numbers trending upward nationwide during the summer it was canceled with just one week to go. 28 men's teams and 14 women's teams had been entered, a record level of participation for women after only 6 teams had run the previous year.

The five-stage men's race covers 71.4 km from the shores of Lake Towada to Hachimantai Onuma. With 828 m elevation difference it is one of the most challenging ekiden courses in Japan. The course has been shortened by 200 m from its traditional distance of 71.6 km due to road improvements in the Lake Towada Waiuchi area on the first leg. Launched in 2018, the five-stage women's race covers 28.1 km from Oyuhokihata to Hachimantai Nagamine. Opening ceremonies will take place Aug. 6 at Komose, but as a measure against the pandemic the scale of the event may be limited.

source article:
translated and edited by Brett Larner

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