"Ekidens? Please let's everyone stop with that."
This is a pretty ignorant comment. Just because high school girls in the US don't run ekidens doesn't mean they are not big, important, well organized, perfectly measured races in other countries - like Japan. For many Japanese high schoolers, a major ekiden will be the highlight of the year - not some track race.
And actually, ekiden times are even more impressive, because you don't start out with other runners (except for the first leg) - you are running mostly by yourself. And no fans next to the track, no coach yelling at you and giving you splits every lap.
And believe me, at Japanese ekidens, the times are recorded precisely - this is Japan.