Thats the Japanese Race.
Hakone Ekiden produces mind boggling TV ratings yet again. 56.2 million people watched and the race averaged 17.3 million!!
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colinphillips wrote:
My daughter lives in Japan (and speaks Japanese), so our New Year's tradition is live streaming the Hakone Ekiden together, with her explaining to me what the Japanese commentators are saying.
The production effort that NHK TV puts into the race is FAR better than anything that we see in the US or the UK. The impressive tracking (sensors, many camera bikes, etc.) and knowledgeable commentators make it so much more interesting than we normally get from US commentators.
It helps a lot that the two days are book-ended by the dramatic climb/descent to Hakone, with 3000' of elevation allowing for additional drama.
There seems to be some additional staging effort that makes the race more dramatic for casual viewers, e.g., theatrical collapsing into the arms of teammates at the end of each leg, coaches yelling through speakers from following vans, choreographed water bottle drops by teammates. I don't know if the TV people instruct the teams to do all of these set pieces.
NHK doesn't do the broadcast for Hakone Ekiden... Nippon Television does the broadcast
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Brett Larner from japan running news is on this podcast released today - Running State of the Sport with George Hirsch and Amby Burfoot
- Brett explained the idea of corporate running and how the Japanese runners provide inspiration to the corporate teams and work part-time for national corporate brands in simple occupations similar to African police and military positions.
- Explains the Japanese training methods. Do not believe the stereotypes
- The Japanese now utilizes the same drinks and training methods the USA and African runners follow.
- Brett has ideas for changes to improve governance and World Athletics rules;
- 1) World Athletics Rankings
- 2) Reduction of placing bonus in major races
- 3) Closed loop of races
- 4) 2 tier system of have and have nots - The Global Calendar, Meet Directors, and Agents controlling who gets the points that qualify to the global championships and Diamond League events
Born in Canada and educated mostly in the United States, Brett Larner has lived and run in Japan for the last 30 years. There, he began JapanRunningNews.blogspot.com to help the English speaking world understand more about the whys and hows of Japanese running.
There's a lot to learn. After the East African countries, Japan has long led the rest of the globe in marathon success.For a time, Japanese running was mainly confined to a number of smallish, but super-elite annual marathons. However, the rapid growth of the Tokyo Marathon (1981 elite only; 2007 mass participation, now a World Marathon Major), has introduced mass participation running to a culture already attuned to elite competitions.
Larner explains a number of historical reasons for Japanese success, especially among male runners. These include the unique ekiden relay races so popular in Japan, especially one--the Hakone Ekiden, at the beginning of each New Year--that rivets the entire country much as the Super Bowl does in the U.S.
Also, Japan has a system of corporate running teams where the athletes are actual company employees and not just sponsored superstars. This system may encourage more everyday runners, and even non runners, to become supporters of the country's best distance elites.
You can learn more about Brett Larner at the above website, or from his JRNHeadlines account on X.com.
WHERE TO FIND "RUNNING: STATE OF THE SPORT"
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