Home :: Events / Victoria :: Oak Bay KOOL Half :: Oak Bay Asics Ekiden Relay Quick Facts

Oak Bay Asics Ekiden Relay Quick Facts

For all race weekend information please refer to the Oak Bay KOOL Half Marathon main page. It can be found here.

What is an ‘Ekiden Relay'?

The Ekiden Relay portion helps build the size of the race and participation. The Ekiden allows for people of all levels to join the fun. In our situation we use team of 4 people to run a portion of the racecourse. In our case the distances are roughly 4.2km, 4.8km, 5.1km and 7.0km. The goal of the Ekiden is to get the sache from the start to the finish. A sache is a piece of cloth that is worn over one shoulder and around the body. Each team needs a name and a captain.

Who is the Captain?

Anyone can be the Captain. The Captain is in charge of picking up the other team members shirts, the sache and getting the team organized. It is this person's name and contact information that will go on the registration form.

What Category are we in?

The different options for race categories are junior (Under 20), Open and Masters (over 40). All 3 divisions have a male, female and mixed component. Mixed is defined as any variation of male and female. There is also a corporate division.

The Exchange Zones?

The Ekiden Relay has 3 exchange zones. These zones mark the completion of legs and the beginning of the next leg. In this zone, the sache is passed from one runner to the next. These zones will be marked on the race map. They are roughly at 5km, 5.8km, 3.5km, and 7km. Please note the exchange zones have been moved slightly from previous years.

How does each Team Member get to the Exchanges?

May we suggest... the person who runs 3rd is the driver for the team. They can pick up each member before the race or meet somewhere and then drop off the people who are running legs 1 and 2 at the start/finish area, before heading to the start of Leg 3. The person who is running leg 2 can jog over to the start of their leg. The person who runs the first leg can bring the clothing of the person running the 2nd leg back to the finish for them. We suggest throwing your stuff into a bag labelled with the team name. This will make sure that the 1st person picks up the proper gear. The 2nd person should leave an extra shirt and pants in the car. The car will be at the 2nd exchange. The person running leg 3 basically ends up back where they started, hence is the best choice for the driver. After the 3rd person runs they can bring themselves and the 2nd runner back to the finish before the 4th person finishes. This way each member will be a part of the team finishing. This is the easiest way to organize your team.

Top

Associated events:
'KOOL' Half Marathon
Kids Krazy Kilometre