The Ekiden Men are go!

A relay in Devon sees a legendary old ragtag running team reformed, with a few aging, and a few new, members

From l to r: Ed, Charlie, Colum, Adharanand.

I had wanted to call my second book, about running in Japan, The Ekiden Men, since it sounded a bit like The X Men, a team of superheroes living in a far-flung comic-book land.

My publishers, however, were not keen. My agent told me: “If you want people to actually read it, don’t call it The Ekiden Men.” In the end I plumped for The Way of the Runner, but my relay team at the end of the book, in a nod to that lost title, was called The Ekiden Men.

Well, like all good superhero stories, after many years, last week we finally got the sequel: The Return of the Ekiden Men, featuring me, the old captain, aged since 2014, when I was at my running peak, the hair now greyer, the legs slower, but the passion to put the world to rights (well, to race hard over a short distance) still there.

The scene for 2025’s Return of the Ekiden Men was the Haldon Forest Relays. Four times three kilometres on a hilly route in woods just outside Exeter (hmm?). Short, sharp. A Friday night burn-up. Let the fireworks blow!