In mid-September I ran an ekiden, a four-person relay covering a total of 23 km. My portion was 5km. Given the running I do weekly with Ronan, this should not have been a hurdle for me. The thing is, whereas Ronan and I jog alongside one another in a noncompetitive fashion, this was an actual race. Other (fitter) people ran faster, so I had to run faster. I ended up burning myself out too quickly and taking a walking break partway through. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Our gang of friends had two teams in the event; all of us were dolled up in the hopes of winning, if not the race, then the prize for "best costumes". Since only five teams had bothered with costumes, and the sponsors offered 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes for costumes, we liked our odds. You probably can't see it but I had a bushy fox's tail hanging out of the back of my shorts, earning me cheers of "ganbatte, kitsune-chan!" ("go, fox-girl!") from the spectators.

And the team I had joined won 2nd prize for costumes, losing to the ridiculous chicken-men (left). Ah, the sweet smell of consolation! My jogging partner Ronan is in the green wig.