The King Baudouin Stadium and Royal Park will be the setting for the 20th edition of the DHL Ekiden on Saturday, the country’s biggest relay marathon and one of the biggest in the world. 860 teams have registered for the DHL Ekiden. That means more than 5,000 runners will put their best foot forward in Brussels on Saturday.
Each team in the Ekiden consists of six runners. Together, they cover the marathon distance. The first, third and fifth runners run 5 km, the second and fourth 10 km and the final runner completes the remaining 7.195 km. All relays take place at the King Baudouin Stadium, with the course winding through the adjacent Royal Park.
Runners do not use a classic relay baton, but a special sash. The so-called ‘tasuki’ hangs – for those who want to do it according to the rules – diagonally across the chest, from shoulder to hip. ‘Ekiden’ and ‘tasuki’ are Japanese words; After all, this branch of athletics originated in Japan. ‘Eki’ means ‘station’ and ‘den’ means ‘switch’.
At stake for the participating athletics clubs on Saturday is the Belgian relay marathon title. In the men’s event, CABW, which includes Ismael Debjani and Dorian Boulvin, will start as the top favourite and AC Pegasus Londerzeel will most likely be the biggest challenger. For the women, all eyes are on the rock-solid Royal Excelsior Sports Club Bruxelles team, led by Jana Van Lent.
The DHL Ekiden is of course also a great team-building activity. Among the 860 participating teams, there are many business teams, but also family teams or teams of friends. The sporting challenge, having fun together and team spirit are paramount.
One association that faithfully takes part every year is Tous à Bord. This organisation is committed to helping people with physical disabilities. All runners from Tous à Bord, who are competing in the DHL Ekiden with two teams, will push a buggy on Saturday. Many Special Olympics athletes will also make their way to the King Baudouin Stadium on Saturday.
Prior to the relay marathon, the Persil Kids Run will also take place in and around the King Baudouin Stadium. Children aged 4 to 12 can have fun on a 1 km course. The start of the Kids Run will sound at noon, with the first runners of the DHL Ekiden starting at 1 pm.
