The International Chiba Ekiden was an annual team road running competition held in Chiba, Japan in late November.
The competition is split into six legs which combine to make up the marathon distance of 42.195 km.
The Chiba Ekiden was first held in 1988 and featured separate competitions for both men and women.
[1] Since 2007, each competing country selects three men and three women for their team.
[2] The men's world record for the event was set at the competition in 2005 as the Kenyan team of Josephat Ndambiri, Martin Mathathi, Daniel Mwangi, Mekubo Mogusu, Onesmus Nyerere and John Kariuki completed the course in a time of 1:57:06.