First organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in 1992, the championship ran for four editions, with its last one occurring in 1998.
[1][2] The relay format was based on the ekiden races native to Japan, where six runners team up for legs of varying length to cover the classic 42.195 km marathon distance.
[3] The first edition saw the Kenyan men's team break the world record for the ekiden relay with a run of 2:00:02 hours.
The Ethiopian women's team set the championship record of 2:16:04 hours in 1996 and retained their title the following year.
[1] The competition was preceded by the IAAF World Challenge Road Relay – a one-off race held in 1986 in Hiroshima.