Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that can help answer the question.
Query: When did Ekiden start?
In the meantime, the first ekiden, was held in 1917 between Sanjō Ōhashi, Kyoto and Tokyo, celebrating 50 years after Tokyo became the capital. This race was a big relay race between Kyoto and Tokyo (516 km) held by Yomiuri Shimbun for three days. It succeeded and became the original form of Hakone Ekiden. Kanaguri was influenced by the success of the race and persuaded many universities that they should race in the Hakone Ekiden. As a result, Waseda Univ., Keio Univ., Meiji Univ. and Tokyo Kōshi replied to his offer and Hakone Ekiden started. Hakone Ekiden was started with great energy of the pioneers in Japanese sports society. It started during World War I, so industrial areas gradually expanded to the west and the Tokaido road was widened. Reflecting this active atmosphere, the Japanese sports society, including ekiden one, were developing great challenging spirits at that time.
The Izumo Ekiden in Izumo City, Shimane Prefecture of western Japan marks the beginning of the collegiate ekiden season and is for male university athletes. Teams come from all over Japan. The race is 6 stages (8k, 5.8k, 8.5k, 6.5k, 5k, 10.2k.) covering 43.1 kilometers. The 20th annual race was held on October 13, 2008. Since 1998, a select team of Ivy league alumni runners from the United States has competed and found the competition quite stiff. The Ivy league representatives have finished in the last half of the field each time.
The All-Japan Interprefectural Ekiden Championships are held in January. The Empress Cup – Interprefectural Women's Ekiden is held in Kyoto, on the third Sunday in January. The Interprefectural Men's Ekiden is held in Hiroshima, in recent years on the fourth Sunday of January. 
In the Men's All-Japan Interprefectural Ekiden Championship, 7 runners run 48 kilometers in stages of 7k 3k 8.5k 5k 8.5k 3k and 13k In both races, each team is composed of runners selected to represent one prefecture, a total of 47 teams in each race. The majority of the team members are high school and junior high school elite runners. Junior high runners are assigned to the two 3k stages and high school runners are assigned to the 7k, the 5k and 8.5k stages. Open runners are placed in the remaining 8.5k stage and the 13k stage. In 2009 the team from Nagano took its 5th title in 6 years.
The Empress Cup - Interprefectural Women's Ekiden Championship is held in Kyoto on the third Sunday in January. The 2012 running marks the 30th annual event. Forty seven teams from the 47 prefectures of Japan compete. The course is the same as the course for the high school boys national ekiden race held on the third Sunday of December, except that the women's relay has 9 stages (rather than 7) over the 42.195 kilometers. The stages are 6k 4k 3k 4k 4.0175k 4.0875k 4k 3k and 10k. The two 3k stages are reserved for junior high athletes and generally high school athletes run the 5 stages that are 4k or just over 4k. Collegiate and open runners take the 6k and 10k stages. The mixed-age squads maintain a rapid pace. In 2009 the first 10 team teams finished under 2 hours and 20 minutes, and 12 teams broke 2:20 in 2012. In 2009, the team from Kyoto took its 13th championship, and as of that year, in the ekiden's 20 years Kyoto has only twice placed outside the top 6. Okayama took its first ever title in 2010, Kyoto reclaimed it in 2011, and in 2012 Kyoto finished second, a minute back from the winning team from neighboring Osaka.
The lengths of "ekiden" in Japan can vary greatly, as can the number of runners on a team. For example, in the national junior high ekiden championship, 5 girls cover 12 kilometers and 6 boys cover 18 kilometers. The national high school championship involves 5 girls in a 21 kilometer race and 7 boys in a 42.195 kilometer race, the length of the modern Olympic marathon. In the national inter-prefecture championships, 9 women run 42.195 kilometers and 7 men run 48 kilometers. For the collegiate Hakone Ekiden, a 2-day event, 10 male athletes for each team run 219 kilometers. Each runner covers just over a half marathon. The mid-December National Corporate Women's Ekiden Championships, 6 runners cover 42.195 kilometers. In the January 1 National Corporate Men's Ekiden Championships, 7 runners cover 100.0 kilometers. For the mid-January national open championships (teams composed of selected junior high, high school and open athletes), the distances are 42.195 for the women and 48.0 for the men. Notably in distance, in the Round-Kyūshū Ekiden, a 10 days event, 72 segments cover 1064 kilometers around Kyushu Island and it is the longest relay race in the world.
In mid December, 48 teams representing all the regions and prefectures of Japan gather in Yamaguchi City of Yamaguchi Prefecture for the annual All-Japan Junior High School Ekiden Championships. For junior high school girls, a team of 5 girls run stages that follow the 3 – 2 – 2 – 2 – 3 kilometer pattern (total 12 kilometers). The boys team consists of 6 runners following the 3 – 3 – 3 – 3 – 3 – 3 kilometer pattern (total 18 kilometers). The 2011 race was the 19th annual competition. The junior high championship ekiden is not a road race but rather each runner runs a loop within the confines of a park. The boys team (6 boys) complete 18 kilometers, in a 3k-3k-3k-3k-3k-3k pattern. The girls team (5 runners) complete 12 kilometers, in a 3k-2k-2k-2k-3k pattern. In 2008 the winning boys team had an average pace of 5:01.9/mile or 9:26/3000 meters; the girls team had an average pace of 5:21.6/mile or just over 10:00/3000 meters.
Unlike the American school sports clear distinction of "track season" and "cross country season", the Japanese autumn ekiden races are intermingled with standard track competitions, although many autumn track meets have a narrow focus, calling themselves "long distance" meets. Japan has a very highly structured format leading to a national high school championship for track in early August and for ekiden in late December, whereas the USA school format ends at state championships in both sports. Japanese school ekiden teams compete infrequently, some only once or twice between September and December, unless they qualify to go on to higher levels; nationals are held in late December. American school cross country teams typically race almost weekly during September and October, with a narrowed set of school teams competing for state championships in late October or November. December post season American races like the Nike Cross Nationals and the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships are not officially school based.
The second Sunday of January (January 15, 2012) is the annual Saitama Ekiden. The 2012 race was the 79th annual. The open men's race is 6 stages covering 50.9 kilometers. High school boys cover 41.7 km in 6 stages. Open women and high school girls cover 22.8 km in 5 stages. Application for participation closed November 11, 2011. The race begins in Fukaya City and ends in Ageo, with the shorter races starting at way points in between. Forty open boys and men's teams, 40 high school boys teams, and almost 20 high school girls teams typify recent participation levels.
Honolulu Ekiden & Music Festival: The first annual Honolulu Ekiden & Music Festival was held on May 12, 2013.
Certified by the USATF the course consists of six different sections; the course totals 42.195 km/26 miles .
Starting at the base of Diamond Head at Kapiolani Park, the course progresses eastward along the coast and winds past Hanauma Bay with a turnaround point at Sandy Beach Park.
A maximum number of six (6) runners may participate on a team. For teams with less than six members, a runner or runners may run more than one section consecutively. Individual runners are also welcome to participate.
On the first Sunday of November, the men compete in the 8 stage, 106.8 kilometer National Collegiate Ekiden Championship in Aichi and Mie Prefectures. This race is the second of the season's big three, the first being the Izumo Ekiden and the last being the Hakone Ekiden. Here, 27 teams battle for the national title. The race starts in front of Atsuta Shrine in Nagoya City and then proceeds out of the city, along the coast and 106.8 kilometers later to Ise Grand Shrine in Ise, Mie Prefecture.
Teams for the women's championship gain qualification into the final ekiden race through a series of 3 preliminaries (2011 summary). The Eastern Japan Corporate Ekiden Championship qualifies men's and women's teams. Two other qualifying meets for the women are held for Central Japan and Western Japan, (women's divisions detailed in Japanese). The Western Japan women's qualifying race (6 stages, 42.195 km, 31st race on October 23, 2011) begins in Munakata, Fukuoka; website. After the 3 regional qualifying ekiden events, the field is typically narrowed to 24 to 27 teams, although new qualification standards in 2011 increased the field to include any corporate team that could break the 2:30 mark in one of the regional qualifier meets. Further details and results of the qualification races can be found at All-Japan Corporate Ekiden Championships.
Teams gain qualification into the final ekiden race through a series of preliminaries which are principally conducted on a district-by-district basis. The Eastern Japan Corporate Ekiden Championship qualifies men's and women's teams. Two other qualifying meets for the women are held for Central Japan and Western Japan, (women's divisions detailed in Japanese). The Western Japan women's qualifying race (6 stages, 42.195 km, 31st race on October 23, 2011) begins in Munakata, Fukuoka; website.
The Ediacaran Period (), spans 94 million years from the end of the Cryogenian Period 635 million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Cambrian Period 541 Mya. It marks the end of the Proterozoic Eon, and the beginning of the Phanerozoic Eon. It is named after the Ediacara Hills of South Australia.
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The fourth Saturday in January has been designated for the Tokyo German Village Ekiden, which began in 2011. January 28, 2012 was the second. The race is conducted in the park of Tokyo German Village, Chiba. The 4-member teams complete 20 km, with each stage running two 2.5 km laps within the park. Pair runs and "chibiko" children's runs are also held. The event is limited to 600 teams. There is a post-race BBQ and beer garden.
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Hakone Ekiden was started in 1920. Shizo Kanaguri, who is known as the father of the Japanese marathon, conceived the idea. His enthusiastic idea of bringing up a runner who could compete in the world became the driving force of establishing Hakone Ekiden. When Kanaguri was a Tokyo Koto Shihan school (Koshi) student, he participated in Olympic Games in Stockholm in 1912 as one of the representative Japanese marathon runners. He had to give up his race on the way, however.
Inaugurated in 1988, the November Chiba International Ekiden (2008–2011 results posted) was two separate races – one for men and one for women. From 2007, it has changed format into a combine male/female race. In 2008, 13 teams from 11 countries participated; in 2011 it was 12 teams from 10 countries. The race is contested in six stages over 42.195 kilometers, exactly a marathon. The race begins and ends at the Chiba Sports Center Track and Field Complex (on the monorail). The first 5k stage, third 10k stage, and fifth 10k stage are reserved as men's stages, while 5k second stage, 5k fourth stage and 7.195k sixth stage are reserved for women.