RUN WITH THE WIND

An unlikely group bands together to run in Japan’s prestigious Hakone Ekiden marathon relay.

First published in Japan in 2006, Miura’s account of 10 men versus one very tough road race launches with a chance encounter between two students just before spring classes start at Kansei University. Noting the ease with which Kakeru Kurahara is running to escape being caught for shoplifting, Haiji Kiyose recruits him as the tenth resident of a ramshackle boardinghouse but ultimately shares with him and the other residents his plan of forming them into a 10-man team to run the grueling Hakone Ekiden. The two-day race, traditionally run over the New Year’s holidays, consists of 10 sections, five a day. Each leg requires of the assigned runner mental strength and stamina as well as speed. Achieving Kiyose’s dream of forming a cohesive team out of the 10 building residents—mostly students, most without any running experience—requires patience and a great deal of tutoring in the basics of track. Kakeru and Kiyose, by far the best runners in the group, form a bond, but their past lives and track experiences remain mostly undisclosed during the months of training. By contrast, Miura gradually reveals the motivations and idiosyncrasies of each of the novice runners as they train, allowing them to arrive at their own answer as to why they run. Individual flashes of insight and self-realization punctuate each team member’s leg of the marathon. The novel, translated for the first time into English, spawned a variety of spinoffs after its publication in Japan—a manga series, an anime series, and a live-action movie—and it may appeal to younger readers facing seemingly similar insurmountable obstacles in their own paths.

A sincere, plainspoken attempt to answer the question: What does it mean to run?