"Ekiden" is a long-distance relay where the teams run the full marathon length (42.195 kilometers) in several stages on the road, with a runner of one stage handing off the team sash to his/her team mate who will run the next stage. It is quite popular in Japan as well as outside Japan, and there is even an "ekiden" event for elementary school girls with much shorter distance. (But long enough to kill one 11-year-old girl in Saitama City during practice, and no it was not heat exhaustion.)
From Sankei Shinbun, as appeared in Yahoo Japan News (therefore don't expect the link to last very long; 9/28/2011):
１１月１３日に号砲が鳴る第２７回東日本女子駅伝に東日本大震災で被災した岩手、宮城、福島の３県の合同チーム「絆チーム（仮称）」が出場することになった。主催者が２８日発表した。
It has been decided that a joint team of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima Prefecture who suffered in the March 11 earthquake/tsunami will be entered in the 27th Annual East Japan Women's Ekiden which will be held on November 13, the sponsors announced on September 28.
東北陸上競技協会と福島テレビが主催、サンケイスポーツなどが後援。晩秋の福島路を１７都道県の女性ランナーが走る。被災３県は個別チームとは別に合同チームを結成。復興への思いを胸に９区間４２・１９５キロで友情のたすきをつなぐ。
The event is sponsored by the Tohoku Athletic Association and Fukushima TV Network, and backed by Sankei Sports and others. Female runners from 17 Prefectures will run in Fukushima in late autumn. In addition to the prefectural teams, the three disaster-affected prefectures will form a joint team, and run the 42.195 kilometers in 9 stages in friendship and hope for the recovery of their prefectures.
東京電力福島第１原発事故による放射線の影響が懸念されたが、主催者は「６月から沿道の線量測定を続け、現在は最大で毎時１マイクロシーベルト台で低下傾向にある」としている。福島市は大会に備え、発着地点の信夫ケ丘競技場などの除染を計画している。
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