SWTJ at the 31st Tsukidate Relay Event
On November 6, SWTJ joined the residents in the Tsukidate district of Kesennuma in Miyagi Prefecture at their traditional autumn relay event, the 31st in history! Conducting the event in spite of the earthquake and tsunami a half-year earlier shows the community's strong will to go forward and to recreate and strengthen community bonds.
Mr.Yoshida of the SWTJ Kesennuma Branch at the opening
Teachers from Tsukidate elementary school led the warm-up session
Many local people lined the streets and cheered the runners on while holding flags
A bit nervous: SWTJ member starting off!
(The SWTJ runner of the first relay section finished a disappointing 7th. Why should I hide it? That was me, Kanazawa Ryo, the writer of this blog!)
Fortunately, others in our team caught up, and we managed to finish 4th.
A Tsukidate junior team won the first prize! Local boy of the winning team holding the wooden SWTJ trophy.
A bottle of Kamotsuru sake from Kamotsuru sake brewery, a SWTJ sponsor in Hiroshima, went to the team that won the participation prize.
Big thanks go to the six local ladies who joined our four runners in the SWTJ team for the event!
Running toward the same goal with the Tsukidate people while passing on the baton to each other helped us create new bonds with the people in the disaster area. Big thanks for letting us take part!
Kanazawa Ryo
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