By JOSIE JENSEN | County Line Reporter
The Rails to Trails Marathon will mark its 10th anniversary this year, and to celebrate, the event will host Hajime Nishi of Japan, a philanthropist, an author and the founder of a philosophy called “ecomarathon.”
Nishi, 68, began his life studying architectural design in Kyoto, Japan, and quickly discovered a love of travel by the age of 21, when he traveled by train, boat and plane and even hitchhiked across 15 European nations.
Over the next few years, he continued his studies and travels, traveling to 100 countries on five continents, eventually meeting his wife, beginning a family, and founding his own company, Nishi Films Inc.
In 1987, Nishi lost his wife to cancer, leaving him a single father of three children. This devastating time in his life led him to various personal-growth seminars across the globe, where he learned and practiced different spiritual and physical exercises. This morphed into a new philosophy he called “ecomarathon.”
Ecomarathoning combines the health benefits of running or walking a marathon along with being in touch with the environment you are in. Instead of running a marathon with the intent of winning or beating previous times, Nishi spends his time picking up trash along the way, smiling, laughing, and talking with other participants, sharing his message of peace throughout the world.
In 1997, he completed seven marathons on seven continents in seven months, leading to a record created just for him in the Guinness Book of World Records, “The world’s fastest time to run a marathon in each of seven continents.” Within a few years, he had completed marathons in 50 U.S. states and more than 50 countries.
After 14 years as CEO, Nishi dissolved his company and devoted himself to spreading ecomarathon’s peaceful, recycling-oriented society with the world. He has since become an author, publishing “Ecomarathon Data Book,” a compilation of 255 marathons in 54 countries, and, in Japanese, “Losing is Winning,” a book about slow-running philosophy.
In Inba, Japan, Nishi also organized Eco-Slow Marathon, the world’s first slow marathon, in which instead of racing others, you run for peace and work together to pick up trash along the route, leaving the world a more beautiful place.
Nishi averages five marathons a month, with a goal of finishing 1,000 marathons in 250 countries by his 100th birthday in 2049.
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The Rails to Trails Marathon will be Sunday, Oct. 8, with the starting and ending point in the Norwalk Village Park.
Participants will travel a scenic stretch of the Elroy-Sparta State Trail to a turnaround point and be able to stop at various volunteer-operated aid stations along the way.
The event will offer a full marathon, half marathon, 5K, and one-mile fun run for any willing runner or walker.
All proceeds from the Rails to Trails Races go back into the community in the form of scholarships, donations, and maintenance of the Elroy-Sparta State Trail.
For more information on the Rails to Trails Marathon, visit www.railstotrailsraces.com.