The group running around Nishinomiya Shrine and the Hamawaki area on Saturday, December 28 were the runners from the cleanup running event we announced the other day.
This time, Nishi2 went to report on the event.
To briefly explain what this event is:
- You can drop out anytime
- Even though the participants don’t know each other
- They have fun together
- Pick up trash
- And go running
That’s the kind of event it is.
It’s organized by GPS runner Naoki Shimizu, and Nishi2 is also participating as a co-host!
Our previous announcement article↓
This is the kind of group it was↓
There were 33 people in total.
A lot of people who saw them probably thought, “Who are these people?”
There was even a Santa reusing a gift bag as a trash bag. (He’s the oldest participant at 59!)
And since this is Nishinomiya, some people were wearing handmade sake-themed hats.
The yellow gloves everyone is wearing are
the gloves worn by runners in Nishinomiya Shrine’s “Kaimon Fukuotoko Erabi” lucky-man race.
At this point, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it not trash picking, but “fortune picking.”
Because
it looks super fun, doesn’t it?
Oh, and this running event isn’t just about picking up trash.
Using a GPS map-tracking feature, the runners draw the character “福”, meaning good fortune. (It’s called GPS running or running art.)
This one says Nishinomiya♥ Love.
They run a route that forms the character “福.”
Here’s the route they ran this time↓
Believe it or not, the running distance is 10 km!
That’s a decent distance.
Report on Nishinomiya’s Year-End Cleanup Run
We gathered at Nishinomiya Shrine’s Red Gate before 9:00 on Saturday, December 28.
A wheelchair user also joined the event!
We did some light warm-up exercises in front of the main shrine building.
Then, around 9:20, we set off from Nishinomiya Shrine!
The route took us across the pedestrian bridge over National Route 43.
Unlike a marathon, GPS running also takes you through smaller streets instead of only along major roads.
There was more trash on the main roads than on the narrow streets.
We took a break every 2 km.
So even people who aren’t used to running can join. (I almost never run, so you can trust me on that.)
There were lots of plastic bottles and empty cans in and around the hedges.
Still, it’s pretty rare to see a run where adults and kids are all having this much fun together.
This oldest Santa worked incredibly hard. Cells at work♪
Even if your shoelaces come untied, the pace is relaxed, so it’s totally fine. That’s one of the nice things about cleanup running.
We took a restroom break at Higashisan Park. It’s called Tosan Park.
We also cleaned up around the Miyamizu wells, Nishinomiya’s famous water source.
By the way, Miyamizu has been selected by the Ministry of the Environment as one of Japan’s 100 Famous Waters.
This time, the youngest runner, a 5-year-old girl, did a great job picking up trash too. She kept up with the running as well!
We also ran past shops that opened this year and were introduced on Nishi2.
This is 一夢庵, a specialty bread shop that just opened in November. The report article is here.
The light blue color is cute. This shop is ふわこっぺ, a koppe-pan specialty shop with more than 30 different fillings and sandwich options. The report article is here.
Waiting at traffic lights is an oasis.
We also picked up cigarette litter, which tends to be common near intersections.
Everyone was happy to see the empty cans lined up so neatly. Being able to feel happy about trash is kind of wonderful.
Even through a fence, we still wanted to pick up the trash.
The look from this dog, like “What are these people doing?” was really memorable.
This is in front of Hamawaki Elementary School.
Of course, only along the route we passed, but the Hanshin Nishinomiya, Hamawaki, and Yohai areas got cleaner!
At 11:20, after about 2 hours, we finished at Nishinomiya Shrine’s Red Gate! At this point, everyone was basically a lucky man or lucky woman, right?
(Actually, one of the participants has been a real Fukuotoko winner twice in the past!)
Here’s the completed character↓
With adidas’ runtastic app, it looks like this↓
When you think of the god of good fortune, you think of Ebessan.
It was amazing to have an event at the end of the year where we could clean up the area around Nishinomiya Shrine, the head shrine of all Ebisu shrines.
Finally, we all took a photo together.
Picking up trash while running 10 km — aren’t they tired? Why are they smiling so much?
They must have received some good fortune for sure.
