Japanese comedian sets out on around-the-world run-and-sail trek+

OSAKA, Dec. 17 Kyodo - Japanese comedian Kampei Hazama set out Wednesday on a trip around the world combining marathon running and yachting, aiming to cover 20,000 kilometers on land and 16,000 km at sea over a period of about two-and-a-half years.

Hazama, 59, departed Osaka in western Japan on a run to Kamogawa, Chiba
Prefecture, east of Tokyo, from where he will sail by yacht across the Pacific
to Los Angeles, according to organizers of the ''Earth Marathon'' event.
Updates on the journey, which is scheduled to take Hazama to the Atlantic
Ocean, Europe and Asia before he returns to Japan, will be posted regularly on
the Internet, the organizers said.
''I have butterflies in my stomach,'' the native of Kochi Prefecture told a
press conference just before setting off. ''I intend to come back no matter
what happens and no matter how many years it takes.''
Hazama has participated in numerous marathon races around the world, including
the Honolulu Marathon, which he has taken part in 17 times.
==Kyodo
2008-12-17 23:21:26