Lewis to line up in virtual marathon relay
Jessica Lewis will continue her preparations for the rescheduled Paralympic Games by competing in the inaugural Asics World Ekiden 2020 virtual marathon relay next month.
The Bermudian wheelchair sprinter will be part of a World Para Athletics team alongside Efrain Sotacuro, Alex Pires Da Silva, Atsushi Yamamoto, Louzanne Coetzee and Arina Nicolaisen to compete in the challenge that will see teams of up to six from across the globe come together to complete a combined marathon from November 11 to 22.
The concept revolves around the Japanese term Ekiden, meaning a long-distance running multi-stage relay race mostly held on roads and first held in 1917 as a three-day, 23-stage run from Kyoto to Tokyo.
Because of the ongoing affects of the Covid-19 pandemic, a virtual platform has been created allowing teams to compete via an app, and track their team progress in real time as well as seeing online leaderboards.
“Super excited to announce I will be a part of one of the World Para Athletics @paraathletics teams along with five other para athletes to compete in the ASICS World Ekiden 2020 virtual marathon relay taking place November 11-22!!,” Lewis said via Instagram.