Watch out for the progger running the Kochi Ryoma Marathon!

At the Kochi Ryoma Marathon 2025, as a first initiative, 22 proggers will run on the day of the tournament in cooperation with Progging Japan. This time, we interviewed Tokita, the representative of Progging Japan, which operates the Progger, and Rei Ueda, an ambassador, about the appeal of Progging and his thoughts on the Kochi Ryoma Marathon.

What is Progging?

I think that some people are not familiar with it, so first I would like to introduce you to progging. Progging is an activity that picks up garbage while jogging. Started in Sweden, this activity is said to promote health maintenance and environmental protection at the same time.

According to Mr. Tsuneta, the representative director who launched Progging Japan in 2019 in Japan, his hobbies are climbing, climbing, and swamp climbing, and enjoying nature while destroying nature (roads and vegetation) Because there are aspects, such as no longer growing), the desire to give back to nature has become stronger. Under such circumstances, a friend learned about his efforts to pick up garbage in North Europe, and instead of imposing someone to protect the environment, he wanted to create a system that could easily participate in it.

Six years have passed, and about 110 circles have been set up nationwide, and the circle of activities has steadily expanded, and progging events are being held all over the country, and Mr. Tsuneta also flew around the country every weekend.

Mr. Rei Ueda, who was appointed Ambassador

Rei Ueda was appointed as Ambassador of Progging Japan in 2024 to further expand the progging efforts.

Mr. Ueda has been working on garbage picking before he became an ambassador. It seems that the trigger was Corona. In the 2022 Tokyo Marathon, due to the influence of COVID-19, there were restrictions such as "banning support" and "a few people resisted participating from outside Tokyo." While I was worried about how to excite the tournament, I started to pick up garbage while running and clean up the city. Since then, at domestic and overseas competitions, we have been working on picking up garbage about 20 times on our own.

The reason I started running was in 2014, when I applied for the Tokyo Marathon with 10 colleagues from the company I worked at that time, and only Ueda was elected, and when I ran, I reached the target sub-4 for 8 seconds. He said he was fascinated by running because he was disappointed. In addition to enjoying running as a hobby, he has been energetically working as a member of TeamR2 (Team Art Two), which is engaged in activities to disseminate information on the appeal and enjoyment of running at marathon competitions and events. Was.

The charm is that you can understand the city with garbage

We asked both of you about the charm of progging.

Mr. Ueda "It's fun to understand the sight and state of the city with garbage. The quality of garbage varies depending on the region, such as champagne in Roppongi, champagne in Shibuya, and a set of lunch boxes that truck drivers would have thrown away in the seaside area."

Mr. Ueda, an analyst, said with a smile, "I'll just analyze it."

“During the race, not only cups and nutrient gel bags, but also in cold areas, Cairo or Tsumura Chinese herbal medicine to prevent leg stiffness will remind you that it’s over the last 30km.”

Mr. Tsuneta: "There are various ways to enjoy and there is norm, so it is a place where children and the elderly can enjoy together without distinction. Progging can consume calories using your body, and picking up garbage will refresh your mind and improve your self-affirmation. Even if you are not good at communicating, you will naturally have conversations in your activities."

Mr. Tsuneta doesn't stop when you talk about the charm. I felt very passionate about activities.

What I particularly sympathized with the interview team, who had a hobby of running, was that the progging activities were "a new opportunity for running." As you get older, many people may feel weakened and stop running. In addition to ultra marathons that extend the distance and trail runs that enjoy the mountains, I felt that I would be happy if more people would continue running with the option of progging.

Running as a trigger at the Kochi Ryoma Marathon

At the Kochi Ryoma Marathon 2025, it has been decided to cooperate with Progging Japan in order to promote SDGs initiatives, and at the 2/16 tournament, 22 professionals including ambassador Rei Ueda will run on Tosa Road.

Mr. Ueda said, "First of all, I want to enjoy the Kochi Ryoma Marathon, which runs for the first time. Until now, we have been picking up garbage in races as an individual activity, but this time we are excited to be able to work with our friends as a Progging Japan. I hope I can enjoy myself and support the runners."

Mr. Ueda will be presenting at 12:40 on the stage of the previous day's event held at Orient Denka Central Park (formerly Kochi City Central Park) on February 15 (Sat) the day before, as an introduction of Progging Japan's activities and activities at the Kochi Ryoma Marathon. I will do it. Please come and visit the venue.

At present, it seems that only the Mie Matsuzaka Marathon and Kochi Ryoma Marathon are cooperating with the full marathon tournament, but we hope that efforts will be expanded to other tournaments and the appeal of the marathon will be further enhanced in the future. is.

Please pay attention to 22 race-proggers, including Rei Ueda, who runs the Kochi Ryoma Marathon on February 16.