Nike teamed up with Wieden+Kennedy to develop (and launch) another project, which unites people and helps promote the idea of urban running across the planet. On January 4, the brand kicked off an Ekiden relay race (ancient Japanese sport), which is designed to engage as many runners as possible within two months (the initiative closes up on February 28).

Originally, the Japanese word ‘ekiden’ (‘eki’ stands for ‘place,’ and ‘den’ means ‘destination’) is a marathon with the total distance of 42.195 kilometers, which is ran by six runners (the first one takes 5km, and the other ones 10 km, 5 km, 10 km, 5 km and 7.195 km respectively). Nike gave the idea a modern twist by making it a bit digital—the Tasuki sash, which is usually passed from one runner to another as a baton, is now given online through email invitations, encouraging to join the race on www.nikerunfwd.jp.

Those who wish to participate are invited to register at the website and create a team. But it is not the only way to get into the project, since you can also become a part of the movement by getting appointed as the next member of the team. The rules are simple: once you received a nomination, you have 72 hours to accept it and run at least 3km, track the distance using Nike+GPS or Nike+ applications and then choose a person to nominate as the next runner. If you fail to complete the run, the whole team is disqualified, so you must think twice before sending an invitation to the next possible participant or accepting it from another member. The runners who signed up to join the race receive a personalized video (similar to the one below), which features information on what distance each member of their team has run before. The data about runs of your team is updated on the website immediately after it’s obtained by nikeplus.com through the apps.

So far, the digital Tasuki sash has been passed to 1,976 runners from 986 teams in 75 cities, and they have covered over 7089 km. Nike will award the best teams (which have run faster than others, covered or have more members) with special prizes, the brand’s running shoes (still, those will be awarded to Japan residents only). Another running-themed initiatives by Nike include Nike Grid project and launch of Nike+ GPS app.