Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Nothing brings me more joy and anxiety than a book I’d rate 5 out of 5 stars without a moment’s hesitation, like Shion Miura’s Run with the Wind. Joy, because it means I’ve just finished a fantastic novel, and anxiety, because putting into words exactly what made you love something so much is a tough job. It’s amazing, go read it. That should be enough! But anyway, let’s start with the plot before getting into everything else that makes this story so ridiculously entertaining.
Run with the Wind begins on a chilly March night, when former track-and-field star Kakeru Kurahara is running through the streets after shoplifting some food. He’s spotted and chased by Haiji Kiyose, a senior at Kansei University, where Kakeru is about to begin his studies. To Kakeru’s surprise, Haiji offers him an unbelievably cheap room in a dormitory called Chikusei-so, where eight other students already live. The young men assume that the quirky Haiji is simply interested in filling up the dorm, but it turns out he has a far more wildly ambitious plan for everyone: to get all ten of them to participate in the Hakone Ekiden, Japan’s legendary two-day university relay race!
First of all, I have next to zero interest in marathons or running, and only picked up a copy of Run with the Wind because I’d thoroughly enjoyed two other novels by Shion Miura. There’s The Great Passage, a fascinating tale about the mammoth undertaking of compiling a dictionary, and The Easy Life in Kamusari, a leisurely, laid-back story about a city boy adjusting to life in a remote village while undergoing forestry training that pays peanuts. And, of course, the online algorithm had also very cleverly suggested Run with the Wind while I was browsing for new books.
Shion Miura entertainingly spins this unlikely tale of ten young students, more than half of whom aren’t even athletes, coming together to pursue someone else’s dream and miraculously sticking with it. ‘Run with the Wind’ isn’t really about winning the Hakone Ekiden, because even qualifying for the race would be a monumental achievement for this ragtag team. And for readers unfamiliar with the Hakone Ekiden or track and field in general, Miura makes the sport wonderfully accessible, breaking down everything from the race’s changing terrain to the runners’ gruelling training regimens in an engaging, easy-to-follow manner, without ever sounding too textbookish.
The growing bond between the novel’s two primary protagonists, Haiji and Kakeru, as friends and fellow athletes is the defining strength of ‘Run with the Wind’. Kakeru has turned his back on competitive track and field, disillusioned by the ugly rivalries, politics and bullying that plague the sport, and now prefers to run simply for himself.
Haiji, meanwhile, is a former athlete whose career was cut short by an injury, but whose love for running remains undiminished. It’s this shared passion for the simple joy of running that brings them together. And for the first time, Kakeru finds himself under the wing of a genuinely nurturing mentor. Haiji proves to be an almost magical motivator, not just for Kakeru but for the entire team, encouraging each of them to push their limits without ever making them feel inadequate.
The rest of Run with the Wind‘s main characters are an assorted bunch, some providing plenty of comic relief, like the cheerful twin brothers Jota and Joji, who hilariously have a crush on the same girl. There’s Shindo, a dependable third-year student who becomes the team’s unofficial PR manager; Musa, an exchange student from Tanzania with little interest in running, who even jokes about the racist assumption that all Africans are natural runners; and Yuki, a cynical law student often at odds with his neighbour Nico, the dorm’s oldest resident, a chain-smoker. Rounding out the gang are King, a trivia addict, and Prince, an otaku who spends most of his time holed up in his room, surrounded by manga.
Prince was probably the most relatable character for me. He’s a total nerd, always cooped up in his room reading manga, and he sure as hell has never run in his life. Well, at least not competitively. He’s understandably, and rather comically, horrified at the idea of participating in a race with his dorm-mates. Thankfully, Shion Miura doesn’t magically transform him into a running star of sorts. He believably remains slow and rather hopeless at running, from start to finish.
If anything, I wish Run with the Wind were just a little longer, so Miura could have given the rest of the gang more room to shine and also because I wanted to spend more time with them. But then, perhaps a bigger book would have scared off readers intimidated by tome-sized novels. After all, this is a light-hearted coming-of-age tale about friendship, sportsmanship, male camaraderie and the little ways in which these young men look out for one another.
In its final chapters, Run with the Wind does give each character a moment in the spotlight as they take turns running their legs of the relay race. The Hakone Ekiden truly comes alive here, from the determined runners and cheering crowds gathered to watch these students chase glory, to the winding roads and ever-changing landscapes. Miura’s evocative prose makes you feel as though you’re right there beside the characters, cheering them on, sharing their exhaustion and exhilaration, and ultimately, running with the wind.
Rating for ‘Run with the Wind’: 5 out of 5 stars!
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