Bicycle, jogging police units unveiled ahead of Yokohama Marathon

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JIJI, KYODO, The Japan Times

MAR 4, 2015

YOKOHAMA – The Kanagawa Prefectural Police will introduce bicycle and running units to protect participants in the Yokohama Marathon 2015 on March 15.

The bicycle unit, the first of its kind in Japan, follows the introduction of “running police” who jogged alongside runners in the Tokyo Marathon last month.

The Yokohama event, the city’s first large-scale marathon, will have around 25,000 runners as well as thousands of spectators.

Male officers selected from the riot police squad will take turns riding four mountain bikes, while 16 officers will pair up and take turns running about 10 km each.

A police official said using bicycles will allow the officers to stay alert and enable them to respond quickly to emergencies.

“I’ll do my best from the standpoint of the runners,” one of the officers in the bicycle unit said.