Soft99 at Ekiden Run by PragmatIQ – Because Japan’s not just about cars

Ever heard of Ekiden? It’s not the name of a new ramen place — it’s a Japanese long-distance relay race, and it’s a big deal.

Born over a century ago as a way to deliver messages between towns, today Ekiden races are huge in Japan, attracting thousands of runners and even more fans.

Since Soft99 is all about Japanese precision, culture, and teamwork, we knew we had to be part of this. So last weekend, we laced up our running shoes and hit the track at Ekiden Run by PragmatIQ in Poznań!

Running with purpose (and a good sense of humor)

Sure, it’s a race — but for us, it was more about paying tribute to the values we care about: collaboration, discipline, team spirit, and doing your best for others.
Ekiden isn’t about individual glory — it’s about running for your squad. And we’re into that.

Our six-person Soft99 dream team — Jędrzej, Askaniusz, Marta, Kuba, Maciek, and Radek — represented basically all corners of our operation. From top management to sales, logistics, and even the legendary Soft99 Garage.

Together, we powered through the marathon relay (yep, that’s 42.195 km split across six people!) and ended up placing 59th out of 234 teams. Not bad, right? And hey — there’s always room for improvement. That’s kind of our thing.

What’s with the sash?

In Ekiden, runners don’t pass a baton — they pass a cloth sash called tasuki. It’s a pretty cool symbol of trust and continuity.
And honestly, that’s exactly what we believe in at Soft99. You go further when you work as a team — whether you’re formulating a product or running around a lake in Poznań.

Bottom line: we didn’t just show up to sweat — we showed up to represent what Soft99 is all about. And we had a blast doing it.