Mazda provides its Mine Proving Ground, which features a 3.33-kilometer circuit, as a venue for Ekiden road relay races and other events organized and supported by local governments. One of these events, the Mine City Ekiden Road Relay Race, which is organized by the Mine City Ekiden Road Relay Race Steering Committee, has been held at the Proving Ground annually ever since it began in 2008.
To ensure the event could be held safely in FY2020, in addition to the annual cleaning of the circuit course, we took various measures to prevent infection due to COVID-19. On the day of the event, a local postal worker guided the runners around the circuit in the lead vehicle. Altogether 69 teams with 414 runners ranging from elementary school students to adults participated in the heated competition. A total of around 1,100 people including supporters attended the day's event. Some participants commented, "We're so glad that the Ekiden Road Relay Race went ahead at a time when so many other events are being canceled.