Last year a large film team and hundreds of extras in period clothing occupied the Stockholm Stadium to recreate a mythical marathon that took place during the Summer Olympics in Stockholm back in 1912.
The race became a Swedish sensation after a Japanese contender decided to drop off midway due to the extreme heat. The only problem was that the man, named Shiso Kanakuri, forgot to register his cancelation before returning back home to Japan and was declared missing.
Kanakuri continued his life in Japan for many years without the knowledge that he had gained mythological status back in Sweden. Years later in 1967 he was invited back to Stockholm to finish his race and was amusingly awarded with the longest marathon time in history: 54 years, 8 months, 6 days, 8 hours, 32 minutes and 20,3 seconds.
The absurd story is one of the central stories of the new Japanese mini-series called Idaten: Tokyo Olympic Banashi which premiered earlier this year and was shot extensively in the Stockholm area.
Read more about the series here. And more about the story here.
