A FORMER Herefordian has broadcast his marathon efforts in a Japanese road race to thousands of people across the globe.

Joseph Tame ran the Tokyo Marathon armed with a stateof- the-art phone and wi-fi router, allowing him to broadcast a live video of the gruelling event on the internet.

The technology allowed his mum and dad to track their son’s progress from the family home in Orcop.

The former Hereford Sixth Form College student, who lives in the Japanese capital, said it was “an incredibly humbling experience”.

“It was my first full marathon,” said Joseph, who moved to the country after marrying his Japanese wife Satoko at Orcop Church in July 2008.

“I’m not really a runner but started going for Sunday jogs around the Imperial Palace in central Tokyo with my friend Tom. It was a way to make sure we kept fit and stayed in touch.

“I was approached by the TV company about doing the documentary when I was registering for the marathon.”

The 32-year-old completed the 26-mile trek in five hours and seven minutes and says it left him “totally exhausted”.

Joseph, who wore imitation rabbit ears during the race to make him more recognisable, interviewed other runners and even included a live musical performance from someone running with a guitar.

Eight of his friends were dotted around the route broadcasting live video from the spectators’ perspective.

By the end of the marathon, more than 13,000 people had tuned in to watch the show.

“The event captured the imagination of the Japanese people and the Japanese media,” says Joseph. “We made national TV, national radio and Yahoo news.

“The most common feedback we got was that ‘this is so much better than TV coverage, we feel like we’re running too’.”

The documentary can be viewed at tamegoeswild.com.