Celebrity sets off on two-year 'Earth Marathon'

Comedian Kanpei Hazama, 59, departed Osaka Wednesday at the start of his 36,000-km around-the-world jogging and sailing "Earth Marathon" that he expects to take at least two years to complete and whose progress will be closely reported on TV and a Web site.

The easy part: Comedian Kanpei Hazama greets members of the audience Wednesday in Osaka as he starts his two-year running and sailing "Earth Marathon" around the world. KYODO PHOTO

The organizer said Hazama will keep going eastward, sailing across the Pacific, jogging across the United States, sailing across the Atlantic and then running across Europe and Asia before returning to Japan.

Hazama will run 20,000 km and sail some 16,000 km, the organizer said on its Web site.

Video footage of Hazama's trip will be uploaded regularly to www.earth-marathon.com , the official bilingual Web site for the marathon.