Oysters and the running man

Oysters and the running man

What do farmed oysters, running, and Japanese candy have in common? They all came together for an unusual confluence near the finish line of the Newport Marathon this year, where Sea Grant Aquaculture Specialist Dave Landkamer told an unexpected shellfish tale.

The Newport Marathon, a full marathon of 42.195 kilometers (26.2 miles), has a very unique, bivalve component incorporated into the course. At miles 11 and 19 of the race, between aid stations that offer fruit and energy gels, runners can consume as many oyster shooters as they want when they shoot past the Oregon Oyster Farms on the Yaquina estuary. Rumor has it that last year, one contestant slurped more than 80 oysters during the race.

Sign for Glico candy near Osaka, JapanSo how does Japanese candy figure into this story? In 1922, Ri-ichi Ezaki nursed his ill son back to health using glycogen extracted from oysters, and then went on to create a nutritious caramel candy fortified with oyster glycogen. He named his candy Glico—short for glycogen—and it subsequently became both the original flagship product and company name of one of the dominant confectioners in Japan.

Glycogen provides energy, and each individual Glico candy purportedly contains enough energy for the average person to run 300 meters (slightly under 1,000 feet). To promote the energy value of Glico candy, the company chose a running man as the logo for its packaging. Today and since 1935, the “Glico Runner” appears on a huge neon billboard (see accompanying photo) in downtown Osaka, where it has become a world-famous landmark.

If you had been at the Newport Marathon finish line, you could have sampled the Glico oyster candy, learned about those nutrient-dense oysters, and maybe even run 300 meters or so. Fortunately, even non-runners can still pick up fresh, nutritious oysters at one of the 20 shellfish farms along the Oregon coast.
(excerpted from SG Confluence newsletter)