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The Tokyo Marathon 2014 is just a few weeks away, and hundreds of thousands of people are already pushing themselves that little bit harder during their daily training, not to mention paying extra attention to the food they eat, in preparation.

As in previous years, Dole Japan has stepped forward to sponsor the event, providing piles of hand-grown Lakatan bananas, which contain plenty of citric acid essential during exercise, for runners to munch on. This time around though, the company is awarding 200 runners with a very special bite to eat, or perhaps let sit on the shelf and slowly turn to mush: the Trophy Banana, complete with personalised message printed on the skin.

The first 200 runners to cross the finish line on February 23 will win not just the respect of their peers, but a special gift from Dole, who has promised to print each runner’s name, completion time or simply a message of congratulations on the skin of one of their fancy yellow fruit.

Check out this rather dramatic promotional video for the endurance-praising peel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vJUWaG-_hk#t=83

As someone who cannot stand the smell of banana, I can’t think of many worse things to receive after having forced my legs to move in quick succession for an obscene length of time. But there’s no denying that  the strong-smelling fruit are packed full of fast-acting carbohydrates that help the body replace glycogen used during exercise, and Dole’s edible trophies are admittedly kind of cool.

A second promo video gives the humble banana skin the chance to speak its mind, with a few here telling us that they’re tired of only being known as something people slip on, and wanting to be of some use to someone for a change.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vKSbcckYbU#t=70

▼ For the first time ever, peel will help people!

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Honestly, though, I think I’d rather just walk it and win one of these pieces of fine banana peel tattoo art instead…

Source: YouTube via Netorabo