Tokyo Marathon - Race Report

I know... it's been a while since my last post.  I am back and have lot's of entries planned.  The first one, well overdue is the race report for the Tokyo Marathon.

The day before the race we went to pick up the race package at Tokyo Big Sight, where the Expo was held.  The expo was very crowded, most of the area was open only to runners only (which was inconvenient since we had some friends come along with us) and there wasn't anything particularly interesting to buy (like a cool running T with something in Kanji, since cool in Japan is having things in English).

On race day, weather was nearly perfect.  This was good for two reasons, we didn't bring cold weather running clothes (I say "we" because Sharon run the 10K).  The second reason is that we dodge a bullet.  The date after the race the weather turned bitter.  Cold, rainy, very windy and as the afternoon rolled we even saw some snow.

The course was very flat and sprinkled with great entertainment (different from what you se in the US anyway.   The picture to the left was taken with my mini-spy-cam (it was actually a frame from a video).  This must be around mile 10 very close to the Imperial Palace (if my memory doesn't fail me).  The drums were audible pretty far back and gave me time to pull the camera out and go through the 20 steps it requires to get it going.  There were also all kinds of dancers, musicians and even singing kids.

Also along the course was very interesting food (mostly from spectators), though I didn't try any more than a little bun almost at the end.  My favorite memories include the guy running in wooden clogs, the guy running in a full business suit (including briefcase and a newspaper he appeared to be reading, the warmth from the people who were particularly interested in giving me a high-five (probably since I was one of the few westerners running), the woman running dressed like a cheetah and seeing Edu, Emi, Michel and Sharon several times during the race.

There were 33,000 runners on the Marathon alone (not sure how many participated on the 10K.  Given the crowd (the picture at left was taken waiting for the start), it took us about 30 minutes from the gun time to get to the start line.  Surprisingly, it wasn't terribly crowded, although it did require some amount of zig-zagging for the first five to seven miles.  After that, just like any other race, the mass of people disperses and things thin out a bit.  The crowd was only visible again at Tokyo Big Sight as runners gathered to change clothes and rest for a bit.

My final time was 4:30:01, just as I was expecting (4:20 to 4:30).  The route looks cool mostly because of the tokyo map in the background.  This was my 13th marathon.  I throughly enjoyed it.  The time passed quickly because of the very cool buildings and entertainment along the course.  Definitely the right start for our vacation.