As far as breakfast concern, I am one of those people that need to eat a big breakfast... since I didn't see any subway and I didn't like the look of those sandwiches in the convenience store, I voted for a large beef bowl at 5:30 AM in the morning. I told the server to take a picture for me and he was like... wow... you ate this before the marathon... hee hee. Hey... whatever works!
I got back to the hotel and gathered my stuff. Then I walked to the train station (10 minutes), took the train from Shibuya to Shinjuku, then walked another good 10 minutes to the starting line. The morning wasn't that cold but I know it's going to rain later in the day and that the wind is strong (actually gusted at time) so I decided to keep my arm warmer. I did some stretch and warmup before I go into the starting area.
Unlike most of the marathons and half marathons that I run where nonrunners can get to the starting area, this marathon has a good several blocks blocked for runners only. You have to show your BIBs to get in. I got in and go to the restroom. Skip the following paragraph if you don't want to read the potty porta report.
So apparently their potty portas are different than ours. I see 3 types during the race.
Type 1: Japanese Style - you actually don't seat on it... you know what I am talking about if you ever been to an Asia country
Type 2: Western Style - these are the one we use in the United States
Type 3: Man Only Urinal - The dimension is the same as what we use in United States...but this one has a Urinal in it and there is no door... so people can actually see your back when you pee... it's a good design where you don't have to wait as long... oh well let's just stop there.
I checked in my stuff soon after so I can warm up. I ran a bit and I felt great. I thought about breaking my PR but I just need to see what happen.
I walked around and took pictures of people with costumes. There is a park next to my corral so I went in there and play at the kids playground =P. As I was messing around I know this is going to be a tough race... not because of the course but because of the gusted wind. After standing around forever we actually started to move.
As I was making my way to the actually starting line I saw a guy with this guy and I talked to him for a second. I think Tyler would of love this picture. One thing I notice is that Japanese don't really use their cameras on the run... they use their phones instead... I guess that's why they have all these high tech phone... less to carry.
10M, 5M... off I go... there were a lot of people... I mean a lot of people cheering on the side line... all the side line was fence off so you feel like you are in this crazy marathon championship so something where they need to fence off people so you can run as fast as you can. When I did my test run several days back I know my GPS is off. I wasn't moving but it said I am doing like 30 minutes mile or something. So when I see that I am doing 7 minutes mile today I didn't freak out.
While I was waiting to start I needed to go pee... badly... so the first time I do after the start? to look for toliet. There are signs to tell you where the potty porta are. Also you can go to any 7-11 or toliet inside the Tokyo Metro train stations. I passed by two potty porta points because there are way too many people. I finally stopped like 1.5 miles in only to wait for 20 minutes just to pee. When I finally started running again there were hardly anyone left running. I started to run faster to catch up. It goes from a few people to a pocket of people... after a while I finally catch up with the main group. I think my time for the 5K is like 50 minutes or something. It was... the slowest time ever!
I seen people with costume... I seen people with costume at the sideline. There were a lot of performances and a lot of cheering going go... people were yelling 'Keep it up' in Japanese... and also 'Fight do' 'or 'Fight Doll'... well it's just Fight... but Japanese like to add 'do' after an English word? So the whole time people were yelling 'fight do, fight do, fight do'... and keep it up keep it up... it was amazing.
Beside checking out performances and people watching (with costume....etc), I spend a lot of time looking at restaurants. Since I am running in the cities there are restaurants everywhere... drooling!
I wanted this costume but I didn't have a chance to go look for it... it was a disappointment =(With all these things going on, running by yourself prove to be an lonely experience. Don't get me wrong, I always run by myself... but usually I would chat with people next to me when I get bored. Also as much as I am having a lot of fun running in the city, it kind of also mess you up too. You see... when you run in the middle of nowhere (beach, trees...etc) you don't really have a sense of distance. You run and run... and you look at the time or the distance marker to see where you are. But with a city marathon, you passed by so many buildings it make you think that you gone a lot further than you ran. The fact that my watch is off and that the sign are in KM didn't help either. And yes... it started raining and there are gusted wind... I am ok with the wind because I got used to it when I hike... but the rain bother me. I would get hot in a minute and cold in another minute... should I take off my underarmor shirt??? No, I decided to keep it on, I rather be too hot than too cold. Plus if is rain harder I am sure I need that shirt.
While a millions thoughts going thru my head I saw two people 'walking' in front of me. Since I can read the Chinese in the Japanese language, I know the women in the pink vest is blind (or issue with seeing) and the guy said something like 'partner runner'. I ran pass them and say 'keep it up' in Japanese... you been hearing that for like 8km... I figure I know how to say it by now. I think it's a good idea because then people won't accidentally run into them... but in the 'Great' USA... who knows... people may say... this is discrimination... sigh...
I continue to run and I think I am on mile 10 or something. I looked at the other side of the run (where I ran several km back) and I saw this bus with some 'race judge' cars swapping the road. I was like ooohhh noooo I better run fast.
I can go a lot faster but I didn't want to. Why try to break my Nike Women's Marathon PR when I already took a 20 minutes restroom break. I continue to speed up just to make sure I don't get pick up by the bus.
By now I saw 2 team in training people. They are both from another state. They didn't wear the purple shirt but they called me out when I run pass them. The next several miles prove to be tough in a way that it's a out and back course... so you see the faster people on your right side. I am now at like 22km but when you look at the other side it was like 32km or something... deep inside you know it's only 10km... which is 6 miles... 1 bit over an hour... but for those of you who run... you know you can't do math when you are running... so the 22km - 32km seems like 10 miles to me.
Right before I get to Asakusa (where we pass the Kaminarimon), something amazing happened. I saw a group of runners in festival clothes dancing going to the Kaminarimon. There maybe a group of 20. I passed them before the 10km and I took a picture of them. Since I stop to go to restroom breaks and take pictures I found myself passing them again near Kaminarimon... I was like... wow... here is a clip of their performance below (please use firefox)... I am guessing they do that dance when they are near a temple???
Runners in Festival Clothes Dancing in front of the Kaminarimon.
Kaminarimon
fail attempt to take a picture in front of Kaminarimon =P
So I am running and running and I still have a chance to finish faster than my PR (5:19). However I decided to slow down... what's the point of beating my time by like 1 minute? I want to enjoy this race, watch performances and do other stuff. The performance get excited when you take the time to stop and watch them.... so yes... I slow down and chill.
So now I am at maybe mile 23 and they are passing out egg custard cream bread and red bean one... omg... they are sooo good. Also I want to point out that the volunteers have different color jackets so you know what they are giving you. For example... the blue one is water, the orange one is sport drink...etc.
aid station
I saw these 3 Pandas like 3-4 times. I told them... 'amazing' in Japanese.
Do Your Best! Yes I will...I am now near the end of the race and most people in my pocket are kind of dying... they are all either walking or running very slow. I feel ok! It's good to know that I can do better and totally compete the race.
So it was pouring near the end... but the performance continue. What I didn't realized at the time is that there were actually a lot more performance but some stopped because of their rain. Here is a scene near the finish line. It was amazing.
Performance near the end
So it was pouring near the end... but the performance continue. What I didn't realized at the time is that there were actually a lot more performance but some stopped because of their rain. Here is a scene near the finish line. It was amazing.
Performance near the end
So I finished... 5:50... I am not an alpha male so it doesn't bother me at all. If you minus the 20-30 minutes restroom breaks that I have... it's actually close to my Nike Women's Marathon PR. If I go fast today I can probably go under 5:00 hours... or at least be within 5:10... but why bother. I enjoyed the performance, the food, and high fiving people along the way... this is my way to enjoy the Tokyo Marathon. I will just need to break my PR in another race.
First order of business? Get Warm!!! I crossed the finish line and I am freezing my ass off. There were so many people at the finish line it took a while to get thru. I got my medal and I wrap the finisher towel around my head to keep warm. I claimed my checked bag and changed. I opened up the hand warmers and dried myself... After I finally got a bit warm, then I drink the recovery drink.
I skipped the 'finisher photo' because the line was too long. I did took a picture at this Amino-value finish line (they provided the sport drink).
So after all these time you think that you don't have to walk anymore? Nah... they make you walk to the family reunion are... it's kind of crazy because they have curtain set up and you basically have to get off one way... it make me feel like exiting the airport where your friends/families are waiting. I thought that was kind of funny.
The Marathon 'Airport' ExitI had dinner with Steve and took a 20 minutes train ride back to the hotel. I took a shower and fell asleep.
My overall experience is very very good. The only thing that I don't like about this marathon is that I have to wait a long time for the restroom breaks... Don't get me wrong... they have a lot of break points where you can use the restroom... but I feel like they aren't enough =(
Go if you want
Good Food, Good Expo, A lot of People Cheering, People Watching
Skip if you want to
PR, hate running in the city, hate late start.
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