Registration for the New York Marathon on 4th November 2007 is now open at http://www.nycmarathon.org/home/index.php. The Tokyo Marathon being a distant memory and the pain abated I have just signed up for the lottery.
So I trained all year in 32C no rain only to rock up in Shinjuku raining at 7:30am 5C. Standing around was a bit of a bore and I didn’t find any faces I recognised. Once the start occured, being in K section it was about 20 minutes before I crossed the line. This had me worried as the time limit of 7 hours is from the start so I had already been reduced to 6:40… The going was slow and tough. Not having wet weather gear or trained in the cld showed and the whole time I questioned why I was doing this. The only thing I could think of was that I was doing it so that I did not have to start this again. Agghh.. But by 20km near Shinagawa I had enough, only to be passed (coming the other direction) by Stephen Owen yelling “CHRISTOPH, HOWS IT GOING”. Of course I lied and said great, resolved to press on a little bit more.. Well then getting close to Akasaka I was again passed by Stephen yelling “CHRISTOPH, WANT A PILL?”. Blindly I took the pills which Stephen said were pain killers (I have my doubts!!) , was coinvieintly located near a water station and plodded on. In no time at all 30km of effort was completed and a Japanese Mechanical Engineer, working for the Yokohama City who had run 4 marathons previously came up fro a chat… He eventually accelerated (more on him later). By now it was down hill, only 10km to go, heck an hours worth of running – now if only I could run. A bit of me that had never protested to my training previously was killing me and I waddled on to 1km to the end when the Japanese Mechanical Engineer approached from behind… He didn’t kn ow how I had been faster than him (ha)… Anyway we took off our sodden gear so that, as proper Japanese we would look proper crossing the line then crossed in unison in about 6:30 on the clock with hands raised (as if out for a stroll) – by my rekkoning that makes my time somewhere between 6:10 and 6:30. I did look around alittle for everyone else but no one was around.
Hmm, now should I train for an ultra?
Just checking in to say it was a very enjoyable Marathon and I hope its the first of many more. But in truth I think I’ll be lucky if I manage a slow 5K later in the week. By the way I think I’ve discovered the perfect marathon food : Snickers ! As they’re small light and very calorie dense ! I had 2 of these during the run and they really helped to keep me on track.
Lastly my watch says 5:03:18 for Sundays run however I haven’t checked my official time yet. I’ll need to look that up at home tonight.
You are all truly ironmen. I could only find reasons not to run this morning and no reasons to run. I didnt even make it to the start line.
I woke at the right time sniffling with a cold, jet lagged after my trip to the UK. It looked bitterly cold and wet when I peaked out my bedroom window this morning. There is no way I am going to enjoy it, I thought.
My positive mental attitude went completly flat.
Besides all that I have a job interview tomorrow and I dont want to risk it by wearing myself out.
Well done everyone. I can only sit, sniffle and admire your determination.
Started off by having a pleasant cappuccino and pastry in Tully’s Shinjuku with Reza. It dawned on us that the establishment didnt actually posess its own washroom, which was kind of the point. The Glastonbury ( Woodstock ) festival-style rows of portaloos near the marathon itself were not appealing. As Reza put it, he always feels someone is going to take it away or tip it up while he is inside it. Found some conveniences in an office building, fortunately. Less fortunately, they were of the exact hole-in-the-ground variety we had been trying to avoid. Reza surfaced with a haunted expression.
So it was downhill after Tully’s. Raining hard. I had the immense foresight to purchase a plastic mac from 7-Eleven this morning, in this season’s above-the-knee length with applied patch pockets. Didn’t make up for forgetting to buy the bread for breakfast though. Reza made do with the supplied Tokyo Metro bag, mixing it up with a woollen Benny hat creating a fetching “playing card” ensemble. And so we set off. Well we didn’t really, for about 15 minutes, as it took that long for the line to reach the start. In the meantime, met some entertaining folk ( pictures to follow, Alex and co .. ) and joked around.
Quickly realised any attempt to forge onwards at above obaasan pace was doomed to catastrophic pain induced failure. Reza, whom had wisely switched to the 10Km on account of the atrocious weather and even worse, forgetting his iPod, kindly ran with me for those first 10Km. I am sure we made an impressive pair. Indeed, many felt the need to look twice. Perhaps to notice actual lateral movement.
10Km arrived and Reza decided to go for 15, so we continued onward. Saw Ed, who was on his way back from Shinagawa already, and thus miles ahead. Then Joe showed up, amazingly having been behind the dynamic duo due to participating politely in a queue at the pitstops somewhere. Joe was on a tear, now much refreshed and significantly lighter. I didn’t see him again until he was breezing past the 30Km mark.
At that point, I was wheezing past the 20-something mark, having decided to amble onwards taking photos of the kilometre markers as they came up, as a spontaneous study in the beauty of crowds. I’ve already checked the photos. They present a stunning tribute to compositional dullness and tedium. Anyway, it kept me entertained while trying to avoid the rather real possibility of being scooped up by the sad-sack bus, which kept menacing me.
Finished the thing rather more than 6 hours after I set off, which I believe averages out at a light stroll or the athletic equivalent of a gentle round of golf.
Splendid. So, thats it then.
from my first ever marathon race. my time was about 4hr 12min on my watch and 4hr 17min on the official clock. it was COLD and raining at the start, I was soaked before i even ran 1 meter.
I think i saw a few of you right around the 16, 17k mark (you guys were at about 12, 13k). Christioph, if it was in fact him, was jogging methodically & had a determined look on his face, a few hundred meters behind was Reza and Paul looking fresh on a brisk fall walk. Then just behind them was Joe, he had a roll in one hand & a bottle of water in the other and hes was running, so im not sure how or why he was behind Reza & Paul?
Well im glad its finished… and im REALLY looking forward to the everyones posts. ; -)
here are some pictures of the race a friend took…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/68492719@N00/show/
