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| From Right to Left - Richard, Keith, Karen, Kaz, Foxy & Me |
It was a cold start to the morning. Myself, Foxy, Karen,
Keith, Kaz, Richard (Enigma crew) headed over to the start of the marathon on
the 6.45am coach which we booked through 2.09 Event.
The best part about
running Marathons internationally is it makes you feel that no matter where you
are in the world, everything is familiar and welcoming. I love walking
around the city before the Marathons and spotting all my fellow Marathon
runners. They are so easy to spot, most wearing trainers, running jumpers or
carrying a water marathon bottle. The more international marathons I do
the more I realise we are essentially all one big crazy running family, that
nobody else gets It's great to hear the same words of encouragement and welcome
said across the world in so many different languages. It's been a great journey
and I've nearly reached my target of running all the big Marathons. There is no
other way I would have wanted to see the world, other than running through
their cities.
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| At the START - Gate 5 |
The official start of the marathon was 9am with a cut off time
of 7 Hours.
I guess the cut off time was set to prevent any sushi lovers
like me, from diving into a sushi take out and gorging on sashimi mid -run. Temptations
are all around here, especially if you like fresh fish!
I accidently went to gate 5 (Instead of 6) by mistake. When I
did eventually get to the correct gate, we were welcomed by an entourage of
security. We had to go through a lengthy security procedure set by the
organisers of the race. All bags were checked and then labelled up with
security labels before heading to the baggage trucks located very close to the
start. But this was Japan, and of course the security was very efficient
and friendly, no one felt in the least burdened by it all, this was Japanese
style security!
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| Baggage Truck |
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| Before the START of the Marathon |
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| helicopter hovering in the sky at the START |
There was an introduction, national anthem, some music, and
helicopters hovering overhead. The wheelchair athletes started at 9:05 and then
we were off at promptly 9:10.
The start area was well organized; the Tokyo Marathon
organizers really know what they are doing. The whole process of getting
through security, dressing, checking you bags, aid stations, starting block
arrangements was pretty flawless.
One thing I should mention, the Japanese are usually very
strict about time, so if you need to be in your starting block at a certain
time, don’t be one second late because they will not let you in.
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| VIP guests at the START |
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| Tokyo Gherkin Building |
The first mile was slow due to the large number of runners,
but then when the road widened significantly, I was able to settle into my own
comfortable pace rather early in the marathon.
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| About to go under a BRIDGE |
The
support on the course was very good. A lot of the marshals were carrying
transparent plastic bags collecting the rubbish to throw away and even
taking them off the runners. They were also on the side
supporting/encouraging/shouting. It was absolutely immense….. All I could
hear was ‘Ganbatte’ - (がんばって) which means ‘Do your best’. This word
fascinates me to no end. I was running around saying 'Ganbatte' to myself, it
became my little mantra. It is a saying used to encourage people to try hard!!
We also got loads of hi fives on the way round. One gentleman hi fived me so
hard I could hear the click in my shoulder. I had to be careful as I was so
fragile!
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| 10KM Marker |
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| Turn around point |
Bananas, Cherry Tomatoes, Chocolate/Red Bean buns, Lumps of
Sugar, Water, Pocari Sweat (Japanese electrolyte drink) were distributed out on
the course frequently. TRUE Fact : ‘Pocari Sweat started a project to send a
"dream capsule" to the Moon. The capsule will have the same shape as
a Pocari Sweat can and will be filled with Pocari Sweat powder. It will be
launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in October 2015. Once it arrives, Pocari
Sweat will be the first commercial product advertised on the Moon.’ I also picked up 2 Blocks
of delicious luxury chocolates wrapped in clear wrappers and a biscuit from a
supporter on the course which went down a treat towards the last couple of
miles. If I ever give up running, I'll miss these little treats, little
tokens of kindness from total strangers.
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| Distributing POCARI Drinks |
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| Live dancing entertainment |
My running gear for the day was a long sleeved top with
my YELLOW Marathon Maniac vest worn over. I also had my Union Jack Buff on and
gloves, as I hate running with cold hands (both had hand warmers tucked
inside).
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| Live entertainment on the course |
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| 5KM to go............. |
The course was a fast and flat throughout until
you got towards the final few kms of the course. A few twisty turn bridges but
nothing too seriously hilly like what we have back home.
Having had no training since 10th January I was
getting a bit nervous. Well I did do the 5km International Fun Run in Tokyo the
morning before, which surprisingly went ok. This was just the perfect warm up
before big day. I wanted to test myself out on how I would do on running a
complete 26.2 Miles with NO training whatsoever. It's been over a month since
I've gotten my running shoes out so I was a little hesitant at first, but once
I was off running through that start line, I could feel the adrenaline kick in
and I knew that it was only the jitters and this was going to be another
memorable run for me..and that nothing would stop me from running the whole
complete marathon even if I had to walk or crawl to the finish.
Before flying out to Tokyo I ordered a pair of new trainers as
the previous pairs I had were covered in mud from the Portsmouth Marathon
(December 2014). I wasn’t liking the idea of wearing muddy shoes for
Tokyo and so I invested in a new pair which I thought I could also use for
Boston in April. They were very similar to the pair I had previously
worn, so wasn’t too worried at all even though they did give me 2 massive
blisters in between my toes after the run.
The weather was perfect. Cloud covered the entire race, and
slight breeze – definitely a no excuse day. In fact it did not rain once
during the entire race. Thank you Tokyo Weather Gods.
My Garmin watch had reset/stopped itself the night before the
marathon so was running naked (without a watch). I wasn’t too concerned about
the time to be honest. My aim was to go out and enjoy the race and leave Tokyo
with lots of happy memories, which I did.
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| CHIP Time : 5 Hours, 16 Minutes & 20 Seconds |
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| The amazing crowds towards the finish line |
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| With FINISH Towel |
As expected, the Tokyo Marathon organizers and city did a
superb job, it really is a world class event up there with Boston, New York,
and London. The marathon is relatively young (newest of all majors), it is only 9 years old, but you
would have thought they’ve been doing it for decades. The crowd were amazing,
the course is literally lined with spectators from beginning to end. I heard
somewhere that there are actually more spectators on the Tokyo Marathon course
than New York. I highly rate this to my running friends.
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| At the FINISh of the Tokyo Marathon 2015 |
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| Welcome Glass of Champagne..... |
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| Business CLASS - Gin & Tonic & Ice Cream. Mmmmmmm..... |
On my way back to London, British Airways upgraded many of the
runners to business class. It was like someone had heard my prayer! I was
absolutely exhausted and my legs were aching. Stretching out for the entire
flight was exactly what I needed, especially since I was expected back in work
after the run. This was my first time flying business so you can imagine I made
full use of every facility. After this experience, I can seriously say business
is the way to fly. British Airways should upgrade all runners as
standard, and I'd fly with them all the time!.I think economy has been ruined
for me now, I can no longer happily fly economy again, and feel that same
gratitude when the air stewardess passes me my mini-sized pack of nuts.. I'll
be reminiscing about my one time in business class, lounging in a bed with
champagne flowing around me, with no baby sounds and toilet smells to disturb
my dreamy sleep. What happiness and bliss flying long haul business class
is. Note to self, be extra friendly to check in staff, for another
upgrade for Boston run.
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| Running Bib H85820 |
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| Testing CHIP at EXOPO |
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| At the Tokyo Expo 2015 |
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| FINISH Medal |
Next stop - BOSTON in April. FINAL major to complete my
RUNNING dreams……………………
