2003 Watarase Lake Marathon Race

Date : Sunday November 9, 2003 Weather : Drizzling

Location : Kita-saitama gun, Tochigi Pref. (12 minutes on foot from Yagyu Station of Tobu Nikko Line)


Details of Race

Race	Full	Participants	2,500 Runners	*
	10 km		1,000 Runners	*
Entry Fee	Yen 3,500
Contact	2037 Kashiwado Kitakawabe-cho, Kitasaitama-gun, Tochigi Pref. 349-1203 Secretariat of Marathon Race TEL : 0280-62-1710
Gift	T-shirt
Free Service	14 water supply points. Bananas, bread, chocolates available.
Remarks	1 km Kids-run, 2 km Pairs and 5 km Funrun were also held. Time limit of full marathon race is 7 hours. You can register the race on the marathon day without advance reservation at a special entry fee.

IMAGES


Reception Finish My running mates



Records & Impression

• I left home before 6:00 AM. It was dull weather and the rain was likely to start.
• I arrived in JR Kuki Station at 7:30. To my regret, it was already rainy there. Anyway, I was picked up by my running mate's car.
• We reached the marathon site within 30 minutes. After finishing the registration, we occupied under the big tree to avoid the rain. I decided to wear a long-sleeve T-shirt this time since it seemed to be cold.
• The rain once stopped, but the drizzle started again around 9:00 AM.
• We moved to the starting point around 9:15 AM. The rain seemed not to stop. Thus I decided to wear the vinyl bag over the wear.
• The race started at 9:30 AM. The course was crowded with runners for a while, but soon it eased up.
• The full marathon runners had to run the same course twice.
• During the first round, the drizzle stopped and re-started several times. But it did not matter since there was no wind.
• At the 10 km point, staff handed the tamatos to the runners. I was given one big tomato and I was bitng it while running. It was delicious, but I dropped the red juice on the T-shirt!
• The course was completely flat. The scenery was monotonous. Furthermore, it was hazy owing to rainy weather. Under the circumstances, I felt it took much time to complete the first round. Thus I was disgusted to think that I had to run the same course one more time.
• When entering the second round, it started to rain hard! Also the wind started to blow! To make the matter worse, the wind was adverse. I could not see the ahead since my eyeglasses became misted.
• The course was wind-swept since there was no obstacles. It was hard for runners to be blown by wind while running.
• The rain had been on-and-off throughout the race. The temperature was lowering during the second round. It was good for me to run with vinyl bag over the wear.
• Fortunately, this time, my running pace did not slow down even after 30 km. I tried to catch up with other runners.
• During the last 2 km, the strong head wind had been blowing.
• My goal time was 3 hours 53 minutes. I could complete within 4 hours after a long interval. It was my best record under the bad weather condition! To tell the truth, I hate to run the full marathon race in the rain!
• I think it was effective for me to run totally 303 km in October.
• After the race, we came back to Kuki Station by car, then we went to Japanese pub restaurant to have an after-the-race party. We could warm up our bodies with fish/vegitable stew and hot Japanese Sake. I dropped in two Japanese pub restaurnats. When I came back home, it was already 8:00 PM. Anyway, too much running and drinking!
  
  
  Split Time
  
  

  5 km	27 minutes
  10 km	54 minutes
  15 km	1 hour 21 minutes
  20 km	1 hour 54 minutes
  25 km	?
  30 km	2 hours 45 minutes
  35 km	?
  Goal	3 hours 53 minutes

  
  

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