Niigata Marathon Race (The 26th)

Date: Sunday, October 12, 2008 Weather: Sunny

Location: Niigata City, Niigata Prefecture


Details of race�FRefer to the 25th Niigata Marathon Race.


Record

5 km	28 minutes
10 km	54 minutes
15 km	1 hour 22 minutes
20 km	1 hour 50 minutes
25 km	2 hours 22 minutes
30 km	2 hours 50 minutes
35 km	?
40 km	3 hors 56 minutes
Goal	4 hours 11 minutes

Impression

• Saturday, October 11, 2008 Weather: Rainy then cloudy
  
  
  
  • As I did last year, I first planned to go to Niigata by overnight bus on Friday to go sightseeing next day. However, I was forced to go to the US by business trip from October 13, 2008. Therefore, I gave up the first plan.
  • It was rainy in the morning on Saturday. I took on the highway bus from the bus stop of Nerima ward office at10:30 AM. The bus was almost occupied.
  • The rain stopped on the ay. However, it's raining like cats and dogs when the bus came out of long Kanetsu Tunnel that shoot out Mt. Tanigawa.
  • The bus arrived in Niigata Station at 15:40 a little bit behind time. The rain completely stopped.
  • After checking in the hotel, I started to stroll around Niigata Station.
  • When I reached the walkway alongside the Shinano River, the sun was just going down. Looking the sunset reflecting on the river surface, I drank a canned beer. It's a blissful moment.
  • Then I went to the shopping mall to look for box dinner and locally brewed Japanese sake.
  • I bought sake "Kubota Senju" (720 ml: Yen 1,980) as souvenir. This was the secondly best-sold sake there. FYI, the best seller was Kubota Hyakuju. At the same time, I bought 3 kinds of one-cup sakes for the night.
  • I went back to the hotel and started to drink one cup sakes by myself. I instantly drank up two cup of sakes.
  • I felt asleep shortly and went to bed around 19:00!
  
  
• Sunday, October 12, 2008 Cloudy, then sunny
  
  
  • I got up at 5:00 AM. I slept well.
  • The weatherman said it would be cloudy in the morning and sunny in the afternoon.
  • I checked out the hotel at 7:00 AM. I took on the local train of Echigo Line at 7:20 AM. I got off at Hakusan Station.
  • After registration, I changed the wears at the stadium. The weatherman said it would be cloudy, however, the sun sometimes appeared and it seemed to be a little bit hot. Thus I decided to wear a tank top. It was a good decision.
  • Almost 6,500 runners joined this year. The mayor declared that he would expand the race to gather more than 10, 000 runners at the opening ceremony.
  • The full and half marathon races started all together this year. Approx. 3,500 runners started to run at 9:00 AM. The sun was already strongly shining.
  • After passing through the downtown, the Sea of Japan could be seen.
  • The waves were so high and the waves were rolling in.
  • The sun was shining, but I felt cool since the wind from the sea blew.
  • Since both full and half marathon runners were running, the road was crowded to 10-km point.
  • After disappearing half-marathon runners, the course was spacious.
  • Soon the course departed from the sea. Then the wind stopped and it became hotter.
  • I thought I ran as fast as possible. However, the time at 15-km point was regrettably 1 hour 22 minutes. But the time at 20 km was 1 hour 50 minutes. It was not so bad for me. The middle point was 1 hour 56 minutes.
  • A young fat gal was running just in front of me until middle point. I was following her for a while and I finally passed her just before 30 km point.
  • The time at 30 km point was 2 hours 50 minutes. Still not so bad.
  • However, after 30 km point, gradual up-and-down slopes continued. Thus it was hard to run. Owing to hot weather, I frequently thirsted. The running pace slowed down. I felt the distance to 35 km point was so far way.
  • Finally I arrived in the point where the distance to the goal was 4 km. I tried to run as much as possible. However, to run the last 3 km was so hard that the running pace drastically dropped.
  • I was relived when I saw the display saying " 1 km to the goal". At last, I could finish the race after running the three quarter of the track of the athletic fields.
  • Goal time was 4 hours 11 minutes. I was satisfied with the result since this was the first race of the season.
  • I rushed to change the wears and went to Hakusan Station. To my regret, I could not catch up with the Shinkansen bound for Ueno at 14:04.
  • Anyway, I got on the Shinkansen to be left at 14:44. Until then, I drank a canned beer to relax.
  • I could reach Ueno Station less than 2 hours. The Shinkansen is so fast! But the cost is almost double of that of bus.
  • I got home around 18:00.
  
  
  
  Back