Toda-Saiko Lake Marathon Race (The 9th)

Date: Saturday, April 12, 2014 Weather: Fine

Location: Toda City, Saitama Pref.


Details of raceRefer to Toda-Saiko Lake Marathon Race (The 4th)




Records

5 km	33 minutes
10 km	1 hour 04 minutes
15 km	1 hour 36 minutes
20 km	2 hours 09 minutes
25 km	2 hours 43 minutes
30 km	?
35 km	3 hours 55 minutes
40 km	4 hours 30 minutes
Finish	4 hours 44 minutes

Impression

• I could join the race under fine weather after a long interval. It was good to run under the sun.
• I left home after 6:00 AM and arrived in JR Musashi-urawa Station around 7:00 AM where shuttle bus (Fee Yen 200) started.
• Many runners formed a line in front of the bus stop. It took 10 minutes by bus to the nearest bus stop to the marathon site.
• It took 5 minutes on foot to the athletic field. The opening ceremony for the 70 km ultra marathon race had being held.
• This was my second participation to the full marathon race. The number of runners drastically increased compared with that of 5 years ago. (Total more than 2,100 runners)
• The weather forecast was fine. But cold wind was blowing and it was cold when arrived.
• The opening ceremony of full marathon race started at 8:30 AM.
• Runners of full marathon race has to run 9 turns around the lake, then entered into the track and ran 300 m to the finish.
• I was wondering if it was Ok to run with short-sleeve T-shirt and short pant since it was colder than I expected. However, when the full marathon started, the temperature rose. However, the strong wind was still blowing.
• There were two water supply points on the 4.5 km course: The starting point and the opposite shore. Since a various kinds of foods and drinks were served, runners could enjoy eating.
• Anyway, the full marathon race started at 9:00 AM. This time I started from the tail end.
• At first, I worried that the 4.5 km course would be crowded since more than 2,000 runners would run at a time. However, the course was not so crowded even at starting point.
• The wind continued to blow all day. When running starting point side, we ran against the wind and when running the opposite shore course, we ran with tailwind.
• It was so crisp when running against the wind, but it was so hot when running with tail wind (No wind!). I did not sweat so much because of low humidity.
• At first, I was disgusted to run 9 turns. However, I decided to enjoy eating every time I passed water supply point. Surely, every time I passed the water supply point, a different food was served. For instance, sandwich, Soba noodle, Somen noodle, Cold tofu, Stew, Rice Ball, Fruits, etc.
• This time, runners could make sure the number of turns by LCD monitor when passing it.
• Since I enjoyed eating at the water supply point very much, I did not feel uncomfortable for 9 turns.
• I managed to run 8 turns without problem, but it was a little bit hard to complete the last turn.
• I completed 9 turns and entered into the track field and finished!!
• I spent a lot of extra time at water supply point for eating and toilet and thus the goal time was 4 hours 44 minutes. I was satisfied with the result since I completed the race without walking to the finish.
• One of my running mates went to the top of full marathon race. His time was 2 hours 44 minutes. He finished the race 2 hours earlier than mine. I couldn't believe it.
• One gal running mate cheered us at the end of the race.
• We waited until our running mates who joined the ultra marathon race finished. Then we had a toast with beer and wine. At that time, it was getting cold.
• We got on the fixed route bus to Musashi-urawa Station. We had a drink party at Japanese pub in front of the station.
• I got home around 19:00.
• I got sunburned since I ran under fine weather.
• It was possible to register this race without getting T-shirt. In that case, the entry fee was cheaper. I do not need any more T-shirt since I have a lot. I hope the same system should be applied to other marathon races.

Back