Toda/Saiko Full & Ultra Marathon Races (The 4th)

Date: Saturday, April 11, 2009 Weather: Sunny

Location: Toda City, Saitama Prefecture (10 minutes by bus from JR Musashi-Urawa Station of Saikyo Line)


Details of Race

Race	70 km	Runners	400	��
	Full		1,000	*
	Entry Fee		Yen 6,000 (70km) Yen 3,500 (Full)
Contact	1221 Asuwa, Keroyamacho, Iruma City, Saitama Pref. The secretariats of Toda/Saiko Full & Ultra Marathon Races �s�d�k�F�O�S�X�|�Q�X�S�|�T�U�O�R
Gift	T Shirt
Free service	Drink, banana, bread
Remarks	Time Limit: 9 hours (70km) 7 hours (Full), Round-trip course around Saiko-Lake (One Round: 4.637 km)

Images

 
Reception

Saiko-Lake Aid Station


Record

5 km	28 minutes
10 km	58 minutes
15 km	1 hour 28 minutes
20 km	1 hour 58 minutes
25 km	2 hours 32 minutes
30 km	3 hours 03 minutes
35 km	3 hours 38 minutes
40 km	?
Goal	4 hours 30 minutes

Impression

• I could not join both Tokyo and Sakura marathon races in March. Therefore, it was a race after an interval of 2 months.
• Since the location was Toda City, located very close to Higashi-kurume City, I did not need to leave home in the early morning. Besides, the race was done on Saturday and thus I could rest and relax on Sunday.
• It had been sunny and the temperature had been high like in early summer. The expected high temperature on Saturday was 22 degrees Celsius. It was too high for marathon race.
• Anyway, I left home past 7:00 AM. It was fine and sun shining.
• I left the train at JR Musashi-urawa Station of Musashino Line. I took on the shuttle bus (Fee: Yen 200) in front of the station. A lot of young runners were on the buses than I expected. I guessed it had resulted from recent marathon boom.
• It took about 10 minutes to the bus stop of the marathon site. It also took 10 minutes on foot to the reception. The temperature was rising and it was already hot.
• The runners of ultra marathon race started at 8:00 AM were already running around the Saiko-Lake.
• After finishing the registration, I changed the wears and cheered on my running mates of ultra marathon race.
• The opening ceremony for full marathon race started from 9:30 AM. It was announced that the participants doubled compared with previous time. (from 700 to 1,400)
• The lady guest runner who completed full marathon race 830 times, which is world record, was introduced. Incredible!
• The full marathon race of almost 1,000 runners started at 10:00 AM. I could see many young gals with fashionable running wears.
• Since the one turn of Saiko-Lake is 4.637km, the full marathon runners have to make 9 turns. (70 km: 14 turns!)
• Frankly speaking, I do not like turn-around course.
• Anyway, this was the race after a long interval. My target was to complete the race.
• The temperature seemed to exceed 20 degrees Centigrade and thus it was searing weather when the wind stopped. I was wondering if I could complete the race.
• I thought that the course was flat, however, actually, there were three up-and-downs. These up-and-downs seriously affected toward the end of the race.
• I could manage to run by the end of three turns. However, the running pace gradually slowed down owing to hotness. At the initial stage, I could run within 30 minutes per 5 km. However, soon, it took more than 30 minutes.
• There were two aid stations on the course. A various kinds of food were available at the aid station of starting point. Therefore, I ate too much food.
• I managed to complete 6 turns. It was so hard to complete both 7 and 8 turns. The temperature seemed to exceed 25 degrees Centigrade. During the last turn, I ran matter-of-factly.
• I completed the race in 4 hours 30 minutes as I expected.
• After completing the race, we celebrated the completion of the race with canned beers and Japanese sake.
• We had the second big drink party at Chinese restaurant in front of Musashi-urawa Station.
• I was tired with full marathon race after a long interval.
• Next morning, my face was red and irritated after sunburn.

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