Niigata Marathon Race (The 28th)

Date: Sunday, October 10, 2010 Weather: Cloudy occasionally sunny, rain shower

Location: Niigata City, Niigata Pref.


Details of races:Refer to the 25th Niigata Marathon Race.


Images

 
Towel design (Left half) Towel design (Right half)


Records

5 km	31 minutres
10 km	59 minutes
15 km	1 hour 28 minutes
20 km	1 hour 58 minutes
Middle-point	2 hours 05 minutes
25 km	2 hours 31 minutes
30 km	3 hours 06 minutes
35 km	3 hours 47 minutes
40 km	4 hours 27 minutes
Goal	4 hours 42 minutes

Impression

• Saturday, October 9: Rainy
  
  
  
  • I planned Tazawako-Lake marathon race in September as my first race of this season. However, I had to go to Europe owing to business trip on the day after the marathon. Thus I was forced to give up the race.
  • Therefore, the Niigata marathon race was my first race in this season.
  • According to the weather forecast, it would be rainy on both Saturday and Sunday.
  • It was already raining when I left home in the morning. I took on the expressway bus at 10:20 AM from Nerima bus stop. The service for Niigata consisted of two buses. Owing to consecutive holidays, two buses were fully occupied.
  • It had been rainy all day. Owing to traffic jam and accident, the bus arrived in Niigata Station around 16:00. It was 35-minute delay.
  • After checking in the hotel, I went out in the rain to the municipal sports ground to register the marathon race.
  • While coming back to the hotel, I dropped in the Mandai Shopping Mall and bought the food and locally brewed Japanese sake (720cc bottles of Hakkaizan & Midorikawa) as souvenir.
  • I had tasted 3 cups of locally brewed Japanese sakes, which were tasty, and went to bed early.
  
  
• Sunday, Cloudy occasionally sunny, rain shower.
  
  
  • I got up at 4:45 AM.
  • The weatherman still said that it would be cloudy, then rainy on Sunday.
  • Anyway, I went to beef bowl restaurant located in the first floor of the hotel to have breakfast. I ordered breakfast set menu and took in nourishment by raw egg, natto, salmon and pork soy-bean soup.
  • Fortunately, it was not rainy in the morning.
  • I took on the local train from Niigata Station at 7:22 and took off at Hakusan Station. I reached municipal sports ground before 8:00 AM.
  • The runners started to make lines on the track after 8:00 AM. There was no rule for making lines. First-come-first-served basis. Since both full marathon race and 10-km race started all at once, both runners made two part lines from the starting point.
  • The line consisted of 3,000 full marathon runners and 6,000 10-km runners. I was almost in the middle of the line.
  • The race started at 8:30. When started, the sun appeared. It was hot rather than warm. I rather expected rainy cool weather.
  • I could see lots of young gals wearing colorful wears. I was forced to walk to the starting point owing to crowded condition. I lost 2.5 minutes.
  • The running course was changed and runners ran through the center of the city.
  • I could run smoothly from the beginning since the course was so wide (4-lane road).
  • The time at 5 km point was 31 minutes. Be too late.
  • At 7 km point, the runners of 10 km race separated from us. The sun often appeared and it was getting hot.
  • The time at 10 km point was 10 km. It might be difficult to complete the race within 4 hours.
  • The course from 10 km to 18 km was straight and flat. It was monotonous, however, cheers from gallery encouraged me. The course from 18 km to 20 km became upward. It was so hard to run up. After 20 km, the running pace slowed down.
  • The sunshine was still hot. It was necessary to drink water continuously.
  • After 20 km, the course was in the campus of Niigata University. The middle-point was in the center of the campus. The campus was so spacious. The students cheered me.
  • After passing the campus, the course was along side Sea of Japan.
  • The temperature was up to 24 degrees Centigrade. The body was getting hot and I was worrying about heat stroke.
  • The water supply point was set at every 5 km. I sweated so much and was often getting thirsty. I drank much water at the water supply point.
  • I had enough food in the morning and thus I did not feel hungry while running. I did not eat so much at the aid station. I had rather too much water.
  • Under hot condition, I managed to reach 30 km point. It was hardest to run between 30 km and 35 km. The running pace further slowed down and I wondered if I could complete the race. I was still worrying about heat stroke. It was a one-man war with myself. I was trying not to walk. A lot of runners were already walking.
  • At 37 km point, a sudden rain shower started. The shower stopped in a moment and it suddenly became cool.
  • I was relieved when I saw a sign saying "5 km to the goal." I regained control of myself and started to pace up.
  • During the last 5 km, I could catch up with other runners.
  • The goal time was 4 hours 42 minutes. It was too late than I expected. Anyway, I was relived I could complete the race within 5 hours. The time limit was 5 hours. I sweated too much and I was covered with salt after the race.
  • According to the complete certificate, my rank was almost middle although it took 4 hours 42 minutes to complete the race. I guess a lot of runners retired owing to hot weather.
  • I got back to Niigata Station after changing wears. I did eat a little while running and I finally felt hungry. I entered Mac restaurant and ate hambarger. I made a draft of record in the reataurant.
  • The bus was almost empty at the start. However, it was finally occupied.
  • The bus arrived Nerima Bus stop at 21:35. The bus was late owing to traffic jam. I got home at 22:00.
  • It was a hard race and thus I could not afford to look around young gals while running.
  
  
  
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