Tokyo 2010 Race report - from Matt

AAfter much procrastination, here is my Tokyo Marathon 2010 race report. I was hoping to have pictures available, but the official photos aren’t going to be posted for at least another week – so text only.

First the bottom line, I finished in 3:14:11, which is my second best marathon, edging out my previous second best at Columbus by 6 seconds. The weather in Tokyo was horrible. Only Boston 2007 could be worse, but I think Tokyo was worse than Boston. The temperature was in the high 30’s – low 40’s with plenty of rain. The real problem though was the wind. On the upside, my hotel was basically RIGHT AT the starting line, which is a much better deal than suffering in Hopkington before race time.

Overall, this was a well organized and well attended race. I was able to leave my hotel pretty late and wait under an overpass on the final potty line. Many of the pottys in Asia are Squaty Pottys – and you really haven’t lived until you’ve used a porta squatty potty. And after that, you don’t want to.

The starting line was jam packed, but otherwise typical. The pre-race announcements were in Japanese, but were introducing some of the elite runners. EVERONE then sang a song. I am not sure what it was, it did not seem like the Japanese anthem. Then the gun and we were off. For some reason, after the gun the PA started playing “Gloria” by the Dixie Midnight Runners.

 I did manage to get in under 3:15 and logged my fourth Boston Qualifier. And for those of you who are curious, I got my finisher’s medal (which is in English for some reason), a towel, a banana and an orange, water, some kind of power bar thing, and Onigiri. Also, there was an indoor place to pick up your bag (already sorted by number) and to change.

This was only the 4th Tokyo Marathon, but it was VERY well organized. Even with the rain and cold and wind, the spectators and volunteers were numerous and enthusiastic. The course was well chosen both for viewing and for passing interesting areas of the city. I am now convinced that it is almost impossible to run a great time in a very large field race.

 So that’s it for this season. I had a half-marathon in Kobe in November (1:31:30), and a marathon in February. I might do Hawaii in December, but haven’t yet picked my next race.