Tokyo Marathon 2014 - Race Report

When I entered the ballot for Tokyo, a place on the start line was the last thing on my mind. So, when I got confirmation that my ballot entry was actually successful, I found myself quickly needing to get ready for one more marathon. After all, I couldn’t refuse the opportunity to go to Tokyo!

The San-ai building at night, in the heart of the Ginza district, Tokyo.

I was already lining up this year’s London Marathon as a goal race so when running the Tokyo Marathon 7 weeks out from London, the objective was clear and simple: take it slowly, don’t get injured, practice your race day strategy and, most importantly, don’t suffer from delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) the very next day!

The welcome I received at Narita airport.

The best thing about this particular trip was that my parents and my aunt and cousins would be flying up from New Zealand to see me run. I did warn them that I wasn't going to run a fast time, but they had their other reasons for going to Tokyo - my aunt and cousins were on holiday and were in Hong Kong momentarily, and my mum wanted to catch up with former colleagues now living in Tokyo. My dad was just there for the ride! When I met my parents at Narita Airport shortly after I arrived we took the bus to Tokyo, where I managed to complete my registration at the marathon expo and then met up with my aunt and cousins for a shabushabu dinner in the Ginza district.

Shabushabu dinner in the Ginza.

We also met up with Inagaki-san, an old family friend who took us out for a traditional Japanese lunch of anko-nabe near the Imperial Palace, seated at traditional Japanese low tables. Being a fish stew and Japanese delicacy, it wasn’t the usual pasta party carbo-loading sort of thing, so to make sure that I got my carb intake before race day my dad and I went to the famous Tokyo Ramen Street, one of the streets of a labryinth of passageways underneath Tokyo Station. Restaurants there have long queues, but the customer turnover is very quick. To save time, you order your food through a vending machine, which dispenses a meal ticket, before sitting at your table. The Japanese love their vending machines!

Anko-nabe and shabushabu for lunch. There was the option of fugu (blowfish) but I politely declined!

Tokyo Ramen Street, underneath Tokyo Station.

Race day was finally here. Still suffering from jet lag brought on by a 9 hour time difference and a bit of race-day nerves, I woke up at midnight and didn’t sleep at all till my wake-up time of 5:00 a.m. It was a smooth buildup to the race, with a 20 minute metro journey from the hotel to Shinjuku, well organised security checks for all 36,000 runners and no shortage of portaloos! With all the runners assembled and ready beneath the imposing Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, it was time to kick off the first World Marathon Major for 2014.

Start of the 2014 Tokyo Marathon.

The course profile was a gradual downhill for the first 5km, followed by flatness in the mid-late sections of the race. There were only four inclines and they occurred in the very final miles. The course took in the famous Tokyo landmarks, including Shinjuku, Imperial Palace, Tokyo Tower, Ginza district, Tokyo Station, Asakusa Gate, Tsukiji Fish Market and the Tokyo Big Sight where the

marathon ends.

On Hibiya-dori, heading towards 18 km.

Outside Kaminirimon gate at the 28 km mark in the Asakusa district.

I had my usual slow start and made the first half as comfortable as possible, passing the halfway point at around 1:50. I was slowly picking up the pace throughout the race, but put in a bit more effort in the final 4 miles; even those inclines didn’t really cause any issues, despite many runners already walking at that point.

Crossing the famous Ginza 4-chome intersection at 35 km.

Heading towards Odaiba towards the finish at 38 km.

The Japanese are really passionate about the marathon and it was great to see both volunteers and the public really getting behind the runners, with chants of “ganbare” (頑張れ) or “hang in there”, probably the best crowd support I’ve seen in an event. I must’ve high-fived over a thousand hands, even after the race as the volunteers really congratulated the runners like they were fans in the audience of a sports event.

In the last km heading towards the finish line in Odaiba.

The finish in Odaiba. I still had energy to continue jogging in order to jump start the recovery process.

At the end, I finished in 3:33:35 (and, yes, I did try to hack my finish time to be 3:33:33!). No space blanket, just a nice looking sports towel containing the motto of this edition of the Tokyo Marathon.

World marathon major number 4, done!

But, was I successful in carrying out my objective? One of the first things I did the next day was to find a flight of stairs and see what walking up and down felt like. The result was surprising! No pain, no stiffness! I managed to run a marathon and not get DOMS! This had allowed me to keep the London Marathon training going in Japan in the days immediately after the marathon, but I still had time for the usual touristy things as well. There was a section in Tokyo surrounding the Imperial Palace grounds that a lot of runners took to, and those runners were insanely FAST! If they were running the Tokyo Marathon as well, I am truly impressed!

Tokyo Imperial Palace near Takebashi station.

The famous Shibuya scramble crossing at night, Shibuya district.

Overall, I really enjoyed my short time in Tokyo. The marathon was extremely well organised and the public really gets behind you. The city is huge and buzzing with life. If you have luck in the Tokyo ballot, I would recommend going over to the Far East and running a marathon there - you will be blown away! One piece of advice though - learn some Japanese! Otherwise, you'll spend most of your time looking like this guy!

Lost in Translation!