A LITTLE CRAZY, A LOTTA PEOPLE AND HEAPS OF FUN …. TOKYO MARATHON 2016

One of the world’s Major Marathons was calling …. and I couldn’t say no.

Japan’s long-distance running history is impressive and this was their 10^th Anniversary Tokyo Marathon so it was time to join 37,000 of my nearest and dearest friends for an adventure. 
And what an adventure it turned out to be!

Here’s my top memories:

At the Expo. More a cultural experience than a running show

1. The size of the event

Not as big as New York’s Marathon but right up there. The 37,000 were the lucky ones from over 300,000 who applied. Running is alive and well in Japan!

Anytime you have to organise 37,000 people is going to require some precision - and the Japanese are great at that. They are far better at waiting in lines than us impatient Aussies. Lines for toilets, lines for arriving, lines for buses, lines for lines….

Seriously, this is 400 metres from the start and blokes are heading off to the toilets.                        No peeing in the bushes in Tokyo!

This explains why. The pre-race queues for the toilet were loooooooooooong.

Lines for security. A modern day reality for entering all events. 

Lines for lining up in lines. 

Because of the size of the field it was push and shove the whole way. Never a gap or an empty bit of road. But they are all so nice about it!

2. The city course

And we're off.  All 37,000 of us at once!

The old and the new.  Japan brilliantly on show. 

Imagine running down here at night with all this neon!

The course takes itself around Tokyo’s biggest sites. The loop course has a mix of old and new shown off beautifully. You go past the famous towers on a course rather flat (but a couple of sneaky bridges at the end).  Perfect weather (4 degrees early rising to about 12)

Tokyo Sky Tower - and see, I'm not the only one who runs with a camera!

Running down the famous Ginza shopping strip - but no time for souvenirs

I was so excited to see at least some early season blossom - a Tokyo icon. 

3.  The crazy crowds

The noise was fantastic!

Why don’t Australian’s embrace public running events like other countries?  We have a few family and friends at the finish line but this has over 1 million people on  the streets going crazy. Whether its in their corporate uniforms or dressing up to watch, they make an event of it and the city is turned over to the runners for the day.

The best costume I saw - by far!

4    4. The crazy runners

Forget what you think about bland, traditional corporate Japan, these runners wore costumes of all shapes and sizes and bought the city to life. They were going to have fun regardless of anything! Its contagious!

Mickey Mouse?

This was hysterical. The street-side band were playing the 'YMCA' song and runners were joining in the actions!  A bad photo because I am in the middle of the chorus.  "Y, M, C, A... it's fun to stay at the.."

Yep, anything goes!

Here's a link to a serious article on "the most spectacular outfits of this year's Tokyo Marathon":
 http://mashable.com/2016/02/29/tokyo-marathon-outfits/?sf21812067=1#lgWHNIao805N

5. The elites

This was the final race of the 2015-2016 Marathon Majors Series. It's the 'Grand Slam' of running events if you like.  US$1 million was on the line for the men and women. 

The elite really are just a blur when they go past me. The last guy in the orange singlet (Ethiopia's Feyisa Lilesa) was the men's winner. 

3 guys had a chance to win US$500,000. The result came down to the line ... literally.  Having led all day Kenya's Dickson Chumba dropped from 2nd to 3rd with just 20 metres to go, losing by 1 second ..... and blew half a million bucks as a result.  

Here's the video on You Tube. Watch it at the 1:00 minute mark and see an amazing sprint from Bernard Kipyego in 3rd to take 2nd on the line:  http://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2016/02/29/general/tokyo-marathon-2016-a-great-day-at-the-races/#.VtfGofl94T9

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=tokyo+marathon+2016+finish+line&&view=detail&mid=08EA000A596F66B8B03E08EA000A596F66B8B03E&FORM=VRDGAR

It was also the Japanese Olympic qualifier so every top class Japanese athlete was out in force. That’s what gets live television all day!

Australia's own Kurt Fearnley won the men's wheelchair race for Australia. He also won in a final 100 metre sprint. 

I thought this was Aussie champ Kurt Fearnly. It wasn't, but I cheered for him anyway. 

6     6.  The volunteers

Apparently 1 million volunteers. They lined the course about every 5 metres. 

7.  The snacks

Bananas, and, wait for it ….. bread rolls and, wait for it again, ...... tomatos!

Yes, they really are tomatos!!

And we made it!

The post-race runner's area was the best I've ever seen. The Expo venue turned over to become a huge indoors runners fest, with snacks, photos, massages, bag collection etc.

And the post-race gift pack was special.  Another tomato, and even a can of non-alcoholic beer!

A beautiful medal.

An, uh- interesting, showbag!

Summary

Another Major for the bucket list.

Hard to go too fast too early because of the crowds but be prepared for them - it will challenge your time.

And lookout for the tomatos!

Thank you Tokyo!  You bewdy!

Thank you very much!

My event ranking:

Organisation	8	Overall, very good. Moving that number requires military-style operations – and it was certainly that
Course	6	Big city road races are my thing (even though the finish line is a bit of an anticlimax stuck down on the wharves)
Atmosphere	8	The Marathon owns this mega city for one day
Crowds	8	Excited fans everywhere lifts you the whole way
Expo	9	Again, amazing organisation and a super bib collection process. And a fun cultural experience as much as anything – even for non runners. The post-event experience was the best ever
Medal	7	Nice. Love the ribbon.
Runner’s pack	8	Great Asics tshirt and a really nice Finisher's towel
Injuries	9	No blisters and just one black toe nails!

February 28th, 2016.