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.

Pheidippides, bucket lists and Coke:  what a mix!

The Athens Marathon 2015.

The Athens Marathon is rightly promoted as “The Authentic” marathon.

It sits high on marathon bucket-lists because it recreates the original legendary route from 490BC when Pheidippides ran the 42km from Marathon to Athens to announce victory over the attacking

Persians. Unfortunately for him it didn’t end well. Legend has it he proclaimed victory then promptly collapse and died. Thank God that didn’t happen to me.

Pheidippides (left) and I (right) now have a lot in common!

This year I was one of 16,000 who took to the course.  Two main memories: the hills (groan) and the finish line inside the Panathenaic Stadium; site of the original 1896 Olympic Games (WOW!)

Here’s my main memories:

1. The early start .... and we're off!

Buses departed Athens at 5.30am and arrived at Marathon 40 minutes later. But the race didn’t start till 9.00am so that’s a long time of doing nothing. And it was cold. And Marathon doesn’t have much going for it apart from its historical connection. So I actually found a spot and had a snooze!

Marathon ... just go up over those hills and you'll be in Athens

The corral system was excellent and the race run on major roads, all closed.

That's me in the yellow Janji singlet ....

Athens ... here we come!

A history reminder .... just in case you'd forgotten!

2.       The hills of Athens aren't easy!

I was not expecting the gradual climb of the course. From the 14km mark it goes up and up and doesn’t stop till the 30km mark. That’s over an hour worth of running – straight up. Oh, the never ending hills (far more Great Ocean Road Marathon than Gold Coast Marathon).

The hills are alive ..... with the sound of groaning ...

3.       The crowds

Who doesn’t love a Zorba dance to lighten your own step! And fans handing out olive tree leaves, constantly calling “Bravo” in thick accents.  Love it.

"Bravo, bravo...."

Spectacular art:  'The Runner'.     Made of sheets of glass

Speaking of crowds, I had to make the Expo/bib collection journey on Saturday afternoon.  Disastrous :(  Huge crowds and an hour to collect your t-shirt. The low point of the weekend.

4.       How smoothly the event was run

It's tough in Greece right now, right?  Yet Athens clearly recognizes  the importance of the event and values us tourists. (For example, there was an airline strike and their efforts to help those runners involved were impressive).

So they deserve a shout out for the organisation. It was as good as any big marathon anywhere. Sure the Expo was painful but apart from that hiccup the event was incredibly well organised. From plentiful coaches at 5.30am to take you to Marathon to drink stations, crowd control etc. Well done Athens!

5.       Drink stations ... time for a Coke!

This was bad. Such waste. At every drink station (and there were plenty) full bottles of water only.  Take a sip and throw it away. Such waste.Such rubbish.

Bottles of water and Powerade - with just sips taken from them added to the litter of the streets. Bad, bad, bad.


And the first time I’ve ever been offered Coca-Cola on a marathon.  It was the only time I’ll ever touch the stuff and, I must say, it was good!  And they served it in cups!

(Also the occasional bananas, gels and sponges)

I can't stand the character Sponge Bob Squarepants, but today I was happy to see him!

Whilst the course itself is relatively uninspiring (and don’t forget uphill), it’s because its tracing the original course and not following the trail of tourist sites (like the Rome Marathon does), but you still see some good sights ....

The ponies cheered us on, but their voices were a little horse!!   (sorry!)

History abounds!  But so do lots and lots of empty shops and businesses - a sign of Greece's struggling economy.

The last 10km are downhill or flat coming into Athens and you can make up time if the hills haven't destroyed you (like they had me!)

6.       Saving the best till last

The finish line is amazing. It's all about the history.

That 200m on the original Olympic Stadium track is worth every cent. The stadium experience is better than running into Australia's own MCG! 

Just 200 metres to go! Curse that British Royal Family for adding that extra 200 metres to the distance!

WOW

WOW WOW.
It was breathtaking (for what little breath I had left!)

Still buzzing. I was captivated by all this history and sat around for hours after soaking it in

Ratings:

Definitely one for the keen marathoners who have a bucket list. 

This is history overload.

How's this for an awesome medal!

Loses points for the Expo arrangements/distance out of town but gains for race day.

And did I say how special it was running into the stadium ....

Summary

One for the bucket list.

Be prepared for the hills.

And drinking Coke!

My event ranking:

Organisation	8	Overall, very good. Not Disney standard but good
Course	6	and 4 of those were for the finish!
Atmosphere	6	History!
Crowds	6	“Bravo”
Expo	3	Really a 7 but for the t-shirt collection & distance away
Medal	9	Wow.  Awesome
Runner’s pack	9	Adidas t-shirt & nice bag. Awesome medal
Injuries	1	1 blister but all toe nails intact!

And a farewell from the Parthenon!!