From Andrew Merrick…
Having not done a road run since 2017 (Chicago), I did think more than twice as to whether I should complete the set by heading to Tokyo this year, 3 years after covid got in the way of the original 2020 plan….
A lot of (slow) ultra runs had flowed under the bridge since 2017 and I struggled to get excited about going back to road but eventually FOMO (yes I’ve spent time with my daughter recently) took over and I took the plunge.
Happily, the aforementioned daughter then decided to book a holiday to Japan, albeit she had to fly back the evening before the marathon, so helpfully I was met at the airport and could leave Clo in charge of getting us to the expo. I had flown out on Thursday morning, a day later than Hilda, so it was Friday afternoon before Clo got us to the usual located-well-away-from-the-city-centre exhibition venue and headed off for a green tea whilst I collected my number in a very regimented process which included having my health app checked. We had been required to load an app at least a week before the race and submit daily temperature data (amongst other items) plus a photo which was then “locked” at the expo to avoid switching presumably. At the expo we were also given two covid tests to take pre race, and, whilst there, I took the opportunity to say hi to the charity to which I had donated back in 2019 to get into the race in the first place. I am not sure good for age places exist at all for Tokyo, so you pretty much have to buy your way in unless you are very lucky in the ballot.
Clo found a bar on Friday evening whilst I was faffing at the hotel (a Nell Bank video call to be precise) and she helpfully sent me a pin from the bar she was in. Finding it was my first real experience of Tokyo – it was at full capacity with 7 of us in including the two guys Clo had got talking to, both of whom had been convinced I had fallen asleep. In my defence it was a very narrow alley way and it took me a while to work out that walking in a straight line towards the pin wasn’t going to get it done.
My next pin challenge featured finding a park not too far from the hotel the next morning after I was allowed a lie in…. This time a straight line would have been a much better solution….
After some compulsory blossom shots and lunch in a traditional tea room, I was allowed to have a try on the Tokyo underground unsupervised, on the strict understanding I messaged as soon as I got back to the hotel and the sanctuary of wifi. This worked pretty well so I felt confident to get home by the same route post race. I had also made a plan with Hilda to meet at her hotel, which was pretty much at the start, the next morning at 7:30 with the race due to start at 9:10. Clo headed off to the airport at about 9pm on the Saturday evening leaving me to try to get some sleep.
A combination of jet lag and the usual pre race sleep made this challenging….. 5+ hours later I was able to check the UK football scores before finally falling asleep a few hours before the alarm went off….. I recalled the time in Cartmel pre Lakes in a Day when I heard every single hour rung out on the church bells, and realised that at least I was getting rest so tried to stay relaxed despite the lack of actual sleep…
Fortunately the Tokyo marathon organisers had relented and allowed runners to dispose of spare clothing pre-race (in a small number of helpfully provided bins in the various corrals), unfortunately I hadn’t done a great job of assessing just how cold it would be, despite checking the weather forecast. My orange long sleeve (Chevin Chase, I think) t shirt wasn’t really cutting it as I arrived at the hotel to meet Hilda. She looked as alarmed as I was when her running group organiser suggested she follow me to find her starting gate……
However we got to the right place and headed off in our different directions, the next challenge being to get our health app checked before we were allowed in to the relevant runners area. I remembered to locate a wifi signal and was slightly concerned when their check came back amber rather than the required green….. The third time this happened I was fully concerned, but fortunately the volunteer marshal took pity on me and allowed me in to my corral anyway…. [a review of the health app during my post race bath concluded I had failed to correctly save the results of either antigen test – oops!]
Apart from the cold, which was solved when I bumped into an Irish runner who was about to throw away a down jacket, the rest of the pre race period was pretty calm. He said the jacket might be a bit sweaty, I assured him that wasn’t going to be an issue.
The only badly organised element of the race, I concluded, was the loo queues. Long queues to loos arranged on two adjacent sides of a square was never going to be a route to happiness. It was impossible to work out where the queue ended, or indeed which queue it was…..
Ah yes, the race….. My plan was to aim for 3:30 (I promised myself marathon training wouldn’t get in the way of my life this time round…), fortunately I spotted the 3:30 pacers as we set off, since my Garmin was immediately confused by the tall buildings and told me I had done a mile, before we had even got to the 1km mark…
I pretty much stuck with them till halfway on wide roads with various different switch backs to keep us in central Tokyo, with crowds therefore lining the whole route. Despite the width of the roads, which were more undulating than I had expected, I did see a few tripping incidents and elbows were required early on, particularly round the various corners. I did get ankle tapped from behind at one point but was more fortunate than some others and managed to stay upright.
The drink stations were well organised with different pick-up zones corresponding to the last digit on your race number, with both water and isotonic (the delightfully named Pocari Sweat) drinks available.
The lack of training kicked in during the second half of the race and a number of us found the final out and back section quite challenging mentally too.
I finished eventually in 3:42, slightly disappointed that I didn’t at least manage to keep it to sub 3:40, and my previous times now feel a lifetime away, but the less than fully focused training meant that was always a likely outcome!
Happily I met my London friends as we queued for our fancy (big 6) medal – some other races deserved it more than this one – and we were able to keep each other company as we managed the poncho clad long walk out to bag collection and the charity area. There was no time to stop and reflect as we were permanently moved on until we had exited the entire area – I didn’t recall getting even a glimpse of the emperor’s palace which was apparently somewhere near the finish….. My training with Clo served me well – my tube ride back after a short massage in the charity area and a nearby refuelling beer and burger was eventless.
I decided I had just about earned another beer and happily met a few Milton Keynes runners in a local bar that evening, only one of whom was still wearing the poncho…. Apparently jaeger-redbulls (Clo, how am I supposed to spell this?) don’t prevent you from sleeping…. Their company made for a fun end to the day.
I very much enjoyed my stay in Tokyo, including a reflective Mount Fuji spotting trip on Monday (I have concluded hills are more fun), and a wander round Tokyo on Tuesday – the manic nature of the Shibuyu Crossing in stark contrast to the calm of one of a number of large city centre parks.
I don’t look back on the race itself with particular fondness, for multiple reasons, but I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Tokyo, not least because of my guide (thanks Clo!). Also it was a materially more accessible place than I remembered from my last visit (some decades ago!), whilst having retained its strong culture for respect, which made it a pleasure to spend time in despite how very manically busy it is in places.
From Hilda Coulsey…
This has been an amazing marathon journey for me from London in 2013 to completing the six world marathon majors in Tokyo aged 70.
Whilst being conscious of the cost, both the money and to the environment, I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to follow a dream. My original marathon target was to run Boston because of its long marathon history, where the fight to allow women to access these longer races was not realised until after events of 1967 paving the way for the first women’s Olympic marathon to be run in 1984 – I’d been to uni, got a job and had two young children by then. Age too – in 1910 an 54 year man was turned away as he was deemed to be too old! Also Boston has quite tough qualifying times to enter, the challenge therefore for me was to see if I could do it, hence my first step in London to qualify for Boston in 2014.
Then one thing lead to another! I could write much more, suffice to say here I was in Tokyo to run the last of the big six and get my six star medal.
The rules to enter the expo and the start line were strict particularly regarding general health and covid concerns. I felt that as I’d chosen to take part I should be sympathetic to local sensitivities and accept the rules. Social media, as you might imagine, was generally less enthusiastic. The expo was poor as was the mechanise i.e. very limited with significant queues, which did seem like a major lost opportunity for the organisers and Asics. The cut off times in the race are strict, you must get to various points by certain times based on gun time otherwise the course is roped off, a DNF and no medal – harsh for the slower, 6 hour runners expected to start nearer the back. These, the 14 hour flight and 9 hour time difference all added to the stress.
The race itself started in one long crush, no separation between corrals but I seemed to have chosen an ok position and was able to start at an acceptable pace about 15 mins after the gun. The weather was ideal, 10-12C and dry. The course is relatively flat through the main city centre districts.
I was really pleased that I could keep going, my pace didn’t drop off much. My training had been, by and large, injury free and unconventional in that my longest run in the build up was 2hr40 and I had increased my total weekly miles up to about 45 knowing that longer runs and more mileage would require longer recovery and potentially a higher chance of injury (at my age!). Having a best case target of 4hrs30, I completed it in 4:29:51. Very happy particularly as my watch struggled with the high rise and concrete city deciding I’d done 44k. Hence pacing wasn’t easy but I seemed to find a steady pace so actually I just ran!
I enjoyed collecting the bling. I felt proud to have seized the opportunity. I enjoyed the chance to see some sights, get a flavour of the culture and history and the people were friendly and helpful. I enjoyed representing Ilkley Harriers, grateful too for your friendship and encouragement and it was lovely that Andrew Merrick was there too to share the experience.
(1 2:05:21 Deso Gelmisa)
8394 3:42:37 Andrew Merrick
18878 4:29:51 Hilda Coulsey
36785 ran