Run 9: Odaiba Friendly Run (10km)

Saturday, 8th November 2015 (10:00am)

The 5th International Friendly Run took place in Odaiba, Tokyo, and as seems the case with Japanese races was a selection of either a 5km, 10km or 20km race. I opted for the 10km, simply because the 5km was not long enough and the 20km was 1km short of a half marathon. Given the dismal rain, I almost regret not choosing to run 5km.

A dismal day for running

The Statue of Liberty with my friend Paul

Odaiba is an artificial island constructed in Tokyo Bay, originally intended as a defensive fortress in the 19th century, which was later desired to be transformed in to a shining beacon of Japan's uber-technological and economic prowess when Japan's economy seemed like it would be unstoppable. Now, the island is home to shopping malls, theme-parks, and a replica statue of liberty.

The intention of the "International Friendly Run" was for foreigners and Japanese people to come together to become united with a common purpose. I think the run was designed with embassy staff in mind, or army people who had been stationed in Japan for a while. Either way, there was a very fun atmosphere, despite the rain. While queuing up to get my race number, I bumped in to lots of people from lots of different countries. The group that stuck out the most was a party of about 5 or 6 Canadian ladies, looking good in their 30s, all sporting bright red t-shirts proudly saying "Powered by Maple Syrup." They were loud and boisterous in all the best ways, encouraging others and shouting support to people they passed.

Standing at the start line and chatting to them, we had little chance to sync running apps and timekeeping devices as the gun fired with no prior countdown or announcement. We were on our way then it seemed. Fortunately, the race itself was chipped so there was no real need for accurate running time apps.

Soaking wet but happy to have finished.

The course itself was two laps, following parts of a promenade along the soggy beach (sand imported from China.) There were no elevations at all and it was all on paving, yet the dismal rain, which alternated between showering and hammering down, seemed to hinder my running somewhat. After one lap, braving looking at my phone in-between spells of rain, I noticed my time was 25 minutes. Unless I picked up the pace, this would result in a time of 50 minutes.

Well, to cut a long story short, because the only exciting things to happen in the run were my saying hello to the excitable group of Canadian women when passing them in between laps and my waving to the leader of the 10km group (a man dressed in a gold bodysuit), I ended up finishing with a time of 49 minutes and 19 seconds, very far from my best efforts.

To make matters more depressing, I found out afterwards that I had finished 4th in my age bracket and that to have finished in the top 3 would have yielded an award of sorts. Given that my time was 3 minutes longer than my usual, I'm certain had it not been raining and had I pushed myself hard, I may have finished in the top 3. This is something that will have to be rectified by adding a fourth run to my Japanese repertoire.