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.

Run 8: Imperial Palace 10km

Saturday, 17th October 2015 (1:30pm)

For my second run in Japan, I was very excited. There were two reasons for this; first, I knew exactly where I would be going and the route I'd be running. Second, it was only 10km. Whenever I say that last part to people, they laugh and think I'm being arrogant. The me last year would have punched the me saying that now. 10km is a lot but after a half-marathon, it's a welcome respite. It also gives me the chance to really throw myself in to the running and push myself, where half-marathons' goals become just finishing the race.

The Emperor of Japan is in there somewhere...

The Imperial Palace run was perhaps the smallest race I have done so far (a close tie with the Wimbledon Common run) and made to seem even smaller by the fact that out of the small hundreds of participants, we were separated by four different runs; 5km, 10km, 15km and 20km.

The Imperial Palace is surrounded by gardens, walls, archaic-looking gates and a path that measures around 5km long. As such, each race's route merely differed by the number of laps the runner needed to do. I needed to do 2.

As an English teacher from a rather small English-speaking country (Wales), I feel a certain pride in displaying a big Welsh flag in my classroom. For this run, I thought it'd be a great idea to step up the costume from the diabetes wig by using the flag as a cape. Dressing up in bizarre costumes is usually common-place for Japanese cosplayers, but less so on the running scene. I attracted a lot of awestruck gazing and one Spanish fellow shouted "Scotland, Scotland!" at me. Though I didn't catch whether he was actually from Catalonia, he did introduce himself and talk at length (get it?) about ultra-marathons. He was incredibly athletic and wore a one-piece running vest that reminded me of that Simpsons clip.

Who's that strange Welsh guy in the wig?

After a group photo, we got ready for the four different waves; 20km went first, followed by 15km and then at 1:30 I got ready for my 10km.

I started well, overtaking most of the people who were there just for a little jog around the palace. One guy at the front was absolutely blitzing it so I decided not to bother trying to match his pace. Another guy in a blue shirt passed me quite early on and I decided he would be my target for the race.


I had been unable to do much training for this race but I felt good. Pushing myself to follow the guy in blue meant that I kept up a decent pace.

The Imperial Palace is a very popular walking and running spot for tourists and Japanese people alike. As a result of this and the four simultaneous races taking place around the grounds, there were a large number of runners. Everyone I passed, I checked out what colour bib they had so that I could determine how far in front I was.

Quite confident that it was just blitz-runner and blue-runner ahead of me, I convinced myself I was in third. More than likely though there was someone else ahead and being behind blue-runner, I was actually in fourth. There were prizes for the top 3, so I would have to come within that zone. There weren't many people in the 10k so it was certainly possible. I just had to beat blue-runner.

Conquering my first lap

Shortly after the first lap, blue-runner went off to the side to wave to his wife. I took this lull in his concentration to overtake him. I smiled encouragingly as I overtook him. From there he kept good pace with me but at the 7km mark I decided enough was enough and with 3rd place firmly in mind I pushed myself to run faster so that I could secure myself a prize.

At around 8km, Spanish Ned Flanders lapped me shouting words of encouragement. I grunted back at him.

As there were no timing chips, I kept a close eye on my phone timer towards the final kilometre. I was on a pretty good time, on track to do just under 47 minutes.

I finished at 46:20 and discovered to my horror that were many people already finished from the 10km. My dreams of 3rd place had been in vain. On the plus side though, two very good Australian friends, who were in Tokyo for a wedding, were waiting at the finish line to congratulate me and receive my incredibly sweaty embrace.




After the race I became something of a small celebrity as a group of Japanese lads, fervently practising their English before-hand, asked if they could have a photo with me (and my crazy wig and patriotic flag-cape). Shortly after this, I was approached by some Indian tourists who were in Tokyo for a naval exhibition.

Proudly showing off the colours of Wales with a random Indian Naval officer

Sadly no extra donations came but I did get to talk to people about why I was running; to raise awareness of diabetes and to help show people that pushing yourself to do a little extra can make a big difference.

Run 7: Arakawa Half Marathon

Sunday, 4th October 2015 (10:30am)

As this was my first run in the land of the Rising Sun and my first outside Europe, I came prepared to the run with a plethora of screenshots on my phone detailing exactly where I had to go, the route, my race number and everything that would be required of me to get the run off without a problem.

The site of many a sport

The race venue was just over an hour from where I was staying and three different metro lines away. Tokyo's railway system can be confusing as different lines are owned by different companies but when you get used to it, navigating isn't too scary. Fortunately, today was a good day as I arrived at my designated station with no problems at all.

Peace and quiet in the foreground, busy Tokyo in the background.

It is very typical of Japanese people to sleep on the train during their morning commute (and their commute home). I almost never do this (mainly because I never get a seat!) On my first leg of the train route I snoozed in and out. Not a very promising start!

The station in question was Higashi-Ojima, and it was a very short walk from here to an incredibly peaceful sports fields/riverside community area. The sun was shining and my walk through the park was incredibly. Old men were grouped together on one field, shooting paper aeroplanes in to the air and watching them glide around. Families were setting up barbecues and picnic areas. Joggers were gearing up for the run, and adorable akitas and other breeds of puppies were being walked.

Short and sweet. Japanese efficiency in action.

With my screenshots and very basic Japanese in hand, I nervously approached the race-pack collection tent. Western names in Japan are translated in to katakana, while Japanese names are written in kanji. The race staff had a list of names and as soon as they saw me and I said my name, they knew to look at one of the very very few katakana names on their list.

So, race number pinned to my top, shoe laces tied and checked, stretches done, I donned my Diabetes wig and got ready for the start of the race. Very few people seemed to look or care about my strange gaijin get-up. Perhaps, being Japanese, they'd seen people wearing stranger things or perhaps they were politely trying not to stare.

Blissfully unaware that a blue-wigged gaijin was waiting behind them.

I have very little to say about the race. It was baking hot (somewhere close to 28°) so I was sweating even before I started running. Given the heat I wasn't prepared to run to beat any Personal Best I have so went in with the mentality that I would just finish the race and do so under 2 hours. The course was a series of 4 laps along a promenade where kids and adults played baseball (Japan's favourite sport) and bicycles whizzed past. Every stretch of a lap was 2.5km and each side had a water station. I stopped and re-hydrated at every water stop - I did not want to be that ignorant Westerner who died of heat stroke during a run he wasn't prepared for.

All types of people were on the run, from all ages and shapes and sizes. It seemed a very inclusive run and had a very good spirit about it. For most of the run I was in my own little headspace, just wanting to finish and though I picked up my pace towards the end, it was an average of 5:30 per km. Lacking a big, bright finish line, two Japanese ladies held a strip of ribbon between them and runners were encouraged to run through it with their arms stretched upwards in salute of their victory.

Celebrating with my instantly printed certificate!

In true Japanese style of efficiency, immediately after completing the race I was presented with my certificate that congratulated me on my finish time, a cool 1:55:02