Tokyo Marathon 2009

Tokyo Marathon 2009
The Tokyo Marathon, generally considered to be a real success here, will be run on March 22 this year, pushed back a month from the previous two that were run in the 3rd week of February. The big race has been well received by Tokyo’s residents. Japan is an avid running nation and it hosts a number of races at the beginning of the year. From Jan 1 and 2, you only need to turn on the T.V. in the morning and it will be showing a road race that started an hour or so before you woke up.

You can tell the marathon is getting closer by the large number of joggers in the morning and evenings these days. Most participants of the marathon that will run the race for the first time prefer to run sections of the course prior to the race. I did as well, and I recommend it to everyone that has the opportunity to participate. As a place for jogging however, it does not rank in my top 20 places to run in Tokyo. First of all, the marathon’s course uses some of the largest boulevards in the city, which is great on race day when the traffic is closed, but a tough course on a regular day with ample road traffic, plenty of stop lights (that you dare not ignore), and constant stepping up and off of curbs.

Additionally, you need to avoid Shinjuku and Ginza in the afternoons and evenings because of the pedestrian crowds. Running sections at night, like I did for my final 35k training run, was a real adventure trying to stay on course when it is unmarked.

Back in 2006, the longest I had ever run was 10K. I was always entering the various charity runs around the Imperial Palace so a friend at work assumed I was a real athlete and told me about the new marathon. He showed me how to enter, which I did, half hoping I would not be picked. Well, I did get picked and I had to figure out how to run it. My participation in the race created a lot of interest at work and among friends, which unnerved me a bit. Despite the atrocious weather, the 2007 Tokyo Marathon was a tremendous experience and I was lucky to repeat it in 2008 and my friends and co-workers are amazed that again I have a number for the 2009 race.

Everyone calls it reverse discrimination and they believe that the race committee is trying to get as many foreign faces as possible to enhance the international look. If that is the case, I am certainly not complaining. If you are in the race this year, I am sure you know the official site, but I have provided a link today for those of you that do not know it but may have an interest in trying to get in next year (click this blog entry title). You can get a number of maps of the course, as well as a speeded up ride over the course to give you an idea of what it is like in the lead of the race.