The 50th Ohme 30 K Road Race Running Report

At 11:30 am on Feb. 21, the runners heard the bang, and the 50th Ohme 30 K road race had begun.

The start area was so congested that it took me almost four minutes to finally cross the official start line. On a stage set at the start area stood two eminent former marathon stars, Mr. Toshihiko Seko and Ms. Naoko Takahashi. They were greeted with waves of hands from passing runners. But soon they went behind them, and the festive atmosphere was replaced with breathing noises and increasing body heat.

The first 5 K is, strategically speaking, not an easy phase.
Though you still have your energy all stored up,
if you are not able to set a good pace at this phase,
it becomes difficult to make up for the delay later.
But if you increase your pace too much, trying to cancel the loss from the congestion right after the start,
you can use up the energy needed in the second half of the race.
I carefully found space among runners and overtook quite a few
so that I'd be able to run with a faster group of runners,
which is one of the keys to hammering out a good time.

Near the 6 K mark there was the first aid station.
I had half a cup of water, and poured the rest over my head to cool off my body heat.
Daytime highs were expected to reach 12 degrees Celsius,
and heat management was important.

As the race continued, the crowds became more and more spread out,
and passage through runners got easier,
but sudden increase of pace could be fatal later,
so I closely monitored my lap,
and stuck to the 5:00/K pace.

Near the 10 K mark, a friend of mine and former marathon runner Taeko-san awaited as an aid worker from ＪＡＡＦ. I called her name and waved my hand at her. She waved her hand back at me and shouted, "Ganbatte!"

It was shortly after this that I saw the top athletes already returning from the turning point.
First came two male runners, one black African-looking and the other Asian.
And then in less than 30 seconds came famous Mr. Yuki Kawauchi with a few other runners.
I called his name for encouragement, and several more shouts followed mine as he went past us.

After that an increased number of runners came down from the opposite direction.
I tried to find my faster friends. I kept on doing it for almost ten minutes without any success.
And finally my eyes became sore and I gave up and concentrated on running.

The size of the cheering crowd suddenly got larger near the turning point.
A large sign came in sight above the road that said "Ohme Marathon Turning Point".
A large cone was insight, and it came nearer and nearer with every step,
and in no time I found myself facing the runners who were coming up.
Soon after that I crossed the 15 K line and quickly checked my lap.
I was almost two minutes faster than in 2015.
If I could keep the same pace, I would be able to renew my best.

But no good things lasted forever. I felt pain in my right knee near the 18 K mark. It was the kind of pain I felt both in the full marathon in Tateyama and the 45 K weekend challenge between work and home.
When I ran from work to home, the pain didn't go away no matter what I did.
In the marathon in Tateyama, I changed my running form and overcame it.
I had no choice but bet on the hope that it would go away if I did what I had done in Tateyama.

So I stopped running in small strides, and started taking wider strides and landing on heels to allow the cushion on the sole to absorb the shock of landing. I carried on with this strategy for the next several kilometers. Fortunately it worked miraculously!! For the second time in my life I was successfully able to overcome serious leg pain during the race with a strategic measure.
Though small pain came back every now and then, it was never serious enough to distract my mind.

When the last long uphill leading to JR Miyanodaira Station was finally conquered,
what awaited me was a long stretch of straight road below and an endless blue sky with sporadic clouds shining in the sun above. I ran down like a snow ball gathering momentum as it rolled down a hill.

I saw a sign saying 4 K to finish. Then 3 K, and 2 K. Both sides of the road were crowded with cheerers, each shouting their own words to congratulate the runners on completing the race. I heard one of them say, "Three more traffic lights to pass." I passed one. Then another. The next was the last. Suddenly I had a dopamine rush and felt a happy hormone traveled through my entire body from head to toe. All pain was gone and the full strength of the entire universe was with me. I spotted my bilingual companion on my left trying to take my photos at the last intersection before the goal. I smiled into her camera as I cornered like I was on rails. A second later I was on the final stretch. The arch above the finish line was visible. It was made with balloons in all colors. The crowds of cheerers were the largest. Runners were throwing both of their hands in the air ahead. I could only see their back. But I knew they were smiling with joy. The arch came nearer. And nearer. And finally gone! I was on the other side of the finish line! The race was over. The whole world felt unreal. The roars of the cheerers mush be there, but they were inaudible. I was a ball of energy just burned out for a moment...

And suddenly a tremendous feeling of joy engulfed my whole body, and I felt like I was inside a large balloon of happiness flying eternally in timeless space...