Race Report: The Shonan International Marathon 2019

Dec. 1, 2019
42.195 K: 3:38:58 (Gross)/3:35:57 (Net)

On December 1, 2019 the Shonan International Marathon 2019 took place in Ohiso, Kanagawa Prefecture. I ran it in 999-yen marine shoes, and finished in 3:38:58 (Gross)/3:35:57 (Net). It's my first sub-3.40 marathon, smashing  my previous PR of 3:43:08 from the Tateyama Wakashio Marathon 2018 by 7 minutes and 11 seconds.

All in all, the event was enjoyable. The course is easy to run. Security is quite reliable. And aid is more than sufficient. Below I would like to write a brief summary of how I ran the race.

I arrived at JR Ninomiya Station at 6:08 a.m. Early arrival was strongly recommended by Toshi who ran a sub-3 marathon on this course some years ago. Thanks to his advice I was able to hop on a shuttle bus without waiting much. I was glad, because I was originally planning to walk from the station to the venue by walking for 35 minutes. This option was recommended by a female ultra-marathoner I talked with at Yokohama Marathon. She had run Shonan Marathon many times, and knowing how crowded shuttle buses always get, she would always walk to the venue. But I was able to save time and energy by taking the bus.

I waited for my runner friend Hashimoto-san in one of the tents put up for runners to get changed. He joined me about an hour after I arrived.

Runners are expected to gather in their respective corral an hour before the race. My corral is B, which is the one for those who aim at a sub-3.5 marathon. About half an hour before the start runners were guided into the start area from the waiting field. Once on the road where we directly faced the sea, there was nothing to block the sea breeze. I had a raincoat from a dollar shop on, so I was able to wait in comfort.

The gun went off at 9:00 a.m., and the race was under way!

 At 3.3 K I found my bilingual companion, so I handed the raincoat to her. I was originally planning to take it off and hand it to one of the volunteer workers, but the raincoat was a good one for the price, so I wanted to keep it. Though I had it on just to keep warm until the start, thanks to it I warmed up faster than usual.

I continued on at a comfortable pace, keeping my breathing in check. I was going to breathe in 4 beats, and breathe out 4 beats until I crossed halfway point. 

At the 10 K mark in Chigasaki, I saw the official time for the first time. I was 2 minutes ahead of schedule! I was surprised, because I thought I was going rather slowly. I slowed down a little, hoping to save energy for the latter half.

Shortly before the first turning point in Enoshima, I was expecting to meet my bilingual cheerleader, but to my disappointment I was not able to find her. 

Enoshima is one of the most popular cheering spots for sure, and there was a wall of cheerers on both sides of the street. I took off my marine shoes and ran in bare feet for a while. I felt great as the road condition was fairly good in the Enoshima area, and some of the spectators wildly reacted to my feat. Though I ran most of the course with shoes on in this race, this brief moment of barefoot running is one of the most memorable moments of that day.

At the 5th aid station at 19.2 K I grabbed 'uiroh' to fuel myself. It's a starchy snack made of rice, sugar, and a little bit of salt. I had three small packs. I felt a surge of energy. 

Between 20 and 30 K is the most crucial stage of the race. I was planning to increase the pace slightly, but not too much. A sudden increase in pace could take a toll on my legs, and I could need to pay a serious price later on. I seamlessly increase the pace, and whenever I felt a slight sign of spasm in legs, I slowed down to avoid any irreparable damage to them. 

When I finally reached the 30 K mark in one piece I felt a surge of relief. But there was still a long way to go. 

Shortly after I passed the Chigasaki Fishing Port a female runner talked me. She was interested in what I was wearing on my feet. She is a member of a running club, and two of the members are barefoot runners. She asked me if I was wearing socks, so I said to her that they were marine shoes with a meshy rubber sole. She and I talked for a while. Then we wish each other good luck, and parted. But from that point on, I kind of used her as a pacer, because she had such a beautiful running form and her pace was so metronomic. If I stuck with her, I would be able to run a pretty good race, I thought. And I proved right later on.

After 30 K there was a series of upward inclines including the Shonan Ohashi Bridge, but I like uphills. I spent so many hours hitting them in training. I attached them strongly by swinging my arms more dynamically than when running flat parts. 

When I finally saw the Ohiso Prince Hotel, I said to myself, "Now the real game begins!" Before the race I was told by Toshi that it's quite demotivating to see the finish area on your right, and yet there's still almost 5 more kilometers to run. But I was up for the challenge. I love the hardest part. All my previous training effort was for this particular moment, I said to myself. I looked down at the shoes other runners had on, and whenever I saw NIKE's latest model, I overtook him. When I say another, I overtook him also. I said to them in my mind, "Come on, brother, don't you have those state-of-the-art carbon-plated shoes on to run fast? How can you let a caveman with marine shoes with little cushioning run faster than you?" I'm kidding. That's how I wanted to run. The truth of the matter is that I was so preoccupied with my own pain I couldn't think about anything but taking each step forward. 

The 3 kilometers after the hotel was in sight on the right was the longest 3 kilometers that I had ever run. But when I finally turned around the second turning point and crossed the 40 K mark right after that, I could feel a surge of energy welling up inside me. I closed my eyes and ran. I wasn't looking at anything any more. I was following my mental vision. How on earth can you do it, you may ask. But I just do it. In my mind I visualized an imaginary K. I ran 100 meters in my mind, then the remaining distance is 2.1 K. I ran yet another 100 meters. So now the remaining distance is just 2 K. This way, I counted down the remaining distance in my mind. What I was doing, though, was tricking my mind so that when I thought I still had 500 meters to run, the actual remaining distance is only 300 meters, because it's motivating. It's far more motivating to find out that you need to run less that you thought you had to run, than when you need to run more than you thought you had to run.

Anyway, when I took the turn leff off the Seisho Bybass into a narrow driveway into the hotel, I knew it's almost over. A smile crept across my face, I could feel. There was a sharp left turn from a parking lot into yet another drive way that led to the amusement park adjacent to the hotel. The finish line is located in this park area. The driveway was a steep uphill, but it was short, and lined with a whole bunch of cheering spectators. 

Once I reached the top of the hill, the finish arch was in sight! It looked 200 meters away. I heard a deep voice of a female runners behind me. He seemed ready to kick. I didn't want be overtaken. I kicked first, suddenly into track mode like Eliud Kipchoge in the last 500 meters of the Ineos 1:59 Challenge in Vienna, Austria. The official clock was insight. I couldn't believe my eyes. It was clocking 3:38:55, 56, and 57...Goodness me! It's gonna be my first sub-3:40 marathon. And suppose it's gross time, my net time will be even better.

And sure enough, after I crossed the finish line, I discovered that my net was 3:35.57. I smashed my previous PR by 7 minutes and 11 seconds. In marine shoes, with no runner's watch on, and running part of the course in bare feet! 

After the race I had the most delicious beer with my runner friends Hashimoto san and Yuko.