台風接近の曇天の中、愛馬に跨り常磐道を北上すること１時間弱。茨城県水戸市を訪れた。水戸黄門漫遊マラソンの応援が狙いだ。ラン友のHさんが出走する。
応援スポットには、内原町のローソンを選んだ。前日の夜応援ナビとGoogle Mapsの突き合わせリサーチの結果、交通規制の影響が最も少ないのがこのスポットと判断されたからだ。さらに中間点に近い折り返しスポットからそう遠くないこの場所は、二度にわたり走者に声援を贈れる。
現地へ着くと、目的地のローソンの一区画手前で交通規制が行われており、車両は迂回を余儀なくされた。しかし二輪車に跨る自分は、自動車では通行の叶わない住宅街の細道を通り、あと一区画だけ車両を目的地に接近させて、そこでエンジンを切った。
エンジンを切った二輪車は手で押せば歩行者である。ローソンの駐車場にバイクを停めて、応援を始めた。
応援スポットへ着いたのは、スタートから１時間半近く経った頃だった。２０㌔手前のポイントを、その時刻に通過するランナーはサブスリー圏内の猛者である。百戦錬磨の肉体は日に焼け、細い上半身の下で躍動する両脚には、鑿（ﾉﾐ）で削りだしたように細く美しい筋肉が着地の度に浮かび上がる。
応援を始めて間もなく、次々と走り去る海千山千の長距離走の黒帯たちの中に、カーキの上下のウエアをまとった地味なランナーの姿をみとめた。裸足である！Christopher Mcdougallのベストセラー“Born to Run”以降一時ブームを巻き起こしたベアフットランニング。しかしその後Nikeの厚底シューズが生まれ、ベアフットランニングのブームは去った。絶滅の危機に瀕する長距離界の伝説Abebe Bikilaの崇高な伝統であるそのベアフットランニングの継承者が、なんとこの水戸黄門漫遊マラソンに居たのだった！
感動に私は雄叫んだ。「はだし、かっこいいぞーっ！！」 尚、裸足の走者の過ぎ去った後、だいぶしばらくしてからサブ３の集団がペーサーと共にやってきたので、前述の裸足の走者は、サブ３よりも達成者が少ない「裸足によるフルマラソンの完走」を「サブエガ」ペースで目指していたことになる。なんと啓発的行為だろう！！
さて、周囲をはばからぬ私の大声は他の観戦者たちの勇気を喚起したようで、ランナーの進み行く先に陣取っていた沿道からは、次々と大きな声援が走者に投げかけられた。みんな声を出して声援したかったのにためらっていたようだ。
スタートから２時間が過ぎてしばらくするとラン友のＨさんが応援ナビ上で応援スポットに接近して来た。しかし残念ながら往路での発見には失敗した。スマホのＧＰＳ精度が低いのかもしれない。再び集中して復路での発見に臨む。そして往路通過から１５分過ぎ、Hさんの姿を発見した。「Hさ～～～～～～～～～～～～～～ん」 周囲に木霊する大音量でHさんの名を及ぶ。Hさんが首を左右にふりながら声の主を探す様子が見える。私は応援に駆けつけることをHさんに言っていない。「Hさ～～～～～～～～～～～～～～ん」
もう一度Hさんの名を呼ぶ。こちらへ向かってかけてくるHさんが私の姿に気が付くのがわかった。私は手を大きく振る。Hさんは私の方を見ている。しかし戸惑った表情を浮かべている。「どうしてここにいるんですか？？？」と表情は言っているように見えた。「後半戦も力強く！」と叫ぶ私に、手を振って応えながら交差点を左に折れてHさんの姿が消えた・・・
Hさんの応援後、しばらく私は沿道に残り走者へ声援を贈り続けた。走者の反応は、目標タイムによって違う。目標タイムが４時間から５時間前後の方々は、気力が充実していて声援の反応が良い。一方目標タイムがそれよりも極端に遅い場合、声援へ反応することも大変と感じられるほど、消耗している方が多い。逆にそれよりもはるかに速い走者は、余裕で明るい反応を返してくれる方と、タイムを目指して前しか見ていない真剣そのものの走者と真っ二つに分かれる。走ることと同じくらい、観戦することも学びが多い。まさに「観戦道」とでも名付けたいほど、奥が深い。普段は走者として応援してもらう立場になることの多い自分が、応援する側に回って学んだ深淵なる境地がそこにある。
やがて走者はことごとく走り去り、道路が静かになった。私の傍で縁石に腰かけ声援を贈っていた老婆がゆっくりと立ち上がると私と目が合った。ミッキーマウスをあしらった小さな黒いショルダーをかけて、洒落た上着を羽織って小ぎれいにしている。聞けば近くに住むという。昭和１０年生まれ、御年９１才。毎年応援に来るらしい。健脚を称え、長寿と健康を祈念して別れを告げた。
応援後は、近くにある植物園に隣接したNoulandなるCaféで食事をした。勤め先の教材の次回号の校正作業が残っていて、フレッシュな空気の中で作業に集中したかったので、食後は珈琲を飲みながら作業に没頭した。
気が付くと雨が天井を叩く音がする。帰りは雨の中の走行になりそうだ。会計の際、女性の定員が「バイク大丈夫ですか」と心配してくれた。サドルバッグにレインウエアを積んである旨伝えると、「お気をつけて」と言ってくれた。とても良い店だった。常陸牛のビビンパを頂いたが美味しかった。近くに植物がたくさんある、という事実だけでも気持ちが落ち着く。途中トイレに中座する際、ハウスの中にある植物の間を練り歩いた。その時、明らかに空気が清い心地がした。同じ感覚を、友部SAのETC専用出口から出て最初に通り抜ける森林の合間の道路でも感じた。空気が明らかに清く美味しい。周辺に暮らす人がうらやましい。
復路の常磐道の交通量は概ね平常で、渋滞が予測される区間の手前で圏央道へ入った自分は、渋滞に影響を受けることなく高速を降りた。高速を降りた後は、関東一帯にその名を轟かせるラーメンの名店「ラーメンショップ牛久結束店」への立ち寄りを検討していた。しかし通過の際目にした店頭には長蛇の列が形成されていたので断念した。私の観察では、当店に唯一行列が無かった時間帯は、日曜日の夜１０時過ぎだ。来店を検討している方は参考にされたい。
帰宅後、水戸黄門漫遊マラソンを無事完走したHさんとメッセンジャーでやりとりをした。遠征することを私から事前に知らされていなかったので、「最初自身の名前が叫ばれるのを耳にした時、『幻聴』かとおもった」というHさんとは「まだハーフの手前なので『幻聴』には早いのでは」といった友情を込めた戯言を交わした。
後で知ったことだが、水戸黄門漫遊マラソンの大会評価の高さは全国屈指であり、給食、給水、応援の充実が、その一翼を担うと言う。数々のフルマラソンを知るHさんが言うのだから本当だ。そして水戸黄門漫遊マラソンには「裸足」の仲間がいることも知った。来年は参加を検討したい。
走者の皆さん、激走、力走、お疲れさまでした。完走されたすべての走者の皆さん、おめでとうございました。そして挑戦したすべての市民ランナーの皆さん、こころから敬意を表します。Happy running!
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Under a cloudy sky, with a typhoon approaching, I hopped on my motorcycle and headed north on the Joban Expressway. Less than an hour later, I arrived in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture. My mission was to cheer on the runners in the Mito Komon Manyu Marathon, in which my running buddy Mr. H was taking part.
I had chosen a Lawson convenience store in Uchihara as my cheering spot. The night before, I had carefully compared the race's live tracking app with Google Maps. After all that research, I decided that this location would be the easiest to reach despite the road closures. It was also not far from a U-turn point near the halfway mark, which meant I could cheer for the runners twice.
When I arrived, I found that the road was closed one block before the Lawson I was aiming for. Cars had to take a detour. But I was on two wheels, not four. I rode through a narrow residential street that cars could not use and got one block closer to my destination. Then I switched off the engine.
A motorcycle with its engine off, when pushed by hand, is a pedestrian. I pushed my bike into the Lawson parking lot, parked it, and began my cheering mission.
It was almost an hour and a half after the start when I reached my spot. At this point, runners passing the 20K mark were the real deal, many of them on track to finish in under three hours. Their bodies showed years of hard training. Their skin was tanned, and beneath their slim upper bodies, the muscles in their legs stood out beautifully with every footstrike, as if a sculptor had carved them with a chisel.
Not long after I started cheering, I spotted a rather inconspicuous runner among the many battle-hardened long-distance black belts rushing past. He was wearing khaki running clothes.
And he was barefoot!
Barefoot running enjoyed a brief boom after Christopher McDougall's bestseller Born to Run came out. But then Nike's thick-soled running shoes arrived, and the barefoot-running boom faded away. I had thought that this noble tradition, made famous by the legendary Abebe Bikila, was in danger of extinction in the world of distance running.
And yet, here was a barefoot runner at the Mito Komon Manyu Marathon!
I was so moved that I shouted at the top of my lungs, "BAREFOOT! LOOKING GOOD!"
It was quite some time after this barefoot runner had passed that the sub-three-hour pace group came along with its pacers. This meant that our barefoot hero was aiming to complete the marathon barefoot at a pace fast enough for a sub-3:00 finish. In other words, he was going for a sub-Ega!
For those unfamiliar with Japanese running slang, a sub-Ega means finishing a marathon in under 2 hours and 50 minutes. So this runner was aiming for something even more unusual than a sub-three-hour barefoot marathon: a sub-2:50 barefoot marathon. What an inspiring challenge!
My loud, shameless cheering seemed to give the other spectators the courage to speak up, too. One after another, people further along the course began shouting encouragement to the runners. Perhaps they had all wanted to cheer loudly but had been too shy to be the first to do so. If so, I was happy to have broken the ice!
A little after two hours had passed since the start, Mr. H began approaching my cheering spot on the race-tracking app. Unfortunately, I failed to spot him on his first pass. Perhaps the GPS on my phone was not accurate enough.
I refocused and prepared for his return on the other side of the road. About 15 minutes after his first pass, I finally spotted him.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!"
I shouted his name at full volume. My voice echoed all around the area. I could see Mr. H turning his head from side to side, trying to find the source of the mysterious voice.
I had not told him that I would come to cheer him on.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!"
I shouted his name again. This time, I could see him spot me and realizing who I was. I waved both arms high in the air.
Mr. H was looking straight at me, but his face showed complete confusion. His expression seemed to be asking, "What on earth are you doing here?!"
"Stay strong for the second half!" I shouted.
He waved back as he turned left at the intersection and disappeared from view.
After cheering Mr. H on, I stayed by the roadside for a while longer, continuing to encourage the runners.
I noticed that their reactions varied depending on their target finishing times.
Runners aiming for somewhere around four to five hours often seemed full of energy and responded enthusiastically to the cheers. On the other hand, many runners whose target times were much slower looked so exhausted that even reacting to a cheer seemed like hard work.
The much faster runners fell into two very different groups, too. Some responded with cheerful smiles, looking as if they had plenty of energy to spare. Others had a serious, determined look and kept their eyes firmly on the road ahead, focused entirely on their target times.
Watching a race can teach you almost as much as running one yourself. The experience is so deep that I feel it deserves its own name: the Way of Spectating.
I usually find myself on the receiving end of cheers as a runner. By taking my place on the other side of the road, I discovered a whole new world of insight into the art of encouraging others. There is much more to it than simply shouting, "Keep going!"
Eventually, every runner had passed, and the road grew quiet.
An elderly woman who had been sitting on the curb beside me, cheering the runners on, slowly stood up. Our eyes met.
She was neatly dressed in a stylish jacket and carried a small black shoulder bag decorated with Mickey Mouse. When I asked her about herself, she told me that she lived nearby. Born in 1935, she was 91 years old. Apparently, she came to cheer on the runners every year.
I praised her for her strong legs, wished her many more years of good health, and said goodbye.
After the race, I went to a café called Nouland, next to a nearby botanical garden. I still had some proofreading to do for the next issue of the teaching materials published by my employer. I wanted to concentrate in the fresh air, so after lunch, I ordered a coffee and got down to work.
Before I knew it, rain was drumming against the roof. It looked as though I would be riding home in the rain.
When I paid the bill, a female staff member asked me, "Will you be all right, riding on your motorcycle?" I told her that I had rain gear in my saddlebag. She replied, "Take care on your way home."
The place was lovely. I had ordered a bibimbap made with Hitachi beef, a local specialty, and it was delicious. Just knowing that there were so many plants nearby made me feel relaxed.
At one point, I got up to use the restroom. On my way, I wandered among the plants inside the greenhouse. The air there felt noticeably cleaner.
I had experienced the same feeling on the road through the woods just after leaving the ETC-only exit at Tomobe Service Area. The air seemed unmistakably fresh and almost delicious. I envied the people who lived in those surroundings.
On the way home, traffic on the Joban Expressway was mostly normal. I joined the Ken-O Expressway before reaching a section where congestion was expected, so I was able to leave the expressway without getting caught in a traffic jam.
After leaving the highway, I considered stopping at Ramen Shop Ushiku Kessoku, a famous ramen restaurant known throughout the Kanto region. Unfortunately, when I passed by, there was a very long line outside. I gave up.
According to my observations, the only time I have ever seen this restaurant without a queue was after 10 p.m. on a Sunday. If you are thinking of visiting, you might want to keep that in mind!
After returning home, I exchanged messages with Mr. H, who had successfully completed the Mito Komon Manyu Marathon.
Since I had not told him in advance that I would make the trip to cheer him on, he told me that when he first heard someone shouting his name, he wondered if he was experiencing an auditory hallucination.
I replied that since he had not even reached the halfway point yet, it was a little too early in the race for auditory hallucinations!
We enjoyed a few more jokes like that, the kind that only running buddies can fully appreciate.
I later learned from Mr. H that the Mito Komon Manyu Marathon is one of Japan's highest-rated marathons. Its excellent food stations, water stations, and enthusiastic crowd support are said to be among the reasons for its popularity.
Mr. H has run many marathons, so I trust what he says about the race.
I also learned that there is a fellow barefoot runner out there taking part in the Mito Komon Manyu Marathon. That alone makes me consider entering the race myself next year.
To all the runners who gave it their all, whether you were racing hard or simply pushing through to the finish, well done!
Congratulations to everyone who completed the marathon. And to every recreational runner who took on the challenge, I offer my heartfelt respect.
Happy running!
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