On Feb. 25, Sunday Tokyo Marathon 2018 took place in Tokyo, Japan. Some of my runner friends were running as well as some elite runners I like a lot, so I woke up early to go to Central Tokyo in order to watch the biggest marathon race in Japan.
The race was officially under way at 9:10 a.m. I went to the Kanda Ekimae location of Starbucks around 9:15 a.m. and waited for the elite runners to arrive. I monitored the progress of the race on my cellphone. When they took a right at Iidabashi toward Jinbocho, there were already just three kilometers away from where I was. There guys run 1 K in around three minutes. I only have 9 minutes before their arrival. I put my coffee on the table, and went out.
No sooner had I been on the sidewalk than a police car was in sight that led the leaders. In no time the leaders came in sight. They consisted many Africans and two Japanese, Inoue and Shitara. As Shitara approached, I turned up the portable speaker I had, and yelled, "Go, Yuta Shitara!" He's gone with the wind.
I went back inside the cafe and checked runner's updates to see the whereabouts of my two runner friends, Mr. I and Mr. Fujimori. Mr. I is a sub-3 runner with whom I had run a number of races together. He was approaching my cheering spot at a brisk 22:00/5 K pace. I did a quick math and estimated his arrival time, and waited and waited. But I couldn't find him.
Disappointed, I went back inside the cafe and warmed myself. Mr. Fujimori was far behind Mr. I still on runner's updates mainly because his corral was several corrals behind Mr. I's. I still remember when I first ran the Tokyo Marathon in 2011. My corral was I or H as I was a completely novice runner. It took me more than 15 minutes to finally reach the official start line. Mr. Fujimori is a sub-4 runner, but still there are so many runners in front of him, and he cannot reach the start line as soon as Mr. I can.
When I went out to look for Mr. I, Mr. Fujimori's updates weren't available yet. But in no time I saw his first updates come in on my smartphone, which gave me his estimated arrival time in Kanda. He passed 5 K at 9:42 a.m. with a split of roughly 28 minutes with a 5:30/K pace. He should run the following 3 K at a faster pace because as the race progresses, traffic usually gets less heavy, allowing for an easier passage forward through other runners. So as not to miss him, I went back outside again after a sip of coffee and a bite of doughnut.
A stream of runners in colorful outfits went by. I looked in the direction runners were coming from. I looked for a green singlet that's his trademark, hoping that he would be running near the sidewalk. I had a reason to expect he would because I told him where I would be in Kanda the night before. His estimated arrival time was near. I looked over again. There he was, running with a smile on his face. I turned up the volume of my speaker and yelled his name from afar. He noticed. He waved back at me as he saw me waving at him. When he finally reached me, we exchanged a high five. As he left, he asked if I saw Mr. I. I said I couldn't. And he was gone.
Once I came back inside after successfully finding Mr. Fujimori's and cheering him on, I started monitoring the progress of the leaders on my cellphone again. They had just crossed the halfway mark and went back the same route back toward Kuramae. Shitara looked nice and strong as the split for the first half was 1:02. He had renewed the Japanese record for half marathon in the previous year with a time of 1:00:17. So the pace was well within his capacity. But whether he could keep the same pace or not for another 21 K was another story.
To be continued...
I'm back! Let me start again from where I left off.
Once the leaders crossed the halfway mark, my next mission was to move to Ginza, my second cheering spot. Ginza is less than 10 K apart from the halfway point. It takes the elite runners less than 30 minutes to cover that distance. I had no time to waste. I quickly packed and hopped on the Metro. Ginza is four stops away. I usually feel I pass all these stations in a flash. But today it felt like forever. As soon as the train got to Ginza, I jumped out, ran up the stairs, and headed for my favorite cheering stop. It's near the subway exit. The subway exit is surrounded by three concrete walls. One of them faces the road. There is a little space between the wall and the road. That's the spot I was aiming to be.
The venue was already packed with spectators. I checked the space from which I wanted to reach my cheering spot. A bunch of white sticks and wooden boards were piled near the way in, blocking the passage. There were older women in front of them. I excused myself and tried to pass over the obstacles. The women shouted, "Oh, mister, you can't do that. We tried to do it, but they wouldn't allow us to do." I said, "Ma'am, no worries, I'm not gonna block your view. I'm only getting behind that wall. Excuse me." I heard their murmurs behind me as I forced my way through them and tucked myself behind the wall. I thought I was ready to welcome the leaders when a security guy came and I got kicked out. Well, I didn't literally get kicked out. He mildly asked me to retreat, saying that everyone else wanted to be where I was, and if he allowed one person to do it, all the others would, and should that happen, things could get out of control. Disappointed as I was, since I am a law-abiding citizen, I followed his instruction and looked for a new cheering spot.
Fortunately, I found one right near it. Two women were standing right by the guardrail only ten meters away. But they were petite, so standing right behind them gave me a sufficiently panoramic view of coming runners. I got my portable speaker and microphone ready, and monitored the progress of the leaders on my cellphone.
They came surprisingly sooner than I thought. If I had stayed at the cafe in Kanda any longer, I might have missed the opportunity. The two Japanese young runners, Inoue and Shitara, were still in the leading pack. I turned up the volume and yell, "Go, Yuta Shitara! Invincible!" My amplified voice echoed among the most fashionable of buildings in Ginza. Everybody looked taken aback for a moment by my atypical cheering attempt, creating waves of buzz across the lines of spectators along the street. Hopefully I set a good example of how they should cheer on their friends when they reached them.
With the leaders gone, my next mission was to find Mr. I. I missed him in Kanda. I wouldn't miss him again.
He passed 25 K at 11:02 a.m. with a lap of 23:12 for the last 5 K. His lap was slowly deteriorating. I added 23 minutes to his 25 K split and estimated his arrival time as somewhere around 11:25 a.m. But I was also vigilant that he could arrive sooner, because the course is flat between 20 and 25 K while the previous 5 K has undulation.
Just as I expected he arrived not so far off my arrival time. I made sure my speaker was on, turned up the volume and yelled his name, "Go! Iizuka san! Invincible!" Perked up by an unexpected amplified voice calling his own name, he looked around for the owner of the voice, and a second later found me waving giantly from the far side of the street. To my surprise, instead of hammering down the course straight, he swerved to my side and exchanged a high five with me!! Oh, what a touching gesture! I was so moved by his sacrificial gesture of friendship, and couldn't help throwing a series of encouraging words at his back that got smaller and smaller with each step.
I was so happy that I was finally able to reciprocate the encouragement I got from him when I ran Kasumigaura Marathon 2015 three years ago. I had both of my legs cramped at 33 K and limped the rest of the way. When I finally reached the home stretch leading to the finish line, Mr. I was the man who found me, and cheered me on. I gave everything that was left in me and crossed the finish.
With Mr. I gone, my last mission of the day was to find Mr. Fujimori and cheer him on in Ginza.
His split time came in shortly after Mr. I passed Ginza. Mr. Fujimori slowed down a bit between 20 and 25 K, but I gathered it's not because he's irrecoverably fatigued, but for a strategic purpose. He is an experienced runner, particularly skilled at hilly course. The course between 20 and 25 K is hilly. I gathered he saved energy for the rest of the race. My guess was he would increase his pace from Kuramae on when the course became flat again. So I added 27 minutes and 30 seconds to his passing time at 25 K and estimated his arrival time at Ginza as exactly 12:00 p.m.
To be continued...
I'm back! Where were we? Oh, Ginza! That's it. I did a quick math and estimated Mr. Fujimori's arrival time. The time ticked by. And the estimated arrival time approached. There was still a minute to go when I saw aid workers move a fence to widen the course. It means that a large group of runners were coming in. It must be sub-4 pacers and people surrounding them. I suspected that Mr. Fujimori would be not so far from them. I squinted to look over at the approaching crowd. There he was! Clad in that familiar green singlet of Jindaiji Runners' Club of Chofu City, he threw his arms up in the air with a big smile on his face, and came running in full force. I shouted through the speaker, "Go! Mr. Fujimori, the ironman!" We exchanged a high five again, and as he went past, I said to him that this time I didn't miss Mr. I. He looked glad, pressed on to take a right into Harumi Dori and disappeared.
Relieved that I completed all of my missions, I packed my cheering kit and left there to relax with a nice cup of coffee.
Incidentally, while I was waiting for Mr. Fujimoto's arrival in Ginza, I got a call from a friend of mine. His name is Mr. Ayumu Takahashi. He is a 2017 Tokyo Marathon finisher. Last year I cheered him on at exactly the same spots where I did Mr. I and Mr. Fujimori this year. This year he didn't run, but as a part-time fire-fighter of the Kyobashi Fire Station he was volunteering to patrol the area. Knowing that I was in Ginza to cheer on runners, he wanted to say hi to me as he was in charge of the area. I told him where I was, and in no time he found me, and we exchanged "hello"s and a few friendly words. Earlier this past January he and I were scheduled to run a full marathon in Tateyama, Chiba. But he came down with the flu and had to cancel it. Hopefully, we can hit the road together sometime soon.
Although I wanted to settle down at one of the Starbucks cafes near the cheering spots, all were too crowded, so I roamed around for a while, but eventually I decided that I might as well go to the finish area to see Mr. Fujimori again to give him my last moral support.
When I reached Marunouchi Naka Dori around the corner from Miharu Dori with the Hibiya Park on the back, the venue was surprisingly far less crowded than I thought. I easily found a place to settle in, and waited for his arrival as I closely monitored his split times at 35 and 40 K.
Mr. Fujimori's was slowing down betwewen 35 and 40 K. He was now going at a 5:42/K pace. I was near the 41 K mark. I added 5:42 to 12:56:13, and estimated his arrival time roughly as 1:00 p.m.
I seemed to hear a roar around the corner, and the sound got louder with each passing second. I gathered it's the sub-4 pacers and their followers approaching. Cheering voices suddenly got louder with hand-clapping and yells. I quickly ran my eyes through the group of runners to look for his trademark green singlet, but there were so many runners that I couldn't find him. In no time the large sub-4 group was gone and trailing runners followed. Hoping he might be there, I looked right and left for him, but he was nowhere to be seen.
The time ticked by. It's already more than 8 minutes since he passed 40 K. He should be still running before the 41 K mark. I missed him. I was disappointed. But shortly after that I checked his updates again to discover that he had already finished the race with a respectable time of 3:55:01 (net)!
I texted him a message to congratulate him on his glorious completion of the biggest marathon race in Japan, asking him to let me know where he was throwing a party assuming he would. I wanted to see him and say "otsukaresama," or "Nice run!" in English. Later while my bilingual companion and I were having a late lunch at "Yasaino Ohsama" or "The King of Veggies" on B2 of Hibiya Chanter, I got a call from Mr. Fujimori. He said thanks for cheering. I assumed he and Mr. I were together. But they weren't. Both had work the following day, so they decided to go home and rest. I totally understood. I said congrats and hung up the phone. His excited tone of voice remained in my ear for a while. It put a smile on my face.
When I finished lunch and got out of the building again, quite a few runners were still in the race, and the last stretch leading to the finish was still crowded with cheerers. But at the same time as I walked through the sidewalk, I came to see an increasing number of finishers there as well. They were doing memorial photo-shooting with their respective cheerers. Most of them had a finisher's towel on their shoulders. They all looked exhilarated and proud.
Tokyo Marathon 2018 is over. It moved me in more ways than one. As much as I encouraged my runner friends and many other nameless (to me at least) runners
who joined the race, I was encouraged by their fortitude. Good job, all runners! I hope the race next year will be as exciting as this one.
