Two weekends ago, Yukari and I ran the Yokohama Marathon. Now, that sounds a lot more impressive than it actually was, since the Japanese call any kind of road race a marathon. We ran a whopping 10 kilometers.
The race was a big deal. Over 5,000 people showed up on a bright, surprisingly warm November Sunday to race. The mayor (Hiroshi Nakada, Japan’s youngest) started the race, dressed in full mayoral running regalia: wind breaker, sneakers, suit and tie.
The course, though, was awful. The race was billed as “oceanside”, but industrial would have been a better fit. Containers to the left of us, warehouses to the right, there we were, stuck in the middle, no view.
On top of that, the roads were fairly narrow, at least for the number of people in the race, so we spent the first 5km shoulder-to-shoulder with our friends. It’s probably the first time that my split on the last 5km was lower than my first 5km.
But it was fun and a good excuse to get out of the house on a Sunday. And I did get a spiffy certificate!
Posted by pmk at November 27, 2005 3:03 AM | TrackBackNice very nice rhyme on “Stuck in the Middle with You.”
Posted by: Ted at November 27, 2005 9:42 PM