Doc Huff's Staging Area

A 30k run (also 10k possible) in the “small” town of Ome (pop 131K) in western Tokyo–about 1:40 to 2 hours from central Tokyo. This run is a big event there and is like a festival for the residents. The atmosphere was special. Unlike what you often find in more urban Tokyo, there are a lot of enthusiastic supporters lining the course cheering for everyone “ganbate!” There was a group of young taiko drummers, as there is every year a little before mid-course and again on return giving a bit of a boost to anyone starting to feel the hills. This year there was even an informal group performing what I believe was music from a Ghibli anime. There was even a vocal group of older men singing for the runners.

On the other hand, this event is popular with runners with more than 10,000-15,000 attending. That makes reaching the actual start line after the gun a slow process if you aren’t in block A or B. There were plenty of drink stations—I did not count—but they were always crowded and most people would come to a stop to get drinks (H2O or Pokkari Sweat served in small paper cups) making them hazardous to navigate through. In addition, bystanders would give out snacks and treats to runners in various spots along the course. (There may have been toilets along the course, but I never saw any signs directing us to them.)

The most difficult part was before the race began. Getting the bibs, timing chips for shoes, t-shirt etc was pretty simple, but finding place to change was not. The most difficult and time-consuming part was storing any bags. Run by a private company, it cost ¥700 and took nearly 30 minutes of standing in line. Expect to wait in line for toilets, especially for females. Note that almost everything is in Japanese and I would guess few of the volunteers could speak much English, although I am sure they would be more than willing to help you sort things out.

The course began in the town of Ome and went gradually uphill–about a 1-2% grade through forested hills and along the Tamagawa river to a ways beyond JR Kawai station. The look and scent of those pine forests made the trip more than worth it after the concrete and asphalt of central Tokyo.

The first half uphill was not bad at all, but that was, in fact, deceptive. The return is where the real hills were—hidden by what had been easy downhills on the way up. According to Garmin, a couple of them had grades of 7% and 11% which was enough to make you wonder why you ever got involved in this race so early in the season. Lots of runners, perhaps the smart ones, resorted to walking.

The swag, a t-shirt commemorating this year’s race and a decent, though nothing spectacular medal was at least as good as we get in most Tokyo area races. The real reward was the folks of Ome and their support and the chance to run in the hills and forests and a natural area without leaving Tokyo. Would I recommend it? Yes, and I plan on running again next year when I will know where the challenging uphills really are.

Another monthly local race in the Tokyo/Yokohama area, this one run along the Tsurumi river. There is no swag (except for the top 3 finishers), there are no big crowds of cheering spectators, no amazing urban scenery, nor pristine nature, although if the weather is clear, you can get a nice view of Mt. Fuji.

The race is out and back 5 kilometers 4 times, plus and extra kilometer at the beginning to get the full race. There were three water stations where you could choose the sports drink Pokkari Sweat or just water. It is flat with no hills.

These type of monthly races are nice for time trials and practice for more serious races. They general have races for different distances with staggered starts, often from 5k to a full marathon.

It was a cold windy day when this one was held and there weren’t that many runners—-only 50 in the half which had the largest number of people. In spite of the strong, varying wind, the times were faster than usual according to the staff.

I wouldn’t recommend traveling far just for this race, but if you are in the area and just want a fun race, or a tune up, this one would be worth is. You can usually enter up to a few days before the race.

Another sponsored fun local race—no big prizes, no swag—on a mostly flat course. It is run on a loop of about 1.5 miles near the beach. This year was quite hot and there was no real shade along the course and any breeze off the sea was not noticeable. Like all the races run by this sponsor, it was very well organized. Water and sports drinks were available at several areas along the course during the race. Pace runners ran at 10 second difference per kilometer (eg 4:50, 5:00, 5:10) This year there were 533 participants.

You won’t get a t-shirt or a bag or anything for participating, but you won’t have to pay the price for those either. You will get the results via smartphone/internet which includes your time, lap times, a graph breaking down you speed over the course. You also get a “Funny Completion Certificate” with meaningless but fun information such as your rank among participants with in you age group, your rank among those from the same city, rank among those with the same astrology sign, rank among those with the same last name, and so on. I was pleased to find that I finished 1st in three of those categories; my age group, my town (Meguro), and most importantly among those with my last name, of which there was one.

The possible down side is that everything is done in Japanese, but that should not be much of a challenge even if you speak nor read none. Once you get to the course and line up to check in, they’ll take care of you. And, of course, Google translate or even better, Deep Translate works.

Would I recommend it? If you are in the Yokohama area and just want a fun race, or a tune-up or similar yes. I traveled from Tokyo (about an hour) and although I think next time I will choose one closer to home, I won’t rule out returning again for the next this fall. At least it will be cooler and a faster race for everyone.

Held in and around Showa Kinen Park in Tachikawa, Tokyo on a mostly flat course with some small, rolling hills over the last 3 miles. Very crowded with many apparently inexperienced runners on often very narrow roads. On one part, there was another race simultaneously being run the opposite direction on the other lane of a narrow two lane road. Some other bottlenecks barely allow enough room for three runners abreast. Even to get to the starting block from the west entrance required crossing the road on which yet another active race was going on. That made for some interesting comments from those in that race, as well as shouts from volunteers ineffectively yelling at people not to cross the road.

This race would be much improved with better organization as is common with many other races in Tokyo as well as resolving some of the issues mentioned above. Forget about “swag” as it isn’t much (a bag with the race name.)

All in all it is fine for those in the area for an early season race, but I doubt I would travel an hour from central Tokyo just for racing again. Looking for a personal best run? Well, getting through the crowds and narrow roads and paths complicate that so viewing it as a tune-up might be a better idea.