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 … MORE
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.
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Not so serious, just fun
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 … MORE
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.