This was breakfast. I finished all the rice and the meat fillet. I did not finish the fish though.
I had woke up at 0430Hr and went to get the bento set from the bento shop. Its very good that it opens 24 hours and its quite near to the hostel.
NUUN drink.
At 0630Hr, we gathered at the lobby.
Time to go to race site.
The temple early in the morning.
Nobody along the street along the temple.
Just outside Kaminarimon, tv crews setting up their equipment. The race route goes pass here.
Inside the train.
At Shinjuku station. Very very crowded. Packed with runners.
We reached around 0800Hr and quickly get ready into our running gear.
We need to deposit our bags to the baggage trucks before they closed at 0830Hr. There were more than 30 trucks and each of us were assigned to one specific truck. Mine was way right at the end of the street. I need to relieve myself at this moment (due to the cold weather) but I saw that the queues at the portable toilets were like snaking away. I found some guys doing their business behind some bushes. Having no other possible ways and I do not wish to risk my bladder bursting halfway along the way, I joined them and helped fertilise the grass behind the bushes .. :p
The time was now near 0845Hr. There is no time to go back and find Azhar and GY and we need to go join our starting blocks soon and they would be closing them real soon.
I am in block E. There are lots of people. Really lots of people. The nice thing is everybody went to their own starting blocks and nobody "jumped" to a "faster" block. Everybody was grouped in order.
A total of 35000 people are taking part in this race. 3000 are running 10km and the rest are running 42km. All 35000 will start together. So you can imagine how crowded it is.
I ate a pack of gel as I normally would before a race.
"Jacky!", somebody was calling me. I turned around and saw that it is Reuben, my new friend made yesterday. I have been hearing his name in Facebook several times and finally had the chance to meet him in Tokyo.
At 0850Hr, a voice sound out into the air. "GOOD MORNING, TOKYO!"
It was the event MC. He spoke in Japanese after the greeting. I cannot make up what he was saying. However, I can feel the mood of the crowd rising up. They even sing their national anthem at one instant.
The wheelchair category went off first at 0900Hr. After that, everybody started moving forward near to the start line. The mood is building up.
At 0910Hr, the airhorn went off. Confetti rained down on the runners nearest to the start line. Off we go!
The first thing I noticed about the route was the supporters. Right from passing the start line, we could see supporters lining up on both sides of the streets. All of them were cheering, clapping loudly for every one of us. After the run, I realised it was literally 42km of supporters. It was just marvelous!
I removed the disposable poncho at just around the 2 - 3 km mark. There were no dustbins along the road except at the water stations. So the organisers arranged for volunteers along the way holding trashbags for people to throw their rubbish like disposable ponchos, gel packs, etc. Good service I will say.
Things are looking good for the first few km. Near the 10km mark at Hibiya Park, those running 10km split from us and made their way to their finish line. I was on time.
Along the way, the supporters were really supportive. They reached out their arms and high-fived us. They offered us sweets. Their shouts of "Gambatte" was so loud I had trouble hearing the signal beeps from my Garmin.
However, something happened at the 13m mark. Somebody sped past me, kicked my leg and made me tripped forward. I fell forward flat on the ground. I landed on both my knees, followed by my hand and also hit my elbows in the ground. It took me a few seconds to realise what had happened as I laid sprawled on the ground. Luckily nobody from behind stepped onto me.
When I managed to stand up, I walked to the side of the road and began to access my body. No sharp pain on my joints. There was a small abrasion on my left palm but it will not hinder my run at all. There was a red patch on my left elbow and I discovered my left elbow was bleeding. It was the same old spot where I tripped and hurt myself earlier this month. That night I had tried going up Mount Faber after the rain had stopped. My 2 knees were feeling a little numb from the fall but I presume it will not pose too much problem.
I continued the race. I had already wasted a few minutes due to the fall. I told myself to just focus on the race now to avoid anymore possible falls. There was really a lot of people running around you.
My pace was back. Knees seem ok.
We can see people holding up poster boards along the way to cheer for their family or friends. Some were holding a big board with the picture of a camera on it. It was arranged by the organisers to let runners know that there is a photographer just in front and to pose and smile for it. Ha .. I like this arrangement. :)
Turning left at Ginza running towards Asakusa at around 21km.
However, both knees started giving me problems after 25km. They were hurt after all due to the fall. My pace started to fall.
My knees starting to hurt.
Moreever, the turning point at Asakusa seems like taking forever to come. There are like turns every now and then but the turning point is just nowhere in sight. It was getting more strenuous mentally.
It was becoming more and more unbearable as I ran forward. Up to a point I could not tolerate anymore. From the 30km mark onwards I started walking.
I was feeling like shit. It was as if I had given up on the race. I kept reminding myself that I cannot afford to be injured as I have another more important race in end June. Sundown 100km. I cannot risk getting injured!
My mood was really bad. I tried to do run / walks but the runs cannot last more than 10+ meters. It was not good seeing all other runners speeding past you.
It was only until towards the last few km of the race that I told myself to just relax and enjoy the rest of the route. If I had to walk back, so be it. I will just walk back.
I started to take sweets from the supporters. Now I realised not only do they provide sweets, some even offered chocolates, small cakes. Some even gave out rice balls. After the race I even heard some were giving out miso soup!
Nearing the end point at Ariake.
Finally, I crossed the finish line at 04:47.
After crossing the finish line, we were given water and bananas. When I received the medal, I gave it a small kiss. It was sort of a hard earned medal.
As we moved in, we came to the station where they give out the towels. The volunteers made it a point to wrap the towel around each of us. We were really treated like champions.
Next came the station where the volunteers would help us remove the timing chips. We just lift up our foot and rest it on the railings of a barricade, the volunteer sitting on the other side would remove our laces, take out the timing chip and help us put on the lace again. Wonderful customer service.
We are also given a small canister of muscle spray each. Just before stepping into the halls, there was a station where there is massage provided. A lot of runners just sit down on the ground beside the massage area and sprayed the muscle spray onto their tired legs. Ha .. :)
I quickly took my baggage and went in to search for the rest of the guys. The volunteer was already holding my bag in his hands when I reached the baggage counter. I just love their service level.
Inside the hall, I managed to find GY. She had overtaken me at the last stretch of the route. We sat down and I started looking at my wounds.
My gloves was torn and had a small abrasion on my left hand.
WIth the medal and my left elbow bleeding from the fall.
GY and I decided not to wait for the rest and made our way back to the hostel.
When we went down to the main hall, we saw that spectators were all gathered there waiting for their relatives and friends who ran the marathon. Really crowded.
Squeezing our way to the train station.
At the train station.
Saw this nice poster about running along the escalator up.
It was a tiring and sleepy journey back. Sleeeppyyy .. zzz ..
We reached Asakusa in around 45 mins. I bought a fried red bean paste pastry from one of the shops. When the shop attendant saw my marathon medal (I was hanging it on my neck all the while), he went "Ooohhh!! Marathon!" The rest of the people around me all turned to me and gave me the "wow!" look. Hahaha .. :)
Back in the hostel, quickly unpacked my stuff to go to bath. When I took out my arm sleeve, I realised that the blood had clotted on the wound on the left elbow. It seems the compression provided by the arm sleeves helped to stop the bleeding.
Now then I realised even my Garmin was not spared from the ball. :(
Tokyo Water. The water supplier of the marathon. Nice bottle.
I had to go and buy some bandage for my left elbow wound. The hostel staff told me they can be found at the convenience store nearby. I used a small gauze the staff gave me and uses scotch tape to tape it on my left elbow. It should be able to last for a short while.
There was a performance at the lobby when i went down.
I manage to find the bandage at the convenience store. I tried to use hand signs to ask the guy where it was placed but he dont understand. In the end I just showed him my wound. He immediately knew what I needed. Hahaha .. :)
Now the next problem was to settle my hunger.
I had saw this noodle shop yesterday at the train station when we came back from Shinjuku. The food looks delicious so I thought I would come to try it.
Fnally I found the shop.
Honestly, I did not how could I order from the shop. Until I saw this guy came and slotted some coins into it, pressed the butto of the food he wanted. A receipt would come out and he handed the receipt to the stall owner. The owner would then cook the noodles. The guy just ate the bowl of noodles while standing.
Ooooo .. Ok .. quick .. !! .. I am damn hungry!!
Bought this jelly at a convenient store near Kaminarimon. Preferred this to the grape version, just that it did not have the nata de coco inside.
I was a little disappointed over the Tokyo run. Nevertheless, I would say I also did enjoyed myself during the run .. or at least the last stretch .. :p
Azhar and GY would be flying back tomorrow. It would be a free and easy day for me. Will go back to Shinjuku for shopping. :)
