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japanathletes · 5 years

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【Runner’s blog】 Tokyo Marathon 2019

18 months before my very first marathon, I made an Instagram account called roadtotokyomarathon2019 (now changed to @roadtoberlinmarathon2019). I had never even run a half marathon. 16 kilometers (10 miles) was the furthest I reached. But to run a marathon and to visit Japan were my longtime wishes.

Not being sure If I would be able to run the full 42.195 meters, I followed a schedule to run my first half marathon being the City-Pier-City 2018 run in The Hague in the Netherlands. All went well but in the final week before the run an injury stopped me from this first achievement.

This made me seriously doubt running a full marathon. Also a challenge was how to obtain a starting number for the Tokyo marathon in 2019. I looked at charities and travel agencies for this but the injury just before the half marathon made me anxious. Would I be able to handle raising money for charity, time for training a lot, working long hours, coaching my sons soccer team and so much more for such a long period. I figured not so I did not dare going through a charity organization. The money needed for a travel agency also shocked me a bit, especially seeing how risky it is to get injured just before the big event.

So I just started training on a marathon schedule to see what would happen. Each week I could run more kilometers. In September 2018 I ran the 10 miles Dam-To-Dam in Amsterdam in the pouring rain without any problems and ten minutes faster than the year before. In the mean time the entrance opened for the Tokyo Marathon 2019 and I thought….Let’s see what happens and entered it. Somehow, someway I was very very lucky to get in and preparations for the Tokyo Marathon 2019 could really start. No turning back now.

Almost immediately I developed an injury on my right foot and I thought that would be it for me. But luckily some special soles fairly quickly helped me on this. Training went well onwards and I could run a bit further every week. Half marathon distances for the first time and building up to 32 kilometers felt like immense achievements already.

Time flies when your schedule is full with work, family and running. My 9 day journey to Tokyo was there before I knew it. I’ve travelled the world a lot in the past but never alone. So this trip would be completely “out of my comfort zone”. Somehow I knew that Tokyo, Japan would be the ideal place for my journey….and it was.

Arriving in Tokyo on the rainy Friday I immediately went to the marathon expo. Almost had to swim to get in and pick up my bib. Still fun to see all the merchandise and stands with information. On Instagram I had contact with several people that were interested in my Road to Tokyo Marathon 2019. At the expo by pure luck I recognized a German/Japanese lady and her friend from Instagram so was fun to actually meet someone.

At the Friendship Run on Saturday the sun was shining and all was perfect for such a lovely event. Here I met Insta friends from Holland. I was a bit worried and nervous to see if it was wise to run the day before the marathon and I started to feel all kinds of things in my body. Well actually for two weeks I was feeling all kinds of things but luckily in the end it all appeared to be nerves.

The big Sunday started and I saw it was raining a lot. I dressed for it and put on a poncho and walked to the starting area. What a sight to see so many people, all with the same goal of completing this special marathon. The starting area filled up quickly and I had a lovely talk with someone from Peru so waiting time flew by. Then the marathon commenced and slowly everybody started to move. Once over the starting line I could start running. Immediately I was surprised that so many runners were going so fast. Every tip I read, said to start slowly and luckily I kept an even pace. After the first kilometer by pure chance I ran past the lady from Holland that I greeted the day before at the friendship run. We decided to run together and we talked about all kinds of things. Because of this we really enjoyed the whole atmosphere of the Tokyo Marathon. 42 kilometers full of people cheering left and right…..what a sight and so special. Before we knew it we were at kilometer 30 and still going strong. Our sport watches were a bit troublesome though because they indicated we were going very fast. So we tempered ourselves all the time. In the end I ran the marathon in 4:18 where my watch said 4:04 so that was a bit disappointing. But I made it fairly easy and enjoyed every second of the race…..that was most important.

Going back to the hotel after the race was a challenge because everything started to hurt in my legs so that was also a new experience. In the evening I met up with a marathon group from Facebook for a diner together and hear their stories. Two participants even got their 6 star medals, so cool.

The rest of the week in Tokyo was very special too. Eating at Ichiban restaurant, seeing wrestling at Kuroaken Hall, the Tokyo museum, shopping, meeting up with Insta friends from Australia and Britain and so much more. The final night I met up with a group to sing Karaoke. This was also something “out of my comfort zone” especially because I was completely sober. In Holland we only do this with drinks……still a very special experience once again. I loved Tokyo from the start and I will certainly return to Japan with my family to see much more of this fantastic country.

arigatō gozaimasu

“Did my journey end with this? No, I booked via a travel agency for the Berlin Marathon 2019 so I have a new goal. If you want to follow, please do on Instagram @roadtoberlinmarathon2019“

https://japan-athletes.co.jp/

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