Running the Tokyo Marathon

My first stop in Japan was Tokyo, to run the 2015 Tokyo Marathon. Miho and I had originally entered the marathon registration lottery months before, however unfortunately, only I won an entry. I still had a good run without her – although not nearly as much fun or motivation to kick ass!

Running through the streets of Tokyo was an energizing experience. I ran the full marathon without really much training since I was in Antarctica beforehand. However, the energy of the cheering crowd lining all 26 miles of the course kept me going. Here a few pics from the run.

The Tokyo Marathon expo was held at the Tokyo Big Sight event hall – a giant conference hall with lots of spaces. The strucutre itself is quite epic to begin with.

Walking through the registration expo, everybody gets lots of promo items. Although this looks like I was receiving a magical free beer.. it was in fact a nonalcoholic “malt drink”. Hmmm.

Lots and lots of vendors at the expo.

The next morning at the starting area – there were three snacks to have before the race. Tomatoes, bananas, and an apple flavored energy gel, which came out of a foil “capri-sun”-like packet. I had all three, and then packed up my pre-race gear into my baggage bag, and gave it to the appropriate baggage truck. Typical marathon procedure, almost exaclly the same as before the NYC Marathon.