Birthday Marathon
2023 Tokyo Marathon
I admit I sometimes have a taste for marathon glory. My first taste of marathon glory was completing the Boston Marathon. But a funny thing about glory, it’s difficult to ever have enough of it. For me recently, the new taste of glory has been becoming a Six Star Finisher! Anytime you pick up your racing bib at an Abbott World Marathon Major, you pass by the Six Star Finisher wall of fame with the names of the very “lucky” athletes who completed all six marathon majors: Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, New York and Tokyo. I say, “lucky” because there are many things have to go an athlete’s way to complete them all. A lot of time, effort and support go into completing this quest. And after completion, you receive a large Abbott Marathon Majors medal!
“Große Schwester” Heike and I next to the World Marathon Major Medals back in 2018.
When I passed by the “wall of fortunate athletes” and the “heavy medal” at the 2022 Boston Marathon, I realized I might be just as lucky too. I used to tell myself I wouldn’t run another marathon after Boston, but I also knew finishing Boston meant I only had two marathon majors left to do: the London Marathon and the Tokyo Marathon. Just two marathons left until I could be a six star finisher! And you know what? Kerry noticed this too, and she was very interested in making this quest a reality for me.
Both London and Tokyo Marathons are difficult to get into as an American runner. Both races have limited lottery, fundraising and marathon tour entries. They also don’t have “good for age'“ entries for amateur foreigners that other marathon majors have. I entered both marathons’ lotteries for giggles the past couple of years, but never had the luck I had when I entered the lottery for the 2018 Berlin Marathon. Because both races were in countries that had strict COVID guidelines that prevented many foreign athletes from participating between 2020 and 2022, they would be in very high demand for 2023. I looked into the fundraising options for these races and was happy to research there’s a better chance to get in the races that way. And then I saw something even more exciting for the 2023 Tokyo Marathon!
The 2023 Tokyo Marathon would be on March 5th, my birthday! This is fate, I had to do it! I would find a way. I entered through the charity option in mid July of 2022 and at the end of the month I heard back about my entry…
Based on our eligibility standards, it is our pleasure to announce that you have been SELECTED out of the entire pool to be our Charity Runner for the Tokyo Marathon 2023.
It was too good to be true, but it was true! I was very excited and right away I told Kerry. She was just as excited too. Over the next couple of months we booked our flights and starting creating an itinerary for our trip to Japan. Though we were going to Japan for the Tokyo Marathon, we thought it’d be a better idea to spend more time exploring Japan than spending time trying to have the best marathon possible. We booked our flights so we’d have a couple of days in the beginning of our trip in Tokyo and after the race, we’d have a week of exploring places in Japan. I spoke to coach Danielle about this plan. She actually had been to Japan in the past and loved it there, so she agreed it was better to have a nice vacation than a “race-cation.”
Tokyo Marathon Prep fueled by Pocari Sweat, and “Covid Paranoia.”
Over the course of my marathon conditioning during the winter time, I prepped with the Tokyo Marathon fueling drink, Pocari Sweat. Luckily, there are some Japanese markets in New York City that sell it and so I picked up some to try on my long runs before heading to Japan. It actually tasted better than it sounded; it was like a sugar light Gatorade with a grapefruit taste. Another thing I also had to keep in mind while training was Japan’s strict COVID Policy. Because this was first time in three years the Tokyo Marathon was open to foreign amateur athletes, the race required all foreign athletes to enter daily body temperature readings and any symptoms you were feeling from mid February to race day. Then two days before race day, foreign athletes were required to take two COVID tests. I understood why the country’s and the marathon’s COVID policies were strict, but those couple of weeks I was very paranoid about getting sick. I also felt bad the marathon was making our trip planning more stressful.
With a week and half of testing done having luckily felt no symptoms or had any high body temperature, Kerry and I flew to Tokyo with many other athletes. Kerry suggested we wear compression socks on our 17 hour flight in order to avoid swelling in our legs, and so we wore them for the whole flight. It worked out great! There were some things out of our control that flight, like people coughing and food not being what we ate at home, but Kerry and I were making the most of what we could control and we were excited to be on this adventure together. We had a long adventure ahead of us.
We landed in Tokyo’s Narita Airport in the evening just as many of the airport’s services were closing. Getting through customs and picking up our pocket wifi would be our first segment in our “Japan Marathon,” which required lots of patience and attention to detail. Kerry excels in both departments. And even with the jet lag and the language barrier, Kerry was able to get us through it. After that airport hustling was over, we embarked on a train heading to the land of Disney, Tokyo Disney!
Training run around the Tokyo Disney Resort perimeter.
Two days before the marathon, Kerry and I spent time relaxing at the Tokyo Disney Resort. Only a couple of miles away from the Tokyo Marathon Expo at Tokyo Big Sight, the Disney Resort was a great place to recover from the long flight. The resort had a nice and flat bike/run path around the resort, which was great for doing “tune up” runs before the marathon.
Although the last couple of weeks of marathon training were solid and gave me confidence of potentially running a personal record on the very flat Tokyo Marathon course, being at Disney was a reminder to just enjoy the time there and not worry about breaking personal records. Should we walk lots of steps around the park? Yes! Should we try the Alien Mochi Dumplings? You bet! Kerry and I were thousands of miles away from home and there was no way we weren’t going to make the most of our time, not even the very strong jet lag that woke us up 3AM each morning and made us want to go to bed at 5PM would hold us back. We didn’t know at the time if we’d later pay for pushing our jet lag limits, but we did everything we wanted to do in Tokyo Disney. We had no Tokyo Disney regrets.
Alien Mochi Dumplings were so yummy!
The resort was also a good place to ease our way into Japanese society before being fully immersed later in the trip. Not only was it helpful and I’ll admit slightly heartwarming having familiar Disney characters and attractions in the parks, but there wasn’t really much of a language barrier there either. At the parks it was interesting to observe how well behaved, orderly, and respectful the Japanese were here. The rides at Tokyo’s parks had very long lines, but little did you see people frustrated or upset. Sometimes they would wait in line for shows, sitting and relaxing on picnic blankets.
Kerry and I also noticed how many groups and couples there dressed the same. This is actually a custom in Japan called Osoroi Code, which is done to show how much people love and appreciate their friendships. We could see quite a few people all dressed as the same Disney character, from head to toe. Pretty well coordinated if you asked me, but were we interested in partaking? Not at all, respectfully.
May not look it, but this is early March in Japan.
The second morning of our day in the parks, I took my final COVID Test for the trip. Since I started entering info into the Tokyo Marathon COVID App, I hadn’t felt any symptoms. I took the test… And I was very happy to see it was negative. My negative test submission gave me my QR code for race corral entry, and the only thing I had left to do was get to the corral on time!
After reaching our full enjoyment of the Disney parks, we headed over to the Hyatt Centric Hotel in Tokyo’s Ginza District. The hotel was less than a mile from the Tokyo Marathon finish line in Chiyoda City and 20 minute subway ride to the starting area in Shinjuku City, making it an ideal place to stay for this race. I’ll give all the credit to Kerry for finding this hotel.
Birthday in Tokyo is a very special thing.
I had a good night sleep at the hotel, waking up excited and ready to go to the race. It was my birthday! In fact it was actually my first birthday I was “older” than Doug. The weather was cloudy and in the high 40s, and so I didn’t think I needed to dress in many layers. The race did require runners to carry a mask as well as a phone, which was needed to scan the COVID testing QR code at the corral entrance. I was a little concerned that I might not have internet access with me and not only the QR code wouldn’t show up when I got to the corral, but I wouldn’t be able to reach Kerry in the world’s largest metropolis. Kerry and I did have a back up plan though, and that was to meet at one of the buildings near the finish line that housed my charity sponsor. I was hopeful everything would work out, but I knew for certain Kerry would find me. Kerry always has.
In a happy mood before the “Birthday” Marathon.
You may have heard this already, but it’s definitely true that Tokyo subways are very clean and people are very respectful on the trains. In a stress free 20 minute subway train, I got to the corral area in Shinjuku where I lined up to see if my “hope strategy” for the QR code would work. And guess what? They had wifi at the corral! The race staff scanned my QR code, and I was finally in the corral! It really can be a marathon to get into a marathon. Of all the races I’ve done, this required the most logistical and mental prep.
At the Tokyo Marathon Corral.
The corral area was colder than I thought it’d be but had a lot of adrenaline keeping my mind off the cold. I was feeling amazed I was about to run a race I never imagined, in a place I never thought I’d ever visit, and sharing this experience with Kerry.
The Race
The start was a stampede. Because the Tokyo Marathon had a rolling start, there were little to no gaps between runners. Runners were only as fast as the people in front of them. What made it even more “fun” was that the streets in Shinjuku were narrow with quite a few turns. Because of the log jam, there were times near the start I couldn’t move around runners and I was walking. My watch alerted me of my first mile split, 7 minutes and 15 seconds, which was about a minute slower than I trained for. Rather than get upset with myself, I thought this race would be an interesting opportunity to “negative split.” I would try to run slightly faster each mile, and try to finish the race faster than I started. When life gives you lemons, make a “lemon negative split.”
There really is no better way to explore a city than running a city’s marathon. The Tokyo Marathon goes through lots of neighborhoods with thousands of spectators, and passes by many of the city’s famous sites like Tokyo Tower, the Imperial Palace, and the temples of Asakusa. The Tokyo spectators certainly helped with “negative splitting” cheering in a way that was very respectful and kind that I hadn’t really experienced in a marathon before. I just remember one spectator’s sign that said “smile,” and that made me feel warm inside.
The course terrain was very reminiscent of the Chicago Marathon, which is also a flat course that goes through mostly urban areas with multiple out and backs and sharp u-turns. Because of this prior experience, I was feeling pretty confident about running well especially after finally making it out of the “log jam” at Mile 9. Using the Pocari Sweat drink during my marathon training paid off. I didn’t have stomach pains or a side stitch for the entire race! However, one thing I didn’t take into account for my marathon training was carrying a phone in the right pocket of my shorts and my right quad started to get stiff at the half marathon point. I had this feeling before in Boston but that was after running up and downhills by Mile 18.
Blowing kisses to Kerry, my biggest supporter.
After passing the half marathon mark at around one hour and 27 minutes, I ended the negative split goal. My right quad was out of gas and my left quad was working overtime. Yet I did feel confident I could complete the marathon in under three hours. At Mile 18 in the Ginza neighborhood, just as the left quad was losing gas too, Kerry found me! She gave me a big morale boost and waved a Happy Birthday sign. Less was I thinking about how painful my quads were, and more was I thinking about how great it was to be here with Kerry and enjoy the Tokyo Marathon’s nice atmosphere. And around Mile 21 as I approached Tokyo Tower, the atmosphere literally was better and the sun came through the clouds.
Although my pace was getting slightly slower each mile, I could see after the last u-turn in the race I was still on target to finish under three hours. All I had to do was not allow my mile split to go over 7:30 per mile, and ignore the stiffness in my quads. It’d be a mind over matter game in the last four mile stretch. Many times when I’m in a race, I picture the final stretch as a smaller training run back home. I’ve felt doing this helps block out an otherwise very intense and exciting situation. In my mind it didn’t matter the three hour pacing group, who started before me, was passing me or that I could see thousands of runners on the other side of the out and back stretch. Instead I was just imagining these last four miles as one loop around Roosevelt Island.
Kerry and a new fan cheering me on.
Kerry found me again, at the perfect time around Mile 25. Around there, the course turned from asphalt to uneven cobblestone. I’ll honestly say I would’ve liked to have run on cobblestone less tired at the beginning of the race versus at the end of the race. Nevertheless with Kerry cheering me on, and another person nearby also cheering my name, I was inspired to finish strong.
I rounded the final bend towards the finish line and was surprised to see how much closer it was. The last couple of miles I hadn’t looked at what my approximate final marathon time would be, and wasn’t keen to look at the splits on my watch as I “Kerry kicked” to the finish line. It was actually nice not being reliant on the watch, and just going by heart and gut. The time flew that last stretch. I crossed the finish line, and was happy to see I finished under three hours at 2:58:48. I earned my fifth star of the Abbott Marathon majors! But most important, Kerry was there with me to share in the experience. She found me at the end of the race, and we soon began the “Japan Birthday Marathon Celebration” part of the trip.
Tokyo Marathon, Fifth Abbott Marathon Major Star, in the books.
Part of why I got into endurance racing was that it gave me an opportunity to explore places. Whether it was finding a new perspective on a familiar trail near home or going to another country to race and learning about their customs, I enjoyed the exploration aspect of endurance racing very much. I remember when I was a kid, my Dad would travel to Asia and bring back all sorts of interesting pieces of art, new tech stuff like DVDs, and currency for me to collect. I was really fascinated by the souvenirs he brought and the stories he’d tell us. I didn’t think I’d be able to travel there, but I did always want to go. Little did I know twenty plus years later I would be traveling there with Kerry. And now we have lots of stories to tell. Stories about discovery, and stories about being discovered.
Shots of our Japan Birthday Marathon Celebration.
Official Results: https://www.marathon.tokyo/2023/result/detail.php
