Ome Marathon

I arrogantly assumed that my number for the Ome 30k Marathon, (K144), meant I was seeded near the front. On the registration I had included a Japanese Rikuren number along with an estimated time - both of which I naively presumed would improve my position among the throng of 14,500 runners.

Ten minutes prior to the starting gun, Martin Murphy and I walked toward the starting area and I immediately spotted my "K" pen. I saw wide open space in front of the Ks and asked Martin "Am I really seeded at the very front? - the K guys don"t look very fast."

"I think the course goes the other direction," said Martin - and it was only at that moment I realized I was starting at the absolute back of 14,500 runners on a narrow road. Perhaps my mistake was to not simply ignore the rules and countless officials at that moment and belligerently move up to a better starting position.

But, and please note this was the key point of the whole day -- I was really just preoccupied with getting my final long, pace run accomplished 13 days before New Zealand triathlon. OK, I thought to myself, starting this far back will keep me from going out too fast, and I will catch up with the group after a few kilometers.

However when the gun went off (actually we were so far back I am not entirely sure when the official gun went off) the K group run 50 meters and came to a complete stop. Except for me. I started doing back and forth loops in the opposite direction. It took me 13 minutes to reach the starting line. At that moment I was in absolute last place. The funny thing was that it was a bit like being in first place in a race. I had two motorcycles right next to me. The big crowd surrounding the starting area was going crazy cheering for me. Q-chan waved at me.

This was kindof fun for about the 10 minutes or so it took me to get to the 1-kilometer mark. Then I started thinking again about the whole point of my day - getting a final long, pace run accomplished 13 days before New Zealand triathlon. And I started feeling a bit frustrated and annoyed and claustrophobic. Frustrated enough that I started ignoring the officials shouting at me to stop running on the sidewalk. Frustrated enough that I pondered abandoning the whole race and doing 30k on my own on the Ome mountain trail. Frustrated enough that at around the 2-kilometer mark, I spotted a parallel street to the course and dove under the course rope and raced off on my own and ran by myself on this side road for several kilometers until this street merged with the race course. So then I dodged and weaved past people for another 4 kilometers until I caught up with Martin and Keren Miers. We ran together for awhile and I enjoyed chatting and joking with them as we struggled with the crowd.

But, and please let me repeat myself again -- I was really just preoccupied with getting my final long, pace run accomplished 13 days before New Zealand triathlon, so a little past 13 kilometers when I spotted Steve and Mika going the opposite direction I simply abandoned the effort to make it all the way to the course turnaround and officially finish the Ome Marathon, and instead I turned around and joined them. It was cathartic at that point to be running at goal pace - the three of us ran together for about 6-7 kilometers at 4:20 pace. Steve kept urging me to eat more, and I stuffed myself with bananas and chocolate and incredibly delicious strawberries that the families along the course were handing out.

Towards the end I picked the pace up to about 4:00/kilometer pace and worked hard to catch up with Mark Feeley. Alas, immediately upon catching Mark he took a bathroom break. I cutoff the course at 29-kilometers and then added another 5 kilometers on my own to finish my workout.

All in all, despite the frustration, it was a good, long run -- and the crowd support (and Namban team support) was great.