Shibuya Ekiden

My teammates in our 4-man relay last Sunday really set me up for glory.  I was the anchor runner and was handed the sash in second place in the field, 5-seconds behind the lead master's team.

Within 500 yards I managed to catch the leader, and then stayed behind him, thinking maybe I should just wait until the last 100 meters and t

ry to sprint.  But, as captured in this picture, I surged into lead at around 

1k and held on to cross the tape 12-seconds ahead of second place.

Here are my teammates and team sponsors, Juergen and Fabrizio, amidst the 

extravagant Shibuya award celebration.  

Beer mile

I ran a beer mile yesterday.  

A beer mile entails drinking one beer befo

re each of the 400 meter laps that make up a mile. 

Why would I do this?  

I had heard a lot of discussion of the beer mile from my teammates and studied the beer mile website and was simply curious -- how would I do?

I did terrible. 

When the starting gun went off I realized quite quickly that I ca

nnot drink a can of beer as quickly as other people.  I caught up with many of the other participants on the first 400 meter run lap and felt fine run

ning.  But then I had to choke down a second beer which seemed to take forever and I found myself in last place.  The third beer took me 2-3 minutes to consume, and the fourth beer was not much faster.  It felt so good to stop drinking the horrid beer and be able to run.  I still felt quite strong and fast running even the 4th 400 meter lap.  Though on the 4th lap of the race I somehow got lost.  Apparently I was a bit drunk by this point - none of the other 20 odd runners seem to have gotten lost on the simple loop through the park.   

"You are not a strong drinker are you Jay?" asked Satohi, Japan's number one beer miler who finished in an extraordinary time of 8:10.  Apparently drinking is not my strength.

Next year I am hoping for a coffee mile.