Feb 2007 Tokyo Marathon

This morning's Japanese Yomuiri Shimbun newspaper reported more detailed plans for the inaugaral Tokyo Marathon to be held next February 2007.  This is the so-called "People's Marathon" created through the effort of people like Namban"s Keren Miers.

Today's article included a map of the course which will start in Shinjuku, run to Yotsuya, then downhill to Iidabashi, on to Shimagawa, back up to Asakusa, and then through Ginza and Toyosu to finish at the Big Sight Arena in the Odaiba area.  It appears to be a relatively flat course and presumably net downhill.   (The article was in Japanese so my understanding is extremely limited).

After decades of procrastinating about running a marathon myself, I am considering signing up for the event (or at least doing the accompanying 10k which also starts in Shinjuku but finishes in Hibiya).   I am also hoping to convince several former Nambanners and several running friends from outside Tokyo to use this big event as an excuse to visit Tokyo.
 
Marathon race officials anticipate 40,000 runners will participate.  After my experience being seeded at the absolute back of 30,000 runners at February's Ome 30k, I am concerned about not even being given the chance to line up early and attempt to get a reasonable starting position.   But with resourceful and well-connected friends in Namban Rengo like Chiba-san and Mika-san and Bob, I am confident our team will be provided favorable positions on the starting line.

But the most interesting note in the story was the announcement of the cutoff time - a generous (by Japan standards) 7 hours to finish.  One of my little soapbox issues here in Japan is what I perceive as the elitist attitude among race officials.  I was stunned to see hundreds of runners at the Kyoto Half-Marathon being cutoff a third of the way through the event because they were not running a 2-hour pace.   In the US, not even half the field in a big event could run a 2-hour pace.  These harsh cutoff times seem widespread and I am convinced that they serve to discourage beginners from bothering to attempt a run event and have a goal to inspire them to take up the sport.  Japan has the potential to be a huge marathon country given the popularity of WATCHING marathons.  It is a sad statement that the marathon with the most Japanese participants is 3,000 miles outside the country in Honolulu. 

Even a seven hour cutoff is harsh by American standards where many, if not most, finishers walk some or all of the marathon.  Several of my elite running friends back in the United States have complained that the tens of thousands of Americans who are completing a marathon every year by walking the entire 42 kilometers is cheapening the marathon achievement for "real" marathoners.  I argue that more people enjoying and benefiting from the sports is better, and more participants serve to amplify the accomplishment and recognition for the more elite runners.

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