Kamakura Beach Party

I had concluded that it would be an interesting daytrip to experience the Kamakura trails along with the Shonan beach house scene. I had also determined that it was only worth making the journey to the beach on a sunny day, and when Sunday morning saw dark grey clouds I was inclined to cancel, and like a gerbil in a maze, continue my same mindless Tokyo routine that I have been stuck in for the past 25 days. But most every day over the past month has been dark and wet. Moreover I had sent a message to the e-mail list announcing the run, and it would turn out that a dozen of my teammates would we waiting to meet me at the train station in Kamakura.

As always it was an enjoyable day. As always it was cathartic to run on the forested trails, see the temples and end the run with a swim in the ocean.

The day started with Keren and I doing a 1.5k training swim in rolling swells. Keren had no problem navigating the waves, but I found myself feeling a bit queasy as the waves lifted me and dropped me broadside one after another.


Then Keren and I met the other dozen intrepid runners and set off on a variation of my trail/beach loop around Kamakura. An early highlight was visiting Asuka's grandmother's gravesite at the Suizenji shrine. Asuka hoped to pay respects to her ancestors and the rest of the rest of the group (at the least the non-Japanese) were delighted by this authentic cultural experience. The cemetary was a gorgeous hillside setting, and the group diligently scrubbed the tombstone for a few mintues before heading back on the run.

At this point we begun climbing the steep rocky hillside and the day's primary challenge turned out to be dealing with mud. On the one hand the day was blissfully cool, on the other hand the trail was terribly wet - worse than I have ever experienced - and I was frequently worried about my teammates tumbling off the steep trail. Somehow everyone survived the rollercoaster run through 10-kilometers of trails punctuated by the excellent photo opportunities at Kencho-ji and the Daibutsu. I figured we needed to add a bit extra to the run after the Daibutsu, and I added a 3-kilometer loop up around the quaint neighborhood of Gokurakuji and the crashing waves of Imamuragasaki.


Amazingly almost the whole group plunged into the ocean after the run for a bit of body surfing. The ocean was followed by a 1,500 yen shower (perhaps the most expensive shower of my life, but it was definitely one of the best showers I have experienced).




The Thai village is one of the attractions of Kamakura's summer beach (you can almost, kindof, sortof feel like you are in Koh Samui), and on this night we were treated to the added bonus of Thai fire dancing -- which appealed of course to the primal instincts of the Namaban barbarian horde.