Tokyo Marathon - RunMarathon

Start~5km: 27:25

The first kilometre was crazy. Just tried to work my way through the crowd and get into some kind of rhythm. My first kilometre was just over 6 minutes but after that it started to spread out a bit and I got into my rhythm. Looking back it was probably a good thing that I got held back on the first kilometre. It kind of became the warmup I never had.

5km~10km: 26:21

When I checked my watch at each kilometre marker here I was a little surprised, and worried. Was I going too fast?? I thought I would be running about 5:30/km, however at this stage I was doing about 5:15/km. But I felt comfortable so I thought I would just stick with it. Although I did start to feel my hip flexors/quads at this stage which also had me a little worried.

Another concern was the fact that I needed to go to the toilet...already!! But I didn't want to stop so I just decided to keep running and hope the feeling would pass. I took some sports drink at 5km but skipped the water station at 7km. I thought if I continued just to drink a little sports drink every 5km I could fight off the need to go pee.

10km~15km: 26:22

Well, my rhythm was fantastic!! Two 5km splits in almost exactly the same time. By the turn at Shinagawa my quads were starting to hurt a little more. I just kept telling myself that you don't need your quads to run, it's all about your hamstrings (a true triathlete). I also took my first gel at about 12km and washed it down with some water. Thankfully now the urge to go to the toilet had died off a bit.

Miki had told me she would be watching around this part of the course so I looked out for her the entire 5km down to Shinagawa. But I didn't see her. However there were literally hundreds of thousands of people along the course cheering us on. The Japanese have an unbelievable love affair with marathon running.

15km~20km: 26:07

My quads were still hurting but they didn't seem to be getting any worse which was good. At this stage you feel good running back past the BOP runners. After the turn I took some more sports drink (Amino-Value) which seemed to be going down well. Not so "sticky".

We made our way back past Tokyo Tower, now on our left, and headed for Ginza. There were still tens of thousands of people lining the streets to cheer us on. However now I decided to stay closer to the centre of the road as it was a little less crowded and was more even than the curb.

20km~25km: 26:02

At around 20km I finally saw Miki. I gave her a wave and went on my way. She asked me to stop so she could take a picture but I think the look on my face said it all - "you've got to be kidding, right!?"

At 22km came the first food station which I was hanging out for. I took half a banana which did the trick. Running through Ginza, like last year, was simply amazing. Hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets and you had to keep yourself in check. It's easy to get carried away when so many people are cheering you on. So I continued to run in the middle of the street away from the crowds. I wanted to focus on what I was doing.

25km~30km: 26:16

I got another half a banana at the 27km food station just before we made the turn at the famous shrine at Asakusa. I had memories of last year at this point as this was where Miki started crying as they had no food. She was hungry, tired, cold and wet and it was just all getting a bit much for her. Just after the turn was also where I found some money so we could buy some food at the convenience store (7 Eleven is a major sponsor of the race).

Anyway, back to THIS year. My legs were holding up well. My quads were getting a little worse, but I thought I could hold on. The good thing was that my calves weren't tight at all and that is what I was most worried about before the race.

30km~35km: 25:58

At 32km I popped my second gel and washed it down with some water. It seemed to do the trick as I ran my fastest 5km for the day at this point. One kilometre later I saw Miki and her father. She was screaming out my name and cheering me on and waving a little Aussie flag - god she's beautiful!! Finally at about 34km we turned left out of Ginza and headed toward Big Site - the finish!!

However I knew the hardest part of the course was coming up from 35 to 40 kilometres with a few short, but steep climbs over some bridges before we reached the finish. But I felt good and was confident I could maintain my pace. My plan from the start had been to go easy until this point and finish strong over the bridges.

35km~40km: 25:24

Wow, my fastest split of the day over not only the last 5km but also the hardest section of the course. I took another half a banana at 37km, which was the last food station of the race. My legs were getting sore at this stage, especially coming down the bridges as that put more strain on my already aching quads. But today I refused to be beaten by pain. In recent times during races I have given in to it and began to walk...but NOT TODAY!! I sucked it up and spat it out with a snarl on my face urging myself on.

40km~Finish: 11:30

Just after 40km I got checked by some guy who moved suddenly to the right, just in front of me, to avoid a slower runner. I had to change direction suddenly and my right hamstring cramped. Shit!! "Not now, I'm so close", I thought. I just kept running and after about 20 metres I had ran it out...thankfully. Now my legs were REALLY sore. But I knew the finish was near.

I made it over the last bridge and turned left before making a right up to the finish line. There were thousands of people in the stands cheering, the MC was going off as some celebrity was finishing just in front of me and there was music playing. However I was just focused on one thing...that clock. I had told Miki that I wanted to finish before 1 o'clock. I had lost 8 minutes just getting to the start line so I knew I would be close. I looked up, did a little "sprint" and made it, with 2 seconds to spare.

Not much really. I ran the perfect race for my current level of fitness. I was really happy with my splits, expecially considering the section from 35~40 kilometres is the hardest on the course. I was also really pleased with the way I put up with the pain today. I have given into it in recent times but today I sucked it up and I was back to my old, stubborn self.

When I stopped my legs seized up. Some of the volunteers where telling us to stretch, but I could barely walk, let alone stretch!! I made my way along the "buffet" and collected a banana, orange, bottle of water, soy bar as well as some spray for my tired muscles. Finally I gave back my chip and received my well earned medal.

From there we went on to the trucks to collect our bags which were organized far better than last year. Then we made our way into Tokyo Big Site where they had a huge hall for us to change our clothes and again they were handing out more food.

Unfortunately like last year they didn't have any mats or anything down to sit on. Thankfully they gave us an Asics thermal cover all at the finish line which I took off and put down so that I didn't freeze my A$$ off!!

Finally, about an hour after I had crossed the finish line, I made my way out of the hall and went off to find Miki who was near the finish line cheering all the finishers as they came in. She was having an absolute ball!!


If anything probably the fact that I haven't been stretching enough. My quads/hip flexors were tight from very early on into the race. I don't know if it slowed me down, but it certainly would have made the run more comfortable had I been a little more limber.


Well considering last year's debacle, this year was a HUGE improvement. There were more toilets, more food and everything just seemed to run a lot more smoothly. The weather helped. Again there were lots of drinks and I heard over 10,000 volunteers who all do a great job.

There were a few little things like the fact they had no mats in the changing area and I heard they ran out of medals 30 minutes before the finish as they didn't think so many people would finish. But if they improve it again next year by as much as they did this year it will soon become one of the great marathons around the world.