Tokyo Marathon 2023
/10 Things I Think About The Tokyo Marathon 2023
1. Mobile Phone
I think that the Tokyo marathon was the most complicated marathon I have ever entered. The Japanese love rules and complications. The main source of stress for this race was that you needed to bring your phone to the start to show them that you didn’t have Covid. We had to log our temperatures the week before and do two antigen tests to get a green light on an app, then scan a QR code to access the start area. I missed the week long period where you could buy a bag drop so I had I had to figure out what to do about the phone. I bought an old phone for €50 off Done Deal and decided I’d figure out what to do with it when I got to the start line.
2. Tik Tok
I think that the start line of the marathon was amazingly quiet. It was surprisingly easy to get up to the front. When I got there all the Japanese runners were sitting down in silence, no chit chat nothing, just silence. It was bizarre. Being unable to stay silent I got talking to an American who should have been in corral C but had snuck into the A corral. He was the first TikTokker I have ever met. TikTokking is very unjapanese and involves shouting into a phone “Tokyo Marathon Baby, Let’s Go, Whooooo”. I don’t know what the Japanese made of it. I thought it was great.
3. Free Phone
I think that it feels very odd throwing away a phone. As the start approached the Japanese stood up and readied themselves for action, I noticed that a lot of them were wearing these round stickers on certain body parts, like KT tape just way smaller and rounder. They have a remarkable ability not to touch anyone, it’s like there is a force field around them, there was no jostling or pushing all very mannerly. I still hadn’t figured out what to do with the phone so I offered it to the TikTokker. “I don’t want your phone man”. So I hid it under a pile of clothes on the raised concrete that divides the dual carriageway and that was the last I saw of it. Off went the confetti gun and away we went.
4. This is Not Right
I think that it would be disrespectful of Japanese culture not to be a little bit ambitious with your pacing in Tokyo. I thought I’d try something like 3:25-3:30/km pace and see how it went, internet calculators said it was possible based on recent results although internet calculators don’t account for zero sleep two nights before the race. After a few kilometres I was on my own with a German guy. He asked me what I was aiming for, sub 2:30 I said. In a uniquely cross German way he replied “you are on 2:26 pace, this is not right”. So I left him go and dropped back a bit.
5. Tidy
I think that tidiness is contagious. I am the complete opposite of Japanese. I’m surprised at the airport they didn’t assign someone to follow me around to clean up after me, perhaps they did and I just haven’t seen him. There are no bins in Japan but the place is spotless. In the race they threatened to disqualify you if you littered. It’s amazing that when everyone else does it you make an effort so at every water station I tried my best to throw my gel wrappers and water cups into the box bins which were in between each table. I think I did a good job and I didn’t get disqualified.
6. Elite Shelter
I think that when you are trying to break 2:30 in the marathon one of the best tactics is to follow the elite women. I saw Lisa Weightman up ahead at around 10k so I decided she would be a good person to pace off. She seemed to think the same about me so for the next 15k or so I had an Australian shadow. In fairness I was probably the best wind shelter in the race. I was a very popular wind shelter and by about 15k I had a big group of mainly Japanese hiding behind me.
7. Gel Belly
I think that arriving in Japan on a Friday evening two days before a marathon is a very bad idea. The jet lag is horrendous and you lose a day of food and sleep. Up until 25k I felt wonderful, then gradual I started to feel tired and almost sleepy. My legs were fine I just had no energy and a belly full of Maurten gels that seemed to be doing nothing. I didn’t blow up, I just gradually got passed by everyone who was sheltering in my shadow.
8. Black Spots
I think that the last three miles of the marathon were very tough. The only consolation was that there were many many Japanese runners to pass even at my reduced pace. I started to see black spots from about 23 miles which was a bit worrying but my legs were ok so I just kept going as best I could. My memory of the last three miles is speckled sort of like old video footage. I don’t know what causes the black spots probably low blood sugar combined with a lack of sleep.
9. Scientists
I think that marathons need to stop finishing on cobbled streets. Why do we need cobbles in marathons, they’re fine when you are running well but horrible when struggling. The last mile of the race is on possibly the only cobbled street in Tokyo. It was an odd experience. There was a big crowd out watching all masked up as is the way in Japan. The Japanese don’t really do cheering so they are just watching you like scientists observing an experiment which is probably what a marathon is anyway. Then you turn left at the end of the cobbled street lined with silent masked people and there’s the finish with the Palace in the background. They give you your medal, bow, ask you to sanitise your hands and give you a mask. All very Japanese, very excellent.
10. Kabuki
I think that the problem with marathons is that there is always a what if, if you run a PB it’s what if I’d gone a bit faster, if you fade it’s what if I’d gone slower. The fellas that run even splits are the most annoying, one of them was Ken Rideout, Viv’s world M50 rival who steamed past me at about 22 miles. When we crossed the finish line I got talking to him mainly about how he was going to crush Viv which I liked and empathised with. I had the mask that the volunteers insisted I wear on. “Take that mask off, I’ve enough of this Kabuki nonsense, I just ran 2:29 at 51 years old” he said which I did. He was dead right but the Kabuki nonsense is also most of the fun of Japan.
