17 Nambanners Enjoy the Sendai Half Marathon
The Sendai International Half Marathon, not held last year due to the tsunami (Sendai is in Miyagi pref., 2 hours by bullet train north of Tokyo), returned in style this year with a large field of 8,000 men and 2,000 women. Included among them were 17 Nambanners, who enjoyed the flat, scenic course, the nice weather and the great race atmosphere and spectator support (even high fives from Olympic gold medalist Naoko Takahashi). Thanks to brilliant trip organization by Satohi, we also enjoyed sightseeing in Sendai on Saturday, a nice pasta dinner and a post-race trip a bit further north to the pleasant little town of Matsushima. Nambanners, mark your calendar for next year (a 5K is also available).
Laci’s Sayonara Yamanote Run
Sunday April 29th was Laci Demko’s last full day in Japan, and he decided he wanted to say goodbye to his home of two years by running around the Yamanote train line. He was joined in this by 12 other Nambanners, who set out from Yoyogi Park at 10am and spent the next seven hours gradually running around the 29 stations (40km) of the Yamanote, plus a slight unplanned detour to Oimachi station as a kind of bonus.
Some of the more interesting moments along the way were going through Ueno’s crowded Ameyoko market, Shin Okubo being full of riot police, and Nick’s discovery of increasingly strange conbini (convenience store) food. Finally, tired but still genki, Laci, Mary, Pat, Mika, Chiba, Kanna, Matt, Rie, Chika, Nick, Mike, Adrian and Derek enjoyed a soak in LacI’s beloved sento and a last supper at Raj Mahal in Shibuya.
Laci is just behind kneeling Mika in the photo.
James and Satohi Take to the Trails
James Midgely and Satohi Numasawa, who love trail running, participated in the Ome Takamizu 15km trail race in western Tokyo on April 1st. This beautiful course is only about 60 minutes by train from Shinjuku, promising fresh air, lots of green and flowers, and perhaps even a wild animal or two. The race course this year was a bit longer and a bit harder, starting from 260m above sea level and going up to 436m. It was a beautiful day with sakura (cherry blossoms) appearing here and there. However, the wind was cold, so deciding what to wear was a big challenge. James and Satohi were very relaxed before the start, decided their goal times, and were both happy to finish faster than expected, even though James fell and twisted his ankle. Afterwards, they enjoyed a hot spring bath, a ramen lunch, and a cold beer (or two, or….)
Results: James 1:24:00; Satohi 1:31:07 - 5th overall women’s division
