Sunday, December 14, 2014
Finally, the morning of the day arrived. I woke up at 5:30 a.m. The day before, I went to bed at 11 a.m., so I had enough time to sleep. After having breakfast at the hotel, we were ready to go. It was a little before 7 a.m.
The weather looks good, but it’s cold. I’m a little worried about this cold weather.
Most of the runners walked into the venue
There were already numerous runners in town walking towards the start venue. Konoike Sports Park, the starting and finishing point of the race, is a bit far from the center of the city. And the road to there is a bit narrow….
However, it is about a 15-minute walk from Kintetsu Nara Station. It’s not a distance you can’t walk.
Then we arrived at the venue. It was already crowded with many runners. It was about 20 minutes walk from our hotel. I was worried if I could walk back.
Arrival at the venue, baggage check
When we arrived at the venue, it was already crowded with many runners.
Basically, it’s the same at every race. You will be assigned a starting block by the race organizers according to your time, and there will be a baggage deposit area in the order of your number. You will receive a baggage deposit bag at the registration desk the day before the race.
Anyway, it was cold, so we waited until the last minute to leave our luggage as much as possible.
The EXPO site was open in the morning.
Unlike the Tokyo Marathon and Kyoto Marathon that I participated in in the past, the start and finish points of the Nara Marathon are located at the same place, and the EXPO site is adjacent to it. The fried chicken shop I ate at yesterday was also open, and there were also a few shops that served breakfast before the start.
To the waiting area, the track.
However, I arrived a little too early, so I was so bored that I went inside the track to line up and wait almost as soon as the runners started lining up.
But the sun was shining inside the stadium, so it wasn’t as cold as I thought it would be. I warmed up my body with a light warm-up and waited.
The stadium was large enough and not as big as the Tokyo Marathon, so there was plenty of room to run.
But I’m not a runner who takes much time to get up, so I cut it short after a few minutes and waited in my designated H block.
5 minutes before start
And after 15 minutes of waiting there, the line finally starts to move. Only 5 minutes left until the start. Everyone is moving in a line.
9:00 Finally, we’re off!
And it’s 9:00. The start. A loud gun rang out. It seems that the guests, Yuko Arimori and Laughing Rice (from Nara Prefecture), will be at the starting point, but I wonder when they will arrive…
Weather is looking good. I hope it holds like this.
Finally, to the starting line!
It must have been about 6-7 minutes after the start. I finally made it to the starting point.
My Nara Marathon has finally started, with the guests seeing me off.
Come on, let’s go!
（次回へと続きます）
