Wakashio Marathon!

Today, after a month of intensive training, : ) I ran in the 26th annual Wakashio Marathon. Of course, I only ran the 10 kilometer race, but to me, that's more than a marathon! I ran it with another English assistant, my friend Melissa from the neighboring town. It was an absolutely beautiful course because it was all along the water (and all flat- another bonus!). In my training runs I often ran on the road paralleling the water because it is so close to my apartment. We were surprised that we were supposed to get to the race so early- about 2 hours before it started. But once we got there, we realized why we were supposed to arrive so early. The park where the race started was transformed into a small festival-site. There were tons of vendors, booths, and people sprawled out on tarps and in tents. It seemed as if some people had camped all night (though I don't think they had- it's far too cold!) Anyways, the whole race seemed like a much bigger deal than any race I've participated in at home. When we lined up to start running, I felt like a monster- the men and women were separated and I was quite tall : ) The run itself was a little more challenging than I thought- partially because my lovely running partner's pace was a little faster than mine, and I wanted to keep up with her : ) But it was so fun to see my students and other people from the community cheering us on. In fact, a friend of mine even wrote my name on a small flag to wave for me as I passed by! The course was pretty straightforward since we just ran from the starting point along the water, turned around, and then came back the same way we had come from. The weather was absolutely beautiful, and it felt like we were running in June rather than January! After the race (and a triumphant ending- I'm not sure because I finished or because I was noticably foreign : ) ) I got to talk with some of my students who were working at the race. The only disappointing part of the day was that were wasn't a lot of free stuff. One of my favorite things about fun runs in America is that there are so many free samples of food and products after the race! In Japan, there are lots of food and products, but at a cost : ) We walked around for awhile before getting really cold and heading home. The rest of the day was spent gloriously lounging around, staying warm, and eating! A nice reward after a morning of running!