Oide Yasu Kyoto Kamogawa River 5K Race

Heavy rain poured throughout the three races, a 10K, 5K and 3K, along the Kamogawa River in Kyoto City this morning. I arrived soon after the start of the 10K and tried vainly to seek shelter in order to keep warm and dry. The race route was ran along a predominately hard packed sand path, with a few sections of slippery paving stones thrown into the mix.

The 10K race under way along the Kamogawa River

After taking the first few initial strides after the starting gun was fired, I found myself in the lead. Some of the other runners around me seemed reluctant to take the race on, and as I was determined to at least have a hard training run, I just ran it at a pace that felt comfortable. The path was dominated by huge puddles. I could hear two runners not far behind me, the splashing sound that they made as the ploughed through puddles a constant reminder that I could not switch off too much.

After 1 mile, there was a turnaround point marked by a cone and a race marshal. I could see that I had a lead of about 40 metres, with the 2nd and 3rd men running side by side. A comfortable lead, but one that I knew was not insurmountable.

A large group of spectators huddled for shelter under a road bridge at the 2 mile point, which was next to the start and finish area. I couldn’t stop myself from cracking open a beaming smile as I received a loud round of applause and cheer as I ran down the dip under the bridge.

At the second and final turnaround point at about 2.5 miles, I saw that despite my best efforts number 2 and 3 runners were still almost exactly the same distance behind me and that I hadn’t shaken them off. When I clocked sight of the finish line with 300M to go, I took a quick look behind me. I could see that a tall chap in an orange t-shirt had dropped his companion and was closing down on me fast. This gave me the impetus to put in a sprint to the line for glory.

I finished 1^st in the modest time of 17 minutes 22 seconds. A little slower than the 5K that I did 2 weeks ago, but given the conditions, this is not a concern. I got a medal, giant winner’s certificate and two different types of chocolate. I was covered in mud and sand and it took an age to get changed and dried off. I waited around to watch the start of the 3K race which was mostly made up of young children who, admirably, seemed incredibly eager to race despite the downpour.

Track and Field school

Starting on Friday, all the best Senior High School track and field athletes in Kyoto Prefecture have been attending a special four day training camp in Kyotamba. I got invited to join in one of the sessions yesterday. The middle distance runners were divided into three groups. The session set was six 1000M repetitions with a 400M jog recovery. The pace was 3 minutes 10 secs per rep for group A, 3:20 for group B and 3:30 for group C. Ambitiously, I opted to run with group A, consisting of eight 16-17 year old students.

The group ran the whole session in single file, with students taking turns at the front to lead and set the pace. I decided to run at the back of the group, not wanting to get in the way or disrupt the session. The group stayed in close contact for the first three reps. During the fourth and fifth rep, I and two other runners drifted a little off the back of the pack. 300M into the last rep I realised that these two other runners had dropped out of the session, so I had to run it by myself. It was a good session, though the pace was just slightly beyond the upper edge of what I am capable of at the moment. About one hundred young athletes attended the training camp. It was incredibly well organised and impressive to see.

Kyotamba Track and Field school

On a different note, I received a welcome surprise in the post this week. I was the third fastest over-30 year old male finisher in the Uji River 10K race that I ran four weeks ago. Not realising this at the time, I didn’t stay around at the end of the race to claim my prize. Having tracked me down, the race organisers kindly posted out an impressive trophy, bronze medal and certificate.

The 35th Kyoto City 5K Road Race

There is a saying in Japan: ‘Three days cold, four days warm, spring arrives’. We have certainly had our three cold days this week. Snow was falling when I left the track in Kyoto City after finishing my session on Monday evening. This weekend, things have been very different. Today, race day, was the warmest day of year so far, with temperatures pushing close to 20 degrees. Great conditions for the many spectators that lined the south bank of the Hozu River in western Kyoto City to watch the 3K, 5K and half-marathon races.

A small crowd of about 200 men assembled on the start line of the segregated 5K race. The first few hundred metres of the race were ran over a badly worn patch of grass, with fairly dense crowds of spectators cheering us on. As is usual, the starting pace was brisk, but when we joined a narrow cycle path along the river bank after 200M, it quickly settled down to a more manageable pace. I was in about 12^th place by this point, and as we approached the first short climb, I got knocked aside by a runner who wanted to get in front of me and clearly felt that I was running too slowly for him!

After cresting the rise, the path remained flat all the way to the first turnaround point. I managed to work my way smoothly through the field to 4^th place, and was sat just a few metres behind the leading pack of three by the time we reach the turnaround, 1 mile into the race. I was pleased to pass the lad who had knocked me out of the way earlier and even more pleased to see that he had dropped a good distance behind me when I went around the first turnaround cone.

The leading group managed to pull away from me a little at this point, but I worked hard to try and hold my pace. Half way back along the path to the start area, I was passed by a lad in a black t-shirt who went on to finish third. After passing the start/finish area, the race route continued along a more quiet section of path. There was a second and final turnaround point. As I rounded this, I could see that the 4th placed runner was coming back towards me and I sensed a good opportunity to use him to try and keep up my own momentum, as I felt like I was wilting in the heat. I caught and passed him soon afterwards, but lacked the kick to open up a big enough gap to destroy his morale.

Predictably, with 400M remaining, the youngster on my shoulder kicked and passed me, finishing just 2-3 seconds ahead of me. At least doing battle with him kept me focussed in the final stages. I crossed the line in 16 minutes 46 seconds. This is the second fastest time that I have ever finished a 5K race. My 5K PB is 16 minutes 40 seconds, which I ran on a track in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in May 2011. A good result then, boding well for the future.

Kyoto City Track

Spring is struggling to break through, though there is no sign yet of the much vaunted cherry blossom. Most days there is still a chill in the air and an occasional snow flurry. I am feeling really great about running and training again. I had been worried that I would never get this feeling back, but it has crept up on me suddenly when I wasn’t expecting it.

In January, I figured out how to get access to an all-weather running track in Kyoto Tamba and did the necessary paper work. Then I discovered a problem. The track is only open for use between 9am -12noon and 1pm-5pm, Monday to Sunday. Groups wanting to book the track get given priority and exclusive use for either the whole morning or afternoon session – even if they have finished using the track and gone home, nobody else can use it for the remainder of their booking period! Invariably, it is booked all weekend. I have to go to the track to see if I can use it, but have been turned away several times due to a group making a late booking. I could not plan my training with such unreliable access.

Although it turns out this style of booking system and track opening hours is the norm across Japan, there is thankfully one exception to this in Kyoto Prefecture. In the heart of Kyoto City is a magnificent international running track and stadium called Nishikyogoku Sougou Undou Kouen. This is not available to the likes of me for training purposes. However, there is an all-weather ‘sub-track’ just outside the stadium which is available for use, by anybody, for 10 days every month, between the hours of 8am-9pm, for a mere 200 Yen. The days vary each month, but are spread throughout every month and are always on a weekday.

I went to the track a couple of weeks ago for my first tentative session after work. A group of wheelchair athletes were training, taking up lanes 2 and 3. There were also some groups of school athletics clubs finishing up their own sessions, and me. I’ve been back a couple of times since. In fact, the last 4 weeks has been the best and most consistent period of training that I’ve had for a very long time indeed. At last, I am getting in two quality track sessions a week, occasionally doing a road session on a Saturday and also a long-run on a Sunday. I am enjoying my running again, even if is lonely having to run by myself all of the time. I have also finally figured out how to enter races myself, without having to get other people to do it for me. Next week, I will be running in a 5K road race in Kyoto City.