Izumo Ekiden (出雲駅伝)

Time: 70:00
Distance: 10 mi.

Goal: as a team, finish in the range of last year's performance (12th); individually, try to run a smart race aiming for around 3:07 pace (around 26:30) for my 8.5k leg and if possible gaining position
Race: 17th overall; 27:09 (3:11 pace, 25:33 8k pace), but I gained one spot

IVY League Team
Leg 1 (8k): Sage Canaday - 24:47, 19th fastest split, 19th place
Leg 2 (5.8k): Emery Mort - 17:26, 15th fastest split, 18th place
Leg 3 (8.5k): Owen Washburn - 27:09, 17th fastest split, 17th place
Leg 4 (6.5k): Ari Zamir - 19:47, 16th fastest split, 17th place
Leg 5 (5k): Jon-Paul Mandelburg - 15:43,16th fastest split, 17th place
Leg 6 (10.2k): Mark Olivier - 32:29, 16th fastest split, 17th place
Total (44k): 2:17:21, 17th place

This race itself was unlike any other running experience I've had. First, it was immediately apparent how serious everyone involved in this race takes it. The atmosphere around the athletes reminded me of NCAA cross country and in addition the whole town (and many visitors) seemed to come out for it. Throughout my leg there were locals lining the streets cheering in encouragement, usually shouting "gambate!" (apparently meaning "go for it" or "do your best"). I was dropped off at my exchange point (You Me Town grocery) a few hours before I was slated to get the race sash so I waited in a tent with my fellow third leg runners. When the race began we were able to watch the country-wide broadcast on Fuji TV on an HD TV, though many of the runners were tuning into it on their cell phones.


Waiting in the pre-race tent


Sage at the start of the race

From a running perspective it was also quite different. The race is fairly spread out even by the end of the second leg, so a good portion (or all) of a runner's leg might be run alone. Sage ran a tough leg that went out blazing fast (2:41 at the front, 2:44? for him) and passed off the sash in 19th. Emery picked up one place and I took off about a minute back from the closest runner. For the first 5-6k I could only see one runner ahead on the long straightaways and had no idea if I was making any progress. I was not running particularly fast, as despite going out the first 1k in 3:05 I hit the half way mark, which included two hills over bridges, in 13:40 (3:13/k average). With about 2k remaining in my leg I realized that the runner I was chasing seemed to be coming back. Chasing him down I ran a bit faster in my second half (13:29, 3:10/k average). He put up a little bit of a fight as I caught him in the last quarter mile, but I was able to outkick him and pass off to Ari ahead. It was hotter than I was expecting and my stomach was in pretty bad shape by the end.


Short clips of the beginning and end of the race (video by Andy Pitts and Sage Canaday)

We agreed at the end that we were happy enough with our race. While falling back to 17th was not what we had wanted, given the hot weather and our fitness, it was a reasonable result. As Emery said, "not bad for a bunch of 15:00 5k guys." There were some very impressive performances by other athletes, including a number of Kenyans. The fastest time on my leg was 24:37 (2:53/k, or 23:10 8k pace) and the anchor for the winning Nihon University ran 28:28 for 10.2k (27:54 10k pace). See the full results (translated by Google) for more, or if you really want to know the details of the race, check out this blog.

I will also try to post another recap of the trip with more photos as I get them.

Izumo Stadium

Time: 31:00
Distance: 4.5 mi.

Drive along the coast up to the lighthouse

Sage and Emery at the Izumo Lighthouse

Ari, Mark and Jimmy with me at the top of the lighthouse

Beautiful rocky coast near the lighthouse

Emery and Jon-Paul climbing down to the water

After driving over the entire course of tomorrow's Ekiden race and checking out the Izumo Lighthouse along the coast, we went for an easy run from Izumo Stadium, a track-only facility where the alternates for the Ekiden (Jimmy Wyner, Jeff Gaudette, and Andy Pitts) will run a 5k tomorrow evening. We ran four miles through a nice small neighborhood that is closer to the mountains that surround Izumo. I did 3 x 200m strides and then jogged barefoot on the infield a bit. We also got a chance to check out the competition, as many runners from other teams were doing workouts at the track. Driving over the course definitely helped me start to get excited and focused for tomorrow's race.

The outside of Izumo Stadium

This evening we had an "opening ceremony" where each team was introduced. We also got to listen to a number of long speeches in Japanese and see a local student dance troupe.

Team with guides for tomorrow's race

Team at the opening ceremony

Sea of Japan

Time: 64:00
Distance: 9.5 mi.

We got out early in the morning again, with the same group of guys meeting for a run. We decided to run on the Izumo Cycling Road, which goes northwest through the city and towards the Japan Sea. The beginning of the run was similar to the mixed light industrial/small farms and residential areas that we saw on yesterday's run. It got nicer as we got farther out and it got more rural as the path veered away from the Takasegawa River. We unexpectedly ran up to the beach as we were getting close to 30 minutes and ran out to touch the water. Mark and I decided that there wouldn't be much of an opportunity to go in the Sea of Japan again, so we decided to jump in. On the way back Mark, Sage and I started running a little bit harder (maybe 6:20 pace?) which felt good. After a few very easy days my legs were feeling lethargic. My hamstring was tight throughout, but not too sore.

We had a busy and interesting day, beginning with a special tour of the Izumo Taisha Shrine, one of the most important Shinto shrines in Japan. We then went to a very nice lunch reception with the mayor of Izumo and important local cultural and national sporting officials. Finally, we ended the day at a nearby onsen (hot springs), which was fun and hopefully also physically refreshing.

Our primary means of travel around Izumo is a tour bus

Walking up to the Izumo Taisha Shrine

Main area of Izumo Taisha Shrine

Team at the inner shrine

Lunch with the mayor of Izumo and other local officials

(Photos by Andy Pitts and Sage Canaday)

Tour de Izumo

Time: 59:00
Distance: 8.5 mi.


Izumo is on Japan's west coast, not far from South Korea

It was good that we decided to head out for a 7 AM run, because I was up around 5 AM and wouldn't have wanted to wait much longer. Emery got out the door a bit earlier and Jeff didn't come with. Thus, Ari, Jimmy, Mark, Jon-Paul, Andrew, Sage and I hit the roads of the city somewhat aimlessly. We ran through commercial, somewhat industrial and residential areas in a bit of a loop from our hotel. This part of the city is not exactly beautiful, though there is some nice architecture and we ran over a very large red bridge.

We spent some of the rest of the day walking around the city and visiting the museum of the history of Izumo. The food so far, mostly at the hotel, has been very good. We each have our own very small room here that seems to be configured in just the right way as to not feel cramped. There are a few interesting quirks: you have to place the keychain in a port in the wall to activate the electricity for the room, so when you leave the lights, air conditioning, etc. all are automatically turned off. Also, all of the lights, a radio, and the AC are controlled by a very Wes Anderson control panel in the bedside table. And the bottled water has dragons on it.

Izumo Ekiden Preview

Taisha Shrine, an important Shinto site in Izumo

The Japanese take road relay races, locally called Ekiden (駅伝, or "station" and "transmit"), very seriously. A number of Ekiden relays attract international-caliber teams from across the world, most notably the Chiba Ekiden. For the last ten years, a foundation has selected and sponsored a team of Ivy League alumni in the Izumo Ekiden, which is run by the Inter-University Athletic Union of Japan. A team selected by Japan's University Athletic Union comes to the United States every year, as well, usually to race in the CVS Downtown 5k in Providence.


The race map, broken down into each leg

The Izumo Ekiden is 44k, divided into six legs: 8k, 5.8k, 8.5k, 6.5k, 5k, 10.2k. The race tends to be very competitive, particularly up front--the record for the 8k leg is 22:30 and for the 10.2k leg is 28:33. The overall course record for this course, used for the last 7 years, is 2:07:14 set last year (that's a 2:53 per kilometer average across all legs). The Ivy League team has finished in the back half of the field, ranging from 12th to 20th out of 21 or 22 teams.


Max King hands off near the lead after the first leg of the 2007 Izumo Ekiden

This year's Ivy League team will have a total of nine members, though three will be managers/assistant coaches/alternates. There were seven runners selected from the CVS Downtown 5k: Emory Mort (Cornell '05), Ari Zamir (Brown '08), Mark Olivier (Columbia '07), Jon-Paul Mandelburg (Columbia '07), Andrew Pitts (Yale '07), and Jimmy Wyner (Cornell '08) and me (Brown '06). In addition, Sage Canaday (Cornell '08, who ran very well at the New Haven 20k on September 1) and Jeff Gaudette (Brown '05) were chosen for the team.

This year's race will be October 13th, and our trip to Japan will be from October 8th through the 15th. For more about the race and the trip, see Jordan's log from the trip last year, Max King's videos from last year, and try to decipher the official race site.

CVS Downtown 5k

Time: 60:00
Distance: 9.5 mi.
Map

Goal: Qualify for Ivy League Ekiden trip; shoot for 14:50 as a time that should make it.
Race: 19th overall; 3rd automatic spot for the Ekiden trip; 14:53.

Despite some serious overanalyzing this week, the race and the goal were straightforward. In order to automatically qualify for the Ivy League Ekiden team, I had to finish in the top four Ivy League alums in the race, as other members of the team were being selected subjectively based on other performances (or other criteria, apparently). Given the guys I knew were in it, I figured that I would have to be a bit under 15:00 to be sure (and Jordan nailed it on the head, saying that 14:59 would go... which would have barely secured the last auto spot). Rather than going into the race focusing on the particular guys, I figured I would just try to run 14:50-55 in a smart, controlled way.


The start of the race, near the Providence Place mall

The race went well from start to finish for Ari and me. I got out pretty well (drafting of Shalane Flanagan through the half mile) and went through the first somewhat downhill mile in 4:41 feeling pretty good. The second mile felt long, heading all the way out towards I-195 and then most of the way back on South Main and while my legs still felt fairly good, I could feel the race hitting my stomach. Ari, Mark Olivier (Columbia), Emory Mort (Cornell) and I were all fairly close nearing two miles in about 9:30 (4:49). As we turned back towards downtown on Canal Street the pack broke up with Emery and Ari pulling ahead of Mark and me. I thought I had dropped Mark, but he was back on and past me up the final hill and it took a decent kick over the top to catch him (and former OU runner Matt Daniels, apparently, at the line). My last mile was probably around 4:55. It was great to know right at the finish line that Ari and I had made it. It was warm and sunny--near perfect race conditions.


Kicking toward the finish line after the final hill

A few of the guys in contention for the trip cooled down together towards India Point, and I also caught up with Chris Gould, whose team looked very strong at the Amherst Invitational yesterday (edging out Brookline) and who was happy with his 16:44 today.

Hopefully I'll know the composition of the entire Ivy Ekiden team in the next few days. The other guys who automatically qualified today were Mort and Olivier. There are full race results at CoolRunning. We're bound for Japan on October 8th. Chobi, anyone?