Izumo Cycling Path

Time: 66:21
Distance: 9.5 mi.

Despite the race and late night festivities yesterday I was up early yet again. Mark and I headed back out on the bike path towards the Sea of Japan. We got out a little farther than last time and looped around on a few neighborhood roads. I felt better than I would've expected for the first half, but we were both pretty beat by the last few miles.


There are small canals throughout Izumo, including along most of the cycling path


Many of the houses in Izumo back up to fields

We saw a steady stream of kids, ranging from elementary to high school ages heading to school along the way. They all wear uniforms and most ride matching bikes with funny matching helmets. I called out "ohayo" (good morning) to a group of young boys who returned the greeting and shouted "gambate!" as well.

In the afternoon we traveled back to Tokyo where we have one night before leaving Japan.

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.