Running through the Storm : Kanazawa Marathon 2017 race experience

A hopeful finisher

Rewind, Review…

Quite often, things always don’t go according to one’s plan. So what does one do when circumstances beyond one’s control throws the entire plan off balance? There is clearly only 2 choices in this situation : Either one gives up or persists on to finish off what one has started.

This was the exact dilemma going on inside my head when I found myself risking hypothermia while racing 42.2km under wet, cold and windy weather caused by the typhoon in the Kanazawa Marathon on 29^th October 2017.

One would ask me why did I bother to travel 5,154km to run a full marathon when there are plenty of full marathon races in Malaysia.

Well, this was somehow premeditated.

The beautiful Kenrokuen Garden when I shot this picture in 2011.

Earlier…

At Tsudumimon Gate, in front of Kanazawa Station.

You see, 6 years ago I had visited the beautiful historical city of Kanazawa, Japan to admire the famous Kenrokuen Garden, walk on the ruins of the neighboring Kanazawa-jo Castle, roam the romantic lanes of the Higashi Chaya Gai geisha district and see the samurai residences of Nagamachi Buke Yashiki district. However, the city had a lot more to offer but due to limited time, these were all I could visit then. So I left Kanazawa vowing to return one day and perhaps run a marathon there too if there was one.

Gambatte!

Incidentally, 3 years later, Kanazawa held it’s very own inaugural marathon! However, due to other commitments, I could not make the first one nor the second one. But the third year this race was held ie. this year, I told myself I would go, moreover I had not committed myself to any other race this year. I planned the race to also coincide with my long leave from work so that I could also spend a 17-day vacation in Hokuriku and Kanto / Tochigi area.

Having fun at the Race Expo

The Prep…

Other than highly detailed vacation planning, I took 27 weeks to slowly build myself up to a faster ‘marathon-racing’ form again after Route 68 Challenge in April 2017 without too much pressure and stress (I only ran 3 times a week!). I rather enjoyed the entire process and the consistent training was starting to bear pleasing fruit. I took the Hulu Langat Marathon in July 2017 as a gauge of how well I would do. And as Kanazawa is definitely not as hilly as Hulu Langat, I was happy with my results.

The Kanazawa Marathon route map (courtesy of the organizer)

I did not think too much of racing even after my plane touched down in Tokyo. I was too caught up in enjoying my holiday in Japan with How How to think much of the upcoming race.

Race Eve…

Finding my name on the board at the Race Expo.

When we reached Kanazawa on the race eve, the weather had turned cloudy and chilly. In the afternoon, it also started to rain. Bib collection was done smoothly at the Ishigawa Ongakudo Interchange Hall below Kanazawa Station. It was really a breeze with ample volunteers in bright yellow jackets directing participants every few meters of the way to the collection area.

Race Kit Collection and the yellow jacketed and capped volunteers

I was impressed with the race organizer's planning and coordination and the passionate volunteers. The bib was rather huge though but as I had decided to wear a race belt, I guess it really didn’t matter.

At the Race Kit Collection. The fastest and smoothest collection despite the endless stream of people!

After exiting the bib-collection area, How How and me proceeded to check-in at our homestay which was within a short walking distance of the station and not too far away from the starting line of the race. An early rest after all the sight-seeing and the pre-race dinner refreshed me for the next morning.

With my #1 supporter

Enter Typhoon #22 …

The incessant rain carried on all throughout the night and into the next morning for Typhoon #22 had landed in Japan causing a race or two in other parts of Japan to be cancelled because of the bad weather.

Check out the size of the runner's drop bag!

However, the Kanazawa Marathon race directors decided to carry on with the race as they reckoned the effects of the typhoon wasn’t bad enough in Kanazawa to call the race off. Nevertheless on race eve, they did issue a warning to runners to take precautions against the possibility of hypothermia due to the cold and wet weather on race day and requested runners to bring rain coats and stash umbrellas into the very huge drop bags they had provided each runner with. Being me, I had already prepared a rain coat in advance, just in case, hence I did not fret as I already had the necessary with me.

Race Day

Waking up to wet weather, looming thunderclouds and gusts of icy cold wind – it was 8 degrees Celsius, did not dampen my spirit one bit and I changed into my race gear and accessories after breakfast. I put on an additional layer i.e. Uniqlo’s HeatTech down jacket to keep myself warm before the race. However, I’d have to pass the jacket to How How just before I entered the race area and onward to the baggage deposit trucks as the race area was off limits to non-participants of the race.

With new friends made before the race. Both are Taiwanese brothers.

We walked to the race venue as a good warmup rather than taking the shuttle bus. It was a good 20 minutes of walking and chatting with some new Taiwanese friends who were also running the marathon and were also staying at the same homestay.

I put on my visor but I wished I had brought a cap instead because I realized immediately, that I’d get my head wet as the rain grew heavier. After a few pre-race photographs I bid How How goodbye and exchanged my warm jacket for my disposable raincoat before walking off in search of my baggage deposit car clearly labeled on my drop bag. Baggage Deposit was the smoothest I had ever experienced and similar to SCB HK Marathon when I participated in 2014.

I then headed off to my allocated start pen before the start of the race and began running on the spot to keep myself warm while I waited for the race to be flagged off at 8:50am. 

Everyone was in high spirits but the wind gusts were even higher and I couldn’t help but feel the first stirrings of worry, wondering whether this was a sign to ignore or to be concerned of as it felt way much colder here than in Macau or Hong Kong when I ran the marathon there during the coldest winters they had ever endured.

In addition, I was still recovering from a long drawn-out flu, fever and cough for the past 3 weeks. The last thing I wanted was to catch pneumonia! I told myself I’d see how the situation went and play by ear whether to continue or press on.

Pushing all thoughts aside, I pep-talked myself into readiness and when the gun went off amidst the drums and dancing and singing and cheering of the high-spirited Japanese lining both sides of the road, it was all systems GO!

Running in the rain. Photo courtesy with the organizer.

The spectators lining both sides of the road from the start till the finish cheered the runners enthusiastically in the rain under umbrellas on in their raincoats. Shouts of “Gambatte! Gambatte! Fighter! Fighter!” were heard throughout the race that it was like a record on repeat. I believed that I would be hearing this cheering in my head and in my sleep after this race. Children held out their hands to high-five the runners with shouts of joy. There were so many spectators the entire way that it felt like the entire Kanazawa city had turned up to cheer the runners!

Even if one didn’t feel like running, the enthusiastic encouragement and cheers of the spectators was enough to pull one along. You would feel as though you let the crowd down if you gave up.

I felt that I ran very well at least for the first 30km of the race averaging below 5:30 pace and sometimes 4:30 pace. There was once, I looked down at my GPS watch and shocked the daylights out of myself to notice I was running at 3:35 pace but I didn’t feel a thing!

WET, COLD, WINDY.. THE STRUGGLE..

The rain came down mercilessly all the way from the start to the end of the race. In fact, it got even heavier towards the end of the race. Running in wet conditions was still acceptable as our country – Malaysia gets it’s ample dose of rain as well and getting drenched in the rain while on the run is nothing new to me.

But after running for 3 hours and a little more in cold rain and cold, strong wind – at one point, the wind blew me off to one side of the road – I started to feel that the rain was FREEZING COLD. No kidding, my blood felt cold, my eyelids felt cold, my nose felt cold, my toes and fingers started to feel numb and my thighs and quadriceps began to seize up and cramp too. My clothes, hydration pack, socks and shoes were soaking wet. The wind was biting and the raindrops were like stinging cold needles.

Battling with demons in my head and a stiffened, cold body

I dragged myself to continue on until I couldn’t bear the cramps any longer and started to walk after KM34. It was then that the strange numbness started, creeping down first from my head to my face and then my neck, shoulders, arms, torso and bit by bit, I could not feel my legs and feet as well. I was moving on auto-pilot. Worse still, I was starting to feel sleepy!

It struck me from deep within, that I was experiencing the start of hypothermia and this was definitely not what I wanted. A voice screamed inside my head: “Keep going Julia! DO NOT STOP! DO NOT STOP!”.

I listened to that voice, using all of my will power to keep my eyelids open and stay awake and push my legs and arms forward. Swing, swing, swing! Move, move, move! I told myself over and over. Well, at that point, I didn’t know and didn’t care which felt worse… struggling to finish a 50km hilly race or struggling to finish a a cold and wet marathon! I just focused on moving my fingers and toes and rolled my head from side to side, to get the blood circulation in and cut out the numbness.

Keep on moving.

Spectators continue cheering despite the dismal wet weather. Such spirit!

Although I only had about 8 km to go till the finish line, the kilometers seemed to inch by slowly bit by bit. So slowly, in fact, that I started to ask myself whether I’d make it. I wanted to quit, get a nice warm shower and curl up under the blankets and go to sleep. What the heck was I doing, running a marathon in wild wet weather, soaked and shivering to the bone?! I must be crazy!

What is glory without suffering? Running in the cold rain.

My teeth started to chatter and my chest felt painful and congested. I felt cold and miserable and mentally, my mind was spiraling downwards into a black pit and trying to take my body with it. I walked, I jogged, I walked again but I didn’t stop, wouldn’t stop, was afraid to stop. It became a exercise of just putting one foot forward before the other, in repeat.

All of a sudden, I heard my bestie’s voice – the person who had got me started in running – Kevin Chow. I could hear him yelling at me just like how he yelled at me during my maiden full marathon in Kuala Lumpur : “C’mon, Julia, don’t be stupid ok? No one forced you to run in typhoon-influenced weather. You had chosen to run this race despite the uncontrollable circumstances and so use what you can control to finish it and finish this race you must, you can and you will. What is 5km when you have already come 37km? Keep going! Mind over matter!”

I woke up then! It was just after KM37. Mind over matter! I felt like I had received a huge slap! Using all the energy I had left in my tank to spare, I forced my eyelids open, forced my legs to fire up again and pushed myself forward. Focus! 38, 39 and then 40km! I could hardly bear it. The suffering was really intense. Each jerk of my foot forward would send multiple spasms throughout my body.

THE RELIEF…

Turning the corner just before the 41km mark, I heard someone call out my name. It was How How! I was relieved and glad to see him. The guy was weaving through the crowds of spectators with his umbrella and trying to take a decent photo of me in the rain. I wondered exactly how in the world did he manage to get near the finish line which is in a different part of the city from the start line.

I did not have much time to wonder. It was time to end all this misery and suffering. With a lot of grimacing, I started my throttle and made my final sprint into the stadium and the finish line. Any photographer would have had a field day seeing me finish the race with my face contorted up in pain with tears on my face blending with the raindrops from the sky. I stopped my watch at 4:11:46 and a huge sigh of relief flooded through me.

Relieved to finish. Photo courtesy of organizer.

Almost immediately I was ushered away by volunteers who draped me with the huge complimentary towel, and hung my finisher’s medal around my neck with congratulatory words continuously flowing from their lips.

The finish area was so well organized that all I did was go with the flow after that, from getting food and water to collecting my finisher certificate (laminated on the spot), baggage collection to changing room to runner’s finishing area to queuing for the shuttle bus.  There was zero bottle neck. How How met up with me at the runner’s finishing area to catch the shuttle bus back to Kanazawa Station and thereafter back to our homestay.

Although there were many people queuing for the shuttle bus we were impressed by the systematic organization and swift allocation of people to which shuttle bus. Even the number of minutes it would take from the finish area back to Kanazawa Station by bus was exactly as printed in the runner’s booklet. This certainly speaks well of the punctuality, accuracy and conscientious detail that the Japanese are well-known for.

I spent the rest of the day soaking in a hot tub at the homestay and resting under the blankets warmly wrapped up in layers to ward off the after-effects of the cold. 

And I enjoyed the remaining 12 days of my holiday in Japan.

Enjoying the winter wonderland at Murodo, the highest point along the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route

Discounting the awful weather, this race is very, very well organized, spectator cheering is fantastic – the best I have ever experienced so far in an overseas races. The Japanese spirit of sport is amazing! I have no regrets running this race despite the pain, misery and suffering undertaken. 
I remain humbly yours Kanazawa... What a journey!

A big thank you to the organizers and passionate volunteers of Kanazawa Marathon 2017 and the spectators - your cheering was really helpful and uplifting!

Me posing in Noh Costume at the Kanazawa Noh Museum. Yes, it's me!

*Note : The Kanazawa Marathon is currently a guaranteed entry for foreigners who register but I suspect it will change to ballot soon as this race is gaining popularity every year and is growing. The registration fees is JPY10,000 and the city is beautiful. 

If you are interested to run this marathon, do go to https://jtbsports.jp/en/events and search for Kanazawa Marathon.The date for the race next year has been announced : October 28th 2018. And if I am not mistaken, registration will commence soon, if not already.