Dedicated to the Q-chan fans out there in the states and elsewhere.
Yesterday, I cut across the women's field before their start to line up at the front of the men's field. As I did, I had to cross over a patch of grass which separated formed the median barrier between the lanes on the avenue. I had to dodge some cameraman who were there. All of a sudden in my wake, a flock of cameraman ran up in front of the women's start. Lining up to the far right on the start line, I looked to see what the deal was and saw Naoko Takahashi waiting for the gun about 3 arm's length from me.
She decided to run this race, the Chiba Marine Sanspo half marathon, on the spur of the moment apparently. Her coach, Koide was invited as a guest for the race for PR purposes. It was her first official race since last March's Tokyo marathon.
It has been 4 months since she was diagnosed w/ a broken bone in her right ankle last year. She and her coach apparently decided the day before to run the race. She finished in 1:26:13. She said w/ her ever present smile, "I am happy just to finish. Just like a beginner. But, I feel fresh."
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The doctor put a limit on her running activities and according to her, it is 80% healed. After the race, she had some tightness in her calf.
She had run 1:08:55 at this race for the win in 2000 the year she went on to win the gold in Sydney. She used this race as a start on her way to making the Olympic team in Beijing 3 years from now.@
She still hasn't decided on her next full marathon. Yoko Shibui has already committed to running the Nagoya Ladies Marathon on March 13th. On April 17th, world record holder, Paula Radcliffe, will run London. If she lost, it could spell retirement. "She can't break down again, and I can't let it happen to her," said coach Koide. "I want to run this spring, but I don't want to risk injury by running," Takahashi said. She will take her time in choosing her next marathon.
The 30,000 people in attendance got to see a group of Koide's top runners. Along with Q-chan, they will be going an island in Kagoshima prefecture for training camp in a month from now for a span of about a month.
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15,000 runners took part in the running events yesterday. Over 6,000 in the men's race and almost as many in the women's race. It finished in the Chiba Marine baseball stadium.
This country and it's runners never cease to amaze me. I had a good race, despite a little too much marathon training. Was in front at 5, 10 and 12km, (running 15:15,15:18, splits thru 10k) but faded to the back of the lead pack after that. Was running good, but when the other guys surged at the 15k mark, I wasn't able to go. Tried not to let them gap me too much, but faded to 16:09 from 15-20k and 3:30 to finish at 1:05:46 in 13th. Winner was a collegiate at 1:04:48. A 2:10 marathoner, Kanda finished in 3rd. 10 in front of me were collegiates. Another humbling experience in the land of marathon.