Namban Rengo interval training at Oda Field, Shibuya every Wednesday evening, 7:20 for 7:30 start. The last Wednesday of the month is a 5 km time trial. Access is a 10 minute walk from Harajuku Station. Lockers & showers available (free but lockers take a 100 yen coin, returnable). Cost of the workout is free. Just turn up and join in. All levels catered for.
Club members will be doing trail runs on Sunday mornings from May 24 throughout the summer. Bob Poulson will be leading a group most (but not all) Sundays from Ome station (Ome line from Tachikawa) on a very hilly trail through the woods. The total distance is about 18 km (out and back, so anybody can opt for a shorter distance). Meeting time 9:30. Runs in other locations may also be scheduled. For information, contact Bob at roadrunratgoldotcom
A large group of club members (30+) made the journey to the foothills of Mount Fuji for the Fuji Susono marathon. The undulating course on a clear and hot day made for a challenging race but it seems all who took part finished with smiles on their faces. The clear conditions meant spectacular views of Mt. Fuji could be enjoyed for much of the race.
The usually expected hot weather was absent today at the 5th Annual Tokyo Verdy 1969 Inagi Green Ekiden. Instead a light to moderate rain fell throughout the event. There had been so much rain earlier that the running track was waterlogged and unusable. The race started from just outside the stadium and runners were told to use the grass inside edge of the track on the finishing loop. Namban Rengo fielded two teams; a mixed open 1. Mika Tokairin, 2. Paddy O’Connor, 3. Kiyonari Yoshida, 4. Brett Larner and a mixed masters; 1. Yuka Shigihara 2. Barry Bergmann, 3. Keiko McGrath, 4. Bob Poulson
The TELL (Tokyo English Life Line) Charity Runathon was held on May 2, with over 1,000 participants, including 19 from Namban Rengo. This is the largest number the race has ever had, attributable to perfect weather, a reputation for great prizes, and word of mouth about what a nice event it is.
March 22 saw 40+ Namban Rengo runners take to the streets of Tokyo for the 3rd Tokyo Marathon. The race was moved back a month this year, but the shift did not improve the weather for running. Although slightly warmer, it was still chilly, and the runners were intermittently blasted by strong winds and showers. Still, the fun of running through the city’s main thoroughfares, accompanied by 30,000 fellow-travelers, made the event a memorable experience for all.
Ever thought of doing 30 running races in one year? And not just for the immense challenge of it all, but for charity? Well this is exactly what the popular Namban Rengo member Carol Cunningham achieved in 2008. Carol, now based in Melbourne, Australia, raced in five countries (UK, USA, Australia, Japan and Singapore) and racked up 453.3 km (283.3 miles) of racing.
Fifteen club-members made the trip down to Isogo for the races this year. The quaint coastal town, just south of Yokohama, looked as stunning as ever on a crisp, cool and breezy 1st February morning. Everyone apart from Ger and Chad ran the half-marathon. Over 10,000 people took part this year and the start of the half was a bit chaotic.
The results were a bit of a mixed bag. A few PBs and few debuts, but everyone seemed to enjoy the event. After the race most of us made the usual trip into Chinatown in Yokohama where we had a fine traditional Chinese lunch served in a traditional Japanese tatami room.
Namban Rengo teams dominated the January 18 Shibuya Ekiden capturing first place all of the adult divisions. Not only did Namban dominate the podium, we managed to stay out of trouble with the Shibuya race officials! In recent years we had drawn some attention for the wrong reasons, missing team calls and making a poor showing at the award ceremony. But this time, “Thanks to everyone’s cooperation, we didn’t get any complaint from the organizer! Such a big relief. We made it! ” exclaimed a surprised and ecstatic Mika Tokairin after the event.
This year’s Okutama marked the 70th edition. Perfect conditions greeted the Namban Rengo horde in the mountains west of Tokyo. The weather was cool and crisp, but the sun made running in shorts and singlet possible.
Namban fielded a womens team, which came 12th (a fine effort against some really strong univerity teams); and two mens teams, who did well, finishing mid-pack and, more importantly, avoiding the dreaded “White Sash” that is given to teams that don’t make the cut-off time.
The event is great - how often do you get to mix with pros and top university teams, and be served by an army of timekeepers, police escorts and other officials? It makes you feel special to be running in such exalted company.
The 21th [sic] Ohtawara Marathon was held on 23rd November, 2008. Conditions were near perfect — dry, cool, calm — when the gun signaled the start of the marathon at 10:40am.
A large Namban contingent (35+) made the annual pilgrimage to this race in Tochigi prefecture. The course is almost flat and the event is very professionally run. For example, all entrants can take advantage of the facility to use their own special drinks at points around the course. There is a time limit of 4 hours for the marathon, this means the field is relatively small and quite fast. As the course is basically 2 x half marathon loops some participants decided to retire at the 21k mark.
A number of PBs were achieved in the various distances raced, including the unofficial half. From the club, Joachim was the fasted male marathoner of the day with a 2:52 finish. Christian ran the 10k in 34:10 (PB) and Yuri came 2nd in the womens 10k. Some photos of the race can be found in the Gallery, these were shot by Gary. Individual reports can be found here.
The last ever Tokyo International Women’s Marathon was run on Sunday November the 16th, 2008. TIWM was the very first women’s only marathon in the world and it has produced many memorable moments such as the glory and despair of Q-chan (Japan’s marathon darling, Naoko Takahashi) and Mizuki Noguchi’s record breaking victory in 2007. While the pointy end of the race was a fascinating duel won by Yoshimi Ozaki, Namban Rengo had eight of our fairest representatives having their own battles with this challenging race that features a 3 hour 35 minute cutoff time.
Sunday October 26, 2008. About 20 Nambanners participated in the Edogawa 10k today. There was quite a number of PBs, first-time races, and podium finishes. There was intermittent rain during the event so extra care was needed when moving from the paved sections to the tiles used at the various bridges.
Paddy continued his remarkable string of great races with yet another PB - 36:30. Kiki Tanaka clocked a PB in 49 minutes, and Hitomi and Tomoko had impressive showings in their debut running events.
Namban also had an impressive presence at Edogawa’s elaborate and formal award ceremony. Brett took 4th in the open division cruising to a negative split 33:46 despite 2-weeks of no training because of an ankle injury. Gerard Robb and Paddy would also have been on the award stand if there had been a 30-39 year old division. Jay and Fabrizio captured 3rd and 4th in the 40-49 age category. Rie was 3rd in the ladies’ open division and Tamami was 5th? in the ladies 40-49 division.
As always Edogawa was great fun. According to Shiba-san, Nambanners have been running in the Edogawa 10k for “decades” and of course making the traditional pilgrimage to El Torrito afterwards, which (aside from the poor food and poor service) was again just terrific.
Namban Rengo members Joachim Dirks and Kiyo Yoshida successfully complete the 100k Kubikino Ultra Marathon course. Joachim finished in a impressive 9:09 in his Ultra debut. Yoshida-san finished in 10:45, apparently keeping something in the tank for the full marathon he would take part in the following day. Which he came home in 3:11 — remarkable! Congratulations on your superb efforts.
With her third placing in the 22nd Mount Kinabulu International Climbathon on August 24th, Namban’s own Yuri Kanbara just keeps racking up the impressive achievements.
Yuri finished the 21 km in 3:37:02, a 15 minute improvement over her 2007 time. If 3:37 does not sound very impressive for a half marathon, consider that the course rises 1600 m vertically in just 8.5 km, starting at an altitude of 1,866 m and rising to over 4000 m. And it is not a one-way race; after scaling the summit, the runners must then make a quad-breaking descent to a finish point slightly lower than the start. According to Sabah Tourism, the average climber takes two days to make the same journey!
 Yurakucho |
 Akihabara |