JUNE 2014

LOOKING BACK, LOOKING AHEAD

June

• The month started out hot, with 30-degree heat at the Munatsuki Full, Half and 10K on the 1st. It was a rough day out there. All four of our marathoners dropped out. Brett Whiteoak ran the Half in an excellent 1:29:45 for 17th (and was “absolutely stuffed”, which I guess is Australian for very tired). Philippe Boue finished in 1:37:35 (37th out of 869) and Barrie Feldman in 1:52:43.
  Jay Johannesen ran the 10K in a remarkably good 38:16, for 5th place. Bob Poulson ran 43:33 (17th) and was happy with that, as was Pat Higase with her 49:24 (6th). A few others also ran, but with difficulty.
• Amazingly, on the same day, Taro Oguchi and Yasuo Hayakawa ran an Ultra in Shibamata, Tokyo. Taro ran the 100km race in 13 hours, and Yasuo the 60km race in 8 hours. Those guys are tough!!
• Also on that day, Eric Lebrasseur had the good sense to run out in the woods of Gumma Pref., in the Todai OLK orienteering race, where he placed 3rd in his age group with a time of 1:34.
• Visiting Germany, Brent Millican ran the Rothenburg Half in 1:31, placing 4th in his age group and 19th overall.
• Saturday the 7th was supposed to be the Oshima (islandsouth of Tokyo) Triathlon and Tri Relay, but it was cancelled due to hard rain and high winds. 15 Nambanners were disappointed, but enjoyed the “post-race” party anyway, and a beautiful day on the island the next day.
• Continuing the trend to Ultras, Harrisson Uk made aspectacular debut in the Hida Takayama 100K on the 8th, running 8:58 for 15th out of 1,600. That’s 5:23/km for 100km, and his last kilometer was 4:20! (And there were big hills.)
• Another Ultra! Chih Liew ran the 81.4km SPA TrailRace, up in the onsen (spa) area of Gumma pref. Total ascent was 4908m, total descent was 4310m. He completed the tough but beautiful course in 12:00:20, good for 132nd out of 561.
• David Passarelli is another long distance trail runner. He did the Sugadaira Skyline Trail Race 42K (gps said 47k), elevation gain 2,500m, on the 15th. He ran it in 6:38:25, good for 34th in his AG and 72nd overall.
• Following up on her victory at last month’s Sendai Half, Amanda Rice traveled to Minnesota, USA for the Grandma’s Marathon, a large and popular race held on the 21st. She did not disappoint, running a 2:40:34 for 11th woman overall (2,713) and 4th American. That time qualified her for the US Olympic Trials race. Congratulations!

July

Wednesday night workouts are at Oda Field track from 7:30pm.

• 2 – 1000 x 6
• 9 – 1200 1000 1000 800 800 800 400
• 16 – 600 800 1000 1200 1000 800 600
• 16 – 1000 x 4, 800 x 2, 400
• 30 – 5000m time trial

HAIKU OF THE MONTH

Running in July.

You may be hot, but you’ll get

Beautifully tan.