NOVEMBER 2013

LOOKING BACK, LOOKING AHEAD

NOVEMBER

Lots of marathons and other races this month, with lots of Namban Rengo members taking part!
•Starting on the 3rd, Yuichi Kanamori ran 3:18:28 on a flat but windy Shonan Marathon course, and Richard Bysouth ran 3:53:30 and was happy to be under 4:00 again.
•Also on the 3rd, 50-year-old Mike Trees ran a 14:57 5,000m at a track time trial!
•The Yokohama Women’s Marathon on the 17th was graced by the club’s two strongest ladies: Anna Novick ran 3:02:26 (after a too-ambitious 35k at 2:48 pace) and Aki Hoshino tried to run 3:15 to quality for Osaka but just missed in 3:15:46.
•Two Nambanners were in the Kobe Marathon on the 17th. Yuichi Kanamori again, finishing in 3:22:53, and Anthony Kraft, who came in at 4:01.
•Five club members and a visitor from Singapore (Bryan Seah) ran the Toda (Saitama) Half and 10K in beautiful weather on the 17th. Harrisson Uk was the fastest of the group, clocking 1:19:38 for the Half, good for 16th overall. Colin Hickey was next in 1:25. Top age group honors in the Half went to Bob Poulson, finishing 4th in 1:28:27, and Keren Miers in the 10K, also 4th in 40:20. David Murakami Wood had leg problems after 16km and struggled to a 1:41. Bryan was happy to run under 1:00 in the 10K, with a 56:00.
•The Fuji-san Marathon on the 23rd was also favored by a group of Nambanners. The course now goes around Lake Saiko as well as Kawaguchi, and there is a big hill in between them. Gildas Tuffin led the way in 3:14:03 (PB), followed closely by Yannick Bethegnies in 3:14:51 (PB) and Eric Lebrasseur in 3:17:31 (PB), then Arturo Delgado in 3:27:49 and Yuki Seshimo in 3:41:42 (PB). Kevin Nadolny (4:22) and Eric Ollivier (4:31) both found out that the second half of a marathon is much longer than the first half.
•Shifting continents, Stefano Coradeschi ran the Firenze (Florence) Marathon on the 23rd in an arrivo of 3:52:57.
•David Murakami Wood, Yukiko Shimada, Yoshi Niitsuma and Shoji Shimomitsu experienced a different type of running event on the 23rd, as they took part in the Warrior Dash, a 5K “race” with various obstacles: tubes, nets, climbs, walls, mud and fire! Thanks for risking life and limb to represent Namban Rengo!
•In contrast, Harrisson Uk was our sole runner in the Yokosuka 10K on the 24th. He ran a PB of 36:40, but would have done better if he hadn’t put in a hard training week.
•Two more big marathons this month were Tsukuba and Ohtawara, and again, the weather was great.Derek Leong and Khalfan Juma both ran very well at Tsukuba, Derek in a big PB of 3:07:41 (previous was 3:25:57) and Khalfan also in a PB of 3:07:12. Impressive! Perhaps even more impressive was Aki Hoshino who, a week after Yokohama, got her Osaka qualifying time with a 3:14:10. Frank Harrison ran an excellent first marathon of 3:29:59. Fabian Dubois succumbed to ITB band pain and walked the last 10k to finish in 3:59.  Nick Coyle ran 4:04:06, but give the man some credit — it was his second fastest time and his 6th marathon of the year! Also toeing the line, I am told, were Chris Parry, Brad Wainwright, Philippe Boue and Satohi Numasawa.
•The annual Namban trip to Ohtawara in Tochigi pref., ably organized again by Gareth Pughe, saw a large group of runners and supporters enjoying the races and onsen. Tomoaki Uchiki led the way in the marathon in a sparkling 2:42:18, followed by Brett Whiteoak in 3:05, Chika Kanai in 3:32:02 and Taro Oguchi in 3:35:23. Padraig MacColgain hit that familiar wall and shuffled to a 3:56 (next time, PM!). Meeks Kume was right behind him in 3:57, as was Anthony Kraft in 4:00. Jon Morrell ran the 10K in 40:38, after heavy traffic caused him to miss the marathon start (not great prep for a 10K…), as did Simon Fisher who ran through leg pain in 46:54. Teri Minegishi and Rie Onodera also ran the marathon and there is a rumor that the Trees and Chandler families were there as well.
•And finally, the end of the month (30th) saw the annual party that is The Run For The Cure. Ed Cleese, Jay Johannesen and George Nicholson ran the 10K, George in 36:44 for 5th, Jay in 36:38 and Ed a bit faster. Pat Higase also ran the 10K, in 48:10, very respectable after returning from an overseas trip.

DECEMBER

Namban workouts on Wednesday nights at Oda track from 7:25pm.
4 – 1000 x 6

11 – 1200 1200 1000 1000 800 800
18 – 1200 1200 1200 800 800 800
25 – 5000m time trial

HAIKU OF THE MONTH

Is it just me or
Are all runners more intense?
Marathon season