NOVEMBER 2014

LOOKING BACK, LOOKING AHEAD

NOVEMBER

• Yuichi Kanamori ran the Shonan International Marathon (12,600 runners) on the 3rd, recording a time of 3:19:15. Lawrence Schneck was also there, a bit ahead of Yuichi in 3:15. However, this was just one of three races on consecutive weekends for ironman Lawrence, who also ran a Half in Karuizawa the weekend before (1:28) and a 23km trail race on Mt. Jimba (2:20:54, 50th out of 1,208) the following week!
• The Yodogawa Marathon, just outside Osaka, is not a well known race, but Derek Leong gave it a try. Unfortunately, the 3rd was a hot day, so he struggled the second half and finished in 3:22.
• Jon Morrell, now back in England, has discovered the joys (or not) of cross-country running, and took part in two races this month. The first on the 3rd was the Bradford-on-Avon Over the Hills 12K, where he ran 59:50 on a typically wet British day. The second was the Three Molehills 25K (notice how these races all have “hills” in the name), where he ran a solid race up and down three hills in 2:06.
• Tadhg Meany was in the US on the 16th, for the Big Sur Half Marathon on Monterey Bay, which has been called the most beautiful race in the world. The course is tough, though, causing Tadhg to finish a few minutes over his goal time with a 1:26:21.
• Also on the 16th, a beautiful day, saw the running of the Toda Half Marathon and 10K, Bob’s favorite race in Japan. Namban had a large contingent of 15 in the Half and 2 in the 10K. For details, see the story to the right.
• Yasuo Hayakawa participated in the Kobe Marathon on the 23rd, finishing in 3:53 and vowing to train harder.
• The Ohtawara Marathon and 10K was held on the 23rd. The usual large contingent of Nambanners was reduced this year to five, but they all enjoyed the event. Padraig MacColgan ran the marathon in 3:43:59, slower than his original goal time but very good considering he had injured his ribs 3 weeks before. Khalfan Juma also ran the full marathon. Taeko Hara finished 2nd in her 10K age group, winning 10kg of rice and two dozen cans of beer!
• Another big race on the 23rd was the Tsukuba Marathon. Raymond Wong ran 3:17:29 and both Rie Onodera and Carolyn Kim ran about 3:20.
• The Run for the Cure 5K&10K was held in the rain and cold on the 29th. Several club members braved the elements to support breast cancer prevention, with Tadhg Meany finishing 2nd in the mens 10K and Naoko Hanakawa 2nd in the women’s 5K.
• Also on the 29th, Don Roxburgh traveled up to Nikko for the Nikko Highway Marathon, which seems to be a nice option for a fall marathon. He was pleased with his time of 3:18:12.
• Another of the large fall half marathons was held in Kawagoe on the 30th. Namban women converged on this race, as Chika Kanai, Jenene Marks, Frances Somerville, Madeleine Chadwick, Pat Higase and Yukiko Shimada all enjoyed a nice day in the quaint old town of Kawagoe. They ran well, too: Jenene finished 2nd in her age group, Chika ran 1:34:30 for 4th in hers, Madeleine ran an excellent 1:41 and Pat ran 1:46:32 for 26th.

November

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

• 3 – 1000 x 6
• 10 – 1200 1200 1000 1000 800 800
• 17 – 1200 800 1200 800 1200 800
• 24 – 5000m time trial
• 31 – track closed

HAIKU OF THE MONTH (from Bob in Thailand)

Fish-scale clouds above

Glass green sea becomes deep blue

Phuket beach afternoon.