SEPTEMBER 2013

LOOKING BACK, LOOKING AHEAD

SEPTEMBER

• We begin on August 31st, when Shoji Shimomitsu, Adrian Ringin, Masako Konishi and Chobi Andai took part in a mixed team ekiden. They finished 65th out of 250 teams.
• On Sept. 1st Tetsuya Kato ran the 44km Soto-Chichibu trail race with Cory McGowan and Junko Hosoi. The 2473m cumulative elevation gain, intense heat, many long and steep uphills, and torrential rain that turned paths into rivers all made this a very tough race. Tetsuya finished in around 9:45.
• Bernard Plagge was in Germany on the 7th for the Brokenlauf 26km mountain run at an elevation of 890m. He finished in 2:11:15, good for first place in his age group.
• Down in Thailand on the 15th, Arnaud and Leng Leng DeHerrypon were at the River Kwai Half Marathon (yes, THAT River Kwai). Namban friend Marty Lever also ran, and Stuart McIntosh ran the 1/4 marathon. Arnaud and Leng ran together in 1:41:03, Marty ran 1:39:00 and Stuart recorded a 42:50.
• Harrisson Uk was in Maui for his honeymoon and somehow convinced wife Celine that it would be a good idea for him to run the Maui Half Marathon on the 22nd. Despite hot and humid weather, he came in 11th overall and 2nd in his age group with a time of 1:22:33.
• The 29th was cool in the early morning, but heated up to 26C by the time the Watarase Half Marathon started a ways up in Saitama pref. Namban had a nice size contingent on hand, who enjoyed a pleasant day. Report is on the right.
• Also on the 29th, Bernard Plagge and Derek Leong ran the Cosmos Half Marathon in Yuzawa, Niigata pref., finishing in 1:28:31, 3rd in his age group, and Derek ran 1:33:07.
• In Triathlon news, Brett Whiteoak won his age group (50-54) at the Murakami Triathlon on the 29th. Having also won at Ishigaki, Yokohama and Amakusa, he took top Age Group Series honors. Congratulations! Also competing were Stan Chow, 3rd in his age group, Brad Wainwright and Mika Kume, in her first tri since her bike accident.
• Keren Miers and Mika Tokairin travelled to London for the Olympic distance World Triathlon Championship. Mike and Rieko Trees were also there, Mike winning his age group in the Aquathon category.

OCTOBER

Namban workouts on Wednesday nights at Oda track from 7:25pm.
2 – 1000 x 6 in Yoyogi Park
9 – 1200 1200 1000 1000 800 800
16 – 600 800 1000 1200 1000 800 600
23 – 1200 1200 1200 1000 800 400
27 – Namban Rengo 10K/Half & BBQ
30 – 5000m time trial

HAIKU OF THE MONTH

Runners in the wind
Blown like leaves, hither and yon
Autumn has begun.

And this poem, seen on the shirt of an American School runner:
To chase me,
you gotta be good.
To catch me,
you gotta be fast.
To pass me,
you gotta be kidding!