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<\/a><\/p>\n…only to queue up for a bus to the start line out at the sporting fields.\u00a0 As is often my luck, they would spit the line to a new bus two people in front of me to ease congestion… and then proceed to load groups behind us first, thus making us wait longer than if we had just stayed in line.\u00a0 Not a big deal as one either waits here or at the start line…<\/p>\n
And wait we did.\u00a0 The bus got us there at 7 AM.\u00a0 The race didn’t start until 9… albeit the starting blocks opened at 8 and all runners had to be in their starting block by 8:44 AM as the opening ceremonies would begin promptly at 8:45 AM.\u00a0 I’ll say this for this country’s efficiency\u00a0 — when they say their times, they usually mean that time or even a little early.<\/p>\n It was cold but the rising sun provided much needed warmth.\u00a0 The problem came when rolling clouds would occasionally obscure the children of Krypton power source and the temperature would drop some 10 degrees… and then the wind picked up and the chill would lop off another 10 degrees.\u00a0 Like a dog left home alone, I tried to stretch out in the sun rays whenever possible and shift about the stadium staging area to find a pocket of warmth.\u00a0 There was no snow the previous night but there was plenty of frost… including on the bleacher seats and the track course start line.<\/p>\n As to the latter, race organizers made efforts to “de-ice” the area… but I swear it looked like they just poured water on it and squeeged it off… which since I have used my windshield wiper fluid to try and break up a thin layer of ice on my car I guess has some efficacy.<\/p>\n In any event, I found myself at the front of the “S” block.\u00a0 I assume it was for the “Start” as it preceded the alphabetical A through G corrals.\u00a0 Not sure how that worked but I thought, “Oh… maybe I’m one of the faster folks here…”<\/p>\n Silly Kevin.<\/p>\n With the starting gun echoing through the air, we were off… and I quickly realized there’s a lot of fast folks in the Kyoto Marathon.\u00a0 I guess the nation that gave us the bullet train would appreciate speed.\u00a0 People would blown right by me, make me look like a fool, boy.\u00a0 It was most assuredly no glory day for me…<\/p>\n In my “Excuses, Excuses” defense — I was a little worried about the road conditions given the slippery bleachers of the stadium and the track itself, despite the de-icing measures deployed.\u00a0 On top of that, my toes felt near frost-bite frozen.\u00a0 It took a good three, four miles before the blood flow cracked through the weirdly non-responsive artery and veins.\u00a0 But the not-so-much-for-me-gingerly pace I settled into was no match for the dozens and later hundreds of people who passed me in the opening kilometers.<\/p>\n Whilst attempting to upload the photos, my iPhone and WordPress decided to just put them in willy-nilly so a lot of these are out of chronological order.\u00a0 But maybe that doesn’t really matter — they’re just there to give a flavor of the course and the day.\u00a0 So scroll by them quickly to get the “feel” of trying to rush past and get to the finish line as quickly as possible… and slow your scroll now and again to take in something that catches your eye or to catch your breath.\u00a0 If you do that, you can kinda approximate the mileage of the marathon.\u00a0 There’s far too many pics but that’s ok — like I said, if at first you get bored, scroll, scroll away.\u00a0 I’ll try and add a few captions to one or two for funsies.<\/p>\n This cheer squad did their cheer in English. It went, “Go. Bananas.\u00a0 Bananas.\u00a0 Go, go, bananas.”<\/p>\n Spectators were cheer us on and I swear they were saying something akin to “number eight” or “nominate”… but that’s like saying “Don’t Touch My Moustache” is how you say “You’re welcome.”\u00a0 It’s not even close but it at least sounds in the Major League joke response to a park of that it might be in — say, Yellowstone.\u00a0 I need to ask my brother what sorts of things folks might be cheering on the sidelines.\u00a0 At one point to change up the “number eight” phrase I thought they’d also say, “number ten.”\u00a0 I vaguely recall asking my brother about this close to a decade ago when I ran Tokyo as my first international marathon… and Steve had no idea what I was talking about because what I was saying sound like gibberish.\u00a0 I can only assume in the intervening years it remains just as gib.<\/p>\n This is the Kyoto City Hall.\u00a0 It also featured this happy fellow — could XE (some sci fi book postulated that when you don’t know the gender you opt for xe instead of she\/he or s\/he or it…)… could xe be the Kyoto city mascot?<\/p>\n These volunteers were thrilled that I was snapping photos:<\/p>\n And thus we head into the big finish, complete with Shinto Torri.<\/p>\n A quick note on the recovery foodstuffs — we were handed this at the finish.\u00a0 I think it might be Soylent Green.<\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/a>\u00a0 <\/a><\/a><\/p>\n <\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a>\u00a0 <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a> <\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> \u00a0<\/a><\/a> <\/a><\/a> \u00a0<\/a><\/a> <\/a> <\/a>\u00a0<\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/a><\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n
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