zhirong
Supremacy Member
- Joined
- May 17, 2004
- Messages
- 9,578
- Reaction score
- 481
Starting a long overdue thread. I actually posted them in other part of this forum but decided to consolidate them here.
Have always enjoyed running and never expect that my first marathon will be in Japan. It started with an impulsive act of balloting for the race slots. For those who are unfamiliar, popular marathon such as Tokyo and Osaka Marathons have a ballot system because they are always oversubscribed by a large margin (Tokyo marathon has 35k slots but 350k people balloted for it, Osaka has 30k and 150k balloted). Hence It will be a waste to miss it if you managed to get a spot. I guess I was lucky to manage to get a spot for both.
Let's start with the Osaka one.
Went to Kansai in Apr last year and love the place. Wanted to go again but feel that there is no reason to go there so soon until i saw that Osaka Marathon was open fo registration. So I tried my luck at the ballot and got a slot. Long story short, I was busy with work and only managed to get some real training 3 weeks before the trip.
What can I say about the experience? It was amazing! The supporters are all very enthusiastic and some even brought their own food to treat the runners. Everyone is very helpful and the volunteers are awesome. I have been to AMH, Stand Chart and Sundown (all 21km) and compared to Osaka, we really have a long way to go.
Everything was smooth, I was in the last 2nd pen (pen Q) and had to wait 20mins before the front pens are cleared. The timing on the clock is 5:26 but my runkeeper clocked 5:06 and 44km.
After the run, everything is so organised. i got my bag with 1 min and the process is so painless. Wel except my feet, they are in a whole new level of pain now..
Bonus pic:
Also saw spiderman, batman, superman, plus many many funny costumes runners. Supporters are also in costumes. Really spiced up the run.
Have always enjoyed running and never expect that my first marathon will be in Japan. It started with an impulsive act of balloting for the race slots. For those who are unfamiliar, popular marathon such as Tokyo and Osaka Marathons have a ballot system because they are always oversubscribed by a large margin (Tokyo marathon has 35k slots but 350k people balloted for it, Osaka has 30k and 150k balloted). Hence It will be a waste to miss it if you managed to get a spot. I guess I was lucky to manage to get a spot for both.
Let's start with the Osaka one.
Went to Kansai in Apr last year and love the place. Wanted to go again but feel that there is no reason to go there so soon until i saw that Osaka Marathon was open fo registration. So I tried my luck at the ballot and got a slot. Long story short, I was busy with work and only managed to get some real training 3 weeks before the trip.
What can I say about the experience? It was amazing! The supporters are all very enthusiastic and some even brought their own food to treat the runners. Everyone is very helpful and the volunteers are awesome. I have been to AMH, Stand Chart and Sundown (all 21km) and compared to Osaka, we really have a long way to go.
Everything was smooth, I was in the last 2nd pen (pen Q) and had to wait 20mins before the front pens are cleared. The timing on the clock is 5:26 but my runkeeper clocked 5:06 and 44km.
After the run, everything is so organised. i got my bag with 1 min and the process is so painless. Wel except my feet, they are in a whole new level of pain now..
Bonus pic:
Also saw spiderman, batman, superman, plus many many funny costumes runners. Supporters are also in costumes. Really spiced up the run.