Whilst the UK were all sleeping on Saturday night, Grantham Running Club member Warren Stark was completing leg four of his 50th birthday bucket list trip of the original marathon majors.
On arrival in Japan 10 days prior, it was freezing and snowy and Warren was fully prepared to wrap up warm to run around the streets of the capital.
However, the weather gods had different ideas and they decided to send an unseasonable heatwave in the direction of Tokyo which sadly put paid to his sub-4hr aspirations in dramatic fashion.
During the race Warren was comfortable to around 15 miles, then the heat reflected off the tall buildings and road surface really knocked him off his stride. He wasn’t the only one to suffer, with many casualties receiving treatment at the side of the road.
Warren staggered over the line in 4h 29m which was much slower time than his training suggested he should have achieved but he was really pleased to make it home.
The marathon route itself was confined to the city and runners were flanked by huge buildings for the entire route, like running around Docklands in London for 26 miles. With 6 u-turns on the course there was a fair amount of going up and down the same streets.
The Japanese crowd was very reserved, Warren had never experienced people clapping without making a sound, it was a bit odd. The ‘western’ supporters, particularly those from Mexico were very loud.
As expected the organisation was superb and everything worked really well, the volunteers were so polite and friendly, Warren didn’t meet a Japanese person on the entire trip who wasn’t polite to a fault.
Warren’s next stop Manchester Marathon before travelling to Chicago in October. If all goes to plan he is aiming to get his 6-star medal in Boston next year.
