This event was held on 6th December 2015 and is located in Akemi Masuda’s remote hometown, Isumi City, in Chiba prefecture. I soon learnt that Masuda-san is a famous Japanese runner, with an amazing 2 hour 30 minute record which she set in 1983. Masuda-san was at the start area and my group of friends managed to get a photo together.
![IMG_2469 copy](http://www.saiyanfit.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/IMG_2469-copy-225x300.jpg)
The weather was perfect with blue skies, however perhaps a bit hot in the sun for December. Still better that than a cold and rainy day.
The course is basically a large L-shape with a 90 degree left-hand turn before a U-turn at the half way mark heading back to the start again.
In theory this would be fine, except I realized whilst running the start had a fairly gradual downhill and a strong headwind.
The dilemma went through my head: should I try speeding up the downhill section whilst feeling fresh and then have some time to spare going back uphill? Or should I reserve energy for the return section?
I ended up choosing to try to run at an even 4 min/km pace.
The course eventually did turn 90 degrees and the wind seemingly disappeared and all went quiet. It was a big relief, but another downhill meant that we would have to go back up again on the return.
Sometimes knowing is a lot worse than knowing…
At the halfway point U-turn, I was pleasantly surprised to high five marathonist, Akemi Masuda. She was cheering people on and it was great encouragement.
But as soon as I passed her, there was no more silence. The wind did not really abate as I had thought before, so now I was faced with the howling frontal wind and that uphill section.
If you are suffering mid-race, then more than likely, everyone around you is feeling the same way.
The answer is all about how you manage this pain. I remember reading a book given to me by a dear friend, authored by Takahashi Naoko (aka Q-Chan), a gold medalist at the Sydney Olympics. The book’s title can be roughly translated as, “Living with a Smile are the Magic Words”.
Putting on a smile through hard times works wonders.
So I did this and it worked more or less keeping within threshold of the desired pace.
![IMG_2520](http://www.saiyanfit.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/IMG_2520-191x300.jpg)
Mental battles through running are hard fought… the relief afterwards is always the best part.
![IMG_2496a](http://www.saiyanfit.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/IMG_2496a-225x300.jpg)
Official Net Time – 1h 24m 12s
20th Placing in age group
![パンフ2015](http://www.saiyanfit.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/2015_pamphlet-1-212x300.jpg)
Full results (in Japanese) here where you can see the times are quite competitive in all distances.
Also, you can read more about why I think half marathons are a good distance here.