Running Towards The Sunflowers At Okhotsk-Abashiri Marathon 2018
Okhotsk-Abashiri Marathon 2018 was held on Sunday, September 30th 2018. It’s a relatively new marathon event with its 4th edition this year. The marathon is also a small scale marathon with participation capped at a mere 3,000 runners (2,600 marathon, 300 5K, and 100 3K). The marathon had opened 20 slots for foreign runners last year, and allocated 200 slots for foreign runners this year.
Registration was easy for foreigners as we could register through JTB Sports Station English language portal and the fee was rather attractive for me at 8,000 yen for the full marathon category. Other categories available were the 5K and 3K.
This marathon seemed to be particularly popular with foreign runners from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan and there was a huge contingent from Taiwan in this year’s edition. Scanning through the names printed in the program book that we received with our REPC kit, I couldn’t see any other runners from Malaysia apart from myself.
The marathon had a generous cut-off time of 6 hours 30 minutes for Japan standard. It was extended by 30 minutes since last year from 6 hours because the organizer had added a tough hilly section in the route.
There were three checkpoints (CP) along the route; with cut-off time of 2 hours 20 minutes at KM14.4 for CP1, 4 hours 25 minutes at KM29 for CP2, and 5 hours 20 minutes at KM35 for CP3. Quite lenient because I had entered other marathons in Japan that had 9 CPs!
The organizer had provided shuttles buses to ferry runners to the Start Line at several different points and the shuttle bus from Abashiri Station was located right in front of the hotel where I was staying in. Talk about convenient!
After breakfast of rice and some bread that was provided by the hotel and milling around with fellow runners at the hotel lobby, I made my way to the bus stop to board the shuttle bus. Hubby didn’t tag along as he needed to pack up our bags for our check out later but because the marathon route pass our hotel, he waited to cheer and snap some photos when I ran past the hotel at KM2 mark.
The Start Line of Okhotsk-Abashiri Marathon 2018 was located in front of Abashiri Prison and the flag-off time was at 8.45am.
Of course, arriving at the Starting Line venue, the first order of business was for the toilet visit.
We were assigned to pens according to our previous personal best (PB) and for my 5:43 PB, I was assigned to the last pen. PEN G. Huhuhu
Before the flag off, the announcer introduced the pacers to us and then proceeded to acknowledge all the runners that made it to the starting line. We were told there were runners from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and even Malaysia! Syiok sendiri when they announced my country name. heh heh
I decided to start my watch on Gun Time instead of waiting until I cross the Start Line Mat because I needed to be wary of all the cut-off times at all the CPs. It took me more than 6 minutes to cross the mat and finally I was off running.
Then… mau kencing lagi pulak. Summore calves felt really tight. Plantar like giving problem. Demit.
And I saw Daikon man, two Pikachus, a Sunflower, an Oni, a Cupcake and Darth Vader running past me. Double demit. Here I was, shuffling behind a 70-plus year old okaasan wearing Saroma Ultramarathon 2017 t-shirt.
Along the route, it seemed that the whole town came out to cheer for us. The roads in town were lined up with locals cheering for us and giving us support. When I passed by my hotel, I saw the hotel staff lining up in front of the hotel to cheer for us, up to the very last runner!
First 10K
The first water station was located at KM4 and served crab soup. Despite wanting to pee so dearly, I couldn’t resist stopping for a drink of the soup. *kiasu*
Some runners stopped longer to eat the crab legs!
KM5 was where water and sports drinks were served and there were some mobile toilets located a few hundred metres ahead of the water station. I stopped and queued to use the toilet and felt so relieved to finally be able to pee. Hahaha
When I started my run again, I saw the green balloons of the 6 hour pacers already ahead of me and I hoped that the red 6:30 hours balloons won’t be gaining on me. Panic!
The vast expanse of the sea of Okhotsk could be seen as we were running along the route.
KM5.5 was where the dreaded climb started and it was the section that I dreaded the most. From here onwards, I employed the run-walk technique that I had practised for the past 7 weeks.
My first 5K was slower than projected because of the 6 minutes delay before I clear the start line and also due to the pee stop but I was pleasantly surprised that I could hold a faster pace than projected for the next 5K.
The hilly section was tough and by now many had resorted to walking like I did but the view along the route helped alleviate our pain.
We passed through some forest section and also farm sections at this stretch.
My first 10K was done in 1:28:34 gun time and I was pleased with the 10K time.
Koc and I had targeted I clear the 10K within 1:29 (net time though) so this was definitely good.
Spurred by this and I started to feel good, I happily plodded along feeling encouraged and stopping at every single water station to enjoy what was being offered there.
I had some candies at the KM7.8 water station, skipped the tomatoes and coke and only drank water.
Second 10K
Water stations were placed 2.5K apart and there were some private water stations offering Abashiri’s delicacies in between.
The aim after clearing the 10K mark was to get to the first CP located at KM14.4 (Cape Notoro) with enough time to spare.
I was so happy to reach Cape Notoro and seeing the lighthouse, I couldn’t resist stopping to take some photos there and helped other runners to take theirs too.
Some runners even took the opportunity to lie down on the grass for their selfies.
I crossed the first CP at 10.48am, 13 minutes before the cut-off at 11.05am. From here, we made a u-turn back uphill to cover the same section that we had run down earlier for about a mile.
Then, I stopped by the water station to enjoy some red bean bun, kamaboko and some drinks, took off my shoes for a while to shake off any stray pebbles before continuing with my run.
As I ran, I saw the other runners on the other side of the road who had not yet reached the CP1. At about KM15.5, I saw the last runner with a convoy of sweeper vehicles slowly moving behind him – a jeep, an ambulance, a sweeper bus (if I recall correctly). Scary.
The next 5K was a downhill section with 1.3km running in a tunnel. I was running steadily but decided to forcefully slow down when I saw that I was running at a 5:53 min pace during the section and my heart rate had reached 163! Zone 5 alert!
I didn’t want to run too strong at that section only to bonk at later stages!
Exiting the tunnel at KM17.5, we were greeted by the next water station. The water station was overlooking Cape Notoro and it was such a beautiful sight.
A volunteer here held a hand-drawn marathon course route map for us runners to refer to.
It was still a downhill section until about KM18 and we were running alongside Lake Notoro by now.
I was still employing the 1K run – 100m walk and every kilometre was done steadily. Fatigue hadn’t set it yet and I was glad to see that I cleared the 20K mark in 2:49:24 (gun time). It took me 1 hour 20 minutes to run the second 10K section. Pace 8 average for 10K despite all the goofing around at Cape Notoro earlier.
Third 10K
The third 10K – between 20K to 30K mark was tougher than the rest because the sun had started to shine brightly onto us, and we were running without much shade.
I passed the KM21 mark much faster than the 2XU Compression Run that I did the week before. At that time, I wasn’t thinking about my nett time at all, and kept my focus at my gun time.
There was a private water station located at KM22 manned by two dudes and one was topless. They offered some sort of candies there and shouted words of encouragement to all passing runners.
I’m not sure whether the road was closed off for the marathon but the only vehicles that I saw passing through were the marshall scooters and medic assistance on bicycles. Oh yeah, an ambulance was rushing through when I was running in the tunnel and I have to say, the sound of siren in a tunnel was deafening.
KM25-27 was particularly tough for me and by this time, I resorted to 500m run-100m walk. Sponges were offered at a few water stations but I declined them. One water station offered lemons and umeboshi but I declined those too.
This was where the course took us away from the lake area and move towards the farm area. It was around KM26 (if I’m not mistaken) that we made our u-turn to head the lakeside park where the second CP and another special water station were located.
I was happy to clear the second CP at KM29 in 4:07, well before the cut off time 4 hours 25 minutes.
The next water station at KM29.5 offered Shijimi clams soup, kamaboko, buns, coke, water & energy drinks, among others; and I took my time there. Feeling quite relieved at clearing the KM29 well before my projected time, I started taking some videos with my handphone from this point onwards.
I also stopped to wash my face that was stinging with all the salt that formed on my face.
I cleared the third 10K in 1 hour 24 minutes and the 30K mark in 4 hours 14 minutes (gun time). Not bad and still below the pace 9 average that I had projected.
Fourth 10K
The next 5K was flat but we had to deal the strong wind blowing towards the sea as we ran along a fishing port.
It was here that I realised that even if I walked at pace 10 for the rest of the 12K, I still could finish well before the 6:30 cut off.
But then my brain asked me whether I seriously want to take it slow and waste time instead of just continue running. It was argument time within myself. To push for a surprise great time, to enjoy and finish in a relatively good time or to just relax and finish as target.
The second option won.
30K onwards was rather an unchartered territory as I haven’t done any 30K run since Newton Run in December last year.
From here on, I reduced my running to 300m then walking 100m. I was careful not to walk for more than 100m at a time.
KM33.2 was where the Wagyu beef water station was located. But no la, cannot eat them…
KM35 was the next water station and here we were offered apples and shine muscat grapes. It was heavenly and I certainly perked up to finish my run. It was also the water station that I had been looking forward to.
Again, I cleared the CP located at KM35 much faster than my projected time and the brain started arguing again. I could just hold a 9 min pace and still finish at a decent time, 20 minutes ahead of cut-off.
But I wanted to run and was still able to run, so I “compromised” with myself again. Still continuing with the 300m run followed by 100m walk, I kept on passing a few other runners along the route.
From KM35, we entered a cycling route course and I could see distance markers for the cycling route at the side of the road. Would be nice to cycle and enjoy the scenery of Lake Abashiri in a more leisurely way… Maybe next time, yeah? Say, when I finally get brave enough to sign up for Saroma Ultramarathon (I had planned to sign up this year but chickened out).
Here, I saw volunteers standing by the roadside with blankets ready which I guess to be made available for runners in distress. They were stationed at every 500m or so and in pairs. (Note: you never see any volunteers sleeping or looking at their handphones here!)
I could plod along on auto-pilot by now, not really thinking much and not really hurting anywhere, but I tried not to push too much as I still fear of bonking (and I want to look good in photos). So I employed a 200m or 300m run then followed by 100m walk strategy. This was done to maintain my heart rate zone in Zone 4 and after the run I was glad to see that my run was indeed pretty much done in Zone 4 (with a little spike in Zone 5 occasionally).
Final 12K
It was after the KM35 CP that I finally realised that I could actually made it much faster than what Koc and I had targeted and I started counting my time in Nett Time instead of Gun Time which I had done pretty much throughout the course.
Anything below pace 9 at that time would be OK and I was glad I could still maintain that average pace.
I crossed the 40K mark in 5:42:42 Gun Time.
We entered the Omagari Shoreline Garden at 40.5km and the last water station greeted me, along with a garden filled with cosmos flowers.
A volunteer held up a sign to say that we had only 1.8km to go. Yeay!
As we trudged along the road covered with small black pebbles (dunno how to call it), volunteers and runners alike stand by the road side to energetically cheer for us.
After the rows of cosmos flowers, I started to see the sunflower field as I approached the Finish Line.
Running through the sunflower field and with 500m more to go, I saw Hubby waiting for me in front of the Finish Line. I slowed down to let him take some photos of me and with me, then stopped as he wanted to take my photo with the marathon bunting and sunflower field as the background.
Then we took out the Jalur Gemilang that he had packed in his bag so that I could run towards the finish line holding our Malaysian flag proudly.
The last 200m of the finish line were lined up with high school students giving cheers, high-fiving runners and passing us a stalk of sunflowers.
An official photographer gestured to me and I proudly posed with Jalur Gemilang for her. Nope, I still haven’t crossed the finish line just yet. That’s why it took me more than 18 minutes to finish the last 2.2km after the 40K mark. Hahaha
JAL stewardesses (or staff) gave out finisher medals and I let them put one on my neck. A crew then passed me my finisher towel and I draped it on my shoulder.
I finally finished my run, and I did it 33 minutes faster than what Koc and I had planned! And I still felt great!
I was then handed a bottle of Aquarius sports drinks by one of the crew and then made my way to the tent where I could get my Finisher Certificate printed out. Then, I made my way to the photo booth for a photo to be taken and immediately printed out. We could also get our medals engraved with our timing (for a small fee) but I was too happy to remember to do it.
At the post-run festival area, several big tanks filled with water were placed for runners to soak in their tired feet. There was also a post-run massage tent and a lot of runners were having the legs massaged there.
Some chose to lie around the field and some went around looking for food. Registered participants received a 500 yen token that we could redeem at any food stall in the festival area. Hubby helped me to redeem some custard and red bean buns (there was a nan bread and curry food truck there too and the line was loooooong) while I went to change.
We needed to catch a 5.00pm train back to Sapporo the same evening so we couldn’t really linger long. We took the shuttle bus back to Abashiri Station, had our lunch at a nearby restaurant, and collected our bags that were left at our hotel before taking our train.
I was pretty much still feeling hyper after the run (probably due to adrenaline after finishing the run in a good timing and also for the fact that I drank 3 cups of cappuccino during lunch), and didn’t really sleep throughout the 5 hours train journey from Abashiri to Sapporo and I still had a hard time sleeping when we reached our hotel.
I sure enjoyed running in Okhotsk-Abashiri Marathon 2018 and was super glad that I did it. I am super grateful to Hubby too, for letting me run in it, despite the fact that getting to Abashiri is a tad inconvenient and we had to adjust our Hokkaido trip and sacrifice some places that we wanted to visit, to fit in the long train journey to get to Abashiri.
I am also super grateful with Bismi’s (Koc) guidance for the past 7 weeks leading to the marathon. I wouldn’t have done it in such an enjoyable way (earlier drama notwithstanding) if I hadn’t followed and trusted his advice.
My only regret (it was just a small regret though) was I didn’t take as many photos as I should.
Thank you too, to the folks of Abashiri for their warm support and welcome, the crew and volunteers from the Department of Biological Industry, Tokyo Agricultural University and everyone involved to ensure the success of the run.
I was super thankful too, for the fact that despite typhoon ad earthquake alert elsewhere in Japan, we were blessed with perfect weather in Abashiri during the week and on the race day itself. Alhamdulillah.
If not for God's Grace, the perfect setting for my 13th full marathon wouldn't have happen.
Remember the Daikon man, two Pikachus, a Sunflower, an Oni, a Cupcake and Darth Vader that I mentioned earlier? Sunflower man, Oni dude and Darth Vader guy finished way way earlier than me. I managed to stay near to Cupcake girl and left Daikon man and Pikachu behind. Hehehe
*nak jugak cakap, kan?*
Anyhoo, trip reports for our Hokkaido 2018 trip can be read here:
This marathon seemed to be particularly popular with foreign runners from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan and there was a huge contingent from Taiwan in this year’s edition. Scanning through the names printed in the program book that we received with our REPC kit, I couldn’t see any other runners from Malaysia apart from myself.
The marathon had a generous cut-off time of 6 hours 30 minutes for Japan standard. It was extended by 30 minutes since last year from 6 hours because the organizer had added a tough hilly section in the route.
There were three checkpoints (CP) along the route; with cut-off time of 2 hours 20 minutes at KM14.4 for CP1, 4 hours 25 minutes at KM29 for CP2, and 5 hours 20 minutes at KM35 for CP3. Quite lenient because I had entered other marathons in Japan that had 9 CPs!
The organizer had provided shuttles buses to ferry runners to the Start Line at several different points and the shuttle bus from Abashiri Station was located right in front of the hotel where I was staying in. Talk about convenient!
The Start Line of Okhotsk-Abashiri Marathon 2018 was located in front of Abashiri Prison and the flag-off time was at 8.45am.
Of course, arriving at the Starting Line venue, the first order of business was for the toilet visit.
We were assigned to pens according to our previous personal best (PB) and for my 5:43 PB, I was assigned to the last pen. PEN G. Huhuhu
Before the flag off, the announcer introduced the pacers to us and then proceeded to acknowledge all the runners that made it to the starting line. We were told there were runners from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and even Malaysia! Syiok sendiri when they announced my country name. heh heh
I decided to start my watch on Gun Time instead of waiting until I cross the Start Line Mat because I needed to be wary of all the cut-off times at all the CPs. It took me more than 6 minutes to cross the mat and finally I was off running.
Then… mau kencing lagi pulak. Summore calves felt really tight. Plantar like giving problem. Demit.
And I saw Daikon man, two Pikachus, a Sunflower, an Oni, a Cupcake and Darth Vader running past me. Double demit. Here I was, shuffling behind a 70-plus year old okaasan wearing Saroma Ultramarathon 2017 t-shirt.
First 10K
The first water station was located at KM4 and served crab soup. Despite wanting to pee so dearly, I couldn’t resist stopping for a drink of the soup. *kiasu*
Some runners stopped longer to eat the crab legs!
When I started my run again, I saw the green balloons of the 6 hour pacers already ahead of me and I hoped that the red 6:30 hours balloons won’t be gaining on me. Panic!
The vast expanse of the sea of Okhotsk could be seen as we were running along the route.
KM5.5 was where the dreaded climb started and it was the section that I dreaded the most. From here onwards, I employed the run-walk technique that I had practised for the past 7 weeks.
My first 5K was slower than projected because of the 6 minutes delay before I clear the start line and also due to the pee stop but I was pleasantly surprised that I could hold a faster pace than projected for the next 5K.
The hilly section was tough and by now many had resorted to walking like I did but the view along the route helped alleviate our pain.
We passed through some forest section and also farm sections at this stretch.
My first 10K was done in 1:28:34 gun time and I was pleased with the 10K time.
Koc and I had targeted I clear the 10K within 1:29 (net time though) so this was definitely good.
Spurred by this and I started to feel good, I happily plodded along feeling encouraged and stopping at every single water station to enjoy what was being offered there.
I had some candies at the KM7.8 water station, skipped the tomatoes and coke and only drank water.
Second 10K
Water stations were placed 2.5K apart and there were some private water stations offering Abashiri’s delicacies in between.
The aim after clearing the 10K mark was to get to the first CP located at KM14.4 (Cape Notoro) with enough time to spare.
Some runners even took the opportunity to lie down on the grass for their selfies.
I crossed the first CP at 10.48am, 13 minutes before the cut-off at 11.05am. From here, we made a u-turn back uphill to cover the same section that we had run down earlier for about a mile.
Then, I stopped by the water station to enjoy some red bean bun, kamaboko and some drinks, took off my shoes for a while to shake off any stray pebbles before continuing with my run.
As I ran, I saw the other runners on the other side of the road who had not yet reached the CP1. At about KM15.5, I saw the last runner with a convoy of sweeper vehicles slowly moving behind him – a jeep, an ambulance, a sweeper bus (if I recall correctly). Scary.
The next 5K was a downhill section with 1.3km running in a tunnel. I was running steadily but decided to forcefully slow down when I saw that I was running at a 5:53 min pace during the section and my heart rate had reached 163! Zone 5 alert!
I didn’t want to run too strong at that section only to bonk at later stages!
Exiting the tunnel at KM17.5, we were greeted by the next water station. The water station was overlooking Cape Notoro and it was such a beautiful sight.
A volunteer here held a hand-drawn marathon course route map for us runners to refer to.
It was still a downhill section until about KM18 and we were running alongside Lake Notoro by now.
I was still employing the 1K run – 100m walk and every kilometre was done steadily. Fatigue hadn’t set it yet and I was glad to see that I cleared the 20K mark in 2:49:24 (gun time). It took me 1 hour 20 minutes to run the second 10K section. Pace 8 average for 10K despite all the goofing around at Cape Notoro earlier.
Third 10K
The third 10K – between 20K to 30K mark was tougher than the rest because the sun had started to shine brightly onto us, and we were running without much shade.
There was a private water station located at KM22 manned by two dudes and one was topless. They offered some sort of candies there and shouted words of encouragement to all passing runners.
I’m not sure whether the road was closed off for the marathon but the only vehicles that I saw passing through were the marshall scooters and medic assistance on bicycles. Oh yeah, an ambulance was rushing through when I was running in the tunnel and I have to say, the sound of siren in a tunnel was deafening.
KM25-27 was particularly tough for me and by this time, I resorted to 500m run-100m walk. Sponges were offered at a few water stations but I declined them. One water station offered lemons and umeboshi but I declined those too.
This was where the course took us away from the lake area and move towards the farm area. It was around KM26 (if I’m not mistaken) that we made our u-turn to head the lakeside park where the second CP and another special water station were located.
I was happy to clear the second CP at KM29 in 4:07, well before the cut off time 4 hours 25 minutes.
The next water station at KM29.5 offered Shijimi clams soup, kamaboko, buns, coke, water & energy drinks, among others; and I took my time there. Feeling quite relieved at clearing the KM29 well before my projected time, I started taking some videos with my handphone from this point onwards.
I also stopped to wash my face that was stinging with all the salt that formed on my face.
I cleared the third 10K in 1 hour 24 minutes and the 30K mark in 4 hours 14 minutes (gun time). Not bad and still below the pace 9 average that I had projected.
Fourth 10K
The next 5K was flat but we had to deal the strong wind blowing towards the sea as we ran along a fishing port.
It was here that I realised that even if I walked at pace 10 for the rest of the 12K, I still could finish well before the 6:30 cut off.
But then my brain asked me whether I seriously want to take it slow and waste time instead of just continue running. It was argument time within myself. To push for a surprise great time, to enjoy and finish in a relatively good time or to just relax and finish as target.
The second option won.
30K onwards was rather an unchartered territory as I haven’t done any 30K run since Newton Run in December last year.
From here on, I reduced my running to 300m then walking 100m. I was careful not to walk for more than 100m at a time.
KM33.2 was where the Wagyu beef water station was located. But no la, cannot eat them…
KM35 was the next water station and here we were offered apples and shine muscat grapes. It was heavenly and I certainly perked up to finish my run. It was also the water station that I had been looking forward to.
Again, I cleared the CP located at KM35 much faster than my projected time and the brain started arguing again. I could just hold a 9 min pace and still finish at a decent time, 20 minutes ahead of cut-off.
But I wanted to run and was still able to run, so I “compromised” with myself again. Still continuing with the 300m run followed by 100m walk, I kept on passing a few other runners along the route.
From KM35, we entered a cycling route course and I could see distance markers for the cycling route at the side of the road. Would be nice to cycle and enjoy the scenery of Lake Abashiri in a more leisurely way… Maybe next time, yeah? Say, when I finally get brave enough to sign up for Saroma Ultramarathon (I had planned to sign up this year but chickened out).
Here, I saw volunteers standing by the roadside with blankets ready which I guess to be made available for runners in distress. They were stationed at every 500m or so and in pairs. (Note: you never see any volunteers sleeping or looking at their handphones here!)
I could plod along on auto-pilot by now, not really thinking much and not really hurting anywhere, but I tried not to push too much as I still fear of bonking (and I want to look good in photos). So I employed a 200m or 300m run then followed by 100m walk strategy. This was done to maintain my heart rate zone in Zone 4 and after the run I was glad to see that my run was indeed pretty much done in Zone 4 (with a little spike in Zone 5 occasionally).
Final 12K
It was after the KM35 CP that I finally realised that I could actually made it much faster than what Koc and I had targeted and I started counting my time in Nett Time instead of Gun Time which I had done pretty much throughout the course.
Anything below pace 9 at that time would be OK and I was glad I could still maintain that average pace.
I crossed the 40K mark in 5:42:42 Gun Time.
A volunteer held up a sign to say that we had only 1.8km to go. Yeay!
As we trudged along the road covered with small black pebbles (dunno how to call it), volunteers and runners alike stand by the road side to energetically cheer for us.
After the rows of cosmos flowers, I started to see the sunflower field as I approached the Finish Line.
Running through the sunflower field and with 500m more to go, I saw Hubby waiting for me in front of the Finish Line. I slowed down to let him take some photos of me and with me, then stopped as he wanted to take my photo with the marathon bunting and sunflower field as the background.
Then we took out the Jalur Gemilang that he had packed in his bag so that I could run towards the finish line holding our Malaysian flag proudly.
An official photographer gestured to me and I proudly posed with Jalur Gemilang for her. Nope, I still haven’t crossed the finish line just yet. That’s why it took me more than 18 minutes to finish the last 2.2km after the 40K mark. Hahaha
JAL stewardesses (or staff) gave out finisher medals and I let them put one on my neck. A crew then passed me my finisher towel and I draped it on my shoulder.
I was then handed a bottle of Aquarius sports drinks by one of the crew and then made my way to the tent where I could get my Finisher Certificate printed out. Then, I made my way to the photo booth for a photo to be taken and immediately printed out. We could also get our medals engraved with our timing (for a small fee) but I was too happy to remember to do it.
Some chose to lie around the field and some went around looking for food. Registered participants received a 500 yen token that we could redeem at any food stall in the festival area. Hubby helped me to redeem some custard and red bean buns (there was a nan bread and curry food truck there too and the line was loooooong) while I went to change.
We needed to catch a 5.00pm train back to Sapporo the same evening so we couldn’t really linger long. We took the shuttle bus back to Abashiri Station, had our lunch at a nearby restaurant, and collected our bags that were left at our hotel before taking our train.
I was pretty much still feeling hyper after the run (probably due to adrenaline after finishing the run in a good timing and also for the fact that I drank 3 cups of cappuccino during lunch), and didn’t really sleep throughout the 5 hours train journey from Abashiri to Sapporo and I still had a hard time sleeping when we reached our hotel.
I sure enjoyed running in Okhotsk-Abashiri Marathon 2018 and was super glad that I did it. I am super grateful to Hubby too, for letting me run in it, despite the fact that getting to Abashiri is a tad inconvenient and we had to adjust our Hokkaido trip and sacrifice some places that we wanted to visit, to fit in the long train journey to get to Abashiri.
I am also super grateful with Bismi’s (Koc) guidance for the past 7 weeks leading to the marathon. I wouldn’t have done it in such an enjoyable way (earlier drama notwithstanding) if I hadn’t followed and trusted his advice.
My only regret (it was just a small regret though) was I didn’t take as many photos as I should.
Thank you too, to the folks of Abashiri for their warm support and welcome, the crew and volunteers from the Department of Biological Industry, Tokyo Agricultural University and everyone involved to ensure the success of the run.
I was super thankful too, for the fact that despite typhoon ad earthquake alert elsewhere in Japan, we were blessed with perfect weather in Abashiri during the week and on the race day itself. Alhamdulillah.
If not for God's Grace, the perfect setting for my 13th full marathon wouldn't have happen.
*nak jugak cakap, kan?*
Anyhoo, trip reports for our Hokkaido 2018 trip can be read here:
Goodness, they even have crab/clam soup and wagyu beef at the water stations! Well done on your completion of the race. I was quite amused that there are runners who dress up as Darth Vader and other characters.
ReplyDeleteThank you PH.
DeleteYes, it was quite fun to see all these costume runners running. :)
Congrats on achieving your 13th full marathon! Your detailed account of your full run makes me feel like I am standing there looking at you running.
ReplyDeleteP/S the toilet looks so clean in your photo.
Thanks Mun,
DeleteYes I wrote my race recaps in details so that readers can feel what I feel too, so your comment is a huge compliment to me. <3
Yes, you write so well to convey your feelings and emotions at that time too, not to mention the surrounding beautiful views that you saw. Thank YOU for sharing! :)
DeleteCongratulations! Hooray! You made history for being the only runner from Malaysia.
ReplyDeleteThis event was so well planned all the way and great to see blooming sunflowers at the finishing line.
I felt so warm and happy to read this post as you made real effort to travel all the way to the most Northern part of Japan for this event. I must visit Sapporo again in near future for some volcanic hike in my plans. Your lighthouse reminds me of the one I saw at Muroran, standing alone in the snow. It taught me to be tough like that lighthouse to brave all weathers & obstacles in life, so it became my FB icon.
Recently I was also stunned to see so many China runners in KL too, when they asked me to take their photos. They came with big flags and a huge group. So bising la orang Cina!! Wakakakakaka
LOL at your last paragraph Anay!
DeleteI read from the site to be sure to buy travel insurance before application of the event. May I know if the insurance information is needed at time of registration?
ReplyDeleteUsually I thought should buy insurance when successful application and then flights, hotel, insurance etc....
So far I've never needed to submit proof of insurance upon registration or during REPC. Like you, i always get it after everything is confirmed.
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