22 Feb - Okinawa Marathon

Yesterday sure was a long day. Back in December, Danny signed up to participate in the Okinawa Marathon. Longer than a traditional marathon, the Okinawa marathon is 26.4 miles (or 42k for those of us who are used to seeing distances in k). Starting in Awase, they run full circle around central Okinawa. (map)

The morning started early. Around 6am the alarm went off and Danny practically jumped out of bed and ran to the kitchen to start breakfast. He ate toast with Peanut butter and Jelly spread on it, and drank water and sports drinks. At about 7, I finally rolled out of bed, threw on my (Go California!) in'n'out t-shirt and jeans, ate a quick breakfast and got ready to go. We made sure we had everything we needed, hard candies, water, crackers (for me :D), cameras, keys, ID cards, iPod (essential!), running shoes (Danny wore chanclas[slippers or "house shoes", for those who don't speak spanish] to and from the race), sunscreen, and runners socks, and headed for the door. We needed to get to the designated parking spaces before 8:10 when the last bus would leave for the Park. We left the house at 7:30, and got stuck in traffic on the way down to the park. We got to the park at 8:10, and parking was still 5k (about 3 miles) away, so I told Danny to pull over and get out, I would walk from the parking lot to the park but I didn't want him to miss the race. We turned off the main road, looking for somewhere to pull over, and... as luck would have it, found a grassy parking lot in a housing area. Free parking within a 5 minute walking distance to the starting line! AmAzIng! Lucky!

Whew.

We parked and got out, walked to the Park where the race was to start, and found Danny's starting point. He was #7539 and they had to line up in order of their numbers (by 500s, so not in exact order). At 9:05, the race started. I walked with him for the first bit, because lets face it! You can't run when you are smooshed against 9,999 other people. I stopped just before they hit the street, where the jogging began. I watched him for as long as I could see him, which wasn't very long. It's very easy to lose someone in a crowd that large.

30 minutes later, the 10k was about to start. I knew a few people running the 10 k, so I took pictures of them in their adventures, and marveled at the strange costumes that Japanese people are able to run in. See our FLICKR of the Okinawa Marathon to catch a glimpse of some of the costumes. (Some photos compliments of Amanda Webb, Footsteps Photography). It was neat to see how fast people can run and how many people are excited to run 10k!!

After the 10k ended, I waited for the finish line to clear and plopped myself down in a spot that I thought would be good to sit in when the Marathon ended. I wanted to make sure I would be able to see Danny come in and take Pictures of it. Even though the race had only begun an hour before, I was determined to stake my claim on that spot for the entire marathon. I didn't move for nearly 4 hours.

As Danny ran across and around Okinawa, he was amazed by the support from those who were not running. Lining the 26 mile route were thousands of people offering food and drink to runners. Along the way Danny was able to enjoy Bananas, Strawberries, Pineapple, Popsicles, Aquarius(a Japanese Sports Drink that tastes like grapefruit juice, yum), salt (yes.. they ate salt while running), wet sponges which he smashed on his face and killed his iPod earbud for a few miles until it dried out (oops!), countless other fruits, and much more. He said there were people who would spray their legs with something sort of like Bengay or Icy-Hot and rub it on their leg muscles as they ran by, people who gave leg massages en-route, etc. Thank you to all those who cheered him on when he ran through base, it was a real energy booster!

Running past gate 5 (about 20 miles in) a friend of mine called to say he was on his way back. She took photos of him running by, cheered him on, and said he was a real trooper and looked like he was doing great. He was only about an hour behind the Marathon winner at that point! Unfortunately soon after, his legs were "done" and didn't want to go anymore. It was all mental. Just a few more miles! He would tell himself, and trek on.

At about 1:15, I stood up, still in my spot, watching the marathon. I couldn't sit anymore, my butt and my legs had fallen asleep and my back was hurting (not that I can complain, I wasn't the one running the marathon!). As soon as I had stood up, I started to get crowded by people, pushed and poked, but I held my ground. I felt that Danny should be running in soon, so I turned on my cameras. I saw this girl dressed up in tiger print, and took a picture of her, then looked past her and down the final stretch before the finish line and there he was, still jogging along. I had two cameras, one to take video on and one to take photos, so I wasn't able to get the best shots as I was trying to do two things at once, but I was still able to get some! The pictures speak for themselves. (video on the bottom)

I was so proud. He came through the gates where I was able to meet up with him and fell into my arms. Exhausted and happy to see my face! I went upstairs to use the restrooms while he sat at the bottom of the stairs stretching his legs. I came down and he was gone. I found him, he had been pulled into a tent where Japanese were massaging him with ice bags and trying to ask him where he hurt (I think...). After that I helped him walk to the car and we headed home where he soaked in a lukewarm bath full of Epsom salt, and then covered his legs in bengay. (if you come by our house in the next few days, it smells like bengay.)

Today he is feeling alright. He was able to go to PT and jog half a mile to stretch his legs, and he went in to work after that. What a trooper. I'm beaming with pride.