Nara Marathon 2014, Race Day 2

Sunday, December 14, 2014

See my previous post here.

Finally, the race started. The weather was fine in the beginning, but it started to cloud up within 2km, and the temperature didn’t seem to rise. It looked like the rain would be fine, but it was going to be very cold and I was worried.

Start 5km: I tried to be careful with my pace.

The first half of the Nara Marathon takes runners to the Heijo-kyo Palace and back. The road to Heijo-kyo is a gentle descent.

I learned from my previous marathon experiences that if you hold back your pace too early in the race, you’ll have a hard time picking up the pace afterwards, so I took advantage of the gentle downhill and tried to run at a pace of about 6 minutes per kilometer.

A steady 10km-15km section

As in any citizen’s marathon, there are various cheering styles along the roadside. As you can see, there was a taiko drum performance near the Suzaku Gate in Heijokyo.

And then the turnaround at around 5km. It had been downhill up to this point, so it was a gentle uphill from here until about 10km. However, I had a good pace early on, so I think I was able to keep that momentum going until almost 10km.

You might get a better time than you’ve ever had before.

I had checked the gate time and set a goal beforehand, but by the time I reached the 10km mark, my pace was already about 15 minutes faster than my goal, so I was relieved that I wouldn’t be caught by the time limit.

I passed the 15km point in 1 hour and 51 minutes, which was a good time.

The pace was roughly 20 minutes faster than my goal. By the way, I had to go to the bathroom once around 12km. Even if I take that into account, I feel like I was able to ride a good wave in the first half.

First aid, but too little aid in this competition…

We had our first aid stop around 16km.

All I got was a banana, though. But still, it was very helpful because I was quite hungry.

しかし、この後発覚しますが、奈良マラソン、ものすごくエイドが少なかったです。後半相当苦労させられました。

First obstacle: the slope before 20km

The course was mostly flat, although there were some ups and downs up to around 17km and 18km of the Nara Marathon.

However, the first hard climb is waiting for you before 20km and before the halfway point.

However, he was still before the halfway point and had plenty of energy left, so he finished the race well.

passing the midpoint

From 20km to the halfway point, the ups and downs became harder than in the beginning. However, I managed to hold on and reached the halfway point safely.

With this time, I can say that I was able to save enough money. Even if I get exhausted and walk in the second half, I expect to be able to finish within the time limit.

What worries me is the temperature. The weather doesn’t recover easily. Then we entered Tenri City from here, and I felt the temperature was even lower than in Nara City.

It’s going to be a battle against the cold for a while now.

（その３に続く）