I participated in the Kanazawa Marathon: Part 1 « The Day Before ».

I participated in the Kanazawa Marathon on November 15. It was my 6th full marathon. I enjoyed Kanazawa from the day before to the day after. This report is divided into several parts.

Review: Apply for the tour with the right to compete

今回はじめて開催される金沢マラソン。この大会も他の多くの大会同様抽選なのですが、僕は3月に地元の旅行会社とタイアップした[highlight]「出場権付きツアー」[/highlight] で申し込むことにしました。

However, if I take this tour, I have to stay in Kanazawa on Sunday as well. The hotel is a little expensive at 15,000 yen per person per night, but I wanted to be sure that I wouldn’t have to worry about the lottery results. After all, I want to aim at the first tournament.

Pre-Adjustment: Honestly, not much was done.

金沢マラソンのよいところは、なんといっても[highlight]制限時間が7時間[/highlight]であること。これは東京マラソン並に緩いです。私のような意識の低いランナーには最適です。さらに、コースのアップダウン図を見ると、前半12km手前の数kmのみ上り、それ以外は基本平坦もしくは下りという絶好のレイアウト。

The course is also very good and feels like a good place in the center of Kanazawa.

However, perhaps taking advantage of the « looseness » of the race itself, I actually didn’t get to practice much this time. I even went on two trips abroad before the race (lol). (laughs) I’ve only been writing about my travels on this blog, and not about running or marathons…. So, although I knew I would be fine based on my past experiences, I was a little anxious going into the race.

Inaugural event: slow in many ways?

The paperwork arrives just about a month before. Well, I guess this is the same for any convention. However, I felt that the arrangements of the travel agency were somewhat slow or confused. There were a lot of documents coming, but they weren’t all in order. I don’t know what to look at…. However, as long as we can secure the right to participate and a place to stay, we are relieved.

Hokuriku Shinkansen is very crowded

One more thing that I was careless. It was the transportation to Kanazawa. I thought it would be all right if I bought a ticket of Shinkansen a few days before, but I was naive. But fortunately, this train arrived at 13:00, so we could make it in time for the meeting time at 13:45 for the course preview tour.

I was surprised at the popularity of Hokuriku Shinkansen. If you are going to Hokuriku-Kanazawa area, you have to make an arrangement as soon as possible.

さて、この北陸新幹線ですが、なんだか東海道新幹線よりも狭いせいなのか、なんだか落ち着きません。もっとも僕は最近の新幹線はいろいろとキライでしてね。というかJR自体に不信感を持っています。実は飛行機で良い便はないかと探しては見たのですが、利便性に負けて新幹線にすることにしました。新幹線、はっきり言いまして「人がうるさい」んですよね。いや飛行機だって、という意見もありそうですが、うるさいのはジェット音であって人の騒ぐ声ではありません。宴会を始めるおっさんたち、騒ぐ子供にそれを注意しない親たち…、なんだかはっきり言いましてリテラシーが低いと最近強く思います。

This time I was careless and prepared late, but next time I would like to fly to Kanazawa, even if it is far away via Komatsu Airport.

Preview tour in the rain

The Shinkansen was delayed by about 10 minutes due to the strong winds on the Sea of Japan side, but we arrived safely in Kanazawa. Initially, I was going to go a little earlier, have something light at Kanazawa station, and head for the preliminary tour after a quick registration, but unfortunately, it seemed that there was no time for that, so I could only eat fresh bread at a bakery at the west exit.

After a light meal, we headed to the designated bus stop. This is the bus stop for group buses. A lot of buses were parked there, but the capacity was a little small. Because of that, it was crowded with many tourists. Although I was able to arrive in time at 13:45 of the assembly time, there was no sign of my designated No. 6 bus coming at all even at 14:00 of the departure time. After all, it was the first attempt, and it seemed to be in great confusion. In the end, we started 15 minutes late.

A local volunteer was our guide for the course preview tour. He was a young and energetic elderly man who looked like he was 80 years old. He likes running and marathons, and he himself is a runner. In the midst of the heavy traffic, he talked about the course and its surroundings in a relaxed manner.

As I listened to the guide, I looked at the course with the course guide map I received from the travel agency beforehand, and imagined how I would run tomorrow.

This area is near the Shiinoki Geihinkan, the starting point. It was raining a lot and it was dark.

Kenrokuen, the starting point.

It is around 5km from Katamachi, the downtown of Kanazawa.

Unfortunately, the preview was done in the rain, and even darker, so it was a little difficult to see outside, but for those who don’t know the area, it’s nice to be able to simulate a run beforehand.

Heavy traffic & major delays: negotiating a suspension of the inspection in the middle of the day

By the way, the big traffic jam in Kanazawa city is more than I imagined. Is it because the big event is coming? In this city, once the traffic light changes, the green light seems to continue for a long time, and I felt that it makes the traffic jam worse.

The tour was originally scheduled to last for 2 hours and 30 minutes, but not only was the start delayed, but the rest of the day’s schedule didn’t go as planned, and as a result, even after 5pm, when the sun had finally set, we were only able to reach the 30km mark. As a result, I could only reach the 30km point after 5pm. So there is a distance from the station to the stadium.

So we didn’t know what time we’d be able to make it back to the station with the traffic jam going on. It might be after 7pm. I had to wait until 20:00 to register. Furthermore, we have a reservation to go to dinner at a restaurant introduced by an acquaintance in the evening. Even though I can delay that at worst, I really don’t want to act too late at night the day before the race and I want to go to bed early.

This is very bad…. We haven’t finished the reception yet, and we have several plans after this, so it would be very inconvenient if we were stuck in the traffic and dismissed at 19:00 or 20:00. If the schedule is delayed by an hour or two, but if it is delayed by more than that, I think it is indeed a problem, so I thought I could do something flexible.

そこで、駅近くで渋滞に捕まっている時に、途中でおろしてもらえないか、わがままを承知しつつバスの運転手さんとガイドさんに交渉してみました。その結果、西口近くでおろしてくれることになりました。助かったー。

By the way, when we were about to get off, most of the passengers on the bus started to get off at the same time. What the heck, I knew you all thought so!

Reception completed successfully

So, thanks to our negotiations, we were released from the tour in front of the station at 5:30pm. At this time, I had enough time to go to the reception, shopping and to the shops I had reserved. So, I went to the runner’s registration desk under the music hall near Kanazawa station.

Maybe because it was the last minute of the evening, the reception hall was not crowded at all, and I was able to register very smoothly. The method of registration is the same as a common marathon. The number number is written on the document sent to you in advance, so you proceed to the counter with the corresponding number and receive your number and a bag to put your luggage in on the day.

そうそう、[highlight]このランナー受付会場入口で「本人身分確認証」が必ず必要[/highlight]ですので、運転免許証などを持参するようにしてください。私このことをすっかり失念していましたが、普段からお財布に免許証を入れているので事なきを得ました。

さて、マラソン大会といえば記念Tシャツですが、こちらはメッセ会場での配布となっていました。メッセ会場といっても駅の地下のスペースにちょこっとある程度の小さなもの。その一番奥にTシャツを受け取れる場所がありました。Tシャツ引換は先ほど受付でいただいたゼッケンをスタッフの方に提示すればOK、あとは申込時に指定したサイズのTシャツが置いてあるテーブルに案内されるので、そこでTシャツを受け取って完了です。

その後は、メッセ会場をさっと視察。じつはここで[highlight]「ウィンドブレーカー」[/highlight]購入しようと思っていました。翌日も雨が振りそうでしたので、それを凌ぐためです。過去、東京マラソン、京都マラソンで雨に振られたことがありますが、ウィンドブレーカーがあると体が直接濡れることがなく、かつ風が吹いた時に急激に体熱を持っていかれることもないので、非常に大事なのです。大抵の大会では、スポーツメーカーがスポンサーになっているので、こうしたグッズがメッセ会場で売っています。しかし、確かにアシックスのブースでいろいろなランニンググッズが売っていましたが、なんとウィンドブレーカーはありませんでした。これは困った…。

So we went to the mall in front of the station. Here I found a shop selling outdoor wear, though it was not in the sports shop. Thank God it was in Kanazawa City! I bought the lightest windbreaker in that shop. It is a splendid thing with the waterproof function quite firmly. It was a bit much for running, but it’s much better than nothing, and as long as I can keep it around my waist when not in use, it doesn’t seem to be a problem for slow running.

This completes the minimum task. I went to the hotel to leave these luggage once. By the way, I hadn’t checked in yet.

ホテルは、金沢の新市街側西口にある「ホテルマイステイズ金沢」。ここに2泊お世話になります。ビジネスホテルですが、非常に広い部屋、そして、内装も新しく便利。お風呂も浴槽があり十分な広さがありました。

This quality will allow me to sleep slowly and take a relaxing bath after finishing the race. Excellent.

Enjoy the Kaga cuisine introduced to us.

After taking a breath at the hotel, I checked my clothes for the next day, prepared what I would bring to the venue, and headed to the restaurant that my parents’ friend who lives in Kanazawa had told me about.

This is the shop.

The rating on the food log is 3.0, which is rather low. However, if you look closely, you will see that it is the lunch group that has a low rating. The rating of the night group seems to be rather high. It’s easy to understand, isn’t it, the lunch group?

Now, this place was quite far from the station (my mother, who had been there once, said it was close to the station, but she was still appropriate and wrong. It’s a common thing. ), and it was still raining, so we decided to take a taxi from the west exit. The restaurant is located in an area called Teramachi. We had originally booked the restaurant for 18:30, but since the bus tour was delayed, we called the restaurant during the tour to ask them to change the time to 19:30, an hour later.

In the end, we were able to leave the tour in the middle of the day, which gave us enough time to do the reception and shopping (windbreaker) without any problems, and we arrived at the shop a little earlier than the reserved time.

Now, the menu for this day, we had told them our budget in advance (about 10,000 yen including meals and drinks), so the dishes were served in order according to that budget. We didn’t have to choose every single dish on the menu, so it was a nice change. Or rather, it is such a restaurant. Basically, it is Kaiseki cuisine.

11月7日からカニ漁が解禁されたようです。金沢のこの時期の蟹といえば「香箱ガニ」。以前、こちらでいただいたことがあるのですが、やはり本場でいただく[highlight]香箱ガニ[/highlight]はとても美味しかったです。おそらく特に良い蟹をご用意いただいたように思います。

The other grilled sea trout was also very delicious. The Hokuriku-Kanazawa gourmet is as good as it gets.

That’s why sake is indispensable. I had a race the next day, but I couldn’t resist… We had Kikuhime, a sake from Kanazawa, and Tengu Mai. The lacquer ware was very nice.

By the way, a certain izakaya in our neighborhood that we patronize at home has a selection of Kanazawa sake. I prefer Hokuriku sake to Tohoku sake, so I was very happy.

I think I could have spent the previous day enjoying it more than ever. The bed in the hotel looks very comfortable. I came back to the hotel after 9pm and took a shower immediately.

翌日の天候、そして若干の飲み過ぎが懸念されますが、明日は悔いの残らないようよいレースができることを祈って眠りにつきました。（「当日編」へ続く）