A few weekends after the Tour de Yamanote, we headed to Othawara to run in an unofficial half marathon. Basically, much to the chagrin of the race organizers, a bunch of us dropped out of the marathon at the half way point. Chris and I trained a lot for this race and many members of our running club were running so we were excited for this trip. We took the train up on Saturday and checked into a local business hotel. Not many people were there so we headed to a local izakaya for some din din.
After dinner we met up with some Namban member and headed to the local 7 eleven to get some breakfast treats. We headed to bed early and were up early to carbo load before the start.
The race was great because it was a flat and fast course. Plus, it was a sunny, crisp day.
The only down side was that there were water stops every three miles; not enough at all. By the end of the race, we were both salt encrusted. After we finished, we headed to the finish of the marathon to cheer on our fellow club members with cries of "ganbatte!" (fight) or, as some Japanese say, "fight-toe!" After the cheering was over, we headed to the food area to get some much needed lunch. We shared a bowl of udon topped with lots vegetables, yum!!
Now,the fun part was about to begin. We all piled into cars and headed to a ryokan to soak our tired muscles in hot baths and eat a delicious, much deserved, multi-course dinner (and drink lots of beer). The dinner was great and there was even a stage and karaoke machine in the room. After dinner, we all headed into one of the rooms to drink and eat the night away (and for others, to pass out). Everyone brought food and champagne, (an Othawara tradition) and we stayed up to the wee hours of the morning stuffing ourselves. It was a great time. We always have lots of fun when we are with our Namban rengo mates.
