Kubikino 100k (lenghty) race report...

100k Kubikino Ultra Marathon, 10.Oct 2008

This was my first Ultra Marathon and I hope it will not be my last one. I like to thank ALL of you who supported this adventure by email, phone calls, personal inspiration and valuable hints or just thought about the run. Thanks for your great support! Here is my –lengthy- race report.

The “bare facts” for those of you who like to take the short cut:

0-10k 53:06

10-20k 52:27

20-30k 54:37 rolling in for the first 30k

30-40k 55:48 mostly up hill

40-50k 53:32 4hrs.29min.29sec. for the first 50k

50-60k 56:36 mostly up hill

60-70k 50:44 mostly down hill and flat

70-80k 58:20 up hill and getting tired

80-90k 57:54 felling really tired and exhausted

90-100k 56:01 getting better every km, last 5k in 27 min. ;-)

1. Marathon 3:47:01

2. Marathon 3:49:04 29^th overall, 17^th in the 40+ age group

Yoshida-san, Christiane and I arrived in Kubikino the evening before the race. We checked into a business hotel which was close to the starting area. Picked up our BIB No. I had to wait a little longer, because –again- I threw away the envelope with my No. on it. But Yoshida-san helped me out and finally I got it. Christiane looked for the spectator shuttle bus details and we calculated our estimated arrival times at the various check points. If everything goes well, she could see us at 3 out of 4 stops. This was very encouraging for me. Later we went for dinner in the hotel. They had plenty of food and we easily topped the 10.000 kcal mark ;-)

Next morning we left the Hotel at 4:45am and walked to the start area. It was rainy but not cold, ca. 18 Celsius. The atmosphere was different to a Marathon. Nobody seemed to be in a hurry. Of course, the elite runners lined up at the very front and we didn’t even see them. They had signs for 8h, 9h, 10h, 11h, 12h finish time and we started in the 10h block. Yoshida-san gave me valuable hints about the course: 1. the 10-30k stretch is the most tempting stretch, don’t over pace. 2. The first hill is the steepest… (…”baby I know”…) 3. Between 25k and 75km there will be many more hills up to 400m elevation 4. it’s flat from the 80k mark on. I took his advice very seriously and adjusted my plan accordingly. Well, there was a darn hill at the 87k mark though!

The gun went off and we started really slowly. Police was advising us that a.) we had to stay on the left side of the road throughout the race, b.) we have to obey the traffic rules. Red lights are red lights and we have to stop. And they enforced at least b.)

Since the first 25k were essentially flat I tried to get into a steady 5:25min/km pace. But the legs did not feel that easy. In fact, they felt hard and uncomfortable compared to my long runs at the Palace. Well, not much I could do about it, so I tried to ignore it.

In the beginning I didn’t stop at the aid stations, just grabbed some water/drink and continued running. Almost everybody else was stopping and taking some time deciding what to drink/eat. That was amazing to me!

After 25k or so, the hills started. Yes, they were steep…! It was always the same: some km up hill, some km down hill. I could not imagine surviving this up and down till km75. Fortunately it started raining and some wind came up. This cooled me down significantly. I am very sensitive to heat and sun but the sun came out only once, around 50k, for some minutes. The first aid station with private bags was at the 47k mark. Christiane waited for us and I was happy to see here and talking to here. Had some Banana, Noodle soup and Orange and took two more energy gels with me. I hit the 50k mark at 4h29min. Well, this was as close as I could get to my ultimate goal, which was staying sub-9h. But, I had no idea what the second half would bring and how I would do in the last 20k or so. Anyway, here I was with still + 4hrs.to go. The next hills waited for me. As soon as my stomach allowed, I had an energy gel and some water. But further into the race my stomach didn’t like the idea of eating so much. In fact, energy intake was becoming a real problem. So I started to have short stops at the aid stations and looking at some food my body would like. Turned out that Miso soup and orange was my favorite. But, I guess I made a very rude mistake: Several times I drank the soup and didn’t eat it with Chopsticks…! What a Barbarian act…! The aid stations staff held their breath in disbelieve over such a rude behavior!!! I felt so guilty but really had no time fiddling around with these sticks.

Kubikino is very countryside with a lot of rice fields, mountains, rivers and cultural heritage. Not many people live there but they supported the run so much! At many points a family member would call the BIB no. of a runner, another is looking up the name in the magazine and some seconds later supporters shouting your name like crazy: “Ganbatte, Joachim-san!” The “last” nasty hill at 73k had a really great support team: ca. 20 people waited for the runners at the steepest incline in the middle of nowhere and blew us away with their “Ganbatte”. It was so fantastic! The really last and mean hill was right before the 86km aid station. I saw Christiane at the top of this hill and stop running for the last 20m. At that point I was mentally finished. Of course, I had to run another 14km, I knew, but I didn’t want to run them now. Maybe an hour later or so, I was thinking…

After a few minutes of rest, eating and drinking, Christiane told me: “You’re just a few seconds behind the 3^rd woman, get you’re a.. moving!”

So, here I was, chasing a woman I didn’t know… ;-)

She was really fast, going at 5:10 pace and after some minutes I knew I could not stay with here. But the brutal reality of Japanese traffic regulations hit here hard. Several times she had to stop at a red light and I could get closer. At 90km she suddenly stopped shaken by cramps in here legs. What a drama!!! She could not run and had to get some help at an aid station. I passed here and soon after I saw the second woman: She as well was almost walking. What a fight for second place! From the 95k mark on I felt better and better and could pass some runners. Finish in 9:09:03 (total) and 9:08:50 (net) time, 29^th place overall. Took me some time to realize that it was over. 30 minutes later I could already eat a soup. We waited for Yoshida-san, who took it easier since he had to run a Standard Marathon the next day! He finished the 100k in 10:45 (and the Marathon in 3:11…! Yoshida-san, you are a really Marathoner!). We had some late lunch at the Goal area and took the bus to the town center. Yoshida-san took the Train to Niigata and we headed back to our hotel.

In summary, I think I will run an Ultra again, but not such a combination of hills and distance.

Maybe a more flatter course with lower temperatures and no rain… We will see.

On Sunday evening we had a great after race party, organized by Mary. Thanks to everybody showing up. The picture shows our special Gold Medal we got from Chika-chan ;-)

Thanks again for all of your support.