Kurobe Road Race

I survived another 10km road race this weekend. When I woke up it was pouring rain, but I packed my running shoes and water bottle anyway and headed out the door.

The Kurobe Road Race is actually called the Jimmy Carter Road Race. You see, Kurobe is the sister city to Macon, Georgia. Jimmy Carter's from Georgia. He actually came and ran this race on a visit to the city -years ago. There are numerous photos of him on the walls of the the sports facility. And every year he sends a message to the runners which is read by a chosen junior high school student from the city -in English of course.

ANYWAY. This year was a poor turn out for JETs. There were only 3 of us -Jimmy, Rene and me. We all did the 10km this year, which was great since they stagger the events and we usually end up finishing at different times when some do the 5 km. I managed a best time - 53minutes, 10 seconds. I should be better than that (check out my workout journal).

We also had some Japanese friends running with us, which always makes things more fun. Ryuichi, who has run the marathon relays with us and is lightening fast was, of course, the first to finish. And Kazu, who is a former NOVA student of mine, joined us this year. You may recall him from a previous snowboarding post.

After the race we had our complimentary bowls of stew and mochi (gooey pounded rice). Then went for a REAL meal!! Pizza Jamboree was calling our names. We introduced Kazu (and Ai, his fiance who skipped the race) to the cheesy, italian goodness!! Appetizers, spaghetti, coffee, shakes and 3 pizzas later we were stuffed and had already forgotten the agony of the run.

After PJ I headed to Colare where there was an international field day/BBQ event going on. I was so full and tired, I just sat and watched everyone running around being international. I still had a great time, as always. Sorry I missed your Taiko Amy-chan. Next time!

Another fun filled Sunday in Japan.