Yamanakako Road Race - Take 4!

Yesterday was the 30th - and my 4th - annual Yamanakako Road Race, which featured 13,600 runners.

Yamanakako is one of the beautiful Fuji Five Lakes, and is one of the nicest runs I've ever done. Running the 13.9 km around the lake, on mostly flat terrain, and with lovely scenery the entire route, makes this run a true pleasure and, though yesterday was sort of chilly, I thoroughly enjoyed every single kilometre!

Map of the race:

View Yamanakako Road Race in a larger map

What made this race even more enjoyable was that we, very fortunately and at the very last minute, got a hotel very close to the race registration and starting line. We do live close enough, and have our own transportation, so could have gone up on the morning of the race. However - that would have required a very early start, sitting in traffic, hoping to get a parking place anywhere near the race area, and then waiting a few hours for the race to begin. The hotel turned the agony into a luxury.

To be honest, with Brian's foot pain, and my recent laziness, I was even debating about whether I would run or not this year, so I only finally booked the Hotel Seikei ( ?????) on Friday. I'm sure that they must have had a cancellation, as that is the only explanation for our good fortune in getting an affordable place, with a nice tatami room and a deep, hot shared bath, so very close to the race.

Although  Brian's Morton's Neuroma (damaged nerve in his foot), which still is not cured at all, vetoed his participation this year, he joined me anyway as moral support and cameraman. Having cozy accommodation, we made the most of our weekend and took the motorbikes up to the lake. The weather has been cool lately, and because the lake is in the mountains in Yamanashi Prefecture, the temperature was downright cold over the weekend. By the time we finished riding through  the sublime but icy fog and rain of the mountains, we were happy to arrive out the Seikei and take a hot bath to get the chill out of our bones before venturing out to for me to pre-register for the race and then for us to find some dinner.

As I mentioned, the race, though a chilly 8ºC, was really enjoyable. My time was about the same as last year - about 1h and 40 minutes or so (I'll know more when the results are posted). And, here's where the hotel really came in handy - not only were we permitted to keep our bikes in the hotel parking lot, eliminating any concern over looking for parking, but we were invited to come back after the race for a hot bath and a 1,000 yen buffet lunch.

[caption id="attachment_1727" align="alignnone" width="201" caption="Peeking into our room at Hotel Seikei. "][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1728" align="alignnone" width="201" caption="Chilly with Cloudy Skies"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1729" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Walking to the Race - Notice the 8 degrees!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1730" align="alignnone" width="201" caption="These races always have some people in costume..."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1731" align="alignnone" width="201" caption="And more dressup..."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1732" align="alignnone" width="201" caption="Heading to the Finish Line in my new lime green running jacket"][/caption]