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You're listening to episode 249 
of the Marathon Running Podcast.

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In this episode, we're going to 
go over everything you need to 

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know for the upcoming Tokyo 
Marathon. 

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This is the Marathon Running 
Podcast by Letty and Ryan from 

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We Got the Runs. 
Join us in our running community

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for weekly content that is 
motivational, educational, and 

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inspirational, and that the 
Marathon Running Podcast take 

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you from the starting line to 
the finish line and beyond. 

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Konichiwa and welcome. 
My name is Letty. 

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I am the host of the Marathon 
Running Podcast. 

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Thank you so much for tuning in.
And today we're going to talk 

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about all things that have to do
with going to the Tokyo 

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Marathon, including your travel 
accommodations, where to stay, 

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Expo, race day, logistics, 
cultural stuff, hacks and 

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tricks, and things that I 
learned when I went to Tokyo 

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last year because there were 
some things that I wish I would 

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have known that would have just 
made everything a lot easier. 

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So we're going to hop into all 
of that for my listeners. 

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This is also available as a 
video on YouTube. 

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So all you have to do is go to 
YouTube and type in running 

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podcast. 
Normally we don't do the hybrid 

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of having a audio podcast also 
available as a visual, but since

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I have gone to Tokyo last year 
and completed the race, I 

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figured it would be nice to kind
of have some visuals for this. 

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So that's going to be there for 
you in case you want that. 

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So with that, let's hop into our
first thing. 

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My number one regret, which also
now is the number one tip is to 

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get yourself a Suika card. 
What is a Suika card? 

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A Suika card is an IC card that 
you can put money on that you 

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can then use for all the 
transportation and you can also 

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use it for some restaurants and 
other things in Japan that don't

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allow you to pay with credit 
cards. 

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The way you get yourself a Suika
card is do not buy it in the 

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store and do not download the 
app. 

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What you want gonna do is to 
open your Apple Wallet and add 

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it there. 
It's much easier to use and much

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easier to navigate. 
So basically you just put it in 

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your Apple Wallet and you put 
some money on it and then that 

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way you can just run it as if 
it's a debit card and it makes 

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life super easy. 
I made the mistake of not even 

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looking into this type of card 
because I just assumed, okay, 

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Japan always sees how modern it 
is. 

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So all I'm going to do is bring 
my credit card and bring an ATM 

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card like I usually do wherever 
I go and then deduct money from 

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my ATM machine and just have 
that available. 

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But news, I went to the most 
modern ramen place and I ordered

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everything of a computer and it 
was brought out to me and then I

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was trying to pay and it said 
that it was cash only or Suika 

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card. 
So then I went to an ATM and 

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even though I had selected 
English, I couldn't read what 

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was going on and the numbers 
were confusing me because it was

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late. 
It was literally the first day 

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I'd gotten there. 
And then I deducted, I don't 

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know ¥30,000 or however much 
money I deducted in my head it 

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wasn't more than $100. 
And it said approved. 

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And then nothing came out except
for a receipt in Japanese, and I

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couldn't read it. 
So then I was freaking out and I

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couldn't use it, and I didn't 
want to use it again. 

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Instead I borrowed money cash 
from a friend and live that way.

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And you don't want to do that. 
It just adds a lot of pressure 

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to yourself because then for 
future restaurant visits, now 

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you always have to ask if they 
take credit cards. 

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And a lot of them really don't, 
especially if you're into the 

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good dining where you want to 
try authentic foods and not just

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go to the chain restaurants. 
And a lot of those do take that 

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sweeter card. 
So that is really, really my 

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biggest tip to you. 
And it kind of goes along with 

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my tip #2 my tip #2 is get 
yourself the Google app. 

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Because if you have the Google 
app on your phone, even if you 

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have an iPhone, you can hold the
camera onto something and it'll 

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translate what it says into 
English. 

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I don't know if most of you guys
already do that. 

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I normally when I travel, I 
don't have that problem. 

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I am half German, half 
Ecuadorian. 

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So I speak Spanish and German 
and which if you read Spanish, 

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you can also read a little bit 
of Italian and a little bit of 

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French. 
And I usually make my way around

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really well. 
And when I was there, it was one

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of those, OK, I can't even guess
what it means because I can't 

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read the symbols. 
Obviously it's on me. 

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But just to make your own life 
easier, do yourself a favor, get

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that Google app and then hold 
the camera onto something and 

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it'll translate it. 
And that's just absolutely 

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beautiful. 
I downloaded it when I was there

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and it was it was smooth sailing
after that. 

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And with that, I want to go kind
of straight to my third tip, 

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which is do not be intimidated 
by the public transportation. 

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The public transportation might 
seem overwhelming because 

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everything is in Japanese and 
you can't read it and you're 

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going to think, oh, how am I 
going to ever find the path from

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here to there? 
Everything is organized so well.

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If you take one minute and look 
at the map of the metro and see 

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how usually the lines are 
organized by numbers going up 

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and going down in numbers, it's 
not a random stop all labeled 

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with numbers so it's super easy 
to navigate. 

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Take 2 seconds, you'll figure it
out. 

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Everything is on time, 
everything is clean, and 

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everything is gonna be okay. 
I wish you good luck with that 

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and enjoy it too because it's a 
whole experience in itself. 

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So moving on to more marathon 
style content, we're going to 

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talk about the Expo. 
The Expo is going to be at the 

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big site center, which is South 
of everything kind of close to 

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the water. 
And that's going to be open on 

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Thursday and Friday from 8:50 
and Saturday from 5:50. 

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And brace yourself because the 
Expo gets really, really busy 

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and there will be lines. 
So if you want to get in line 

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and wait early, kind of look at 
it as a Black Friday event and 

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then you got to run. 
When I went last year, 

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everything was pretty crazy at 
the Expo because when you're in 

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those stores, it literally was 
people running around holding 

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stuff up, yelling sizes and 
almost like it's free stuff and 

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they're trying to hand it out. 
There was stuff on the floor 

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that was discarded that people 
tried on. 

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It didn't fit them. 
It got really, really messy. 

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So I know that Japan is usually 
organized, but when it comes to 

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that Expo, it's just, I think 
it's just a matter of demand. 

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And also it's not Japanese 
people trampling the stuff, it's

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all of us. 
So there goes that. 

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They probably think the Expo is 
crazy too. 

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When it comes to finish your 
T-shirts, finish your T-shirts, 

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you have to also pre-order and 
you do that when you register 

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and otherwise you really can't 
get a T-shirt. 

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And that's unfortunate. 
However, there is a consolation 

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price. 
If you do not get AT shirt, you 

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will get all of you will get 
this beautiful poncho at the end

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of the race. 
And this poncho is something 

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else. 
It's basically almost like a 

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hooded towel type of rope. 
It's very thin, but it's 

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absolutely beautiful. 
Now, moving on to race day 

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logistics, Your best friend is 
the participant's guide that the

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Tokyo Marathon will e-mail you 
or maybe already has emailed 

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you. 
It's a PDF booklet and I highly,

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highly, highly recommend 
downloading it, especially if 

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you're a person that is anxious.
So that way you can read it from

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the front to the back twice 
while you're traveling there and

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then you're really familiar with
everything that is happening 

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when you get there. 
In there you will find things 

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such as what is your starting 
gate? 

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Where is your starting corral? 
You will find subway exits to 

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take if you're coming from 
north-south, east or West. 

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It has so much information in 
there that people that I know 

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even took dry runs, meaning that
they did the way from their 

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hotel to the starting line the 
day before just so they could 

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know and be familiar with where 
to exit. 

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However, this is a big marathon,
so highly likely if you're 

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travelling to Shinjuku using any
kind of subway on the morning 

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of, you will not be the only 
marathoner on the train. 

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People like me who are not 
anxious and probably should be 

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more anxious, what we do is we 
just get into the train and 

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follow everyone else that looks 
like a marathoner because 

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usually there really is a crowd.
So there is no reason to freak 

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out about it. 
But there's just a tip 

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personally from me to you. 
But again, everything is going 

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to be in that booklet that you 
really definitely want to read, 

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including starting corals and 
opening times of those corals. 

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The corals will open at 7:00. 
So even if you were to get there

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at 5:00, you're just going to 
wait in front of them. 

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That's a beauty about the Tokyo 
Marathon. 

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It doesn't start super early. 
The race doesn't start until 

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9:10 AM and you're not going to 
be starting the race any earlier

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if you write at the place 
earlier. 

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But at the same time, it's still
important to give yourself ample

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of time because you are gonna 
have to go through the security 

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check and you also are gonna 
have to find everything. 

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So give yourself time for that. 
And then you also may want to 

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use the restroom because I know 
that's we as runners love doing 

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before races and you wanna have 
time for that because I remember

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standing in line for about 30 
minutes just to use the 

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restroom, which in the end was 
fine because I was just killing 

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time anyway. 
The deadline to enter the 

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starting area is 845, and the 
deadline to enter the coral 

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assigned to you is 855. 
So keep that in mind in that 

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starting area you're going to be
able to find your bag, check 

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that you pre purchased and you 
will find the truck that has 

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your number on it. 
It's super easy. 

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Obviously, you're going to use 
the bag that was given to you at

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the Tokyo Expo, and that's a 
very, very smooth process. 

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Now one more thing about the 
starting area. 

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You are not allowed to bring in 
liquids into that area because 

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who knows what's in those 
liquids and that's just a safety

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rule. 
So remember that you cannot 

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bring big water bottles. 
What you can bring, however, is 

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any liquids under 250mm. 
So that's not a lot, but you can

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bring those in. 
In Japan, they sell a ton of 

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these pouches and pouch drinks. 
And if you try them you might 

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like them. 
I ended up really liking them 

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and purchasing a lot of them. 
There were they are under 250 

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milliliters and also maybe tiny 
water bottles are under 250mm. 

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Keep in mind that in Japan 
littering is strictly 

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prohibited, so you're going to 
have to carry all your trash 

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with you until you find a place 
that you can toss the trash. 

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There are a few very few trash 
cans in the starting area, so 

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keep that in mind and obviously,
if you have your gear check bag,

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you can always put your own 
trash in there and then dispose 

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of it later. 
Now, Speaking of gear check, 

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you're going to use the gear 
check bag that was given to you 

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at the Expo along with the 
sticker that has your truck 

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number on it. 
It's very, very smooth process. 

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But of course, you must have 
purchased the gear check prior 

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to signing up for the marathon. 
So just make sure that that's 

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you so you can actually bring 
that with you. 

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So let's talk about the course 
of the marathon. 

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The course of the marathon is 
one that is very fast and very 

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flat. 
Benson Caputo last year ran A2O2

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on that course. 
So that tells you right away 

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that this is a fast course for 
the elites as well As for us 

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because we're running on the 
same course. 

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The course is 4 miles of a very 
slight downhill, which I didn't 

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feel, I felt like it was just 
the hype of running the Tokyo 

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Marathon. 
But it is actually a tiny bit of

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downhill. 
It's probably 40 meters spread 

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out over the 1st 5 miles or so 
ish and then the rest is very 

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very flat so that makes it a 
fast course. 

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Also, since the weather in March
is usually a little bit cooler, 

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this could set you up for real 
good PR. 

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And whether you are there to PR 
or finish, do yourself a favor 

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and go back to that handbook 
where you can see where the 8 

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stations and restrooms are. 
There are 8 stations all over 

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the course. 
I think it's about every 5 

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kilometers with sports drinks 
and all kinds of treats. 

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The sports drinks that they use 
at the Tokyo Marathon, it's a 

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drink called Pukare Sweat. 
I tried Pukari Sweat right when 

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I flew into Tokyo at a grocery 
store. 

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I just bought a big bottle 
because I wanted to familiarize 

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myself with it because I will 
not carry water during my runs. 

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And I was very pleasantly 
surprised once I got over the 

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name Sweat because when you're 
drinking Sweat, it just sounds 

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like you're going to drink this 
nasty, salty substance off of 

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someone's body. 
I didn't like the name that they

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call it Sweat. 
But anyway, once I got over 

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that, I actually tried the drink
and I find it very, very 

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delicious. 
I have no idea what the 

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ingredients are because at the 
time when I purchased it, I 

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didn't have the Google app that 
could tell me what it is. 

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At the same time, I also didn't 
want to care. 

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I just wanted to enjoy that 
drink because I wasn't going to 

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change the marathon and have 
them offer me a different drink 

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anyway. 
So I got familiar rice with the 

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drink and I luckily liked it. 
And there's also other things 

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that they give you on the 
course, but I was carrying my 

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own gel so I wasn't gonna mess 
with that. 

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But Pukari sweat is a very 
delicious beverage. 

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00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:04,760
And along with that consumption,
obviously you also want to 

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familiarize yourself with where 
the restrooms are. 

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00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:08,960
And here's the thing about the 
restrooms. 

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The restrooms are a little bit 
different. 

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There's usually not a lot of 
porta potties on the course. 

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00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:18,840
The restrooms are sometimes off 
the course and you will see 

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00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:23,200
volunteers holding up signs 
saying the restroom is 200 

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00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:26,840
meters this way off the course. 
So that's really interesting 

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00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:31,480
because you are used to just 
going doing your business on the

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course in the porta potty and 
there you can't do it. 

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So you might actually lose time.
I had a friend that said he 

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walked almost a half a kilometer
to a restroom. 

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00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:46,040
So it's always important to 
familiarize yourself with those 

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00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:49,880
sorts of maps or when you if you
don't want to do that, you can 

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00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:53,000
just run and then see what 
signage they are holding up. 

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How far are the restrooms off 
the course? 

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00:14:55,520 --> 00:14:58,920
Hopefully at the time that you 
have to go, you can just go to a

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00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:01,240
restroom that is just right 
there. 

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00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:03,960
And since we're talking 
restrooms, let me just throw in 

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00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:07,240
and talk about the restrooms at 
the starting area, which I 

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00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:10,240
forgot. 
There are plenty of restrooms in

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00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:13,240
the starting area. 
Last but definitely not least, 

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let's talk about the strict time
limit of the Tokyo Marathon. 

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The Tokyo Marathon is a race 
that must be completed within 

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00:15:21,800 --> 00:15:25,040
seven hours and that's seven 
hours gun time. 

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What does gun time mean? 
Gun time means that the clock 

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starts ticking as soon as the 
race starts, which means 

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something different for 
everybody, right? 

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If you are in a corral further 
up, then you start running your 

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race sooner than somebody does. 
That is in a later corral. 

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I was very lucky that I was in a
very early corral. 

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I had a three O 9 marathon 
qualifying time that got me in 

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one of the earliest corrals and 
even I had to wait 20 minutes to

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start. 
So that means that by the time 

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the race starts at 9:10, if I 
cross the starting line at 9:30,

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I already only have six hours 
and 40 minutes to finish this 

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race. 
And so if you're in further 

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00:16:09,840 --> 00:16:13,320
corrals in the back, then you 
even have less time to finish 

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00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:16,680
this race, which makes this race
so difficult for many people. 

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00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:18,640
So what does that mean for us 
runners? 

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00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:22,840
It means that we have to 
strategize and figure out how to

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00:16:23,040 --> 00:16:27,840
best run this race, Best paste 
this race in order to beat all 

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00:16:27,920 --> 00:16:30,360
the cut off points. 
There are cut off points that 

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00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:32,960
have been published that are as 
follows. 

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00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:37,920
You have to be past the 4.9 
kilometer checkpoint by 10:25 

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00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:43,160
AM, the 11.1 kilometer 
checkpoint by 11:10 AM, the 

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00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:49,880
15.4km checkpoint by 11:55 AM, 
the 20.9 kilometer checkpoint 

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00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:55,960
which is halfway by 12:25 PM, 
the 24.7 kilometer checkpoint by

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00:16:55,960 --> 00:17:02,480
1:20 PM or 1320, the 29.2 
kilometer checkpoint by 2:00 PM,

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00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:09,839
the 33.5 kilometer checkpoint by
2:35 PM, the 37.8km checkpoint 

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00:17:09,839 --> 00:17:12,960
by 3:15 PM. 
And you have to have finished 

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00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:16,720
the race by 4:10 PM for it to 
count. 

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00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:21,040
If you want my personal opinion 
about this whole 7 hour race, I 

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00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:26,160
have no idea why they have to 
put such a strict gunpoint time 

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00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:30,280
limit for a race, especially 
given that so many people travel

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00:17:30,280 --> 00:17:32,200
and spend a lot of money to be 
there. 

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00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:35,640
I wish that we could change that
somehow. 

300
00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:39,040
Just because you're already 
having the roads closed, what's 

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00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:42,480
another hour or two? 
That's my personal opinion on 

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00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:44,080
that. 
And I hope that many people 

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00:17:44,080 --> 00:17:47,160
voice their concerns to the 
Tokyo Marathon that eventually 

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00:17:47,160 --> 00:17:51,000
they will change that. 
All right, highly likely you've 

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00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:52,520
already booked your plane, 
right? 

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00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:55,440
I hope you have, as well as your
accommodation. 

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00:17:55,440 --> 00:17:58,800
So this is for the future 
viewers slash listeners. 

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00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:01,680
If you are going to Tokyo, 
you're going to face the dilemma

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00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:06,880
what airport to fly in. 
There is Haneda and Narita and 

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00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:10,720
you can pick. 
Haneda is more close to the 

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00:18:10,720 --> 00:18:14,600
center of Tokyo. 
It's SW whereas Narita is 

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00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:17,320
outside of Tokyo and you're 
going to need a little bit of a 

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00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:21,680
longer travel into Tokyo. 
But here is the good news about 

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00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:25,240
Tokyo and Japan in general. 
The railway and public 

315
00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:28,880
transportation is impeccable so 
you should not have any 

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00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:32,280
hesitation picking whatever 
works best for you, your budget,

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00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:35,880
or what you want to see how much
time you are giving yourself 

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00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:40,360
prior and after the race. 
So I wouldn't really hesitate. 

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00:18:40,560 --> 00:18:44,960
I personally flew into Hanita. 
I shop for my flights on Expedia

320
00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:47,080
because I try to get the best 
rates on there. 

321
00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:50,440
I'm not really loyal to any 
airline, so Hanita was worked 

322
00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:53,560
out for me, but I wouldn't have 
hesitated going to Narita 

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00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:55,920
because I know that the 
transportation in Tokyo is just 

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00:18:55,920 --> 00:18:57,520
really great. 
So that's that. 

325
00:18:58,040 --> 00:19:02,640
As for accommodations, like with
any marathons, I always dwell on

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00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:06,000
where do I want to stay. 
I do a lot of marathon trips as 

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00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:08,720
a solo traveller. 
My husband stays home with the 

328
00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:12,440
kids until they're bigger or 
until it's in the destination 

329
00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:15,520
that he probably wants to go to,
such as Hawaii or California. 

330
00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:19,600
But anyway, so I do a lot of 
travelling solo, so I usually 

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00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:23,280
like to stay in the area where 
there's a lot of stuff going on.

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00:19:23,400 --> 00:19:27,320
For example, if you go to Boston
and you run the Boston Marathon,

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00:19:27,600 --> 00:19:31,600
all of the Commons, which is the
area where the race ends, turns 

334
00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:35,920
into this village. 
So literally within a mile 

335
00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:38,520
radius. 
Everyone that you see is also a 

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00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:42,200
runner, which is very uplifting.
And you know you're going to see

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00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:45,200
all your friends from other 
places in the same areas. 

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00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:48,760
Usually in Boston, for example, 
they have Fan Fest and they have

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00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:51,000
other events. 
They have pop up stores and 

340
00:19:51,360 --> 00:19:55,000
sales for certain brands that 
are hosting stuff, not just at 

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00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:57,520
the Expo. 
Shakeout runs, all kinds of 

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00:19:57,520 --> 00:20:00,200
stuff. 
So normally for that type of 

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00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:03,640
travel, I always want to find 
that hub where I can see all the

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00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:05,720
runners. 
With Tokyo, it's a little bit 

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00:20:05,720 --> 00:20:07,360
different. 
I was trying to figure out if 

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00:20:07,360 --> 00:20:09,640
there was such a hub and there 
is not. 

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00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:14,640
The Tokyo Marathon starts at 
Shinjuku, which is northwest of 

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00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:19,160
Tokyo and ends in Tokyo kind of 
smack in the center by Imperial 

349
00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:22,960
Palace, which is also. 
By the Tokyo train station so 

350
00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:26,800
normally also as a runner you 
want to maybe stay closer to the

351
00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:30,480
starting line or finish line 
depending on your preference I'm

352
00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:34,240
usually a finish line type of 
person because I get frozen cold

353
00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:37,600
right after I'm done running So 
my preference would have been to

354
00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:41,520
stay at the Tokyo train station 
Imperial Palace area. 

355
00:20:41,680 --> 00:20:45,720
But I was also very tempted to 
stay at Shinjuku solely because 

356
00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:48,760
I knew I was going to be going 
to the press conference and 

357
00:20:48,760 --> 00:20:51,200
other events. 
So because of that I ended up 

358
00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:56,320
picking a hotel in Shinjuku. 
Now, in retrospect, I kind of 

359
00:20:56,320 --> 00:20:58,880
wish I would have just stayed at
the train station because it was

360
00:20:58,880 --> 00:21:02,200
more central to sightseeing. 
And given that the Tokyo 

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00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:06,400
Marathon doesn't start until 
9:00, and coming from the US, 

362
00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:09,600
you have that jet lag that you 
carry with you for a while. 

363
00:21:10,120 --> 00:21:12,840
You're going to be up on race 
day morning early anyway. 

364
00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:15,400
And with the amazing 
transportation that exists in 

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00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:19,720
Tokyo, you could have just taken
a train to Shinjuku. 

366
00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:24,160
So either way, though Shinjuku 
was not a disappointment by any 

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00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:25,800
means. 
It was also very awesome. 

368
00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:29,280
I also ran into a lot of runners
there, so it was all good. 

369
00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:32,680
I'm just saying from a 
sightseeing perspective or point

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00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:35,440
of view, it would have been 
maybe better to stay closer to 

371
00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:38,280
the central train station 
because I would have been going 

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00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:41,920
to a lot more different places, 
but that's that. 

373
00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:44,320
Now let's talk about the type of
accommodation. 

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00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:46,200
Obviously, if you're going 
through a tour group, which a 

375
00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:48,920
lot of you guys are, you're 
going to be good, you're going 

376
00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:51,480
to be in good hands and you know
what to expect. 

377
00:21:51,880 --> 00:21:55,360
If you are just booking a hotel 
room like Iowa's and you're 

378
00:21:55,360 --> 00:21:59,000
booking it through Expedia, you 
can see wherever you book your 

379
00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:03,080
room, what the square footage or
the square meters size of your 

380
00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:06,120
room are going to be. 
I have a lot of American friends

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00:22:06,120 --> 00:22:09,640
that prefer staying in American 
hotels, meaning they just want 

382
00:22:09,640 --> 00:22:12,520
more space. 
So with that, you can just with 

383
00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:15,240
the bigger names that are 
usually available in bigger 

384
00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:18,520
cities as well, including Tokyo,
or if you're like me and you 

385
00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:22,120
kind of want a more local 
experience and live like the 

386
00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:26,600
people live in the actual 
country, then you just book 

387
00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:29,240
another hotel. 
I booked a Japanese hotel. 

388
00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:32,720
My bet was tiny. 
The room was tiny, the food was 

389
00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:35,760
definitely Japanese, but it was 
All in all really wonderful 

390
00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:38,680
experience. 
And that's just a preference 

391
00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:42,600
thing, but it's all out there. 
Of course, there's also Airbnb's

392
00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:45,440
out there, but there's also 
different websites that you 

393
00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:47,920
might not be aware of. 
So my advice would be just to go

394
00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:50,760
to a website like TripAdvisor 
and see what other travelers 

395
00:22:50,760 --> 00:22:55,920
have to say if they use Airbnb 
or if they have other things to 

396
00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:57,640
say if there's alternative 
websites. 

397
00:22:57,880 --> 00:23:02,120
Also please be cautious because 
we know in the US at least, if 

398
00:23:02,120 --> 00:23:06,320
you are booking Airbnbs or VRBOS
in a city of a marathon where 

399
00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:09,480
there is an influx on the 
weekend on pricing, a lot of 

400
00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:12,920
times hosts unfortunately cancel
their accommodations because 

401
00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:16,320
they know they can get paid more
by other travellers closer to 

402
00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:19,560
the dates and then you as a 
traveller are just kind of stuck

403
00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:21,840
without any type of 
accommodation. 

404
00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:25,120
So just be aware of that. 
Alright, so let's talk about the

405
00:23:25,120 --> 00:23:28,320
timing of your travel. 
Obviously, if this is going to 

406
00:23:28,320 --> 00:23:31,360
be an A race for you and you're 
really trying to do well and 

407
00:23:31,360 --> 00:23:34,520
you're not just trying to get a 
marathon under your belt, then 

408
00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:36,600
it's important that you get 
enough rest. 

409
00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:39,920
And that rest can be difficult 
to get if you are flying to a 

410
00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:42,640
different time zone where you're
going to be potentially jet 

411
00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:44,400
lagged. 
I've had such an experience 

412
00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:47,440
myself when I went to Paris for 
the Paris Marathon and I was 

413
00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:50,680
just dead on a race day because 
I'd only gotten there two or 

414
00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:53,600
three days beforehand and it was
just literally killing me. 

415
00:23:53,920 --> 00:23:57,480
But with that said, you book 
your accommodation this far as 

416
00:23:57,480 --> 00:24:00,560
soon as your schedule allows. 
So that way you can kind of get 

417
00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:02,840
used to the tune. 
A couple tips that I have for 

418
00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:07,600
jet lag is to actually stay 
awake the first day and trying 

419
00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:09,880
to go to bed at the same time 
They do. 

420
00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:13,520
That has worked wonders in 
recent trips, but sometimes it 

421
00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:16,160
just doesn't work and that's 
really just unfortunate. 

422
00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:20,240
Another thing is that if you are
already in Japan and you come 

423
00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:23,960
from a far place such as the 
United States, then please make 

424
00:24:23,960 --> 00:24:27,520
sure that you give yourself 
enough time to also travel and 

425
00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:30,600
sightsee a little bit. 
I didn't do that and I almost 

426
00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:32,600
regret it. 
I don't regret it because I 

427
00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:35,280
wanted to see my family, but I 
do regret it because I know 

428
00:24:35,280 --> 00:24:38,160
there's so many things that I 
could have seen and I didn't. 

429
00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:41,680
So just take that as a piece of 
advice. 

430
00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:45,000
All right, that is all I have 
got for you guys today. 

431
00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:49,840
Hopefully, it was enough to get 
you guys excited and ready for 

432
00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:52,320
Tokyo. 
Hopefully you found some helpful

433
00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:55,560
tidbits in there. 
Again, I invite you to check out

434
00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:59,360
our YouTube video where we have 
some visuals on this and 

435
00:24:59,360 --> 00:25:01,280
subscribe. 
I'm always looking for more 

436
00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:04,680
subscribers because that helps 
the growth of not just my 

437
00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:07,480
YouTube channel, but our podcast
channel as well. 

438
00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:11,360
Thank you so much for tuning in 
and until next time, have a good

439
00:25:11,360 --> 00:25:17,880
week of running. 
Thanks for tuning in. 

440
00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:21,000
For more information and 
marathon running news, please 

441
00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:24,840
head to 
www.marathonrunningpodcast.com 

442
00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:26,640
and we'll be back next week.