Internet access is hard to come by so I will have to keep this brief. Race went ok I suppose considering the course, weather, hamstring, and basic laziness since SGM. Finished 8th overall with a 1:12:46 and with that I won a bag of potatoes. The marathoners had be miserable because there was a downpour for the entire race and about 45 degrees. The winner of the half ran an amazing time for the course (1:07:00) and he walked away with not only potatoes, but rice and onions. Lucky guy. Iain Hunter also ran a great race and finished 5th in a 1:10:45. Amber Green finished second in the women's race in ~1:25. My time would have put me in the top 3 or at least the top 5 for most years so I guess the competition was a bit tougher this year. I started off with a pack of 5 but they dropped me slowly as we started up the canyon. Iain passed me shortly thereafter and for the rest of the race and battled with a couple of young guys on a local team. I ended up beating one but the other guy who was only 18 out kicked me at the finish. More memorable than the race was the pre race festivities which included calisthenics and food vendors serving steak and fish on a stick, sausages and brats, ramen soup, and my favorites, bread with whip cream and bananas. Amazingly I saw several of the runners eating the fish and steak skewers...which makes me wonder how they felt at mile 13. Overall Japan has been a great experience. The culture is very different than ours in many ways, although you can sense that western culture, for better or for worse, has influenced the economy and younger generations of late. Rainy finish 
Iain at the finish 
Amber at the finish 
These were the bento boxes available before the race. The thought of eating fried prawns before a race didn't sound appealing to me. 
Pre race beverages, meat skewers and calisthenics 
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