Izumo Ekiden Opening Ceremonies

Time: 33:46
Distance: ~4.8 miles

It was the same routine this morning for breakfast. I was one of the first down to the hotel restaurant and we were all served the same dish of eggs, undercooked bacon, Texas toast, salad, soup, and yogurt. I continued with the heavy coffee drinking too. Also at breakfast we got to chat briefly with the Yamanashi Gakuin University manager. Last year their team placed second overall and they have a tiny Kenya dude named Cosmos Ondiba. It was also last year that Yamanashi gave the Ivy League guys a pair of sunglasses and two stuffed animals that sit atop my bed. Meagan affectionately calls them Franny and Freddy.

Our run was also at the same time where the team went out for an easy jog along the bike path. The pace on the way back picked up considerably, but I think we were all feeling fresh. The goal tomorrow, as with every Izumo Ekiden, is to get top 10. However, the highest the team has ever placed in 12th and we've done it twice.

The rest of the morning and early afternoon included a lot of lounging around. I watched more MTV music videos and checked up on sporting scores. Lunch was a buffet downstairs for several hours. The guys on the team stayed exceptionally long telling boring stories of glory days and it was great. There wasn't anything else planned other than the opening ceremony for the race.

At 4:00 pm we met down in the lobby and were introduced to our guide/interpreter for the race. They follow us around and make sure we don't mess things up on race day by not understanding the language. After we funneled into the building attached to the hotel where a theater holds the team and all the important officials. The old mayor, new mayor, delegates of the Japanese NCAA equivalent, and presidents of both Fuji TV and Fujitsu are there. This race is apparently watched by close to 20 million people in Japan. I'm not sure if something was lost in communication, but that's what Yoshi told us.

The opening ceremony includes a performance which has been drums in the past, but this year it was female dance group. It was a cool but sort of weird routine that incorporated some traditional music, but mostly pop stuff. The rest of the ceremony is speeches, the Japanese national anthem and all the teams parade across the main stage. It gives the Ivy League time to pick out which school has the best uniform in hopes of trading for their kits during the post-race banquet. Our Asics warm ups are not of the highest quality and the whole team was sweating bullets which made for a very uncomfortable final 15 minutes. Upon leaving the ceremony we had free time until dinner which was back down in the hotel lobby.

We kept things relatively simple tonight as most guys ate some sort of beef dish. I had a stew like dish with the most tender meat I've ever tasted along with miso soup and rice. Later a group of us walked in the direction of Jusco which is similar to our Target. We got distracted and went in a Family Mart store for some Pocari Sweat, ice cream and other treats. On the way back to the hotel we dropped in a shoe store called Shoes Love Land which had all sorts of interesting styles. Nobody bought anything, but they would definitely be some interesting conversation starters if you were to get a pair.