Track Race, Post-Race Banquet and Karaoke

The ekiden race ended about 3:30 in the afternoon and is followed by the closing ceremony. All the teams line up in the big dome and awards are presented to the top 3 teams, top runners from each leg and the other 5 teams that comprise the top 8. As usual, the Ivy League Select Team was not featured in the award ceremony. We finished 15th out of 22 teams and were just over 8 minutes behind the winners. Waseda set the course record running 2:10:05 for 44.5 kilometers. It helps when 4 of the 6 legs are won by a runner from the same school.

We left the Izumo dome and traveled back to the stadium where two heats of 5ks were being run. I was able to jog a few more minutes while Bobby and Paul warmed up. They ran in the second heat and crossed the line in just under 15 minutes and 15:10 respectively. The first heat was the top heat, and a battle up front took place as the leaders just dipped under 14:00 flat. We showered up and put on casual clothes before heading off to the winery where the banquet takes place.

The first time I came to Japan the banquet, from what I can remember, was an absolute blast. However, the evening ended early for Ben Stern and I because we were a little too aggressive with the "ikii" (sp?). Last year the party didn't get out of hand enough as some of the guys were in serious training blocks and didn't let loose. This year the plan was to find a happy medium.

We sat in the middle of the room instead at the front this year. There were also more Japanese people around that were divided amongst the team. I'm not fully sure who they were but they all played roles in getting us to Izumo. They also were sure to keep our Asahi cups full and food cooking on the grill. Ben, Johnny Photogs, Frank and Robert (our Irish translator) all sat the same table which was a great group.

There is a stage outside where each team gets up and does some sort of song, dance or combination of the two. The two "best" songs of the night included cheerleaders and some dude who yelled, waved his arms and flexed constantly. It was one of the weirder moments of the trip and none of the guys could figure out what was going on. The second best performance was a Japanese radish dance that involved a huge crew of athletes waving around giant radishes. It made no sense and I'm not sure if it was supposed to. While most schools perform their fight song or vegetable dance, the Ivy League team doesn't have anything special to give that is common for all of us. In the past we all just get on stage and dance around like a bunch of idiots to a song that everyone knows. This year we invited a couple guys from the Waseda squad up with us to sing the national anthem. It without a doubt sounded terrible, but it was less painful than a dance.

The rest of the banquet turned to drinking, trading clothes and not causing an international incident. We walked around with bottles of Asahi and offered its contents to anyone who had an empty cup. The other teams would return the favor and then we would all take pictures together. I hope to post some at a later date but have none at this time. I ended up trading a hat for a Chukyo University shirt while other guys did the same. I think Paul managed to snag a Toyo University jacket which was the biggest win for the evening. The beer ran out earlier than it should have which meant the party was winding down and it was back to the hotel to drop our stuff.

The guys weren't ready to call it a night so we grabbed Robert (Irish translator) and headed off to find the nightlife in town. We hit up No. 1 Bar and Salsa, but both places were deserted. We still had a fun time and Robert showed us his karaoke singing skills. The performance of the night had to be when Bobby sang something by Creed. He made a spot on impression of whatshisturd's voice which made a terrible song hilarious. We called it a night around 12:30 am with everyone saying sayonara to Mike who left early the next morning.