I am signed up for Ironman Japan South Hokkaido and wondered if anyone else is . . . Thinking we might compare notes. I’m trying to arrange my travel, hotel, getting my bike there, etc. I signed up because thought I’d come a bit full circle in triathlon. If you have the time and want to read, here is my explanation of why I signed up:
When I was in college (long, long, long ago), I double majored in chemistry and Japanese. I went to Japan during the summer of 1992 for an intensive language program. It just so happened to be next to Lake Biwa. I did some translation and met some of the English-speaking athletes there. I also volunteered at the finish line, and I had the very lucky opportunity to be right there as Paula Newby-Fraser won. Anyway, I had run for a few years for fun already, and I thought it was an amazing sport. (Of course, having just watched PNF make it look so easy!) I was in Japan as a summer intern at Sumitomo Metals Basic R&D the next year in a different area of Japan. I did my first multisport race in 1993 when I was back in the US and got hooked. I didn’t do a full Ironman until 2008. I hit 9 fulls and then the last few years have been pretty difficult; my husband passed away last year after a very heroic (and horrific) 5-year cancer battle. I don’t quite have that burning desire to do Ironmans anymore, and I was always a very crappy triathlete because it always took a backseat to the rest of life. I thought it would be fitting if my interest started in Japan and I did my last race there. Anyway, I have always wanted to go back to Japan, life never quite aligned between getting a PhD, working for the USG in other zones of the world not so conducive to training (like Iraq), having a kid, being a caregiver . . . and then the race disappeared for a while. So, I grabbed a slot as soon as it was announced. Mentally, after my husband’s death, I wasn’t in a great place, either, so it is giving me something to look forward to.
For fulls, I have done IMWI a few times, IM Lake Tahoe, IM Lake Placid, IM Boulder a few times. I was at IM St. George the Year of the Great Waves and finished the swim, but had gut issues from all the water swallowed and didn’t finish there. I tend to like races that get canceled! I used to like hills, but I am old and fat now, so I think the flat course will suit me just fine.
Cyndi
Very cool story about Lake Biwa 1992.
Sorry about the passing of your husband. Have a great race in Hokkaido. I have been to Japan 12 times of so on biz and always wanted to race there, but I am pretty sure my IM days are over. For a short while, I was eyeing the “nearby” 70.3 Saipan…which went from Spain to Germany to Japan and finally USA when they got Northern Marianas Islands they were in range of Japanese mainland (really that flipped WW2)…history aside, it looked like a cool race, but I never got out there. The other Japanese 70.3 venues did not appeal to me but Hokkaido does, but alas it is only a full IM!!!
Here is the historical link to 70.3 Saipan:
https://www.ironman.com/im703-saipan