It’s been such a long time since I last blogged and with the never-ending pile of work that makes finding time to blog so difficult, I hope that I can strike a fine balance in the months to come.
Thankfully, I was able to get my mind away from work over the weekends at the Mizuno Ekiden 2017 and I had a great time catching up with my friends. Though my running pace was quite far off from what I had planned, I was glad that I finished and survived the race.
Compared to previous editions of the Mizuno Ekiden, I personally enjoyed this year’s edition because the race route was much simpler and flatter. The weather was also quite bearable and I must say, the race volunteers did a great job of paving the way for the runners (especially at the Jubilee Bridge and One Fullerton where there were many visitors). The cashless transactions at the various F&B booths also made things more convenient!
I also feel that there are room for improvements and some areas of consideration for the race organisers are:
- Shifting the race flag-off time to an earlier time
I’m not sure how many people would be in favour of such an arrangement but I would think that an earlier race flag-off time (for teams participating in the full marathon) might be more ideal.
- More Japanese F&B options
The F&B options at this year’s Mizuno Ekiden 2017 are very limited. Although there’s Hokkaido Green Tea Ice-Cream, Ramen, Sushi, Suntory Beer and Takoyaki, I’m pretty sure Japanese cuisine in general has so much more to offer than just those which I have mentioned!
- A More Efficient Way of Tracking Team Mates’ Location
The tracking system that’s used at the Mizuno Ekiden is pretty complex to understand and most of the time, majority of the runners find themselves in the transition pen way too early, thus crowding up the area even before their team mates arrive for the changeover.
Now that all is said and done, this shouldn’t discount the many new improvements that the race organiser had made for this year’s race and I believe next year’s race will be an even better one!
Overall, I am glad that my team mates and I enjoyed the race and we certainly look forward to next year’s edition of the Mizuno Ekiden!
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