Michikusa Dragon 50k!
みちくさDRAGONマラニック (Michikusa Dragon Maranic) - 11 Feb 2024
Background
In the Autumn/Winter marathon season of 2023 I ran two marathons. I ran the Yokohama marathon at the end of October where I got my overall marathon PB, and I ran the Shonan International Marathon at the beginning of December (with a cold) and got a new Shonan International Marathon PB. Both of these races were hard but the Shonan International Marathon was pretty miserable in some areas.
There were a few times during those runs where I thought that I wasn’t enjoying the experience and started cursing myself for signing up for these things. Ever since Shonan 2023 I have been saying to myself that I want to run in a long event that I can just enjoy without worrying about my time. Thankfully events like that exist around here.
In 2021 I ran my first ever ultramarathon around the Miura Peninsula (report here) with the Michikusa group. This group organizes a lot of events that focus on achievable ultramarathons and long distance fun runs. In December I noticed that the Michikusa Group was organizing a 50km “Maranic” (Marathon + Picnic = Maranic) for the Year of the Dragon (held right around Chinese New Year). The event was set to start in 逗子 (Zushi) (I have a friend that lives in Zushi who has never done an ultra before) and end in 浦賀 (Uraga), passing through three shrines in the process (where we could pray for luck in the coming year). This whole event seemed like a good opportunity to run a fun event, do an equipment test for my upcoming event in April (described here), get a good long run in during February, and to introduce my friend to the world of ultra.
Note: I have a few paid subscribers to this blog. It was thanks to their generous support that I was able to enter this event. So thank you especially to my paid supporters.
Race day!
On February 11th I arrived bright and early at JR Zushi, met my friend then went to the start point at Zushi Beach. There were only 29 people in this event and the atmosphere was very relaxed. We had a briefing at the beach about the two aid stations (one at 立石海岸 (Tateishi Kaigan) and one at 海南神社 (Kainan Shrine)), the shrines we would stop at that represented check points (森戸神社 (Morito Shrine), 海南神社 (Kainan Shrine), and 叶神社 (Kano Shrine)), and the fact that from Kainan Shrine to Miura Beach there was pretty much no civilization, so we need to make sure to get supplies before we enter an area of nothing but farmland.
We took a group picture and then set off at 8:30 for a casual 50k jog around the Miura Peninsula. (I’m going to say ‘we’ for the duration of this report because I was running with my friend (the only other foreigner in the picture).
Checkpoint 1: 森戸神社 (Morito Shrine)
The first checkpoint was 3km in at 森戸神社 (Morito Shrine). Being only 3km into the run meant that I was still feeling very fresh at this point. This was a charming shrine just next to the sea. I’d be happy to visit here again some day. A quick prayer for luck and we were on to the next checkpoint.
On the way to the first aid station at 8km I noticed a 鳥居 (Torii) gate out in the the sea. I believe this gate is part of the shrine we just visited. On a clear day this would have been a perfect shot of Mt Fuji, but it was a bit cloudy on the day. Still, it was a stunning view.
We stopped briefly at the aid station at 8km to refuel with the standard affair of fruit salad and sports drink/cola then we were off to the next checkpoint at 27km. The distance between checkpoints suddenly escalated.
Checkpoint 2: 海南神社 (Kainan Shrine)
Most of this run was running up and down hills near the coast. There was almost no signage for this so I was relying on my GPS and very rough local knowledge to get around. There were a lot of hills but it was generally easy running. My friend and I had a good chat as we went along (which was great for maintaining a conversational pace and not going too fast). We made one quick convenience store stop on the way (I like to stay well hydrated on these things) and it was off to the checkpoint.
海南神社 (Kainan Shrine) was a bit of a highlight for me on a previous ultramarathon I did. I really like the building and it’s in quite a nice area. Since we were about 27km in we were over half way through and needed a bit of a boost. At the aid station I must have eaten about 20 梅干し (umeboshi : pickled plums), along with downing a lot of sports drink/cola.
We went to the shrine, prayed, took a few pictures, then set off.
Before heading out properly we went to a convenience store to stock up because there was going to be nothing for the next 10km between there and Mirua Beach. We spent about 10 minutes eating, drinking, and chatting with some of the locals that were asking about our race numbers. I knew I was going to burn a lot of calories during this ultra so I didn’t have a problem having an ice cream break. I was definitely enjoying this event. On to the next checkpoint at 48km!
Checkpoint 3: 叶神社 (Kano Shrine)
The next 10km, as expected, had nothing but hills, the occasional marina, and cabbages. There was the occasional vending machine here and there but it was pretty sparse. We kept jogging along to Miura Beach where we started to see a bit more civilization. By around this point we had crossed the furthest distance my friend had ever run, so we were pushing into new territory. His legs were burning a bit but I assured him he would definitely run to the end with a little encouragement.
Brief stop at a convenience store and we had about 10km to go.
The last 10km were very familiar to me because I’d run through the area several times during other events. The Miura area is very hilly but that’s just the charm of the area.
As we approached 叶神社 (Kano Shrine) a volunteer pointed us in the direction of a building on top of a staircase. I was feeling fine at this point but it did seem like a bit of a cruel design of the event to have the shrine with the stairs at the end.
This shrine had a bit more of a natural dragon motif going than the other shrines we visited. This was very appropriate for the year of the dragon so I quite enjoyed hanging around at the entrance with a little dragon as my friend hobbled down the stairs.
Finish!
The final stretch was only about 2km but the area was a little confusing. We picked up a few stragglers on the way who also were a bit lost and headed to Cool Clan Uraga. I still had a lot of power in my legs left (which is good considering I’ll be running a 118km ultra in April) so I manage to do a sprint finish.
After the event
Immediately after the event we were given a drink ticket and a few envelopes containing the 三社詣り特製 御朱印 (San-sha mairi tokusei goshuin). Each shrine we visited that day gave a lucky stamp with a dragon motif and collecting these represented a sort of mini pilgrimage. After the event I received a somewhat eccentric completion certificate with no completion time on it (as was the nature of the event). I included pictures of these items below:
I wanted to be sure that I’d be able to collect data for the event this time after my watch malfunctioned at the Shonan International Marathon last year. I took data using my watch using settings where it would not connect to my phone and try to install an update and I also used my phone GPS as a backup. (I had a battery pack to test as well, which worked fine).
I ended up running 50.86 km in 6:26:09. There was 444 m of elevation during the event and I burned 4095 calories.
Final thoughts
One of the best things about this run was that I achieved my goal of actually enjoying a long running event. This was a really fun day and I got a great workout in with no pressure associated with it. I also managed to test my equipment in a real world setting and know that if I stay in decent condition I should be able to take a good crack at the Challenge Fuji 5 Lakes Ultramarathon I have scheduled this year.
I’m also pretty sure my friend enjoyed his first ultra. It was great running with you, mate! Let’s do this again some time!
I’m looking forward to the next challenge.
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Osu!
Anthony