January 25, 2009

The Kobe "Marathon"

On Sunday, Ilena and Mike ran in the not quite-accurately-titled "Kobe Marathon," which offers a 5K and 10K course (as well as a parent/child 1.3K course) on Rokko Island. Mike and Ilena (or rather "Ikna" as her tag stated) did the 5K, and Mike did the 1.3K with Jacob.




Despite being the best runner in the family (she blew Jacob's doors off in our pre-race "training sessions"), Lauren was too young to enter, so she watched from the side-lines this time. She didn't seem to mind.

The morning started with a very brief snow-storm, so it was cold, but as the day went on the weather became a little better for a run. The pre-race included a huge group warm-up and stretching exercise - very Japanese! Mike and Ilena both finished with respective (to us!) times under 30 minutes. Jacob complained the whole time, but finished, and then got a certificate. So a good time was had by all!

8 comments:

MeganFitz said...
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MeganFitz said...

I just wanted to thank you for your blog! When my husband found out he was being transferred to Rokko Island, I did a panicked search on the internet and found your blog. It was a godsend! I feel much less overwhelmed about moving to Japan with three young children, now that I know it's not only possible but can be an amazing experience! We'll be visiting Rokko Island in mid Feb. and moving in July. We'll probably also be living at the Entente and the kids going to the Canadian Academy. I know it's probably weird to have a total stranger reading about your lives, but thank you so much!
Megan Fitzpatrick

Mike said...

Megan-

Thanks for your note! Although we hadn't thought of it when we first started blogging, we have actually met other "total strangers" who have moved to the area through the blog. The ex-pat community here is very nice with lots of good local resources. Feel free to give us a shout if we can help answer any of your questions. See you around.
Mike

haseemscamel said...

Would you please find out what day in May that Kobe Matsuri is on this year. I plan on visiting for it

Unknown said...

I see you guys are starting a new business and career as travel agents!

Just wanted to cheer Ilena and the rest of you on even after the fact of the race...and yes, I have to ask...who's the dog?

Mike said...

Nope. We are sticking to our day job! We barely have enough time to post the blogs these days....The dog is Riley; she belongs to our friends Pay and Tracy. Or as Tracy's race registration read: "Thacy." (Ilena was Ikna)

The Ricketts Family said...

I need a new blog entry!!

The Ricketts Family said...
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