From Japan to the Half Marathon
A country such as Japan, where marathons are deep-rooted, can never miss a great international sporting event. Around 36,000 runners take part in the Tokyo Marathon, one of the oldest and largest marathons in the world. In addition, if there is something that characterizes the Land of the Rising Sun it is their passion for travelling around the world. Not only travelling for pleasure but also for running a marathon, a half marathon or any other distance. There is already a group of Japanese people who are going to run the streets of Valencia and make the most of it on the 23rd of October.
Yoko Hasegawa (35) is a runner who has decided to run her next Half Marathon in Valencia. She will travel from Nagoya to Valencia on the 20th of October and she will take part in the fastest Half Marathon in the world which was awarded the IAAF Road Race Gold Label in 2015. She defines herself as a ‘slow runner’ and she expects that her finishing time in the 21,097.5 metre race will be around 2 hours . This Japanese runner has been trying to train regularly for 5 years, but she will do it ‘at least 2 or 3 times a week’ so as to get ready for the Valencian race. She will also try to eat healthy and take some breaks in order to complete her preparation and deliver an optimal performance at the event.
Having run 3 marathons and 4 half marathons, in addition to many 10Ks, Yoko Hasegawa has chosen Europe to run because she says ‘many people chose their marathons since they are like festivals’, and she highlights that there are activities and lots of people supporting runners on the streets . The main goal of this Japanese runner at the Valencia Half Marathon: ‘I want to make the most of running and meet fun people‘.
This will be her first race in Valencia, the City of Running: ‘I’ll travel first to Barcelona and I’ll explore the city. Then I’ll go to Valencia. It will be the first time I visit the city’. However, even if she has never been to Valencia, she already shows a keen interest in its local cuisine: ‘I have already tried its oranges and even paella, but I did it in Japan’.
This Japanese runner decided to run in Valencia long ago: ‘I read about the Trinidad Alfonso Valencia Half Marathon on the Internet and I signed up for it straight away’. The signed up so quickly that she was among the first 1,000 people who bought the reduced-price tickets when they were made available in February.
She will soon run the first race in the history of Spain which has been awarded IAAF Road Race Gold Label. Yoko Hasegawa has proved that she knows no borders when it comes to running around the world and she has chosen Valencia and its Half Marathon. Sign up for the Trinidad Alfonso Valencia Half Marathon, the fastest in the world in 2014 and 2015.
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