{"id":393,"date":"2007-03-11T11:51:45","date_gmt":"2007-03-11T02:51:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2007-03-11\/393"},"modified":"2007-03-11T12:51:00","modified_gmt":"2007-03-11T03:51:00","slug":"kyoto-city-half-marathon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2007-03-11\/393","title":{"rendered":"Kyoto City Half Marathon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
<\/a>Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 55mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>350 sec, f\/10, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>Oh S*<\/sub>*<\/sub>t!Stop.... stop, please<\/i> stop!<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n\n

Hahaha, it's not really such a dire moment in the photo above....<\/p>\n\n

Today is the Kyoto City Half\nMarathon<\/a>, which starts and ends near my place, so I walked<\/span> out to take\na look<\/span> at the start. The picture<\/span> above shows the front of the pack\n30 seconds after the start of the race, passing under the\nmain gate<\/a>\nof the\nHeian Shrine<\/a>.\n(The part of the shrine that can be seen in the far background — the roof of the entry building — is\nvery familiar to me, having spent hours looking at it while doing some Photoshop work<\/a>\non a friend's<\/span> family photo.)\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n

Anyway, it's not a worrisome moment for the man holding out his arms because\nthey're approaching the first turn, and indeed, negotiate it without\ntrampling him (and me, and the throngs of other camera-toting dorks beside\nme).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 26mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f\/10, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>195 meters down, only 20,902 more to go...<\/span><\/div>\n\n
<\/a>Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 55mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f\/9, ISO 160 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>Main Crush of Runners<\/span><\/div>\n\n

It took only four minutes for the 6,300 runners to pass. (I've heard\nthat at some big races, it can take 15 minutes just to reach the starting\nline.)<\/p>\n\n

A few minutes earlier, they had the start for the wheelchair racers, who\nwere piloting very sleek-looking vehicles:<\/p>\n\n

\n <\/a>\n \n Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 34mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f\/10, ISO 500 —\n map & image data<\/a>\n <\/span>\n \n Wheelchair racers hitting the first turn<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Turning the camera a bit toward the left, it was somewhat funny to see\nthat the organizers had some crash-cushions set up, just in case. (See\nyellow in the picture below)<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 17mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>350 sec, f\/10, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>Crash padding<\/span><\/div>\n\n

Considering, though, the very specific placement of the relatively small\npadding along the huge arc of the curve where an athlete might fly off\ncourse, I've got to think that they're working from experience here, which\nmakes it a bit<\/span> less funny. No one needed<\/span> the crash barriers this time,\nwhich is not surprising considering the professional look of the\ncompetitors.<\/p>\n\n

I used to be a runner, until I got smart about 20 years ago and gave it\nup. Still, I remember<\/span> enough to know that it'll be a mixed<\/span>-feeling course. It has a<\/span> lot of pleasant scenery, and long, unpleasant grades. The Kyoto<\/span> valley slopes gently down from north to south... gently, that is, in a car.<\/span> The first<\/span> half of the race is mostly uphill, with a few<\/span> lateral sections of\nflatness. On top of<\/span> that, there's a very<\/span> strong wind today — strong\nenough to blow traffic cones around — that they'll be running\ndirectly into for the first half, while running uphill.<\/p>\n\n

On the positive side, the last third is all downhill, with the strong\ntailwind.<\/p>\n\n

The race is open to those 18 and over, although for some reason, those\nin high school, regardless of age, are excluded. They shut down the course\nat the two-hour mark, so you've got to be able to keep up a 9-min\/mile pace\nfor 13 miles.<\/p>\n\n

According to Wikipedia<\/a> at the\nmoment, the women's world record for the half marathon was set at this\nevent in 1995, 1997, and 1998, although the current world record was set in\nTokyo, in 1999. With today's wind, I don't<\/span> think any records will be set.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 38mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f\/10, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>Waiting for the Start<\/span><\/div>\n\n

The middle of the road at the first turn was clearly a wonderful<\/span> vantage\npoint for photographs, and so it was there that I was<\/span> standing with a small<\/span>\nthrong of photographers at the start of the race. The guy with<\/span> the Kyoto\nCity Marathon hat in the photo above was standing on a small<\/span> stepladder.\nYou can't see much of it there, but he's got a beefy<\/span> Canon 400mm f\/2.8\nprime that I had<\/span> to take a picture<\/span> of.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 38mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f\/9, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>Canon EF 400mm f\/2.8 L II<\/span><\/div>\n\n

This is an older lens that's no longer available, but the current\nversion with image\nstabilization<\/a> runs for $6,500. Yikes!<\/p>\n\n

The guy on the other side of me had a taller<\/span> ladder. The lens on<\/span> his\nspare body looks to be the same Nikon 70<\/span>-200 f\/2.8 VR<\/a> zoom\nthat I have.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

<\/a>Nikon D200 +\nNikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 17mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f\/8, ISO\n320 — full\nexif & map<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>Higher\nperspective<\/span><\/div>\n\n

Of course, some people have to show off and bring their really pro\nstuff, like the following guy's idea of a ladder<\/span>:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 17mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>750 sec, f\/14, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>Much<\/i> higher perspective<\/span><\/div>\n\n

It was cold, blustery, and rainy in the morning, but it was clearing up\nand the sun came out soon after the start. It's still<\/span> cold and blustery,\nbut scenery wise, I'm sure it<\/span>'s going to be a pleasant<\/span> race. Scenery wise,\nat least.\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hahaha, it's not really such a dire moment in the photo above....<\/p>

Today is the Kyoto City Half Marathon, which starts and ends near my place, so I walked out to take a look at the start. The picture above shows the front of the pack 30 seconds after the start of the race, passing under the main gate of the Heian Shrine. (The part of the shrine that can be seen in the far background -- the roof of the entry building -- is very familiar to me, having spent hours looking at it while doing some Photoshop work [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}