Literally Running Around Tokyo

Little did I know that marathon training would be a fantastic way to learn about Tokyo and explore different parts of the city. I was never a runner. In fact, during my 16 years working at Nike, I never considered running. It was after the Nike Women’s marathon ended, after 12 years, that I decided to complete my first half marathon. I joined Foot Traffic’s Women’s Academy in Portland (Hi Ladies), trained and completed not only one, but two half marathons in 2017.

In February, not knowing that I would be moving to Tokyo, I signed up for the Honolulu Marathon. Ironically, the Honolulu Marathon is dubbed the JAL (Japan Airlines) Marathon, with JAL being a large sponsor. As I run the streets of Tokyo, I feel connected to the approximately 16,000+ participants who will fly with us to Honolulu in early December to run the Honolulu Marathon.

Training in the hot and humid summers of Japan. It was not like the Pacific NW.

Our training, (I roped in my husband and oldest son to run the full marathon, and our youngest son will complete the 10K) has provided the family bonding and exploration time together, especially on our long runs on the weekend.

Last weekend we completed 10 miles where we stumbled across the Tokyo bay area. We made it across the Rainbow Bridge to Odaiba. It is one of the scenic bridges in Tokyo where you can see the glittery skyline of Odaiba and the gorgeous skyline of Tokyo.

View of Odaiba from the Rainbow Bridge. It was a gorgeous day.

Approaching the Rainbow Bridge from the Shinagawa side.

View of Tokyo Bay and Tokyo skyline from the Rainbow Bridge.

Olympic building we passed on our runs.

This lovely running path near Shinagawa, by our temporary housing. We found all the paths since we needed to train for our marathon.