The Judy Run
Yesterday was awesome! Team Ibaraki (Jana, Taka, Ishajima Sensei, and I) all participated in the Judy Run. (See the post below this one) We had to leave early (6:15 train) to get to Shizoka by 10:00am. We managed to make it down with a couple minutes to spare.
Once we arrived to the site of the race I was immediately tossed in a car and driven out to the spot where I was going to hand out water to the runners. Turns out that last year there were 25 volunteers and this year there were about 4 of us.
Greg gave me my instructions “Hand out water to the runners, tell them to go under the bridge, under the bridge, and then over the bridge. Well, unless they are running 5k then they just need to go over the bridge. The first group will be the 21k runners; they have to run the course twice. Next will be the 10k, and after them the 5k runners. Have fun!” I was then left standing on the side of the running path with cups and three bottles of water.
The day was hot 75+ degrees and sunny. The runners must have felt as if they were going to die but they didn’t show it as they stopped, gulped down some water, and then went on their merry way. Everyone was full of smiles. It was an amazing event.
The people who participated in the Judy Run were a ton of fun. We all had lunch together where we talked about Cambodia and life in Japan. After lunch, we headed to an onsen to relax.
The onsen was wonderful. The outside area of the onsen had two hot spring baths: one was sulfur and the other was lemon scented. The inner area had a cold bath, a bath like the Dead Sea (you float), a bubble jet onsen, a silky onsen, and two mini tubs. The mini tubs were fun! One was a tea bath and the second was lavender scented. These baths are designed for one person but I did the lavender bath with a lovely girl named Libby who was from London and then Jana and I tried the tea bath.
It was Jana’s first time to go to an onsen and I don’t think she could have picked a better one to try it out in. The staff was friendly, the conversation with the Judy Runners was great, and the onsen resort was super.
We hung out until 8:30 and then we caught the last trains back for Ami. I think we got home at 1:00am. It was a long day but it was amazing.