3rd – 4th of March – Post-race and checking out

I had booked a spot for the run’s victory dinner as I usually do when possible. Previous victory dinners booked with and handled by the travel company were held in a tower (Berlin), on a river (New York) or just more informally going to a nearby restaurant. Apparently in this case it was all part of the package deal the travel company purchased with the organizers, so we and others staying at this hotel were picked up and driven to what was a very fancy place apparently often used for wedding celebrations and the like.

It turned out to not be a sit-down dinner but rather a reception-like thing where in different rooms you had different tables serving different foods; fish, sushi, beef, etc. There were a lot of people and it all felt a bit chaotic and crowded resulting in sometimes long lines to be able to get any food – something I didn’t need after running a marathon. We as a group couldn’t get together and settle down and talk about our day as everyone spread out as soon as we arrived. I was also part of the second “shift”; those finishing the run in less than 3:30 were brought here before us, but unfortunately they were a bit delayed so we couldn’t enter until half an hour later than planned – but without getting an extra half an hour in the end. So apart from feeling crowded, chaotic, impersonal it also felt very rushed towards the end. And as the portions were typical reception portions (as in: a couple of bites) you didn’t really feel you had time to not stand in a queue somewhere to get something to eat as you were hungry.

As least when going there and back the bus didn’t take the tunnel like in the morning, so yay?

Coming back to the hotel we all agreed that the “dinner” had been a major letdown and disappointment, especially considering the steep price we had had to shell out for it. We all went to the hotel’s top floor (30^th) to visit the bar where we had a few drinks before turning in for the night. I believe the majority of the group will be leaving for the airport tomorrow at 0700 while I’ll be sleeping in for a bit (if the jetlag lets me) before continuing my trip.

(it’s worth mentioning that the travel company sent out a mail to all participants after coming home acknowledging the bad experience we had with the victory dinner. They had decided to – on their own – refund a part of the price we had paid for the dinner. They had confronted the organizers with the bad reviews but they had – naturally – completely stonewalled them. Amazingly done by the travel company!).

The following morning I had my last breakfast at the hotel before checking out and heading for the train. It had been a pretty great hotel – high end and several breakfast restaurants (but the two major ones basically had identical buffet selections). Usually when riding an elevator you hear a constant hum and hear another elevator or the counterweight flying by but here you could hear absolutely nothing. They were completely quiet. There were 8 elevators and when you called for one, one of them would ding and then ding a second time when it arrived. That way you had time to get ready for when it arrived and saving time instead of having to rush around when it arrived. They had an entire area blocked off as it was only used for wedding parties. Multiple restaurants. Less than 3 minutes from the nearest train station – but you had to take a train to get close to Tokyo Central. It was inconveniently located and expensive as hell – someone checked the prices if they booked by themselves and concluded the organizers were making absolute bank having this part of the race package. Oh well – in the end it meant being able to run the Tokyo marathon.