This past weekend, I ran in the 20^th Anniversary Seto-Ohashi Bridge Marathon.  The bridge was completed in 1988 and at 13.1 km long, it ranks as the world's longest two-tiered bridge system.  The Seto-Ohashi Bridge was constructed as a series of double deck bridges connecting Okayama and Kagawa prefectures in Japan across a series of five small islands in the Seto Inland Sea.  It was along these points, where I started my 8 km run along side thousands of Japanese.  Between the 8 km runners and 15 km runners, there were approximately 10,000 people on-hand, including Japanese silver and bronze medalist – Arimori Yuko.  “Arimori competed for Japan in the 1992 Summer Olympics held in Barcelona, Spain in the Marathon where she won the silver medal with a time of 2:32:49, eight seconds behind Russian Valentina Yegorova who ran the race in 2:32:41. This hard-fought race was the closest finishing time in Olympic history for men or women at that time. At the Atlanta Olympics four years later, Arimori returned to the Olympic marathon, where she won the bronze medal and finished behind Valentina Yegorova for a second time. Yegorova ran the race in 2:28:05. Arimori's time was 2:28:39. Although both runners ran four minutes faster than their previous olympic race, they were beaten back by Ethopian runner Fatuma Roba, who completed the race and won the gold medal with a time of 2:26:05.  Arimori is considered to be the first Japanese female “professional” athlete. She was the first woman granted professional status by the Japanese Amateur Athletic Federation (JAAF), the nation’s governing track and field association. She was granted this status in 1996, following her second and final appearance at the Olympic Games in Atlanta” (Wikipedia).  Check out my picture with her below!

 2x Olympic Champion and 6x Tibetan Basketball Champion! 

Again, another long over due update to MY LIFE AND TIMES IN JAPAN...  As I always do when someone comes to Japan to visit me, I like to write a special thank-you blog to them... and this one goes out to my good friend Lob from Portland, Oregon who came to Japan for 3-weeks in December through the New Year to visit!..  In that time in December, Lob arrived during Bon-enkai season, a Japanese tradition in which co-workers, friends, and various associations celebrate the end of the year by having a party.  Lucky for Lob, he was able to experience this tradition first-hand by attending a few of my class Bon-enkais..  Although his visit was months ago, the memory of his trip lives strong through conversations with my students who from time to time ask, how's Lob doing…  Lob and I spent several days in Tokushima and Osaka, while also visiting Kobe and Kyoto!  Going out in Kobe and ringing in the New Year in Osaka was by far the highlight!  The low-light was Lob's vegetarian diet he started 2-months before coming to Japan, in Japanese they have have a word for that, "mendokusai" - look it up!...  Thanks Lob for making the trip!  

                    Dontonbori Bridge in Osaka