Brilliant sunshine. Could be excellent for swimming but I was not there to swim. So... well, thanks for the challenge.

Went pretty well in opening stages as I managed to keep pace with fellow participants. I was thinking about finishing it within 3:40. But plot thickened when blister reared its ugly head since 27th kilometre, making life much harder. Plus fatigue was about to creep in. The following 15k was almost the hardest distance I've ever run. Stopped thrice to stretch because of muscles spasm. The finish time was even 30 seconds slower than Tokyo's.

I wore "D" bib. Many who wore "C" bib (3:00-3:30 reported time in previous races) crossed the finish line about the similar time as mine. Maybe I didn't do it too badly, I hope. XDDD

Something else worth noting: As opposed to Tokyo's, which had runners from all around the world, Hokkaido is more with domestic participants (of course with some from HK and Taiwan, relatively fewer), I was able to unwittingly learn about their running gait, stride, and so on. Maybe I should take part in more their domestic races in the future.