The End of the Tracks

August 9, 1983, Tuesday

Today is my 24th birthday and I am already feeling too old to be doing this sort of thing, the activity of running the length of a country. I should have picked a smaller one, like Vatican City.

My run today started at 8:30am after breakfast, on a sunny and cool day. This day was perfect for finishing the long journey covering the entire length of Japan. I felt good from the start. I covered 25km before taking my first rest stop. During this stop, I ate lunch at a little store and rested to gather my strength for the final portion of the run. I had planned on resting again after about 10km, but I felt so good that I could not stop. I ran non-stop at a very fast pace from after lunch until I reached Wakkanai Station, the northernmost train station in Japan. This is where the tracks end (See Photo).

The people in the streets saw me run by at a fast pace, but they did not know what was going on. I must have had a different sort of look (one of determination?) because many of them yelled, "Gambare!" (Go for it!) as I made my way into the city.

I felt refreshed after running the 40km distance today. Now I can say my two legs covered every inch of road from Kagoshima to Wakkanai. It is over at last.

It was a lonely finish, but appropriate because as I said earlier in my posts, it was a very lonely 2000 mile run considering there are not very many people who can understand the mental and physical strain associated with this kind of run.

I called my mother from a pay phone and told her I was in Wakkanai and that I finished running the length of Japan. She said, "Ah so?"

Later in the evening, I went to a small bar near the inn where I am staying. I ordered a beer at the counter and sat down. No other customers were there. The lady tending the bar asked me what I was doing in town. I told her that I just ran to Wakkanai from Kagoshima and I was celebrating because today is my birthday. She gave me another beer on the house. She also told me I should stick around for Wakkanai's famous summer fireworks festival and went back to concentrate on wiping the wine glasses. I stared at my glass of beer and began to imagine how good it was going to feel when I put on my new street clothes that I plan to buy tomorrow.

Note: This is the last entry of the run, but I plan to post updates every now and then. To all the readers out there, thank you very much for your support. Please keep checking back for periodic updates in the future.