The marathon was much more Chicago than Pinckney -- very urban, less the 7 miles of frustratingly windblown rice fields. The 42 kilometers were peppered with the marathon's geriatric fan base, many of whom were waving 7-11 or NHK flags and shouting gambate (good luck) or some derivation thereof. And, the finish was in an Olympic Stadium -- a squishy baseball field, in fact, though for Nagano it was probably the curling venue. Surreal as the Japanese Marathon Experience was in some ways, I was grounded by the normalcy of it all. Por ejemplo the smells (including those wafting from the doorless urinals) were the same -- Prerace: BenGay, bandages, sneakers, grass and clean DryFit, Postrace: sweat, salt, sweat, feet, sun, sweat and asphalt.

A final thought: for those of you considering a 2006 running of the 8th Nagano Marathon, take note: POCARI SWEAT is the official sports beverage. In fact, getting dominated by those miles is worth it for the Pocari Sweat alone. Would I lie?