On Sunday, thousands of runners from across the world competed in the Tokyo Marathon in, I’m guessing, Japan, and the big winner was Ethiopia’s Hailu Mekonnen, who finished in first place and strengthened my belief that people from Africa are good runners. Perhaps the bigger story, though, was Japan’s own Yuki Kawauchi, who finished third, which many consider a remarkable feat for an amateur runner. Or maybe the even bigger story was Britain’s Joseph Tame, who attached four iPhones to his quirky running attire and streamed his entire marathon effort on the Internet to raise money for the Tyler Foundation, a children’s cancer organization in Japan.

Heck, the biggest story was probably Edison Pena, one of the 33 Chilean miners trapped underground for 69 days last October, finishing his second major marathon since the famous ordeal. Pena also ran in the New York marathon only a month after his rescue. In the Tokyo race, he shaved a half hour off his time. And I’m sure there were many, many more runners, each with their own awesome stories.

But it’s really hard to judge so many runners and choose the best story or the bravest performance or even the most inspirational tale. Thankfully, it’s Japan and a bunch of people showed up dressed in really strange costumes. I was disappointed by the lack of creepy old men dressed as school girls, but who am I to be picky? After the jump, you guessed it… wacky Japanese costume slideshow time, courtesy of the 2011 Tokyo Marathon.

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Only a week ago, Natsuki Terada was at the top of his game. He was in peak physical condition, the pride of his country, and he was all set to marry his green-eyed bride, Miao Yin. Winning the Tokyo-Hakone relay marathon would have been the icing on his kasutera, and he had victory in the palms of his tiny-yet-efficient hands. But with less than 200 meters to go in the marathon and after bursting from third place to sitting pretty in the lead spot, Terada said, “To hell with standard race strategy” and he tried to win with his own bold plan – going the wrong way.

Shockingly, it didn’t turn out well for Terada. As soon as he realized his gaffe, he had already fallen from first to third place, becoming the shame of his family and undoubtedly incurring inglorious banishment. Worst of all, after he crossed the finish line he fell down and cried. Get up, you sissy! See, this is why I never run in marathons unless they involve beer helmets.

Insert classic Japanese stereotype here for video after the jump…

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An online sportsbook is taking wagers on the times of celebrities participating in the upcoming New York City Marathon. Perhaps chief among them is America’s Favorite Bojangling Weatherman (TM) Al Roker. The “Today” show co-host, who famously underwent gastric bypass surgery in 2002 and yet is somehow still fat, announced last month that he would be participating in the race.

Roker, an unlikely long-distance runner, put the marathon on his “bucket list.” [race director Mary] Wittenberg declared the formerly hefty Roker has “become a real runner. He’s out there and it’s just fascinating. He’s going to have a long day. I think it’ll be about seven hours, but I think he’s definitely not going to walk this race. He might walk in parts, but he’s coming to run the marathon.” –Toronto Star

Roker is a 3-1 ‘dog (+300) to finish the race under 4 hours, according to YouWager.com. Other celebrities up for consideration include Subway sandwich maven Jared Fogle (even), former New York Giants receiver Armani Toomer (-500) and Iron Chef Bobby Flay (-250). If there’s anything I hate more than the “Today” show, it’s running, so I’m totally amped up to not follow any of this. Unless of course Roker comes up short on that bucket list and dies during the race. You know, because that would be really sad.

Weird running story from Iowa: Two Kenyan marathon runners actually got lost while running the Quad-Cities Marathon, which is not to be confused with the Quad City DJ’s, whose 1996 single, “C’Mon N’ Ride It (The Train)” made it to No. 3 on the U.S. pop charts before

Chepses and Njoroge apparently became confused when a pace-setting motorcycle veered left, as it was supposed to, on the Arsenal viaduct, with the course-following pace car and leader [Leonard Mania] Mucheru well out of sight. The Kenyans actually steered right, as they were supposed to, toward the bridge to Rock Island, but then stopped and returned to their original point of confusion. Only when [second-place finisher Ketema] Nigusse ran by did they follow.

Marathon elite race coordinator Ian Frink said other races, notably the Miami Marathon, have taken a harder line in similar instances, but said the local committee took into account the Kenyans’ unfamiliarity with the race course and the English language.

Amnesty? Amnesty.

The decision was to award both Kenyans second-place money ($1,500) along with actual second-place finisher Ketema Nigusse of Ethiopia. –Quad City Times [Whoo whoo!].

Michelle, Tamika and Tanya could not be reached for comment. You know that you’re running a loose ship when you’re more liberal than Miami about your race rules. One of my goals in life is to sign up for a marathon and then finish first via blatant circumvention of the rules. Like “hiding a bike in the bushes at Mile 2″ blatant. I’d be the first sub-90-minute marathoner ever…for about 15 seconds, at least. It wouldn’t be cheating so much as a re-distribution of time.

Does combining your favorite thing in the world with your least favorite thing in the world make the thing you hate better, or the thing you love worse? One San Francisco man was willing to give us an answer when he did just that, combining the greatest thing in the world, drinking, with the worst, exercise. He drank 13 beers while running the 13 mile San Francisco Half Marathon at a rate of one beer per mile. And, as you can expect, adding the sauce to your morning jog doesn’t make it better.

I puked three times, blacked out for miles 11 and 12, and needed five hours to finish. This is my story.

–Exercising While Intoxicated via Uncoached

Best opening sentence ever. I’m always a fan of people who pioneer new ways to pound brews, but running’s painful enough sober. I’ll set the over/under at the number of times he fell down at 10.5.

Block quotes don’t do this article the justice it deserves, but you can find a full description of how the race turned out for the alcoholic athlete here. I also made the executive decision to put a video of beer drinking cats after the jump. It’s funny because they think they’re people. Read the rest of this entry »

Most of us know Anne Vyalitsyna as supermodel Anne V from SI’s swimsuit issue, but this weekend she’ll trade in her two-pieces and body paint for running shoes as her efforts to raise money for people with disabilities culminate at the New York City Marathon this weekend.

I’ll be guiding Alexander Dmitriev from Russia for the first 4 and last 6 miles of the marathon. He got in a car accident at the age of 26 and will be participating in a wheelchair.

We are clearly in difficult economic times, but I promise, this donation is worth it, and every dollar, no matter the contribution … counts.

Achilles Track Club coordinates programs with both disabled children and injured former military personnel. Donations can be made from that website; so far Anne has raised $3,925.00. Well, 3,926 if you count my boner. Maybe I’m over-valuing that…