00:00 John Daub: All right, so here we are. This is the bib pickup and I actually have it right here. This is my bib. I'll be in the B corral, which is actually quite front. So I'm optimistic. I have on my shirt that I'm going to be racing in and you can see there's a lot of people here. This is an exciting event, the Expo. Always a chance where you get to see the latest technology in running as well as to meet with other runners. We have the race sponsors all have booths here and I thought I would take you around, get a look at some of the stuff here.

03:00 John Daub: The line for the Asics store is super long. We're gonna take a look at that and I'll talk about my entire bib pickup experience. I got here about 10 o'clock. I didn't think there'd be a lot of people here at around 10 o'clock. But there was already a line by the time I got inside. It was about 10:40, actually about 20 minutes of waiting. They separate the runners with the non-runners because there are a lot of tourists that come here just to take a look at the Expo. Inside here, bib pickup packet pickup.

05:00 John Daub: You get a QR code with your entry on the Tokyo Marathon website. The QR code gives you access to the number where you'll be picking up your bib. I was number four. It was about a 10-15 minute wait and I got my bib number. After this, you make your way towards the bib activation. This is new for me because the chip is actually in the bib. They need to activate that right there on the back of it. Now I'm an official runner and can get on this marathon and maybe do well.

07:00 John Daub: They gave me this cup too. Sustainability is a really important thing these days. The silicone cup is a way for me not to use as many paper cups. But on race day, I'm going to use the paper cups, to be honest. Here I am entering into the Expo part of it. There's a lot of people, a lot of stuff to take a look around. They were really happy for that one. I'm working with this amazing team here from Pocari Sweat USA.

09:00 John Daub: I took the Yurikamome line (driverless monorail train), and we came in through here. That's Big Sight. This is where you come to pick up your bib. This used to be the goal of the Tokyo Marathon back in 2007. But now the course is a lot flatter. It's a lot faster. One of the most desirable major world marathons because of the flatness of it. Sometime between the last time I ran it and now it turned into a major marathon like New York, Boston, London, Sydney, Berlin, and Tokyo Marathon.

11:00 John Daub: When I first entered this race in 2007, the first year that it was an official marathon for the city of Tokyo, everybody who entered ran in it. Only 28,000 people can say that I was one of them. That's kind of a big deal. I still have that original T-shirt that says 2007 on there. The course was different. This is so much better because the course ends at Tokyo Station. A lot of people cheering me on. If you do see me, you can use my bib number and track me on the Tokyo Marathon website: 23174.

13:00 John Daub: You'll be able to see my splits and know where I am. So you can maybe get a picture, take video, send it to me. I'd love the help to make this video for Pocari Sweat documenting my experience. I'm so thankful because they gave me all this hydration stuff too. Amino Vital is really good stuff. It's got some carbohydrates in there. Bodymate is really good. It's got some beneficial bacteria. And then some of these gel jellies are really great.

15:00 John Daub: The Calorie Mate apple I actually have some of this back at home. The powders are also really good. I like Ion water that has less sugar than the Pocari Sweat. But Pocari Sweat is actually not sweet. If you compare it to the American drinks, it's more refreshing in that way. Less sugar. This is the runners-only event area. 42.195 kilometers is 26.2 miles. It's a long way.

17:00 John Daub: I'm surprised that they have a very strong 5G signal. Everyone's got to get a picture in front of the Pocari Sweat booth here. The line's really not that long and you can get some free Pocari Sweat on the other side over there. I think this is 1500 yen, which is a pretty good deal. You get a runner's pack. That's the one I just showed you. MasterCard is the official credit card of the Tokyo Marathon. I was kind of looking for Jake from Run to Japan.

19:00 John Daub: He's a big runner YouTuber from Japan who's one of the elite runners. I think he was 138 or something. He'll be in the first group. Maybe I'll see him at race day. The Tokyo Metro event is a one-hour wait to get a photo of the finish line. I'm not gonna do that. It's over there. The waiting time is 60 minutes. That's kind of a long wait. They actually have a Tokyo Metro towel. I think you get one when you finish the race.

21:00 John Daub: It starts to feel real when you come to the Expo. The color is also the corral. So you'll see different colors on different bibs: pink, gray, green. When I got the yellow one, I was like, what does that mean? That means I'll be in the front. I put an expected time around three hours exactly because that's what I hope to run. My fastest time is three hours and 12 minutes, which was in 2011, 15 years ago. This ladies and gentlemen, is the line for Asics.

23:00 John Daub: It's about an hour and I'm debating whether or not it's even worth it. Apparently if you pre-ordered, you don't have to wait. I have on a lot of Asics stuff. These are the new Novablasts. This is the Tokyo Run Tokyo Asics Novablasts. Even says Run Tokyo on them. I won't be running in that though. I'll be running in my carbon shoes. Pocari Sweat just released this new product, Otsukasa. It's made from wasabi (horseradish), I was told.

25:00 John Daub: I'm supposed to eat this an hour before the race to help with some natural powers. I'm kind of excited about it. I got a couple in my pocket. So I'm going to try this and I'll let you know if it actually works. They look like it's modeled after Dragon Ball Z. It looks like a bean, which is pretty cool. From Hokkaido. To get into the Asics store is crazy. This reminds me of the Tokyo Olympic store.

26:30 John Daub: [inaudible] I'm from Mexico. Hey, you running tomorrow on Sunday? Yeah. Trying to make a 3:15 or 3:20. What corral are you in? C corral. Oh, you're right behind me. Very cool. I'll see you there. He says it probably won't take that long. I entered and got my bib at around 10:45 and this event started at 10 o'clock on Thursday. I was just shocked when I first got here.

27:30 John Daub: The line, they separate the runners and the non-runners but the line for the runners was longer and it was like a 400-meter really slow walk. After I got to the bib pickup it took me 15 minutes to get the bib and then 10 minutes to activate the bib. So to get from the entrance, from the station to my bib pickup and then into the expo, it took me about 35 minutes. If you're coming here to pick up your bib on the weekend, I highly recommend that you come tomorrow morning. Try to avoid the weekend. It's gonna be really busy on Saturday.

28:30 John Daub: My expected time is 3 hours and 30 minutes. For some reason on race day you always run faster. But I had injuries because I didn't have a base. I've only been training for three months. I got up to 25 kilometers as my longest run. I had a 65-kilometer running week which is pretty good. But 15 years ago when I ran, I had a like 100-kilometer race week and I did 30 kilometers at 4:30 pace per kilometer which was well below my marathon pace. On race day when the race starts, all you want to do is just have fun.

29:30 John Daub: But I'm competitive. This line's moving pretty fast. Marathon weebs go all over the world. It's a cult. There are people that travel and do marathons. But it's very hard to get into a marathon these days. After all this training, why wouldn't I try to do another marathon and try to break whatever time I got this year? The last marathon I ran, I was 37 years old, and I was in pretty good shape.

30:30 John Daub: So now I'm 52. Age matters, recovery is harder. You gotta train smarter, not harder. That's why I got injured. I strained a calf. It took me three weeks to get over it, where I was just walking in peak marathon training time. But I did a 25-kilometer run last week, which is a little bit late, but I recovered from that, and I felt good. If you can do 25 kilometers in a training run, then you can do 35. If you do 35, you could do 42. If you could do 42, you could do 42.195. You just keep going.

31:30 John Daub: On Sunday, it's going to be 16 degrees Celsius, mid-60s Fahrenheit with humidity. Hydration becomes a real issue. My greatest worry is not finding a toilet in time at the corral. Here's my bib number 23174. So you can track me on that day if you want. Here's the course. We start in Shinjuku and the course is mostly downhill. That first 10km to Akihabara is mostly downhill.

32:00 John Daub: You round Akihabara, go around Ueno and you go past underneath the Chuo Sobu Line. Then you come down around Nihonbashi and you make a left. Then you go around up to Asakusa. You go around Kaminarimon. I probably see Kanae somewhere along there. Then you go over the bridge before Ryogoku. Then you come down towards Monzen-Nakacho, going past Morishita and Sumiyoshi. Go around there.

32:30 John Daub: You come back past Monzen-Nakacho and you kind of go back past Ryogoku where the Edo Museum and the Sumo Stadium is. You make a left, cross the Sumida River again, come back down around through Nihonbashi towards Tokyo. Once you hit Chuo Avenue going down Ginza, there's just the crowds of people really get you hyped up. At Ginza Yonchome, you make a right. There's so much cheering. Then you do the straightaway, which takes you past Tokyo Tower.

33:00 John Daub: But instead of going to Shinagawa, which is where we used to go, we turn around around Mita. And then you come back around and that's like the home stretch from there. You're basically already done. They said 60 minutes. Well, there's a super long line. I'm not done live streaming before the event, so we got more to see here. Look at these shirts. They're flying off the shelves. They did something really cool with the design.

33:10 John Daub: They have an animated design on it. You can see here, they got the drink going on there. That's kind of a cool shirt. I gotta get my assistant a jacket. Kanae said don't get her anything, so that means I gotta get her something. The sizes are all mixed up here. Kai guy size large. So this is international large. I'm actually international medium, but I think large would be good. The best way is just to try it on.

33:15 John Daub: It's 110 bucks for this jacket. Should I get it? I'm just gonna get it. Run Tokyo or this one? Yeah, that one's nicer. That seals the deal. I have to get my assistant a jacket. Emmy, if you're watching, do you want men's large or medium? Okay, I'll just get the medium one. They're like flying off the shelves. Do you think the medium will work? Okay, I'll get you a large one. It doesn't matter.

33:18 John Daub: They can't keep these on the shelves. They're all gone. A6 gave me this orange one, but I kind of wanted that one. They bring extra jackets every now and then, so you just have to wait. When they said 60 minutes, they weren't joking. The color for this year is orange. But they're gonna bring more. You just have to stay here. Even the extra smalls are gone. This is crazy. I have to get Emmy a jacket. She's doing so much work to help with this.

33:22 John Daub: All right, guys, there you go. I'm gonna get back to it. I got a lot of stuff that I need to do, but I hope this was informational. If you are coming up for the race, let me know on Discord. We have a group here. Check out my number and you'll be able to say hi. I'll come and give you a high five. Running the course. I'd love to do that. I'll see you tomorrow in another live stream. I'm gonna do a presentation at Tokyo Station for the Pocari Sweat team, and it's gonna be a lot of fun. All right, take care, guys.