Ujigawa 10k/Kyoto

On Sunday I ran the 10k at Ujigawa in Kyoto. Runnet said it was quite flat, so I was surprised to see it started up on a hill and went 2k straight down to Uji City (the place of the famous Bjoudo-iin, the temple on the 10Yen coins). I gave up on trying to run a good time before the race already, as I had driven all night from Friday to Saturday morning 6am, so I felt without pressure at the start. It was cold and snowing! I went through the first 5k in 18min., due to the downhill. I was very surprised to keep a reasonable pace to finish in 37:48, best this year and 4th in the age-group (over 40).
A very funny coincidence was that I stopped to pick up some runners on the way to the race, and it turned out to be Hasegawa-san, a friend of Namban's Kiyo Yoshida! Small world!