Joe Perry, the Six Marathon Man — Part 6
In a six-part series on CKSN, Wallaceburg native Joe Perry will chronicle the journey of how he “accidentally” competed in six major marathons that spanned three continents.
I wasn’t too sure when I could get into the Tokyo marathon.
Marathon Tours was full so I put my name on a waiting list and hoped for the best. Miraculously, I received an email late in 2019 saying there was an opening for 2020! I jumped all over that and got onto the list.
It would be perfect. Everything neatly fell into place. I’d have three Bostons followed by the other five majors and then Boston 2020 to sandwich things together. It’s like I had it all planned out.
But then came this thing called COVID-19. Maybe you heard about that. Five days before our flight to Japan, the marathon was cancelled. I opted to defer to 2022 but that didn’t pan out either. I lost out on my race entry and our flights. Bummer.
The pandemic also eliminated Boston 2020. Many of my local friends, including Ryan, Chad, and Mark had qualified for that race for the first time and I was excited to share that experience with them. Boston did have a scaled-down marathon in 2021 but my previous BQ time wasn’t fast enough to get me in. Bummer.
Fortunately, Bryan Cowden and I were able to find a fall marathon in 2021 where I ran a personal best of 3:14 and qualified for Boston 2022. I was headed back to Beantown!
Unfortunately, things were different that year in Boston. I’m extremely sad to say that Dick Hoyt passed away the previous year. Rick wasn’t there either. It didn’t feel the same. It was a bit hollow. However, their legacy remains. It will always remain.
The race itself went great though. Dressed in our matching Team Hoyt singlets, Adam dragged me across the line with a 3:20:04. It was my best time at a world major.
So what about Tokyo?
As you may recall, Japan was locked down for a long time. Their 2022 race consisted of only Japanese runners. Even though I was on the list, we didn’t know if we’d be allowed to run in March 2023. It was hard to plan for something that might not happen.
By this point, there were about 7,000 people across the world who had run all six of the major marathons. Over 3,000 people were signed up and ready to complete their sixth in Tokyo.
Fortunately, it did happen. Japan opened up their border and let us in! We had to jump through a lot of extra hoops and complete health tests but we got there.
Was it worth three extra years to wait to do this? Heck ya!
The race went well. I managed another BQ result with a 3:29. Our watches showed that the course with a bit on the long side. The friendly Japanese organizers really wanted us to enjoy more of their wonderful city.
Of course, Krista had to show me up yet again with a 2:38 and set another Canadian age group record. Fellow Canadian Cam Levins broke the North American record and was actually leading late into the race and was within seconds of winning it all.
Although rather obscure, it was pretty cool sharing a Guinness record for the most number of people to receive a six-star medal at the same race with about 3,000 other runners. It was another medal to bring home. This record might fall when they add in the next world major marathon. Maybe I’ll be there for that too for some more bling.
According to the official website, I am on the list of just 519 Canadians to have completed all six major marathons.
During this journey, I remember those no longer with us like Anita and Dick but I’m glad I met new friends like Zhanar, Abi, Katharina, and Tom. Everyone has stories and I love hearing them. Needless to say, not everyone enjoys hearing mine.
Next stop: Boston 2023 and I’ve qualified for 2024 as well. I also have my sights set seventh world major marathon, if one should ever be added to the list.
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To read the previous articles in the series, click on the links below: