To you drive or take a train to go to your work?

In Japan, overwhelming numbers of people take train for commuting.

The last trains are usually scheduled around midnight.

Every night there are people who miss the last train and get miserable.

Overtime or drinking with co-workers but the options that they will pick are one of those

1. Take a taxi to go home.

2. Stay till morning at a manga kissa (manga cafe) or a family restaurant.

3. Stay at a cheap hotel.

In many cases people take taxi to go home but midnight taxi fare is ridiculously expensive.

 

Now, this is the story of an office worker who came up the idea “why don’t I run home?” and he actually did it.

His name is Mr. A and he lives in Chigasaki, [W:Kanagawa Prefecture], works at a company in Tokyo.

 

—Mr. A’s challenge starts here—

 

This is Mr. A.
He seems to be mid 30s. (the picture taken when he goaled)

 

He searched the distance between the station near his company and his house, and it was 42 km, which is the same distance as a full length marathon!

 

 

First, he waited for the last train to leave at the station.

 

Poor woman, she missed the last one.

 

The last train left. He got ready to start running.

His goal was to get home before the first train comes at 5:30am.

The last train came at 0:30, so he had 5 hours, which he thought enough time to run home.

 

He wore double pants that day lol.

 

Completed the transformation!

 

Let’s start!

 

…but before that, he stopped at a convenience store to get sweat bread
because he hadn’t eaten anything.

 

Ran for a while and check the rout.

 

Still not sure and check it again.

 

At this point he had already run about 20 km.

 

Vending machines are so bright.
Mr. A says “now I know the feeling of the bugs that gather around light.”

 

He started feeling pain in his legs, and what it was worse, he got lost.

 

He went into a strange residential area.

 

There is no road…

 

Somehow he went back to a big road. Running along such road wouldn’t go wrong.

 

But still it took him a place like this,

 

a way like a path between rice fields,

 

and a small tunnel too.

 

Going through unbeaten ways and tunnels, Mr. A started thinking it didn’t seem like 42 km, and he realized the 42 km on google map referred the roadway but it takes much more distance for running.

It was already 4 o’clock in the morning when he realized it.

 

Found a Beef Bowl Restaurant! Charging energy here.

 

Fogged up glasses (^_^)

 

It’s alright. He was on the right way.

 

The sky was getting brighter. It was about 10 km to the goal.

 

Mr. A started to feel so exhausted that he didn’t remember anything around that time.

 

Finally in Chigasaki! Only 1 km to the goal!

 

Ironically, trains passes in front of him.

The time was already 6am, which means the people who waited for the first trains got ahead of Mr. A.

 

How disappointing…

 

But he didn’t care about losing the first train.

Only he wished at that moment was to go home as much as fast.

 

“Oh, I know this scene! I am close to my home!”

 

He was truly relived to be in a familiar area.

 

At last he reached the goal, the Chigasaki Station.
His legs are like almost broken.

 

It passed 5 hours and 55 minutes since he started.

At the goal station.

 

 

Mr. A concluded,

“If you miss the last train, it’s faster to wait for the first train than running home.”

“Google map tells you the distance of roadways but it’s actually much longer when you run those roads.”

 

You did it Mr. A!

 

Cheers to your humorous challenge!

 

Reference: Daily Portal Z

 

 

This is JAPAN Style!

 

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