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Published on 08/14/1995 All articles from this issue

Los Altan marks A-bomb anniversary with 280-mile run

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By Pete Borello

Special to the Town Crier

Bob Slate learned the hard way that it's not the heat, but the humidity that makes summers in Japan almost unbearable.

Slate, a resident of Los Altos, did not venture across the Pacific to see the sights, he came to run. From August 5-9, he competed in a 280-mile foot race that took place during some of the country's warmest weather.

"It was ungodly," he said. "The temperature was only in the high 90s, but the humidity was horrible."

Slate was the sole American and one of only 13 runners who participated in the Hiroshima-to-Nagasaki International Peace Ultramarathon, an annual event that commemorates the bombings of those two cities during World War II.

The 40-year-old engineer describes the race as the "Tour de France of ultramarathons." Competitors had to reach a certain distance each day and the winner was the runner with the best overall time for the four days.

"It's like running 10 or 12 marathons consecutively," Slate said.

Leaving from Hiroshima on the first day, Slate ran 50 miles in nine hours and kept pace with some of the top competitors.

"I had a magnificent first day," he said.

But the second day was anything but magnificent. The temperature hovered near 100 degrees and the fierce humidity took its toll on Slate. Overcome by heat exhaustion and heat stroke, he was forced to withdraw by midday.

"I couldn't cool off and I got sick," he said.

He was then transported to a local hospital where I.V. fluids were administered.

"I sat there until my brain didn't feel toasted," he explained.

He reentered the race on the third day, running six hours with a block of ice on his chest to combat the blistering heat.

"I was trying to stay conscious so I wouldn't have to go to the hospital again," he said.

Slate persevered, completing 56 miles to finish the day in second place.

The weather cooled for the final day, and Slate had few troubles completing the last 43 miles to Nagasaki. He was one of only five runners to finish the race, but since he missed part of the second day, his total mileage was only sixth best.

Slate believes that if his support crew - consisting of four Japanese college students that drove alongside him with food, water and new socks - hadn't abandoned him for more than an hour on the first day, he may have done even better.

"A good crew can make or break you in this kind of race," Slate said.

But at least Slate can say he came through the race in good physical shape.

"I feel good," he said just three days after the race. "My legs feel quite good."

Several runners were not so lucky. Two were hospitalized and others were in serious need of a podiatrist.

"A runner from France had the skin rubbed off the end of his toes," Slate said. "And the guy from Croatia - his feet were a mess."

The heat and sore feet were not the only hurdles the runners faced during the event. The race path wended through the highways of Japan and participants often found themselves running on a shoulder no wider than two feet. And when nightfall came, the race became even more dangerous.

"One night, I almost fell over a guard rail," Slate said.

Despite all these hardships, Slate insists he will be back to run the race in '96.

"Next year, my goal is to finish the whole thing," he said.

But the question remains why he entered the race in the first place.

"I was in the middle of a divorce three years ago and I needed something to focus on," he explained. "I was flipping through a magazine on ultramarathons and said 'that's for me.'"

His other reasons for running this grueling race go deeper than that. Slate's mother is from Japan and his father was an American soldier that was part of the occupational forces after the war. And while a student at Princeton University, Slate worked on a project that monitored radiation exposure. This peaked his interest in the atomic bomb attacks on Japan and he started reading every book on the war he could find.

Slate, who moved to Los Altos in 1985, trained for three years before entering the competition. He started by running to and from his job at Amdahl Corp. in Sunnyvale (a total of 16 miles) and logging six more miles on his lunch hour. He then started running a marathon each month. Slate then progressed to running a marathon each weekend and an ultramarathon each month. To help acclimate himself to Japan's summer weather, he drove around on warm days with his truck windows rolled up and no air conditioning. Still, it wasn't the same.

"I trained for five hours during the heat wave we had here last month, but it was trivial compared to the heat in Japan," he said.

To better prepare himself for these conditions next year, Slate has already devised a more punishing summer training schedule. He will cut back on the air conditioning in his office and will run the trails of Rancho San Antonio Park wearing a vinyl raincoat.

"I think I'll do better next time because this race gave me a lot of confidence and toughened me mentally."