My Journey to Tokyo
NYRR Contributors Circle member Victoria Fortune will run the Tokyo Marathon on March 2 and is sharing her story leading up to race day.
In 2019 I set out to run my first marathon, the TCS New York City Marathon, in honor of my late father. I can honestly say, losing a parent in my 20s wasn’t on my bingo card, nor was running a marathon, but as the saying goes, when life hands you lemons, you make the best lemonade possible.
Running to Connect Past and Present
Victoria ran her first marathon at the 2019 TCS New York City Marathon. Photo by MarathonFoto.
Training for my first marathon was one of the most healing experiences I could have ever imagined. It tested my physical, mental, and emotional strength. When most people think about healing, the last thing I bet they think about is running. Total opposite for me. Running became my meditation. It became a way for me to release, grieve, reflect, and a safe space to let out my emotions.
Six years later, running remains one of the most important coping tools I’ve adapted as a part of my everyday life. As I prepare to run my fifth marathon in Tokyo, Japan on March 2, I couldn’t be more excited about how far this sport has taken me.
This marathon is particularly special because I’ve been speaking Japanese since elementary school. I studied the language from childhood through college. It’s always been a dream of mine to travel to Japan. If you would have asked 10-year-old me if I would have ever imagined going to Japan to run a marathon, I would’ve said “no freaking way.” I didn’t even know such a thing existed as a child. People actually pay to run marathons? In other countries? That thought then and now is still very wild to me. Nonetheless, here I am, preparing to travel nearly 7,000 miles by plane, all for the love of running and my deep passion for Japanese culture.
The Draw of Japan
Victoria's high school yearbook featured a photo of her and Sakiko, a Japanese exchange student she and her family hosted.
Like running, learning Japanese requires great discipline, patience, and persistence. I was intrigued by the complexity of the language and how one symbol could mean an entire phrase. Or how specific the strokes of every hiragana, katakana, and kanji character has to be. It’s so easy to misspell a word or phrase due to a simple pen stroke error, so precision is key.
Beyond the language, I was most inspired by the honorable culture. A culture that, from what I’ve observed, is built around the principles of politeness, respect for seniority/elders, harmony, loyalty, courage, humility, generosity, and self control. A culture that has in many ways shaped who I am today.
It wasn’t until my high school years that I really got a chance to deepen my understanding of Japanese culture by hosting a Japanese exchange student named Sakiko. Sakiko knew beginner-level English and I knew intermediate-level Japanese. We both relied heavily on facial expressions and hand-written messages to communicate more complex needs. Hosting an exchange student was an experience that both challenged me and expanded my knowledge around Japanese cultural norms vs. American norms. For example, when Sakiko arrived, she came with a suitcase full of gifts for my entire household. Or every time Sakiko and I would come home from school, she would bow to greet my parents hello. I was so impressed by her etiquette and respect for elders.
Tokyo Awaits
As I am just a few weeks away from running the Tokyo Marathon, I’m looking forward to putting my Japanese to the test, connecting with old friends, and really enjoying the course. I’m hopeful that the early morning runs, late nights studying my Japanese, and consistent workouts will all pay off.
Read additional blog posts about Victoria's journey to the 2025 Tokyo Marathon: