THX to Japan Running NewsFinnish writer Tuomas Zacheus, author of the book Nousevan Auringon Maratoonarit [Marathoners of the Rising Sun], visited Tokyo with his wife Marit the weekend of July 18-19.
JRN organized and facilitated an interview for Zacheus with the recently retired Takayuki Nishida, a former Team S&B and Team JAL Ground Service runner coached by the legendary Toshihiko Seko.Nishida holds a PB of 2:08:45, the fastest time ever by a Japanese runner on the elite Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon course. On the strength of his Beppu-Oita performance Nishida ran the marathon in the 2001 Edmonton World Championships, finishing 9th overall, beating then-national record holder Atsushi Fujita, and, as the Japanese team's third runner, helping to win the team silver medal. In university Nishida was already a star, narrowly losing out to a young Marilson Dos Santos of Brazil for silver in the 1999 World University Games half marathon and setting a rare new stage record on the Hakone Ekiden's 9th leg. Zacheus talked to Nishida about his past, his views on the Japanese jitsugyodan corporate team system and the future.
How did you start running?
When I was in elementary school I was on the baseball team, but when I got to junior high school I wasn't good enough to be a starter. I thought I'd have a better chance on the track team.
Did you have any marathon idols when you were young?
No, I didn't really know anything about running. I only really got interested when I was 20. My favorite baseball player was Kiyohara. Actually, though, I wasn't a marathoner yet, just a track runner, but when I was in 9th grade I liked Yasuyuki Watanabe, the Waseda University star who became its head coach.Up until I was 18 I wanted to become a Buddhist monk because some of my relatives own a temple, so I decided to go to Komazawa University, a private Buddhist school. At the time I entered it wasn't a very powerful ekiden team yet. I wasn't a big name in high school either, no fast times or anything, but when I met Komazawa's head coach Hiroaki Oyagi I was impressed by what a powerful person he is. He inspired me to become something more.
What do you remember about winning the silver medal in the 1999 World University Games half marathon?
The World University Games were a lot of fun. I led the whole way, then in the last few hundred meters I started getting dizzy and a Brazilian went by me. He beat me by about 20 seconds.
Did you know that Brazilian, Dos Santos, has won New York twice and run 59 minutes for the half marathon?
What? Really? That's really good! I don't feel so bad about losing to him then! 59 minutes is amazing.
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