Japanese public servant qualifies for world championships with 3rd in Tokyo Marathon
Amateur runner Yuki Kawauchi finished third in the men's Tokyo Marathon on Feb. 27, overtaking semi-professional Japanese athletes to qualify for the world athletics championships this summer.
Kawauchi, 23, a full-time employee with the Saitama Prefectural Government, took third place in 2 hours, 8 minutes, 37 seconds. Some 36,000 runners from Japan and abroad took part in the event.
As a clerical worker, Kawauchi is in charge of the evening course at Kasukabe High School in the Saitama Prefecture city of Kasukabe from 1:30 p.m. through 9:30 p.m. every day, giving him time to practice running in the morning.
When he was a student at Gakushuin University, he participated in the annual Hakone Ekiden relay race twice. Upon graduation, he was hired by the prefectural government in 2009.
After he performed poorly as the Saitama Prefecture team's anchor in the national inter-prefectural ekiden race in January, he was determined to put in a better performance in the Tokyo Marathon and wore the same uniform as he did in the January race.
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Japanese Federation and Corporate League Feel Stinging Impact of Kawauchi's Run
translated by Brett Larner vor JRN
Saitama-based amateur runner Yuki Kawauchi, 23, finished 3rd at the Feb. 27 Tokyo Marathon in 2:08:37. The top Japanese finisher, he earned a guaranteed spot on the national team for August's World Championships marathon. As an ordinary amateur runner not belonging to a jitsugyodan corporate team, Kawauchi's titanic run has had a profound impact on Rikuren, the Japanese federation.
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Mekonnen Wins Tokyo Marathon, Amateur Kawauchi 3rd in 2:08:37
by Brett Larner for JRN
Kawauchi was one of the big surprises of last year's Tokyo Marathon. In university he had opted to attend an academically-oriented school instead of a Hakone Ekiden powerhouse, taking satisfaction from beating runners who had chosen sports over academics. Making Hakone several times as a member of the select team and showing exceptional toughness on the downhill Sixth Stage he attracted offers from a variety of top corporate teams post-graduation but again chose to spurn the system. Saying that he wanted to show younger runners that they didn't have to join a corporate ekiden team to be successful he took a full-time office job with the Saitama Prefectural Government, fitting in his training schedule around his 9-hour workday
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SUMMARY OF POST-RACE PRESS CONFERENCE AT TOKYO MARATHON
Yuki Kawauchi:
"When I was in the lead pack during the middle part of the race, I thought, ‘do I really belong here?’ My goal for the day was to be top 8 and run slightly under 2:10 (like 2:09:50 or 2:09:40). I could not even imagine myself running 2:08. I was planning to push the pace in the last 5Km, but since the runners in front started to come back to me. I decided to go early.
(On short interval between his marathons: note that he ran Fukuoka in early December and then again in Tokyo): From the perspective of Corporate team marathon runners, the interval between my marathons may be too short, but from the perspective of amateur runners, I don’t think it is short. Some of the amateur runner srun marathons with even shorter intervals.
My current training has led to 2:08 marathon, so it’s working for me. I would like to continue training in this environment."
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