Skip to main content

Tokyo Marathon Post-Race Quotes

http://journal.mycom.co.jp/articles/2008/02/18/tm03/index.html
http://www.chunichi.co.jp/article/sports/news/CK2008021802088341.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner

Click names for photos from the post-race press conference.

"I'm very happy to have won in the land of the marathon, Japan. Setting a PB by a minute was also not bad. The secret of why I always race well in Japan is that I use made-in-Japan shoes."
--Viktor Rothlin, winner, 2:07:23 (PB, NR)

"This was my first race after being injured. My time was so-so. The cheering along the course was fantastic, though. Thank you to everyone who supported me."
--Claudia Dreher, women's winner, 2:35:35

"The pacemakers were fast but I just wanted to go with them as far as I could even though everything after 30 km was a new world for me. When I was training for this race I tried a lot of different things, but I've figured out what works the best for me and what doesn't. In practice I also visualized running in the Olympics and that helped me to run this fast. Before the race I thought I might have a chance to be the top Japanese runner today, but to be honest I was lucky. I'll be overjoyed if I'm selected for the Olympics and will do my best."
--Arata Fujiwara, 2nd place and 1st Japanese, 2:08:40 (PB)

"Fujiwara was an absolute no-name. He ran a perfect race and his time was very, very respectable."
--Keisuke Sawaki, Rikuren official

"I'm very disappointed by the half-baked race I ran today."
--Toshinari Suwa, pre-race favorite; 4th place and 2nd Japanese, 2:09:16

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Ninja Runner Yuka Ando Leads Japanese Women's Marathon Team in London: "I Want to Go For It"

Her form has been dubbed "ninja running." Both arms held straight down with almost no movement. That idiosyncratic style carried Yuka Ando , 23, to the fastest-ever marathon debut by a Japanese woman, 2:21:36, at March's Nagoya Women's Marathon to land at #4 on the all-time Japanese lists. All at once Ando found herself catapulted to the top level of women's marathoning, a candidate for Japan's next great marathoner. When she was younger Ando ran moving her arms like other runners, but she had a bad habit of moving robotically, her upper body and lower body not working in sync. The turning point came in 2014 when she joined Suzuki Hamamatsu AC . Working there with coach Masayuki Satouchi to eliminate the faults in her form, the pair arrived at the ninja running style that let her run relaxed. "Other people keep asking me, "Isn't it hard to run like that?" but for me it's comfortable," she said. The efficient form helped her mai

Yamaguchi 10th at United Airlines NYC Half - Weekend Overseas Results

2024 national cross-country champion Tomonori Yamaguchi was the top Japanese finisher in the men's race at the United Airlines NYC Half , taking 10th in 1:04:36. A 2nd-year at Waseda University , Yamaguchi was one of three collegiate runners running New York in the 11th year of JRN's development program collaboration between the Ageo City Half Marathon and the New York Road Runners, a program that has seen people like future half marathon and marathon NR breaker Yuta Shitara and Paris Olympic team member Akira Akasaki make their international debuts. Yamaguchi's Waseda teammate Taishi Ito started fast, going with the leaders through 5 km in 14:29 before losing touch. Hosei University senior Rei Matsunaga went through in 14:42 in his last race before joining the JR Higashi Nihon corporate team in April. Yamaguchi, who caught COVID after winning last month's National Cross-Country Championships, started more conservatively with a 15:11 first 5km. But where both Ito

Rui Aoki Wins National University Men's Half Marathon - Weekend Results

Yuka Ando 's win at the Nagoya Women's Marathon was the big news of the weekend, but there were other high-level races happening, even in Nagoya. Held in parallel with the marathon, the Nagoya City Half Marathon saw Australians Natalie Rule and Ed Goddard take easy wins by about 2.5 minutes each, Rule in 1:13:57 and Goddard in 1:04:01. The new Biwako Marathon also had a non-Japanese winner, China's Yousheng Guan scoring 1st in 2:14:58 with Japan's Hirohito Sugai next in 2:16:40. Mikiko Ota won the women's race in 2:50:44. The Shizuoka Marathon returned for its first running in five years, with club runner Shumpei Oda leading the top 7 men under 2:20 in 2:15:36. Women's winner Remi Tanaka ran 2:41:23, beating runner-up Ayumi Sano by exactly 7 minutes. And in Tokyo, Rui Aoki continued what has been a great season so far for Koku Gakuin University with a win at the National University Men's Half Marathon . Aoki and Hiro Konda of Chuo Gakuin Unive