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Takahashi to Make TV Commentator Debut at Tokyo Int'l Women's Marathon

http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/p-sp-tp0-20081030-424120.html

translated by Brett Larner

2000 Sydney Olympics women's marathon gold medalist Naoko Takahashi (36, Team Phiten) will pay back her debt to the Tokyo International Women's Marathon on Nov. 16. Since announcing her retirement on Oct. 28, Takahashi's management office has booked her for over fifty appearances on TV and as a special guest at public events. It will all begin with Takahashi's debut as a television broadcast commentator at the Tokyo International Women's Marathon in which Takahashi was originally scheduled to compete.

This year's 30th anniversary edition of the Tokyo Int'l will be the event's final, as next year it will relocate to Yokohama. To commemorate the occasion, organizers will host a symposium titled "Women Runners' Trail of Dreams." 400 people applied to hear Takahashi speak along with a panel including marathon legends Akemi Matsuda, Nanae Sasaki, Mari Tanigawa, Junko Asari, and past winners of Tokyo.

On the day of the race Takahashi will also debut as a televsion commentator for the marathon's broadcast. Takahashi ran Tokyo three times, finishing 2nd in 2003, winning in 2005, and coming in 3rd in 2006. She knows the course intimately and will be able to provide unique inside into events as they unfold.

Takahashi's support crew Team Q, her lifestyle of staying in downtown hotels and having meals provided by sponsors, and everything to which she is accustomed is ending. From now on she will follow her own motivation from day to day, in both her training and her life. All things considered, it looks as though Takahashi's new life will be at least as busy as her old one.
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