Skip to main content

Okutani 'Satisfied' With Last Run at Tokyo Marathon

http://www.kobe-np.co.jp/news/sports/0002774254.shtml

translated by Brett Larner

Translator's note: This article came out a few days ago and covers the Tokyo Marathon two weeks ago, but I've been a fan of Okutani since Helsinki in '05 and didn't know he had run Tokyo. I had always hoped he would make it back.

Going his own way separate from the professional running world, Wataru Okutani (35, Team Subaru) ran his final race at last month's Tokyo Marathon. It has been nearly three years since Okutani's life as a professional runner came to a sudden halt. Okutani was the leader of the 2007 World Championships Japanese marathon team when he fell seriously ill and was forced to withdraw from the team. "With this race finished I can say with a free and clear heart that it's over," said Okutani. He now plans to dedicate himself to coaching the next generation of athletes.

As a student at Hyogo's Nishiwake Kogyo H.S., Okutani was a part of the school's National High School Ekiden Championships-winning squad. As a professional runner with Team Subaru he ran the Helsinki World Championships in 2005. He set his PB of 2:08:49 at the 2006 Fukuoka International Marathon to qualify for the 2007 Osaka World Championships, but in the spring of 2007 a ruptured colon led to complications which required major internal surgery and forced him to withdraw from the team. The effects of the surgery forced Okutani onto a restricted diet and led to chronic problems with anemia and diarrhea, leading him to retire last spring and become part of Subaru's coaching staff.

With this sudden end to his career, even in the depths of his forced retirement Okutani had a feeling of unfinished business and a lingering hope: "I want to cross the finish line in a marathon one more time." Along with 300,000 others he applied for the Tokyo Marathon general division lottery, and when he got in his chance had arrived.

On race day Okutani was not feeling well, and with the heavy rain and cold temperatures he faced considerable challenges. At 25 km his muscles began to seize up. Knowing that his wife and their pair of 2 year old twins were watching along with many of his friends, Okutani stayed on his feet and, although he was in great pain and had to walk repeatedly, made it to the finish line in 4:11:16. "I know that with my health the way it is now doing something this hard was dangerous," he gasped after finishing, "but finally, I'm satisfied."

The finish line behind him, Okutani is now focused on the future. "You can say that Japanese men's marathoning has gotten weaker, but I want to help bring up the next generation to be strong and confident in doing things in their own style." As a runner who stuck it out and made it through his own hard work, Okutani and his experience will be a leading role model for tomorrow's world-class runners.

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