Skip to main content

Aoyama Gakuin University Junior Takehiro Deki on 2:10:02 Marathon Debut: "For a Second There I Thought About the Olympics"

translated by Brett Larner
photos by Dr. Helmut Winter

Aoyama Gakuin University junior Takehiro Deki ran a 2:10:02 debut for 9th at the Mar. 4 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, the all-time #3 Japanese collegiate time and all-time #9 Japanese debut.  After briefly leading the race at 30 km on 2:06:55 pace he faded to 12th but came back to outkick Nairobi Marathon winner Ernest Kebenei and Daegu WC 7th and 8th placers Hiroyuki Horibata and Ruggero Pertile. Afterwards Deki told JRN about his race.

This was my marathon debut, so I wanted to give it a go and see how far I could make it.  I ran keeping things under control in the first half.  At 30 km I was running up in the lead pack and was really happy, and just for a second there I caught myself thinking about the Olympics.

But it didn't end up being that easy, and around 33 km the harshness of the marathon started to catch up with me.  In the last 5 km I was targeting breaking 2:10, but I just missed it by a tiny bit.  That was really disappointing.  But considering that I only ran up to 30 km in my training I'm satisfied with this result.

On the other hand, as far as my future marathon career I could tell that if I trained more seriously I'd be able to be competitive, so this gave me a lot of confidence in that respect.  Next month I start my senior year, so in my final Hakone Ekiden and the Olympics four years from now I want to use this experience to help me be my best.  Thank you.


photos (c) 2012 Dr. Helmut Winter
all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Brett Larner said…
Aoyama Gakuin Univ. team manager Naoya Hashimoto said that he wrote "From Hakone to the world!" on Deki's 40 km drink bottle as an inspirational message. Looks like it worked.
March 4, 2012 at 7:36 PM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Chepkirui Over Sato Again to Win 2nd-Straight Nagoya Women's Marathon, Chen Breaks Malaysian NR (updated)

This year's Nagoya Women's Marathon felt like a changing of the guard, with some the bigger domestic names over the last few years fading early and a lot of newer faces stepping up with quality debuts or second marathons. The front group was set to be paced for 2:20 flat with the 2nd group at 2:23:30 to hit the auto-qualifying time for the 2027 MGC Race, Japan's L.A. Olympics marathon trials race in Nagoya. Up front things went out OK, but after a 33:10 split at 10 km Ayuko Suzuki , 2:21:22 here 2 years ago, lost touch, ultimately finishing 23rd in 2:33:28. Windy conditions started to play with pacers' ability to keep things steady and the pace slowed majorly over the next 10 km, but even with a 34:05 second 10 km there were big-name casualties. 2024 Nagoya winner Yuka Ando was next to drop, ending up 17th in 2:30:32. NR holder Honami Maeda was next, followed quickly by Bahraini Kenyan Eunice Chumba and debuting Wakana Kabasawa . Maeda faded to 21st in 2:31:21, whil...
2 comments
Read more

Nagoya Women's Marathon Preview and Streaming (updated)

Japan's winter marathon season of 6 major races in 7-straight weekends wraps up Sunday with the world's largest women-only marathon, the Nagoya Women's Marathon . The weather is looking pretty good, 6˚ at the start rising to 10˚ by the finish and sunny skies, but a moderate 7 m/s NW wind means a headwind finish that might impact the potential for some fast times. Official streaming kicks off at 9:00 a.m. local time. Live results will be here . Sheila Chepkirui won last year in 2:20:40, breaking away from Sayaka Sato and Eunice Chebichii Chumba at 30 km and hanging on for the win. Sato negative split a 2:20:59 PB for 2nd, Chumba fading to 3rd in 2:21:36. All 3 are back this time, but they have pretty serious competition from Aynalem Desta , 2:17:37 in Amsterdam last fall, and Selly Chepyego Kaptich , 2:20:03 in Barcelona 2023. And of course, Japanese NR holder Honami Maeda . Maeda ran 2:18:59 at the Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2024 to make the Paris Oly...
Post a Comment
Read more

How it Happened

Ancient History I went to Wesleyan University, where the legend of four-time Boston Marathon champ and Wes alum Bill Rodgers hung heavy over the cross-country team. Inspired by Koichi Morishita and Young-Cho Hwang’s duel at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics I ran my first marathon in 1993, qualifying for Boston ’94 where Bill was kind enough to sign a star-struck 20-year-old me’s bib number at the expo. Three years later I moved to Japan for grad school, and through a long string of coincidences I came across a teenaged kid named Yuki Kawauchi down at my neighborhood track. I never imagined he’d become what he is, but right from the start there was just something different about him. After his 2:08:37 breakthrough at the 2011 Tokyo Marathon he called me up and asked me to help him get into races abroad. He’d finished 3rd on the brutal downhill Sixth Stage at the Hakone Ekiden, and given how he’d run the hills in the last 6 km at Tokyo ’11 I thought he’d do well at Boston or New York. “I...
53 comments
Read more