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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

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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
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