Skip to main content

Kawauchi Takes Over Ten Minutes Off Egyptian Marathon Course Record

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20130118-OHT1T00141.htm

translated by Brett Larner

According to the organizers of the Jan. 18 Egyptian Marathon in Luxor, civil servant runner Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref.) won in a course record 2:12:24.  Going out alone right from the beginning he built a large lead by the time he crossed the finish line.  "This was the 20th anniversary of this race and my 20th marathon.  It felt like fate," he said with satisfaction.

Kawauchi missed his originally-scheduled flight from Japan after forgetting his passport at home and ended up buying a replacement ticket himself.  "I kind of panicked over my own mistake, and that has given me something to reflect on," he said.  "But it seems like I was able to turn that feeling into something I could use in my running."

To try to earn a place on the Japanese marathon team for August's Moscow World Championships Kawauchi plans to run the Feb. 3 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon and the Mar. 3 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon.

Translator's note: The former Egyptian Marathon course record was 2:22:32 set in 2001 by Egypt's Mohamed El Moursy.  The year before that, former Japanese national record holder Takeyuki Nakayama won in a then-course record 2:23:18.  Kawauchi's time was also a new Egyptian all-comers' record by more than seven minutes.

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Australian Male Arrested on Drug Smuggling Charges After Entering Japan for Osaka Marathon

On Apr. 9 the Kinki Region Bureau of Health, Labor and Welfare's Drug Control Division arrested Matthew Inglis Fox , 38, an Australian business owner of no known fixed address, on charges of violating the importation regulations of the Narcotics Control Act by smuggling tablets containing marijuana elements from the United States. The suspect had entered Japan in February to run in the Osaka Marathon . The suspect was arrested on suspicion of smuggling approximately 12 pills containing marijuana by sending them from a U.S. airport to Osaka's Kansai Airport using an international courier service on Feb. 19. The Osaka branch of the Customs Service discovered the tablets in arriving cargo and suspected them to be narcotics. Customs contacted the Narcotics Control Division, which then began its investigation of the case. According to the Narcotics Control Division, the suspect denies the charges.  Translator's note: Fox, who received a lifetime ban from the Ageo City Half Mara...

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox  for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...

Kanakuri Memorial Meet and 10000 m National Championships Preview and Streaming

Saturday is the first big meet on Japan's outdoor middle and long distance circuit, the Kanakuri Memorial Meet in Kumamoto. This year it's also hosting the 10000 m National Championships , making for an extra-long and extra-quality field overall. Top finishers will pick up places on Japan's team for next month's Asian Championships in South Korea, a key step in earning world rankings points to get onto the home team for September's Tokyo World Championships that makes Kanakuri more valuable than ever. Streaming is scheduled to be here and will run through most of the day, with the meet-closing men's and women's 10000 m having a separate broadcast on NHK BS starting at 19:30 local time. Start lists for most events are here . 10000 m start lists are here . Live results are here . A-heat event previews: Women's 800 m  - 11:00 High schooler Rin Kubo  is the only Japanese woman to have broken 2 minutes, with a 1:59.93 last July. Is she going to get any fast...