Skip to main content

DeNA Team Holds Press Conference Announcing Seko's Comeback and Plans to Make 2020 Olympic Marathon



On March 30, the Tokyo-based DeNA corporate team held a press conference to announce new members Kenta Murozuka and Hiroki Sugawa.  Team management also announced that legend Toshihiko Seko will make a comeback to competitive marathoning after a 26-year absence in hopes of making the 2020 Tokyo Olympics marathon team, switching roles from his current position as the team's head coach to becoming one of its twelve athletes.

With the start of the new fiscal year today the team's roster page was updated to include the new team members and reflected Seko's new position on the team.

Seko's athlete profile includes the following:

Profile
Born July 15, 1956 in Kuwana, Mie.  During his career he won ten out of his fifteen domestic and international marathons.  On the track he was also dominant, giving the Japanese national records a beating over an impressive range from 5000 m to the marathon and setting then-world records over 25,000 m and 30,000 m.

 In April, 2013 he became head coach of the DeNA Running Club corporate team, but, resolving to "make Japanese marathoning #1 in the world again," he has chosen to return to competitive running.  His goal is to make the 2020 Tokyo Olympics team.

 Height, weight: 170.6 cm, 73.5 kg
Blood type: O
Favorite word: passion
Hobby: golf
Most redeeming characteristic: I'll be friends with anybody.
Message to fans: It's going to take a while, but please cheer me on over the long haul.  I will definitely be ready in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

 PBs
5000 m: 13:24.29
10000 m: 27:42.17
30 km: 1:28:52
marathon: 2:08:27

 Achievements
Ten wins in fifteen marathon starts
Four-time Fukuoka International Marathon winner, 1978-1980, 1983
Two-time Boston Marathon winner, 1981, 1987
Tokyo International Marathon winner, 1983
London Marathon winner, 1986
Chicago Marathon winner, 1986
Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon winner, 1988
Two-time Olympic marathoner, Los Angeles 1984 and Seoul 1988
Labels:

Comments

Karl W said…
I like your work!
April 1, 2014 at 5:15 PM
Anonymous said…
Good one! Question: Do Japanese do April Fools?
April 1, 2014 at 5:46 PM
Brett Larner said…
No joke on my part. This is translated as presented on the DeNA website.
April 1, 2014 at 9:36 PM
Unknown said…
FANTASTIC !!! Running the Olympic marathon at 64 would be amazing. Just do it, impossible is nothing.
April 1, 2014 at 9:54 PM
TokyoRacer said…
Ha ha ha....

I guess that answers the question of whether the Japanese do April Fool's jokes.
April 1, 2014 at 11:59 PM
Unknown said…
Glad to see Japan Inc., maintaining some sense of humor :)
ちょっとDeNAへの好感度アップ。
April 2, 2014 at 8:47 AM
Metts said…
And in Korea too. University students wore their old high school uniforms for April Fool's day.
April 2, 2014 at 10:09 AM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

19-Yr-Old Munakata Breaks Miura's U20 NR to Win Ageo City Half Marathon

The Ageo City Half Marathon is always big, the main race that the coaches of Hakone Ekiden-bound university men's teams use for firming up their entry rosters for the big show. That makes what's basically an idyllic small town race into one of the world's great road races, with depth unmatched anywhere. One of the top-tier people on the start list at 1:02:07, Kodai Miyaoka (Hosei Univ.) took the race out fast, but the entire pack was keying off the fastest man in the race, Reishi Yoshida (Chuo Gakuin Univ.), 1:00:31. Yoshida reeled Miyaoka in before 5 km and kept things steady in the low-1:01 range, wearing down the lead group to around 10 including his CGU teammate Taisei Ichikawa , a quartet from Izumo and National University Ekiden runner-up Komazawa University , 2 runners from local Daito Bunka University , 2:07:54 marathoner Atsumi Ashiwa (Honda), and Australian Ed Goddard . Right after 15 km Komazawa went into action, Yudai Kiyama , Hibiki Murakami and Haru Tanin
Post a Comment
Read more

10000 m NR Attempt In the Works Saturday at Hachioji Long Distance - Streaming and Preview

There are a bunch of other time trial meets this weekend and next, but Saturday's Hachioji Long Distance is the last big meet for Japanese men, 8 heats of Wavelight-paced 10000 m finely graded from target times of 28:50 down to 26:59 for the fastest heat. Heat 6 at 17:55 local time is effectively the B-race, with 35 Japan-based Kenyans targeting 27:10 at the front end, and in a lot of cases a spot on their teams at the New Year Ekiden national championship on Jan. 1. Corporate teams are only allowed to field one non-Japanese athlete in the New Year Ekiden, and only on its shortest stage, and getting to that has a big impact on African athletes' contracts and renewal prospects. Toyota Boshoku , Yasukawa Denki , Chugoku Denryoku , Aisan Kogyo , JR Higashi Nihon , Subaru and 2024 national champion Toyota are all fielding two Kenyans, and Aichi Seiko three. For people like Toyota's Felix Korir and Samuel Kibathi , getting as close to the 27:10 target time as they can and
Post a Comment
Read more

Ageo City Half Marathon Preview and Streaming

This weekend's big race is the Ageo City Half Marathon , the next stop on the collegiate men's circuit. Most of the universities bound for the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden use Ageo to thin down the list of contenders for their final Hakone rosters, and with JRN's development program that sends the first two Japanese collegiate finishers in Ageo to the United Airlines NYC Half every year a lot of coaches put in some of their A-listers too. That gives Ageo legendary depth and fast front-end speed, with a 1:00:47 course record last year from Kenyan corporate leaguer Paul Kuira (JR Higashi Nihon) and the top 26 all clearing 63 minutes. Since a lot of programs just enter everybody on their rosters you never really know who on the entry list is actually going to show up, but if even a quarter of the people at the top end of this year's list run it'll be a great race, even if conditions are looking likely to be a bit warmer than ideal. Chuo Gakuin University 's Reishi Yoshi
Post a Comment
Read more