60-Year-Old Hiromi Nakata Wins Tottori Marathon Overall Women's Race

The Tottori Marathon held its 12th running on March 10. In light rain and 11˚C temperatures 3717 people ran Tottori's one-way course that passes local historic sites such as the Tottori Sand Dunes and the Tottori Castle ruins. Running 3:12:44 for the overall women's win was 60-year-old Hiromi Nakata.

"I was as surprised as anyone that I won," said Tanaka. "I had to stop at the toilets early on and lost some time, but I tried using the double inhale, double exhale breathing method that the actor Kankuro Nakamura uses on the Idaten TV show and got into a good rhythm. Thanks to that I could just keep going and going. I had no idea I was in 1st, and when they put up the finish tape as I was coming in I thought, 'No way!'""

Nakata is a resident of Hamamatsu, Shizuoka. In 2017 she ran the fastest time of the year in Japan by a 58-year-old, 3:05:02. In the mornings she does housework and works in her garden for an hour, fitting in 30 to 60-minute runs when she has time. "My house is near the mountains, so all my run loops are very hilly," she said. "I run about 300 km a month. Working in my garden uses the entire body, and I feel like it exercises muscles that don't usually get much use. Maybe that helps my running too."

In the afternoons Nakata works in the administrative office of a nursing home from 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. After work she does ten 100 m hill sprints on a slope near her workplace. "At night there are bears near my house so I do them near work 5 km away," she laughed. "I can't really do speedwork, but if it's only 100 m it's not that bad. The Tottori Marathon has hills early on, mid-race and near the end, but it was thanks to these hill sprints and my regular running on hilly routes that I was able to keep going without slowing down."

3459 people finished this year's Tottori Marathon, a finisher rate of 93.1%.

source article:
https://runnet.jp/topics/report/190315.html
translated by Brett Larner