http://osaka.yomiuri.co.jp/sp_others/20081008ks05.htm
translated by Brett Larner
At the All-Japan University Women's Ekiden on Oct. 26 in Sendai, Beijing Olympic marathoner Reiko Tosa's alma mater Matsuyama University, will represent central Shikoku in its first-ever appearance at the national championship ekiden. The team's assistant coach is Keiichi Murai (34), Matsuyama alumnus and coach and husband to Tosa. In a classic example of a running marriage, Murai cultivated a winning athlete.
The day before the Sept. 23 qualification race for All-Japan, Murai held a meeting with his runners at Matsuyama. "When I told Reiko that I thought we would definitely make All-Japan she said that I shouldn't say that. 'You don't know what'll happen, especially in such a high-pressure situation. As the coach you should be more careful about what you say.'" Understanding the tension his runners would be feeling and trying to help them relax such words of wisdom is part of Murai's coaching style. With his and Tosa's support, the Matsuyama women set a meet record while winning the qualification race to earn for their first trip to the national championships.
Murai met Tosa when the two were students at Matsuyama, he the captain of the track and field team and she a team member two years his junior, and they married in 2004. Resigning from his Osaka-based company in 2005, Murai moved with Tosa to her hometown of Matsuyama. Using Tokyo as a base for Tosa's training, Murai began working at Matsuyama University while living with his parents-in-law.
The opportunity for a major change came in April last year. The assistant coach of ekiden powerhouse national champions Meijo University, Takayoshi Onishi, became head coach of Matsuyama, and Onishi soon invited Murai to become assistant coach. Onishi made the job offer on the basis of Murai's success advising athletes such as team captain Yukiko Kokusen (second year), who this year placed 9th in the National University Track and Field Championships 10000 m.
Murai is known for effectively communicating to his athletes both the hardships they must face and the kind of success they can expect in return for hard work, the kind of success experienced by Reiko Tosa on her road from being a no-name athlete to an Olympian, telling them, "Reiko put everything she had into her workouts." Kokusen commented, "I'm proud to say that there's a great legacy of runners like Tosa here before me, and it means a lot to hear about her attitude toward workouts." Coach Onishi added, "Coach Murai is a very nice guy who has created a warm and caring atmosphere among the team."
Murai described his own view of his role as, "I'm just the man behind the curtain. I'm here to support Coach Onishi and the team as well as I can in whatever they do." The reward for his efforts may well be an athlete who will rise to become the next generation's Tosa.
translated by Brett Larner
At the All-Japan University Women's Ekiden on Oct. 26 in Sendai, Beijing Olympic marathoner Reiko Tosa's alma mater Matsuyama University, will represent central Shikoku in its first-ever appearance at the national championship ekiden. The team's assistant coach is Keiichi Murai (34), Matsuyama alumnus and coach and husband to Tosa. In a classic example of a running marriage, Murai cultivated a winning athlete.
The day before the Sept. 23 qualification race for All-Japan, Murai held a meeting with his runners at Matsuyama. "When I told Reiko that I thought we would definitely make All-Japan she said that I shouldn't say that. 'You don't know what'll happen, especially in such a high-pressure situation. As the coach you should be more careful about what you say.'" Understanding the tension his runners would be feeling and trying to help them relax such words of wisdom is part of Murai's coaching style. With his and Tosa's support, the Matsuyama women set a meet record while winning the qualification race to earn for their first trip to the national championships.
Murai met Tosa when the two were students at Matsuyama, he the captain of the track and field team and she a team member two years his junior, and they married in 2004. Resigning from his Osaka-based company in 2005, Murai moved with Tosa to her hometown of Matsuyama. Using Tokyo as a base for Tosa's training, Murai began working at Matsuyama University while living with his parents-in-law.
The opportunity for a major change came in April last year. The assistant coach of ekiden powerhouse national champions Meijo University, Takayoshi Onishi, became head coach of Matsuyama, and Onishi soon invited Murai to become assistant coach. Onishi made the job offer on the basis of Murai's success advising athletes such as team captain Yukiko Kokusen (second year), who this year placed 9th in the National University Track and Field Championships 10000 m.
Murai is known for effectively communicating to his athletes both the hardships they must face and the kind of success they can expect in return for hard work, the kind of success experienced by Reiko Tosa on her road from being a no-name athlete to an Olympian, telling them, "Reiko put everything she had into her workouts." Kokusen commented, "I'm proud to say that there's a great legacy of runners like Tosa here before me, and it means a lot to hear about her attitude toward workouts." Coach Onishi added, "Coach Murai is a very nice guy who has created a warm and caring atmosphere among the team."
Murai described his own view of his role as, "I'm just the man behind the curtain. I'm here to support Coach Onishi and the team as well as I can in whatever they do." The reward for his efforts may well be an athlete who will rise to become the next generation's Tosa.
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