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

'Kobe 2024: Aitchison, Athmani Lead Record-Breaking Thursday'

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-aitchison-athmani-lead-record-breaking-thursday Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships are here .

Japan's First Goldless Day - Asian Athletics Championships Day Four Highlights

Day 4 of the Bangkok Asian Athletics Championships was the first without a single gold medal going to Japan, but there were still enough silvers and bronzes to go around. Robyn Lauren Brown of the Philippines outclassed the rest of the women's 400 mH final field, taking gold in 57.50. Eri Utsunomiya and Ami Yamamoto made it a Japanese 2-3, Utsunomiya running 57.73 for silver and Yamamoto 57.80 for bronze. Yusaku Kodama also scored silver in the men's 400 mH, running 48.96 behind Qatari winner Bassem Hemeida 's 48.64. Yuki Yamasaki won bronze in the heptathlon with 5696 points, Uzbekistan's Ekaterina Voronina taking gold in 6098 and Swapna Barman silver in 5840. Teammate Karin Odama was 4th in 5487. Another bronze came in the mixed 4x400 m relay, with Japan running 3:15.71 behind India's 3:14.70 and Sri Lanka's 3:15.41. Naoto Hasegawa and Ryoichi Akamatsu both cleared 2.23 m in the men's high jump, Hasegawa finishing 4th overall and Akamatsu 5th. ...

'Kobe 2024: Monday Sees Shocking Wins on the Track and the Field'

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-monday-sees-shocking-wins-track-and-field Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships  are here .