Skip to main content

All Smiles, Fukushi Returns to Japan, Saying of the Marathon, "I've Had Enough. I Won't Do Any More."

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2013/08/15/kiji/K20130815006422380.html

translated by Brett Larner

 Moscow World Championships women's marathon bronze medalist Kayoko Fukushi (Team Wacoal) returned to Japan on August 15 at Osaka's Kansai Airport, saying with a wide, ironic smile, "I guess I'm about to get buried by the consequences of this."  Fukushi ran on the track in four World Championships, but in her first appearance in the marathon she finally achieved what she has secretly wanted all along, a medal.  In the Kansai Airport arrival lobby she received an ovation from the crowds of Obon holiday travelers, never losing her smile as she dryly said, "A medal is pretty super awesome.  I'll be sure to tell my ancestors."

With regard to her plans for future marathons she said, "I might change my mind at some point, but I've had enough.  I won't do any more."  She plans to take an extended break, returning in time for December's National Corporate Women's Ekiden Championships.

Moscow 4th-place finisher Ryoko Kizaki (Team Daihatsu) and national record holder Mizuki Noguchi (Team Sysmex) who dropped out of the race partway, also returned to Japan at Tokyo's Narita Airport.  Showing her disappointment and missing out on the medals, Kizaki commented, "I met my absolute minimum goal, but there's an enormous difference between 3rd and 4th."  Her plans for her next marathon are not yet decided, but, she said, "To begin with, I have to start preparing to run the ekiden with everyone on my team."  Noguchi indicated that she intends to continue with her career as an athlete, saying firmly, "I'm not giving up and will keep trying my hardest."
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Murayama and Sasaki Making U.S. Debut at New York Mini 10 km

Every year since 2012 that there's been a United Airlines NYC Half , JRN has partnered with the NYRR and November's Ageo City Half Marathon to bring two top-tier collegiate Japanese men to the NYC Half for what's usually been their international debuts. For years we've wanted to extend that program to include top collegiate women, but that has always faced 2 problems. For one, while the half marathon distance is the main focus for Japanese collegiate men due to the stage lengths at the Hakone Ekiden, few collegiate women run it. Those that do run the National University Women's Half Marathon in Matsue, held the same day as the NYC Half. This year, though, we're finally making it happen in a slightly different way. Amisa Murayama and Nazuki Sasaki of 2025 Mt. Fuji Women's Ekiden national collegiate championship runner-up Tohoku Fukushi University are joining the field for the NYRR's Mastercard New York Mini 10 km on June 6. After running an 18:14 CR ...
Post a Comment
Read more

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."...
82 comments
Read more

Some Reflections on the Ekiden

by Brett Larner This ekiden season I've had a few thoughts kicking around, and watching this week's Hakone Ekiden a few of them became clearer.  These are still in progress, but at the moment this is what I'm thinking in terms of running as a spectator sport and about the quality of Japanese men's distance running right now. Quality: Japanese men's running is coming up very, very quickly.  I was in the lead car at November's Ageo City Half Marathon , where 18 men, 17 of them university runners, broke 63 minutes.  As it was going on we all thought it was a slow race because there were so many people running that pace all the way, no separation at all in the mass of the pack. See the JRN header photo above, taken just past halfway.  That's pretty unusual in Japan, especially at the university level; generally you'll get a handful of guys who run an aggressive pace and a mass running dead on a safe pace, 3:00/km in a half marathon, for example. Th...
18 comments
Read more