Skip to main content

Kawauchi May Take a Break After Calf Pain in Half Marathon

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2015/02/22/kiji/K20150222009856070.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner

Civil servant runner Yuki Kawauchi (27, Saitama Pref. Gov't) ran the 9th Fukaya City Half Marathon on Feb. 22, but after experiencing pain in his left calf he finished 43rd in a personal worst 1:13:36.  Coming onto the track at the end Kawauchi ran with a limp, dragging his left foot a bit as he made it to the finish line, and after finishing he had an expression of pain as he held his left calf.

Disappointed with the result, he stayed in the back of the race organizers' area to avoid the public eye.  "I need to take a break," he said, raising the possibility of a long rest and recovery period.  During the Feb. 15 Kochi Ryoma Marathon his left calf "felt like it was going to cramp up," and with lingering twinges he ran Fukaya with a calf support sleeve on his left leg.  He began to feel pain around 5 km, and near 8 km he lost touch with the lead group.  His pace reduced to "jogging speed," Kawauchi was heckled by some spectators who shouted, "Too slow!" and "Slacker!"  "I guess they came to see me run, not jog, so some of that's inevitable," he said weakly.

Of the calf pain Kawauchi said, "I might have mildly pulled a muscle.  I think it's probably related to the ankle sprain."  In late December Kawauchi sprained his left ankle, going on to run a personal worst 2:24:18 at January's Ibusuki Nanohana Marathon.  Discussing what to do about recovery he said, "I'll take some time off, then try running, going to get treatment when I take time off.  If I don't do that things might get worse."  He plans to see how his leg responds to acupuncture before thinking about going to get it examined.

Next week Kawauchi is entered in the Tachikawa Half, followed by the Tamana Half and the Seoul International Marathon.  Cautious about the future, he said, "I entered the general division in Tachikawa so I will probably sit it out.  If I run it I think I will stay near the back and do it as a pace run."

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Heisei Mountaineering Stops Takigahara SDF Base From Scoring 10-Year Streak at Mount Fuji Ekiden

by Koichi Iwasa of DogsorCaravan On Aug. 2 the 51st Mount Fuji Ekiden took place, starting and finishing in Gotemba, Shizuoka and covering 11 stages up to the peak of Mount Fuji and back down. Teams of 6 runners tackle the tough course, each running handling one uphill and one downhill leg with the 6th runner reaching the peak before turning around to head back to the exchange zone where they started. The Heisei Mountaineering Club team took the overall win in 3:50:39, beating 9-time winner Takigahara SDF Base by 2:07 and stopping them from achieving a 10-year victory streak. The independent team division and SDF team division were separated in 2005, and this was the first time that the winning independent team outran the fastest SDF team to take the overall title. The roster that Heisei Mountaineering put together for this year's race raised eyebrows among everyone familiar with the Japanese trail running scene. Handling the 5th and 7th legs was Ruy Ueda , winner of the Fuji M...

How it Happened

Ancient History I went to Wesleyan University, where the legend of four-time Boston Marathon champ and Wes alum Bill Rodgers hung heavy over the cross-country team. Inspired by Koichi Morishita and Young-Cho Hwang’s duel at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics I ran my first marathon in 1993, qualifying for Boston ’94 where Bill was kind enough to sign a star-struck 20-year-old me’s bib number at the expo. Three years later I moved to Japan for grad school, and through a long string of coincidences I came across a teenaged kid named Yuki Kawauchi down at my neighborhood track. I never imagined he’d become what he is, but right from the start there was just something different about him. After his 2:08:37 breakthrough at the 2011 Tokyo Marathon he called me up and asked me to help him get into races abroad. He’d finished 3rd on the brutal downhill Sixth Stage at the Hakone Ekiden, and given how he’d run the hills in the last 6 km at Tokyo ’11 I thought he’d do well at Boston or New York. “I...

Fujisan GX Breaks CR to Win 79th Towada Hachimantai Ekiden

The 79th edition of the Towada Hachimantai Ekiden took place Aug. 1 in Akita. Covering a 5-leg 71.4 km course, the race hosted 14 teams. Yamanashi's Fujisan GX took the overall win in a 3:42:17 course record. The best-placing team from within the prefecture, the Akita T&F Association team made the podium at 6th overall. The women's race was canceled again this year due to lack of participation. 79th Towada Hachimantai Ekiden Akita, 1 Aug. 2026 5 stages, 71.4 km, 14 teams complete results Top Team Results 1. Fujisan GX - 3:42:17 - CR 2. Corporate Select Team - 3:46:24 3. Tokyo Police A - 3:48:00 4. Comodi Iida - 3:48:41 5. Tokyo Police B - 3:50:14 6. Akita T&F Assoc. - 3:57:58 7. Fukushima T&F Assoc. - 4:08:20 Top Individual Stage Results First Stage  (13.0 km) 1. Ryota Seki (Tokyo Police A) - 39:47 2. Takuma Nakayama (Fujisan GX) - 40:01 3. Ryota Sato (Tokyo Police B) - 40:02 Second Stage  (13.0 km) 1. Yuki Seto (Fujisan GX) - 37:03 2. Shunsuke Watanabe (Comodi ...