Skip to main content

200 Hometown Supporters Congratulate Kawauchi on Boston Victory


On April 30 Yuki Kawauchi''s hometown of Kuki, Saitama held a party to celebrate his becoming the first Japanese winner of the Boston Marathon in 31 years. Kawauchi told the crowd of local supporters, "This was the most marathonesque marathon of my career as a marathoner."

Over 200 people packed into the Kuki Central Community Center to congratulate him. Excited to see more people than he had expected, Kawauchi spoke for around 38 minutes about his Boston experience, sharing his thoughts and experiences during the race with crowd as he told them, "When I looked through my data on Wikipedia I saw that I had never failed in a rainy weather race. I thought, 'Things are going to go great this time!' Before the race my manager told me, 'This is the day you were born for,' and when I was running it really felt that way, that I had been born to run Boston that day. Even when I was in 2nd I had the kind of rush you get from leading, and that was a lot of fun. Afterward it was so cold that I eventually ended up getting treated in the recovery room."

Upon his triumphant return to Japan Kawauchi shocked everyone by abruptly announcing at the airport that he would retire from his job next year to go pro. Speaking with passion of his decision he said, "I'd like to give lectures to help convey what I've learned around the world. People might wonder if I'm really a pro, but I want to become the only truly professional pro runner." Regarding whether he will try for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics marathon team he was noncommittal as he said, "I won't know until I go pro and try taking on the summer."

At the very end of the event Kawauchi was reunited with his Boston Marathon champion's cup and crown which he had forgotten on the airplane after arriving at Narita. "I'm glad everyone was so happy to get to see the cup," he laughed in embarrassment.


source articles:
https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20180430-00000151-spnannex-spo
https://www.daily.co.jp/general/2018/05/01/0011214301.shtml
translated by Brett Larner
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Arao Becomes 1st Man in 40 Years to Score Back-to-Back Ome Road Race Wins

30 km is an under-appreciated distance, and both of Japan's big races at that distance happened Sunday. At the Ome Road Race in western Tokyo's mountains, Sydney Marathon 6th-placer Masato Arao (ND Software) became the first man since the great Kunimitsu Ito in 1985-1986 to win back-to-back years. Arao, who finished 39th of 40 on his leg at the New Year Ekiden last month, stayed in the pack through 20 km before going on the attack, putting over a minute on New Year Ekiden Sixth Stage CR breaker Yudai Shimazu (GMO). Sub-1:31 winning times are rare on the tough and hilly Ome course, but Arao's 1:30:54 almost equaled his 1:30:50 from last year, making him the first Japanese man ever to do it twice and second only to CR holder Ezekiel Cheboitibin . Next up Arao races the Tokyo Marathon, where he is targeting sub-2:06. Shimazu was 2nd in 1:31:58 and Yuta Nakayama (JR Higashi Nihon) 3rd in 1:32:07. Cheboitibin was only 9th, running almost 8 minutes off his CR in 1:36:42. Shi...
3 comments
Read more

Nagoya Women's Marathon Elite Field

Last year's top 3 Sheila Chepkirui , Sayaka Sato and Eunice Chebichii Chumba are back for this year's Nagoya Women's Marathon on Mar. 8, but things are being set up more for it to be a race between Chepkirui, 2:17:49 in Berlin 2023, Aynalem Desta , 2:17:37 in Amsterdam last fall, and Japanese NR holder Honami Maeda , 2:18:59 at the Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2024. Aynalem has the freshest sub-2:20 of the 3, with neither Chepkirui nor Maeda having done it in 2 years. Maeda's only recent result is a 1:10:07 from Houston last month, but when she ran her NR she didn't have any kind of tuneup race to indicate her fitness so it's probably best not to read too much into that. If it goes out as a 2:18 race those are the only 3 who can probably hang with it. If it turns out to be more of a 2:20 race like when Chepkirui won in 2:20:40 last year then there's a group of 7 at the 2:20-2:22 level who will be in the picture, including Chumba, Selly Chep...
Post a Comment
Read more

'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 .
Post a Comment
Read more