Kawauchi Gives Talk on Appeal of Ageo City Half Marathon

The unique "civil servant runner" Yuki Kawauchi, 31, an employee of the Saitama Prefectural Government, gave a talk at the Ageo Cultural Center on Sept. 17 about the special appeal of the Ageo City Half Marathon held in Ageo every November. About 400 people attended the talk, part of an event commemorating the 60th anniversary of the city's sports association. Kawauchi runs the half marathon every year as an invited elite athlete.

Kawauchi first encountered the Ageo race while in 5th grade in elementary school, moving up to the half marathon division as a university student. Having run as fast as 1:03:22 in Ageo while still in university, Kawauchi said, "My results in Ageo were always good. It has a flat and easy to run course, and I always thought it was a good event."

He also emphasized that, as a JAAF-certified race, every year it features enormous numbers of runners from the top Hakone Ekiden universities. He presented data showing that students who performed well in Ageo also excelled at Hakone, generating great interest among the audience.

Next spring Kawauchi will retire from his position with the Saitama Prefectural Government to pursue running full-time. Asked by an audience member about his hopes and ambitions he emphatically answered, "To race overseas as much as I can and continue to grow and develop."

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