The Hasuda Road Race took place Nov. 24 in and around Hasuda's Kurohama Park. 3000 people from within the city and elsewhere took part. The winner of April's Boston Marathon, civil servant runner Yuki Kawauchi, 31, took part as a special guest. It was the seventh time the local amateur sports group Hasuda Runties has put on the race in conjunction with sponsor Asahi Newspapers. Runners can enjoy the unique twist of eating sweets both during the race and after finishing.
Kawauchi ran in the 3 km division, winning it in 8:40. It was believed to be his best time on the Hasuda course. Afterwards he participated in a talk show event with some of his former teachers, sharing episodes from his life. Quiet in junior high school, he was elected head of the student council on a platform of promoting a campaign for students to collect manufacturers' points in order to get free stationery. In high school, he told himself, "If you give in to drowsiness you'll never succeed as an athlete." As a result he always stared straight into his teachers' eyes during class and nodded constantly.
One of his former teachers asked him about the Tokyo Olympics. Kawauchi laughed as he answered, "If they move the start time earlier I'll think about it." On Dec. 2 Kawauchi will run the Fukuoka International Marathon, where he will race former national record holder and fellow Saitama native Yuta Shitara (Honda) and others.
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translated by Brett Larner
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