Skip to main content

Dreams Come True - Mariko Yugeta in Boston


Women's 60+ marathon WR holder Mariko Yugeta made her Boston Marathon debut at age 63 this week, running 3:06:27 on net time. She also achieved her dream of meeting her lifelong inspiration Joan Benoit Samuelson the day before the race at an event specially organized by the Boston Athletic Association.
International media coverage of Yugeta's appearance and the two women's meeting:

A 63-Year-Old Runner Changed the Way I Think About Regret - New York Times, Apr. 24 - A different angle exploring the psychological and spiritual lessons to be learned from Yugeta's story, by Lindsay Crouse.

She Set Marathon Records in Her Sixties. Then Came the Fans. - New York Times, Apr. 19 - Pre- and post-race interviews with Yugeta and photos of her around Boston, by Talya Minsberg. Includes a picture of me taking the picture above.

For Marathon Record Holder, Meeting Joan Benoit Samuelson Was a Dream Come True - Runner's World, Apr. 18 - Exclusive video and text of Yugeta and Benoit Samuelson's meeting and the aftermath, by Sarah Lorge Butler.

Mariko Yugeta, the 63-Year-Old Limbering Up to Run a Sub-Three-Hour Marathon - The Guardian, Apr. 17 - Pre-race interview, by Justin McCurry.

Die 64-jährige Mariko Yugeta läuft einen Marathon in unter drei Stunden – das ist kein Zufall - Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Apr. 14 - German-language pre-race interview, by Felix Zill.

photo © 2022 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

Comments

Most-Read This Week

'Kobe 2024: Monday Sees Shocking Wins on the Track and the Field'

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-monday-sees-shocking-wins-track-and-field Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships  are here .

Summary of Japanese Medalists at Asian Athletics Championships

Overall:    gold: 4   silver: 6   bronze: 10 Men:    gold: 1   silver: 3   bronze: 4 Women:    gold: 3   silver: 3   bronze: 6 20th Asian Athletics Championships Pune, India, July 3-7, 2013 click here for complete results Men's 200 m Final   +0.7 m/s 1. Xie Zhenye (China) - 20.87 2. Fahad Mohammed Alsubaie (Saudi Arabia) - 20.912 3. Kei Takase (Japan) - 20.918 Men's 400 m Final 1. Yousef Ahmed Masrahi (Saudi Arabia) - 45.08 2. Ali Khamis (Bahrain) - 45.65 3. Yuzo Kanemaru (Japan) - 45.95 Men's 110 m Hurdles Final   +0.1 m/s 1. Jiang Fan (China) - 13.61 2. Abdulaziz Almandeel (Kuwait) - 13.78 3. Wataru Yazawa (Japan) - 13.88 Men's 400 m Hurdles Final 1. Yasuhiro Fueki (Japan) - 49.86 2. Cheng Wen (China) - 50.07 3. Satinder Singh (India) - 50.35 Men's 3000 m SC 1. Tarek Mubarak Taher (Bahrain) - 8:34.77 2. Dejene Regassa Mootoma (Bahrain) - 8:37.40 3. Tsuyoshi Takeda (Japan) - 8...

Fast High School 5000 m Times at Nittai and Kyoto

After the great men's 10000 m and women's 5000 m results on day 1 of the last full Nittai University Time Trials meet of 2025, day 2 brought a lot of great 5000 m times from high schoolers, both at Nittai and at another meet in Kyoto. At Nittai, Bilith Boi (Sapporo Yamanote H.S.) downed 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura (Subaru) in the last of the 35 heats of 5000 m, running 13:27.52 to Miura's 13:28.61. Ryo Goda (Yasukawa Denki) also got under 13:30, running 13:29.41 for 3rd, with 40-year-old Yuichiro Ueno (Hiramatsu Byoin) rocking on with a 13:32.12 for 4th. James Karuri (Aomori Yamada H.S.) was 8th in 13:35.46, with 17-year-old Naoya Doma (Sera H.S.) running an excellent 13:39.13 for 10th. Samuel Gayu and Yua Hayashi also got under 14 minutes in the same heat to make it 3 sub-14 for Sapporo Yamanote H.S. In Heat 34, Chien Tzu-Chieh (Sendai Ikuei H.S.) ran a Taiwanese NR 13:48.99 for 4th, with Yui Kudo and Yugo Yamamoto running sub-14 to bring the Aomori Yamada...