At the Yodogawa Kanpei Half Marathon in Hirakata, Osaka on Dec. 15, Kaede Hagitani, 24, took over 10 minutes off the women's course record to win in 1:10:37. Hagitani ran the 5000 m at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and is targeting the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Men's winner Koki Hosokawa, 31, broke his own CR with a 1:08:03 to win for the 2nd year in a row.
In 5˚ temperatures the race set off along the Yodogawa river. Competing as a first step in her comeback after having left the sport post-Olympics, Hagitani had a spectacular record-breaking run that earned her a permanent invitation. "I usually train alone, so I never feel like I'm really on except in a race like this," she said. "The male runners in the race helped me have a good one." When asked why she ran a local race like the Kanpei Half when everyone else there was just a regular amateur Hagitani laughed and said, "My parents live near here."
At the Tokyo Olympics Hagitani broke her 5000 m PB, but even so she didn't make the final. A big talent who stands at all-time Japanese #5 for 5000 m with a 14:59.36 best, in May last year she suddenly announced that she was leaving the sport. In January she had suffered a pneumothorax, a collapsed lung that made it impossible to run or at times even eat properly. "I wasn't really at a place mentally where I wanted to think about competing at the international level," she said of her decision to quit.
But time away made her realize how much she loved running, and in the summer last year she started up again. She experimented with trail racing, and currently she trains alone in the mountains of Hyogo, making her own training plans and running about 30 km a day in prep to get back into serious racing. Her full comeback race will be April's Nagano Marathon, where she will make her debut as a first step toward making the marathon team for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
"It's been almost 2 years since I quit, but it was a good break and now I'm rested and mentally back in it," she said. "My body isn't keeping up with me yet, but we'll get there!" Looking refreshed after her time away, with her Kanpei Half win Hagitani is ready to take the next step in her career.
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translated by Brett Larner
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