interview by Tuomas Zacheus interpreting, supplemental questions and editing by Brett Larner and Mika Tokairin Tall men Tuomas Zacheus and Takayuki Nishida in Tokyo. Finnish writer Tuomas Zacheus, author of the book Nousevan Auringon Maratoonarit [ Marathoners of the Rising Sun ] , visited Tokyo with his wife Marit the weekend of July 18-19. JRN organized and facilitated an interview for Zacheus with the recently retired Takayuki Nishida, a former Team S&B and Team JAL Ground Service runner coached by the legendary Toshihiko Seko. Nishida holds a PB of 2:08:45, the fastest time ever by a Japanese runner on the elite Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon course. On the strength of his Beppu-Oita performance Nishida ran the marathon in the 2001 Edmonton World Championships, finishing 9th overall, beating then-national record holder Atsushi Fujita, and, as the Japanese team's third runner, helping to win the team silver medal. In university Nishida was already a star, narrowly losing out ...
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