Skip to main content

Fukushima's Disaster-Hit Kawauchi Village to Rename Main Street in Yuki Kawauchi's Honor at Dec. 8 Running Event

http://www.minpo.jp/news/detail/2013110812011

translated by Brett Larner

Known as Japan's #1 amateur runner, two-time World Championships marathoner Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) will appear in Kawauchi village on Dec. 8 to help launch the town's new Mini-Marathon race. Never giving up and clenching his teeth as he runs with all his strength, Kawauchi resonates with the people of the village as they face the future and take steps forward toward reconstructing from the TEPCO Fukushima #1 Nuclear Reactor disaster.

Mayor Yuko Endo has long shared a sense of affinity with the athlete with the same name as the town under his stewardship, and when he approached the famous marathoner with an invitation to run Kawauchi was quick to accept. "I've always been curious about this town that shares the name of Kawauchi with me," he said.

At 10:00 a.m. on Dec. 8 Kawauchi will give a talk in the Iwananosato area of the town. Afterward, Kawauchi will help launch the Mini-Marathon through the streets around Iwananosato, giving runners in the children's, elementary school, junior high school, high school and open divisions the chance to run with him. Along with commemorative photos with Kawauchi, the event will include the chance to help paint a giant mural with him on panels made with genuine Kawauchi village wood. The main road making up the race course will also be renamed "Yuki Kawauchi Commemorative Road" in his honor.

Organizers hope the event will attract participants from a wide area. Mayor Endo was optimistic, saying, "Kawauchi running here will help give us all the strength to face reconstruction of our lives and future."

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Japan's Olympic Marathon Team Meets the Press

With renewed confidence, Japan's Olympic marathon team will face the total 438 m elevation difference hills of Paris this summer. The members of the women's and men's marathon teams for August's Paris Olympics appeared at a press conference in Tokyo on Mar. 25 in conjunction with the Japan Marathon Championship Series III (JMC) awards gala. Women's Olympic trials winner Yuka Suzuki (Daiichi Seimei) said she was riding a wave of motivation in the wake of the new women's national record. When she watched Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) set the record at January's Osaka International Women's Marathon on TV, Suzuki said she was, "absolutely stunned." Her coach Sachiko Yamashita told her afterward, "When someone breaks the NR, things change," and Suzuki found herself saying, "I want to take my shot." After training for a great run in Paris, she said, "I definitely want to break the NR in one of my marathons after that." Mao

Weekend Racing Roundup

  China saw a new men's national record of 2:06:57 from  Jie He  at the Wuxi Marathon Sunday, but in Japan it was a relatively quiet weekend with mostly cold and rainy amateur-level marathons across the country. At the Tokushima Marathon , club runner Yuhi Yamashita  won the men's race by almost 4 1/2 minutes in 2:17:02, the fastest Japanese men's time of the weekend, but oddly took 22 seconds to get across the starting line. The women's race saw a close finish between the top two, with Shiho Iwane  winning in 2:49:33 over Ayaka Furukawa , 2nd in 2:49:46.  At the 41st edition of the Sakura Marathon in Chiba, Yukie Matsumura  (Comodi Iida) ran the fastest Japanese women's time of the weekend, 2:42:45, to take the win. Club runner Yuki Kuroda  won the men's race in 2:20:08.  Chika Yokota  won the Saga Sakura Marathon women's race in 2:49:33.  Yuki Yamada  won the men's race in 2:21:47 after taking the lead in the final 2 km.  Naoki Inoue  won the 16th r

Takeuchi Wins Niigata Half in Boston Tune-Up

Running in cold, windy and rainy conditions, Ryoma Takeuchi (ND Software) warmed up for April's Boston Marathon with a win at Wednesday's Niigata Half Marathon . Takeuchi sat behind Nittai University duo Susumu Yamazaki and Ryuga Ishikawa in the early stages, then made a series of pushes to pick up the pace. Each time he tucked in behind whoever went to the front, while behind them others dropped off. Before 15 km only Yamazaki and Riki Koike of Soka University were left, and when Takeuchi went to the front the last time after 15 km only Koike followed. By 16 he was gone too, leaving Takeuchi to solo it in to the win in 1:03:13 with a 17-second negative split. "This was my last fitness check before the Boston Marathon next month, and my time was right on-target," he said post-race. "Everything went as planned. I'm looking forward to racing some of the world's best in Boston, and my goal there is to place in the single digits." Just back from tr